How I did it: I work for a brewery so doing a home brew kind of comes with the territory. Oddly enough I don't drink beer so I still have no idea how it turned out. I made a spiced ale with cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, etc.  I was told it wasn't bad, which is pretty much all I was hoping for seeing as it was my first time. The company provided the brewing kit, which is now collecting dust in my dining room.

I say it was worth it because I like trying new things. It's not something I would want to do again, but it was fun to try and I was excited that I produced a drinkable product. However, the amount of work and the money involved in getting all the ingredients makes it seem a little crazy to want to do this on a regular basis. But, hey, without passionate beer geeks, I'd be out of a job!

Lessons & tips: Clean everything. EVERYTHING. Spoons, pans, tubes...if it's going to touch the beer disinfect it first. Unless you want a skunky beer, in which case you shouldn't bother cleaning a thing!

Have big pans, big buckets and lots of time and patience on hand.

Resources: Well the brewery provided everything I needed (including a video and a book) and beer geeks at work proved a useful resource as well. Mostly I'd just suggest you look at some of the sites online and then talk to the passionate people who work at the specialty shops where you buy your equipment and yeast.

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Jan 26, 2009, 04:19PM PST | 1 comment | 2 cheers