Homebrew Heaven

A necessary step towards my somewhat mindless journey to become a Certified Beer Judge is a return to homebrewing. I had done this for several years, and only stopped because life happens.

A good beer-drinking friend of mine, Mark, joined me in a journey to Things Beer, a wonderful store attached to the Michigan Brewing Company in Webberville, Michigan. Of course, before we shopped at Things Beer, we had a few pints of their lovely beers...reviews forthcoming.

It's nice to be brewing again. The whole house smells like a huge bowl of wet cornflakes during the process, which is pretty cool.

So here we are in Things Beer, running amok like a 6-year-old at Toys-R-Us. Or a 30-year-old at 20th Century Games (shout out to geeks who know what that is...). Equipment! Hops! Malts! What do we make?!?

Mark and I settled on an ale...specifically, an APA. Not as hoppy as an IPA, but a little more bold than some classic English ales. We chose what is essentially a clone "kit" of MBC's Mackinac Pale Ale. It was my first time back after a long time off, and Mark's first time really ever. This would reintroduce me to the characters of a few different kinds of barleys and hops to start to remember what mixes best with what. In future posts, I'll put the recipes on, but since this was a kit, and a knock-off of a great MBC beer, it just doesn't feel right to post it withour permission. Don't want to develop bad beer karma after all...

I must say it was smooth sailing. Mark is an extremely conscientious brewer and beer drinker, and the help is always nice, especially since brewing takes upwards of 5 hours. You need someone to talk to or you go nuts.

The ale now sits fermenting in the basement. It is going crazy; the fermenter was about 4/5 full, and the yeast is working so well, that last 1/5 is all foam. When it settles by about Tuesday, I'll switch it to the next fermenter for a week or so. It should be ready for drinking around the first week of December.

A huge thanks to Mark, and I am looking forward to cracking the beer.