Thursday, May 26, 2011

Brewing and more brewing

Matt and I have been brewing one thing or another for the past two years.  It started with a Mr. Beer kit and has moved into homebrewed beer, kombucha, mead and now soda.  More than anything it is an act of patience and process.  I like to push the idea that fermentation began before there were sinks or bleach and have successfully made wild yeast mead using local raw honey.  But to make sure that all those hours of work don't go to waste, it is important to be sterile and precise.  At this moment we have two beers ready for the Memorial Day Weekend Family Extravaganza: a Brown Ale steeped with Bourbon Vanilla made using fresh from the tree maple sap and and Oatmeal Chocolate Stout.  TG(my dad) and Matt are competing to see whose sap beer comes out on top.  TG brewed up a Wheat beer with orange peel and coriander .  Wheat beers are an easy sell in or family but this one supposedly stands above most.  This will be the first time since baby Razor was born that we will (mostly) all be together.  A sister fest minus one! I couldn't be more excited.
The rest of the brewing results in beverages that don't have the same draw as the beer but are known to win over a few hearts.  Dear friend Liz's kids have decided I make the "best kombucha" and I will never tire of hearing that.  It is great for my gut and I do really enjoy the taste.  I will soon be experimenting with green tea kombucha and will post on my successes or failures accordingly.
The next step on our fermenting journey is homemade soda.  We don't drink it only on special occasions and even then we splurge on the good stuff.  A new book on soda making will change this!
I can not explain to you how excited i am to have home brewed ginger ale.  And real root beer! Honestly this book will cause my blood sugar to go through the roof but I am willing to suffer in the name of sarsaparilla. I will be sure to share my reviews of the book and the recipes on here.  Now I will sit patiently for it to arrive at the library.  Maybe not so patiently.