feBREWary

Two weeks of fermentation!

In the last 4 weeks, Josh and I brewed, fermented, and bottled our first beer - a Belgian blonde. I bought Josh a home brew kit from Brooklyn Brews for Christmas. They have a lot of great kits and online tutorials, so it was perfect for learning to brew beer.

Bottling Day!

The brewing process was a little more complex and specific than I imagined. There is a lot of boiling ingredients, and waiting, and hoping, and sterilization involved. We were so worried that we might not have had the temperature perfect for the whole process, or that we might not have gotten the sterilization just right, and that our beer (after 4 weeks of work) could end up tasting terrible.

Finally pouring, after weeks of anticipation!

Eventually the head fizzled out and we could enjoy our beer!

I'm happy to report that our beer turned out delicious! We were so pleased and relieved. We may have added slightly too much honey (honey gets eaten by yeast to carbonate the beer) because our beer has a large head, but that's something we can easily change in the future. Once the head fizzed down a little, it was a delightful beer! We want to brew another batch soon, and maybe this time work with a recipe rather than a kit. We both love sour beers - so we might have to give those a go. Cheers!!