I make beer. What's your superpower?
I just wanted to post an update that my goal to brew a batch of beer in December to enjoy on New Year’s Even will happen in time. Some other tasks came up and I allowed those to take priority.
As much fun as brewing is, when it is a hobby, even one that fills you with passion, you still have to choose to pursue it.
This is definitely something I plan to do next year, and will plan it out better than I did this year.
Sorry for the delay since my last post.
Brew happy!
Buying a gift for a homebrewer can be a great way to get on their list of people who get to help drink their beer. Although, to be honest, most homebrewers I know are so excited about what they’re making they’ll share it with anyone who shows interest.
This is a list of gear that I think any homebrewer would love to see under the tree! Hopefully you know your homebrewer well enough to know whether he needs these items or not. Some can be useful, even if it’s a duplicate.
If there’s a homebrewer in your life, you can bet they will appreciate the gift of equipment to help them brew more or better beer.
I’ve tried to break up the categories of gifts in ways that make sense, but what makes sense to me doesn’t always make sense to others. I hope this list is still useful. Have a Merry Christmas!
21″ Stainless Steel Spoon – You never really think about the value of a good, durable spoon. Many homebrewers will start out using the cooking spoons in their kitchen, and that works for a while. But many of the handles are too short. I nearly burned my fingers stirring a brewpot with a normal kitchen spoon.
When I started all-grain brewing, I purchased a long-handled plastic brewing spoon, but didn’t really understand how much the brewing process would chew up the plastic. This stainless steel spoon with a long handle will let your homebrewer stir everything from a thick mash to a huge boil kettle without endangering their fingers or their spoon.
A bigger kettle is one of the first steps many homebrewers make when they decide they’re going to keep making beer after the first few batches. You can brew extract batches with a small kettle, but it affects the color and flavor of your beers. Doing a full-wort boil improves the hop flavor and aroma in your beer and allows for better consistency.
An 8 gallon or 9 gallon brew pot will allow you to brew a five-gallon batch of beer, leaving enough headspace to reduce the chances of a boilover. The 9-gallon option would also give a brewer space to step into all-grain brewing with the “Brew in a Bag” technique. These larger kettles can also be useful for holding wort or heating water if the brewer steps up to brewing ten-gallon batches.
The Ultimate Option would give your brewer the flexibility step up to batches in the 10-15 gallon range. This would allow them to produce twice as much beer in approximately the same amount of time as a 5-gallon batch.
A refractometer is an instrument used to measure the specific gravity of liquids. Brewers can use a refractometer to take multiple measurements throughout the course of brewing. Unlike using a hydrometer, you only need a few drops of wort to take a reading, which means even hot wort will cool quickly enough to use the reading to adjust your recipe on the fly.
Subscribing to a beer kit of the month program is a great way to keep your brewer brewing. Also, these programs generally send a variety of beers to introduce new flavors and styles in a way that can keep the brewer trying new things.
Most of the homebrewers I know have a list of items they would like to have for brewing. Ask the homebrewer in your life if there are any items they need, and they will make sure you have lots of options.
Have a Merry Christmas!
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Beer is awesome. Making beer is awesome. New Year’s Eve is awesome. Let’s combine all three.
While talking with my wife tonight, I came up with a crazy idea. Actually, it was her idea, but I’m going to try to figure out how to make it happen.
I want to make a beer that can be used to toast in 2014. Given the fact it is December 4, this seems almost unachievable to me. This gives me just over two weeks to brew and ferment the beer, and just over a week to bottle-condition.
It should be completely achievable to turn a good ale around in less than 4 weeks. It’s coming up on the Holidays, which tends to be the craziest time of the year. Turning a batch around in less than a month will be a challenge for me. I procrastinate bottling, so I know that’s going to be the challenge.
For my own mental health, which may already be in question, I am going to do a smaller batch than normal. I am still debating between a five gallon or a one-gallon batch. I’ll keep you posted.
Join me in this challenge! Some rough guidelines:
You could delay as late as December 14 and still have time to bottle condition in time for New Year’s Eve, but it would be a close thing. At that point, you better hope you have a strong ferment to finish up in a week.
If you haven’t signed up already, please sign up for my newsletter to get email updates about how it’s going. I won’t promise daily updates, but the process is going to go fast!
If you’re willing to go all-in and brew a batch of beer for New Year’s, sign up to join Super Brewers and send me a message!
