FILE UNDER: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Christmas Day, 2008: I'm PJ'd and crusty-eyed, sitting on the floor of my parent's family room. The television is tuned to 'Sounds of the Season' and the clock reads 7:02 am. Of all the things in life that create child-like enthusiasm and wonder, Christmas morning is one that has not diminished over time, and thus I am scanning the piles of packages for those baring my name with barely contained excitement. Buried near the base of the tree, under an avalanche of paper, bows, bags and boxes stood a package that caught my eye - a large, green rectangle with a red bow, and a tag that read "To: Michael From: Eric and Col".
That Christmas morning would be notable for a number of reasons. It was the first Christmas with my new nephew, Brendan. It was the last Christmas at my parent's house before we changed venues to my brother's the following year. And, it was the year that an over-sized, green package from Eric and Col changed my life. For in that package, buried under the avalanche of paper and boxes and bows was the Mr. Beer Beer Making Kit!
My first impression of the gift was that it would be interesting to try, but that it was most likely something I would use once or twice a year with no great results. Until that moment I had never considered making beer. I didn't know what was in it, how it was made or anything about the long and robust history of brewing.
Late Christmas night, after all the festivities had died down, and everyone went home, I sat in my parents living room and carefully inspected the contents of the Mr. Beer Brewing Kit. There were a couple cans of liquid malt extract, a bag of primer (basically more sugar), a package of yeast and a large, keg-like container for fermentation. I don't know if it was lights from the Christmas tree reflecting off the brown plastic of the fermentor or one too many glasses of wine, but there seemed to be some magic in the air. All of a sudden I could not wait to brew my first batch of beer and I went about planning my first brew session, to take place the very next day.
The rest, as they say, is history. From that moment forward I began educating myself on the ins and outs of brewing, and found myself oddly preoccupied with yeast life cycles, sanitation methods and the characteristics of noble hops. That first batch - as the Mr. Beer fermentor sat bubbling under my bed - I must have checked every twenty minutes. After a day or so a film formed on the top of the liquid in the fermentor. There were chunks of crud floating in it. It was nasty and I was in love.
Not too long after I brewed that first batch from the Mr. Beer Brewing Kit, Doug and I were standing on my front porch in Bloomfield and we had the conversation that many home brewers have. Perhaps we can do this for a living. After all, it's about time we pick a career!
Since then we have labored with the hopes of one day supplying fresh beer to the masses, but we have never lost sight of what first turned us on to brewing in the first place. There is a certain amount of child-like enthusiasm and wonder in the process, which serves to approximate the feeling of Christmas morning every time we brew a new batch, pop open a half gallon growler or tap the new keg.
Two years later, as I look back and take stock of our progress, I am amazed at how much Doug and I have learned and how much we have accomplished. In practical terms, all we have done is brew a couple hundred gallons of mostly drinkable ale. When approached from a different angle, however, we have done much more. We have allowed ourselves to dream an almost impossible dream, and we got our dreams and our actions heading in the same direction.
Who knows what the upcoming year will bring. I am excited to find out, and I hope that you can share a little of that excitement with me through this blog, my Twitter account and Facebook.
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year!
Michael Burt
@craftbrews4youz
PS. We have officially named our brewery project and a number of the beers themselves. Once we legally own the names we will be happy to share them.
In Primary: Nothing
In Secondary: Aromatic Toasted Ale, Belgian Red Ale #3 (Half Batch)
In Kegs: Sweet Stout, Wheat Beer #8, Belgian Red Ale #3 (Half Batch)
In Bottles: Wheat Beer #8, Sweet Stout, Belgian Red Ale #2
