Bottlin' and Brewin'

Ever seen a bottle tree?

This is a beautiful thing.  These cleaned and sanitized bottles will soon be filled with homebrew!  In this case, they will be filled with a Raspberry Wheat beer that we are calling “Raspberry Kouchi.”  We learn more about the process as we go, and although there are things we will absolutely change going forward, we are hopeful that this turns out tasty!

I went a little overboard and bought several caps of different colors, to help us know which unmarked bottle contains which beer. 

In my head, I envision our little storage closet filled with bottles of all different caps from all different brews.  I’ve read stories on the brewing forums about how people “re-discovered” a bottle of something tucked W-A-Y back in their pantry, only to open it and realize it is the last of a batch they brewed months ago and it tastes better than it ever did!  On a personal note, I can’t imagine “losing” a bottle of beer; that seems irresponsible.  However, I do like the idea of a homebrew surprise!

Next on the brewing deck is our first porter, a kit from Midwest called Power Pack Porter. We are calling it “Power Pack Kouchi.”  I know, I know….we REALLY need to get creative with these names.  Our first name, Flamin’ Red Kouchi, is apparently our best.  Nothing worse than starting off so high that you can only decline!  One of the best things you can do for yourself in the brewing process is to have an accurate checklist of what needs to be done and when.  The brew kits arrive with instructions in paragraph form, but we like our giant white board with multi-colored markers and check-boxes.  Ryan gets us ready to make magic:

The finished product is placed ceremoniously on our custom-made Aylsworth Appliance Storage Cabinet.  We review it, gather all ingredients, and fill our brew pot to start the long process of bringing 4+ gallons to a boil.  It takes a while to get that much water up to 212° F, so much so that you end up looking at this white board of instructions and wishing you were further along in the process than you are.  I think it’s safe to say that conducting field research and brewing beer are both excellent tools for developing patience.