I bring joy to the world one bottle at a time. Granted, it’s
mostly my joy, but its joy nonetheless.
You see recently I have begun
brewing my own beer.
It’s a modest, grassroots
operation, one man with a humble dream to be inebriated. The act of brewing
beer at home has been extremely satisfying. I don’t cook, I’m hardly crafty,
and certainly not handy as a general rule.
I have just bottled my second batch;
what I call a “Ch’oaked Out Porter” - a traditional porter with chocolate
flavoring and whiskey soaked oak chips being added in during fermentation.
It should be just as delectable as
it sounds. My first attempt was a Belgian Triple, of which I split half the batch
and gave it some vanilla flavoring, just for poo and snickers. I’m honest so I can’t
say it was the best beer I’ve ever tasted, but it was pretty damn good, especially
for a first run.
What surprised me the most about
the whole process was how easy it was to finish. I’ve compared it numerous times
to making stew, albeit a stew you let sit for three weeks, but still pretty appropriate
in my humble opinion. Plus drinking something that I created was satisfying in
a way that buying a beer could never be.
I guess I had always looked at
brewing beer as too complex for me to do myself. I looked at friends and acquaintances
I’ve known that have done it through the years as somehow having this nearly occult-like
knowledge of a process that was both mysterious and grand. Trust me that says
more about my flair for the dramatic than it does about the high esteem that I
hold them in.
At any rate, having accomplished my
task, and succeeded has really given a boost to my confidence level- needless to say so has drinking
all the beer I’ve created. It’s made me want to learn more, not only about the
hobby of home brew, but about lots of other things as well.
I’ve decided that nothing is as hard
as it seems, and have used this as a springboard to expand my knowledge in
other areas. I’ve taken up cross country rugby, horizontal skydiving,
and have even booked myself for a neurosurgery I had been putting off for
months, maybe even years -all things I just assumed were too difficult, dangerous
or simply beyond my comprehension to attempt.
So with that I ask of you that you
try something new. You don’t have to expect perfection, just try it and approach
the task with a realistic outcome in mind.
Oh, and one more thing wish me luck
on my surgery, it’ll be my first time operating.
Cheers!
