History of and Adventures in Homebrewing

Finally getting to brew again tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited about it. I've got a recipe lined up that should bring back memories of one of my first batches of beer; the first batch that wasn't just surprisingly okay, but actually good. Like I would readily and happily buy it.

The Chocolate Stout.

Back in college, I lived with two other beer enthusiasts, Trav and Andrew. We all developed our palates around the same time, often splitting the cost of buying several nice beers that we'd all wanted to try and then each getting our share. We grew into loving beer together, and to this day, a good portion of our conversations when we catch up tends to be beer-centric, at least to some degree. Along with our roommate Chad (and later Brandon), we were the Fisk Boys. And we loved us some beer.

Back on point: I started homebrewing on my 22nd birthday. For my birthday, I picked up a homebrewing set from the Home Brew Mart in San Diego, along with an absolutely worthless burner from a Chinese kitchen supply store. How it ever boiled five gallons of water, I'll never know. We used garbage bins filled with ice water for cooling system, and I was the only one of the three of us who'd actually read anything on how to actually turn our ingredients into beer, so obviously I was the expert.

The process couldn't have been more idiot proof; the beer was an extract Hefeweisen, and all we had to do was boil water, add the extract and the first set of hops at the outset, and another set 58 minutes later. Absolute cakewalk compared to most brewing, but hot damn was that exciting.

I knew from the get-go that brewing was going to be something I enjoyed, but being a college student with very little income handcuffed that process a little. Trav and Andrew were always very interested in the final product, and would often sit out on our back patio with me when I brewed, but really if the beer was going to get brewed, it was on me to make sure that happened.

After a few batches, I floated the idea of doing an Imperial Stout, something we all loved (and still love) to drink. I was hesitant at first, since I hadn't done anything approaching the ABV we were gunning for, but we decided that that shouldn't hold us back any more than it already had. So we crafted a recipe, using a ton of chocolate malts and really pushing our beer knowledge at that point to the max.

The brewing process was filled with hiccups, including an incredibly active fermentation that caused a monstrous krausen volcano to blow the airlock off and create an awesome mess in the closet. Still, despite all of the moments where looking back I cringe, the beer turned out wonderfully, and each of us got an allotment of bottles to bring to family, drink with friends, etc. Unfortunately, we all figured the others would be holding on to a few bottles for later, and all of it got consumed within a three month period. Which was heartbreaking, since we all wanted more of it when it was gone, and by the time we realized it had evaporated, we had finish college and were no longer living together.

It turned out that there was a bottle left over in Andrew's possession, and he, Trav, and our friend Chad had it about a year after brewing it, and claimed it was incredible. Due to my no longer living in California, I was not able to take part, but it has inspired me to do a revisiting of the stout, and to tweak it with my matured beer knowledge. This time around, I'll keep all of the specialty grains, but mash them, and mash more of my fermentables, using only a fraction of the extract from before. And who knows? Maybe doing a split fermentation, using some vanilla beans, cocoa nibs, and/or cold pressed coffee. Should be fun. Look out for updates, recipes, and progress on that.

Also, I was invited to join a homebrewing club this week, and I have to say, I'm pretty excited about it. The first beer meet-up is centered around Holiday Beers and Stouts, and I think this Chocolate Stout 2.0, along with some of its vanilla or coffee iterations, may have to make an appearance. Except this time I won't drink it all before I get to see how it mellows out. . . yum.