He's crafty too!

My husband is a self-proclaimed beer snob. Although he doesn't like the term "snob;" he prefers "geek." For his birthday I bought him a Groupon for a beginner's brew kit. It was perfect and he loved it. Before he redeemed it he read EVERYTHING he could about brewing your own beer. He can to the conclusion that 1. an Irish Red was easiest, 2. it was probably going to be terrible, and 3. he didn't want me anywhere near it (I'll explain that part in a bit).

Off he went to Midwest Brewing Supplies and ordered his first beer kit complete with ingredients for brewing FIVE gallons of an Irish Red. The box arrived just around his birthday in mid-June. Since we were moving at the end of June, Ryan patiently waited for us to be in the apartment so we could start brewing. The first full weekend in our apartment we had friends over. No beer. The following Friday though, was beer brewing day. Boy was he excited. The kit came with additional videos and reading material which HE. ATE. UP. I'll have to blog about his love/hate relationship with reading another time - but for him to read all the material is a lot - which shows how excited he was over this. 

So July 13th, Ryan bought a huge stock pot (read: 21 quart stock pot) and went to town. Now, he initially wanted me to be excited and happy for him (which I always am) but to stay far, far away. The reason? I have long hair...and it gets everywhere. Not on purpose but it happens. Ryan had this idea that nothing would get in the beer. No hair, dust, or random particles. But alas, beer brewing is really not a one person job - so he broke down and asked for my help. 

Unfortunately I didn't taken pictures of brewing the grains and adding the hops. Beer brewing is a lot like baking with specific temperatures and baking times - which Ryan followed to the second with hopes for the best possible beer. After you brew the beer on the stove (where the stock pot took up the front and back burners of one side of the stove) you have to pour it into a five gallon bucket...which is fun with a burning hot pot. Then you add a little plastic bobbing device to ensure the bucket is air tight and wait. 

Two weeks later, your bathtub will look something like the following. And that's only if you've been saving beer bottles for the last six months (yes, we moved with EMPTY beer bottles - I was not a fan). Rather than buying empty bottles from Midwest, Ryan saved up all his empties and took off all the labels. Which is why they sat overnight in a mixture of water and baking soda.

After a good soak - and another three hours of peeling off any stubborn labels - we were ready to bottle. The fermenting bucket (with the original five gallons) went on the counter. The bottling bucket went on a dining room chair. Before the fermented beer could go in it, Ryan had to simmer caning sugar and water for the carbonation phase. The bottles were filled on the (clean) floor. Ryan was so excited to start bottling. Here are his first couple. The little bucket next to him was for drips that might come out of the bottle filler - a very neat little device. He was all smiles after filling the first couple. He even let me try a couple.

Ryan filled the bottles while I capped them. Not to brag (but really to brag) I capped about 53 of them and got them all right. Ryan tried one and needed two caps to cap the bottles. I knew we were bound to get some beer on the floor...just wasn't banking on the puddle at Ryan's feet. He claims was from him being distracted by my awesome capping. Note the perfectly dry towel six inches from his left foot. That little bucket I mentioned earlier was also not fully utilized obviously.

Below is a picture of the almost-finished product. The bottled beer now has to sit on the pantry selves for another two weeks while the caning sugar works its magic and carbonates the beer.

Four weeks isn't so bad for your own beer. Right? Ryan's now trying to get me into wine making - which I'm not sure I would have the patience for - which takes three months at least. Here's hoping the beer's good - we've got another two weeks to see how that plays out. I'd love to give some beer away too (friends, family, or if any of you are interested).

Has anyone else tried home brewing? What's your success rate and what kinds of grains, hops, etc have you used? I'd love to pass it along to Mr. Beer Crafty. Any tips would be amazing too!