Opening Night...Nut Brown Ale

After getting home from work, I decided I would begin the beer making process, assuring Rachael that this first step would only be an hour or so.

Around 6 p.m. I followed the advice of Trisha Pete and began to "sanitize, sanitize, sanitize." All equipment and fermenting bucket went in the bath tub and were cleansed with hot water and some magical chemical packet. To the kitchen we went, and the brew making process commenced. (Note the importance of enjoying a beer while working).




Clearly, the old wives tale of "a watched pot never boils" is very accurate. As evidence I present the following picture, taking 45 minutes after the pot was placed on the stove....clearly, I wasn't going to make my hour prediction.



So I waited, and waited, and finally we ate the chili that was heating behind the pot. (Note the proximity of the chili pot and spoon --- is this foreshadowing or something?)


So finally the wort (fancy brewer term meaning sweetened water and barley liquid --- yes, I'm a brewer dammit) resumed boiling and the clock was on. Even being mindful of all the sanitation warnings, this is the point where I might have screwed up the virgin batch of brew or developed a secret recipe. In a slip of the hand, I am 99% certain that I grabbed the wrong spoon and gave the wort a couple of stirs with the chili spoon rather than the sanitized utensil. Who knows if it will just be a nut brown with a little kick or a batch of shit (if the later, perhaps I can sell to Budweiser?) Nonetheless, after a brief 30 minute boil, the wort was united with some cool water in the fermenting bucket to begin their relationship.





After a brief cooling off period they needed some yeast to make the magic begin --- with the yeast probably being the most important ingredient in beer as it is able to perform some witchcraft science manuevers and change the glucose in the wort to sweet alcohol.


Final step of opening night was to seal up the fermenting bucket and let the waiting begin. In approximately 7 days I will decide whether to do a second fermentation or go right to bottling. Beer making store guy says he always does two fermentations. And then after three weeks of in bottle conditioning I will have some homemade brew to drink or dump down the drain if tainted by the evil chili spoon.




So 2 hours and 30 minutes after later, the fermenting bucket was put to rest in the corner of the dining room --- which I believe compliments the primitive decor perfectly --- after all Sam Adams and many other Patriots were home brewers.