|
|||||
|
Over decade later, in the spring of 2007, I was sitting on my back porch enjoying the dry, sunny and inviting weather and pondering the upcoming arrival of the hot and humid Houston summer. Now with two kids in the house occupying most of our time, taking 10 minutes to relax in silence on the back patio with a fine beer and a computer industry trade journal was a rare luxury. The added spring weather made the moment even greater. Sitting there halfway through a glass of fresh microbrew, it struck me that I should again take up home brewing. It would be perfect! I now had my own kitchen and money to buy all of the right equipment. What I did not have was time. I knew it took a long time to brew a batch from start to finish, and I couldn’t envision dedicating that much time to a new hobby. With the kids and all of the daily and weekly commitments I had around the house, I didn’t have time for another hobby. I banished the idea to the back of my mind and told myself that I would find time to do it in the future when the opportunity presented itself. The beautiful spring weather persisted and I could not rid myself of the idea of brewing again. It then dawned on me that I was going to have to make time to brew, because if I didn’t do that, the opportunity would never appear on its own. Shortly after that I drove to my parents’ house, dusted off my old brewing equipment, and carted it to its new home. In the decade that had passed, DeFalco’s had moved to a new location. I toured their new store that had 99% of the same charm as the old location and I picked up one of the premier home brewing texts which was now in its third edition. I read it vigorously and crafted my plans. The hot summer weather was now here and I knew exactly what style of beer I wanted to brew. A Belgian-style white beer would be perfect to enjoy on the back patio in the humid Houston summer heat. I picked up a few additional brewing items on the Internet, saved 2 cases of real beer bottles, and brewed a batch in my own kitchen. The resulting brew surpassed all of my expectations. As a bonus, the New Belgium Brewing Company released a Belgian-style white beer shortly after my brew was complete, and I picked up a 6 pack for comparison. I was astounded that I could produce a brew that compared to theirs. That they are a successful operation started originally by a home brewer was like winning a medal for my beer. It was a great confirmation that I really could brew great beer at home. After realizing that I could get great results from my work, I was spurred to do it again. I realized that if it took at least a month of fermenting and conditioning to produce a batch, I would have to plan ahead if I was going to have homebrew available on short notice at any time. It was not workable to brew a batch from time to time, at least, not at first; I would have to build up an inventory of homebrew which would allow me to have a small variety of beer styles available for consumption at any given time. If I somehow overproduced, it would be no problem to find people who would take free beer. |
||||
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 |
|
||||
