Homebrewing

Some time last fall my dad came to me with the "brilliant" idea that we should try to brew our own beer.  "It will be a father-daughter project," he says.  And I just sort of look at him like he's crazy, because he has a lot of crazy ideas.  Like when he wanted to take me to Tanzania and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro-- that was never going to happen.

Not too long after my dad expressed this idea, however, his birthday was approaching.  What would make a better gift for dad than helping him realize one of his dreams?  I headed over to St. Louis Wine & Beermaking to see what all we would need. 

This place looked like a chemistry lab, which scared me because neither my dad nor I are chemists.  As the lovely people there were trying to describe everything to me, I thought it was going to be a little too complicated for us.  They assured me of how easy the process is, but I was skeptical.  My dad and I aren't very patient, or good at following directions.  I went the simple route and got a starter kit and a mix (Pilsner was the only one they had), figuring we could always upgrade if we were any good at it.

This was all back in November, and we started the brewing process in early January.  Bottling and capping was a lot of fun:

  

This is me.

 

These are my dad's hands.

 

This is our beer!

Then, of course, we waited.  We joked about making my boyfriend try it first, to make sure it was safe.  And then it was time to drink it.  And it tasted.......(drum roll).......... not bad! Holy cow.  It wasn't bad.  I mean, it's not that good either, but it's not undrinkable.  It looks like a pilsner, it tastes like a pilsner-- Success! I think we will probably try it again, once we get rid of 46 more bottles of mediocre pilsner.