I recently had the opportunity to "pay it forward" with a good friend of mine, Tres, who purchased a brewing kit. He and I met at the Fermentation Trap and picked out some equipment and an English Brown Ale extract kit. Later on, we got together at his house to brew the kit, celebrate with a few pints of beer, and enjoy each other's company. Our wives and children are also good friends, so it was a very enjoyable afternoon.
Teaching a subject is one of the best ways to both demonstrate how much you know about a subject and determine how much you still can learn. I find the act of explaining the brewing process, at least how I do it, and responding to questions helps me look at the steps in a new light and can lead to new ideas. In this case, I had not done an extract brew in quite some time and had to dredge some of the steps up from memory (and the kit instructions helped as well).
If you ever have a chance to introduce someone to the hobby and share a brew session with them, I highly encourage it.
Thanks to Tres for the afternoon and to Cyndi for sending along the great pictures, some of which appear below.
Cheers,
TW
Adding the steeping grains
DME sticking to the sides of the bag
Hops added to the boil
Hydrometer reading of the wort
Pitching yeast
Love the carboy!
I have enjoyed being a solo homebrewer for almost a year now. I would be the extra hand to my brother (7 year vet), and always enjoyed his beers- so I thought I would give it a go. We brewed for my wedding and another friend (who was at that brewday)is now a homebrewer (we brewed for his wedding as well); and a third friend who simply enjoyed the wedding brew, decided to give it a go. Now I have two new neighbors who are interested in the craft. The circle keeps expanding.
ReplyDeleteThat is the best thing about this hobby, in my opinion. Thanks for sharing it with others and thanks for the comment.
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