Homebrewing

Having a job and a baby doesn't leave too much time for blogging and I figured this project had come to it's natural end.  However, I'm back by popular demand! I don't think too many people missed reading my blog, but I have had a LOT of friends mention they'd like to come over and eat during someone else's cooking session.
So basically back in... November... I went over to Eric's apartment to learn how to make beer.  It was a fun but chaotic day.  He had just finished building his beer brewing equipment and was still calculating the proportions and perfecting his set up.  I had the baby with me and had to take long Time Outs to put him down or feed him.  Also, it is now 4 months later and my notes look like they're written in Cyrillic.  So here's my disclaimer: you will never be able to make beer by reading this entry.  Just enjoy the pictures and find a good internet site.  Or buy a kit.


Brewmaster Eric

The Mash

So to make beer you have to order supplies like hops and gypsum and malt powder and yeast.  High Gravity Brewing and Wine Making Supplies is one internet company where you can do that.  You also need a lot of equipment.  Eric inherited some of his from an ancient ex-Prohibition era neighbor back in the California.  If you have all the stuff you will need to heat 1.1 qts of water per lb. of grain to 165 degrees, transfer it to a heated cooler with a filter system, add in the grain and then wait 90 minutes.  This is called The Mash.  Then you sparge (rinse off the sugars).  That means you spend about an hour pouring 165-170 degree water back over the grain.  Then you put all the liquid back in the brew pot, add hops, and boil the mess for about 90 minutes.  They you do some stuff with a heat exchanger and yeast (this is when the baby got fussy).


High tech cooling system

Then the baby started to lose it and I went home.  Eric continues to make beer on a regular basis, is the head of the Tegucigalpa Home Brewer's Association, and has something like an apprentice to carry on here when he moves to Colombia next year.  So there is hope that one day, I will be able to make my own beer.