Homebrewed IPA

So the initial brew attempt will be ready this weekend!  It's an IPA which tends to be my favorite.  We'll see how I did.  The process was relatively easy and enjoyable...broke out my camera and took pictures during the process

The initial step is to steep the grains in hot water for an hour (which made my place smell like I had been baking all day!).  

After straining out the grains and adding more water, what's left is the wort....the liquid that eventually becomes the beer.

 IPA = hops :) The wort is boiled for an hour and Cascade & Columbus hops are added at different points during the boil

Finally, the fermentation in the glass carboy for two weeks, followed by two weeks in the bottle.  That four weeks ends this Saturday!  Looking forward to trying it...

somethin's homebrewin'...

been wanting to try brewing my own beer for a while.  a friend sent me a link to a sale at BevMo for the Brooklyn BrewShop's Beer Making Kit.  It was only $20 for a one gallon kit, and it included the ingredients for the first batch (what a deal!).  The sale is still going on at BevMo (online and in stores) if you want to check it out.   

this kit came with an IPA ingredients kit.  i'll post pictures of the brewing process.  it was kinda fun.  thankfully i had been saving empty beer bottles to use for the homebrew.  thanks to Google/YouTube, found an easy way to soak the bottles (in water/oxyclean) and the labels peel right off.  then rinsed them off with some soap and water.  will be designing some labels too cause why not? 

It's becoming a tradition...

so i'm realizing that i seem to have a recurring theme around this time of year.  a blast of motivation hits me to restart this blog.  not really sure why (ok well this year, my friend lyn sparked some motivation.  she'll be restarting her blog too).  will this motivation die down like it seems to every year?  probably.  but for now i at least get some feeling of accomplishment. 

so what's new in life for me now?  i have a new niece and a new roommate :)  got to meet my newborn niece last week when i went out to colorado.  she was only three weeks old and i hogged her as much as i could since i'll only see her again when i go out there for christmas.  i wish i was more local to see her more often.  here's a picture of her...

i also mentioned a new roommate.  after much waiting, mylah arrived.  she's a beautiful african grey parrot.  Got her from a breeder a couple hours from where I live.  she imitates a couple of my whistles...and hopefully will start talking soon.  i'll have to watch my language around the house so she doesn't repeat anything :) 

here she is...

so that's the update for now.  here's hoping the blog posts continue a little more consistently this time :)