brew my own beer

I just finished scuba certification. Which means you’re next.

I’d mentioned to my future roommate that once we moved into the new place one of the primary activities I’d be pursuing was homebrewing. At first he kinda laughed, but after spending a week paying Chicago bar prices, he whole-heartedly agreed that it is indeed a necessity.

And not only that, but he also suggested we try making a variety of beers so that should one batch not turn out well, we always have others to turn to in addition to the fact that everyone likes variety. I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I’d been somewhat worried that he’d get annoyed with it as it can be somewhat of a random thing to do.

However, all I need to do to convert my kegerator to 5 keg capacity is get a larger chest-freezer, as I’d been keeping it in fairly good condition thus far. And while I’m sure having 5 kegs (even if they all just wind up being 2.5 gallon pony-sodas) around the apartment at all times will eventually become a reality, I think I’m going to start off with swing-top bottles.

So I’m going to have to place an order for two cases of 24 16oz swing-top Amber Grolsch. Oddly enough, getting the bottles with beer in them only costs 25% more than if they were empty. And I should probably add for those who don’t know that they are completely and totally reusable.

But yeah, while I do have big plans, I going to do this right. I’ll start off with just a simple basic starter kit and follow the directions to the letter. With any luck, the first batch could be successful which would go leaps and bounds to keeping morale high. Slowly then I’d progress to more complicated recipes and with a little time and a lot of luck, eventually be able to brew from scratch.

I do have to say I’m a little apprehensive about kegging though. I mean, I get bottling: brew beer, sanitize bottles by dishwasher/sanitizing solution, dry bottles, siphon beer into bottles, possibly age bottles, drink bottles.

With kegging . . . well . . . that just seems like it could be a gigantic hassle. But that will be a problem to be addressed when we get there.

I’ve owned it, bought it, stole it, and swallowed it. I even converted my dorm-room minifridge into a kegerator. And now there is one thing left for me to do.