How cute are they?

As the jobless rate climbed toward 10 percent this summer, Erica Shea and Stephen Valand, quit their advertising jobs, took $10,000 in personal savings and started selling their 1-gallon home brew beer kits from a stand at the Brooklyn Flea Market, testing the theory that beer is recession proof...

Personal commentary: they worked in advertising, live in Brooklyn, and in a crappy economy the QUIT their jobs to do THIS?!

...Valand said in September online sales through their website - www. brooklynbrewshop.com - surpassed in-person sales at the market for the first time and the couple would like to drive more traffic there, but know that entails a major revamp of the site. In addition Shea said they are also looking to get the kits into retail stores in time for the Christmas rush. That will likely entail hiring more people to do the packaging to free up their time to devote to marketing the product better.

"Our challenges as we continue to grow the business are time and space. There's only so many hours in a day that you can be doing things and there are so many ideas that come up that we really want to pursue, but ultimately there are two of us and we get tired."

via Reuters.com

Can I order a kit from KC to send to someone in Brooklyn? Heh. Guess what my brother & sister in law are getting for this holiday? They'll be thrilled, I am sure. Especially when they find out that brewing inside makes the kitchen smell like dog food.

A beer sort of day

KC Hop Head and OregonAmy were nice enough to let me host July's Brew Day, and despite some ungodly humidity, I think a good time was had by all. I know I learned a lot, just by watching them do their brews. I chickened out, because I still had yet to figure out how to properly carbonate my Questionable Cream Ale in the keg, and am not loving the results I get from extract brewing. KC Hop Head managed to get my beer all set, so it was tested, and deemed drinkable if not delicious. :) The brews brought by Amy and her husband quite awesome, and I am freshly motivated to move on from "kit" beer. It doesn't look quite as scary and difficult, when everyone else can knock it out while hanging out on my back deck. So thanks for the fantastic company and examples to follow. I'm personally interested in the oatmeal raisin stout that was smelling so nice while boiling! Friends showed up all day and evening, and I thank you all.


Everyone brought summertime brews to share, from home brew to special finds. I think my top favorites were the Belgian Cherry that Average Jane brought, the Founder's Scottish Ale brought by Tim, and the IPA brewed by Amy & her husband. Good stuff!

My dog is so exhausted from yesterday that he has only woken up twice so far - both times to eat. Ha!

Edited to add that I inherited both a tan Coleman cooler with one unmarked bottle of homebrew, and a hula hoop after everyone left on Saturday. If you'd like to claim either, let me know!

Brew Day! Deck Party! Super Happy Fun Time!

Everyone is cordially invited to a Brew Day at a beer sort of house! Saturday, July 11th, starting around noon. We're going with a Summer Beer Trade/Brewing/Drinking theme. Think lagers, pilsners, fruit brews, kolsch, etc. We'll fire up the Weber, have a few yard games, and lots of awesome people there, some even brewing up their own concoctions. The forecast says 92 degrees, but it is always cooler in the shade of Prairie Village, so plan to stop by! Bring your favorite brew to share, and possibly a camp chair. :) Email, twitter, IM, etc for directions.

Oh yeah, edited to add that our house is a couple of weeks from going on the market. If you or anyone you know really wants to move into a remodeled ranch on an awesome street in Prairie Village with great neighbors, come check out the house before it goes on the market.

Ketchup

Second batch of homebrew is almost ready for second fermentation, so fingers crossed. Bubbling is mostly stopped, gravity truth to be unveiled tonight. The Cream Ale involved way less STUFF, so maybe it's more idiot-proof? We shall see.

Works busy, economy is crap, and I think I am putting my house on the market to buy another one down the street. Gotta keep it interesting, you know.

I am going to Baltimore & DC for the 4th, any recommendations on where to get a decent beer?

Also, Jessica from Obsidian Public Relations thought I might find this interesting enough to post on my blog, so here you all go:

Flying Saucer will present a beer tasting featuring Schlafly Beer on Monday, July 6 at 7 p.m. The event will be hosted by Stephen Hale, head brewer at St. Louis-based Schlafly. Six of Schlafly’s bottle-conditioned and barrel-aged beers will be paired with selected meats, artisan cheeses and dessert. Featured beers include the Tripel, Grand Cru, Bière de Garde, Quadruple, Oak-Aged Barleywine and Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout. Tickets for the event can be purchased at Flying Saucer and are $30 for U.F.O. Club members and $35 for non-members.

Fail Whale Pale Ale

The name ended up being more prophetic than I would have liked. It's really bad. Like, I don't even want to try anymore. I tried, I did. It smells awesome, but tastes like behonkey. The super low gravity that never rose told me this would be the result a week or so ago, but I really wanted it to succeed. Hope and want are not enough. Perseverance might be. You can get pretty far in a lot of things just by trying really hard and not giving up. I'm pretty stubborn, I don't like to fail, and I do lots of things I was not born to do, so there will be many more attempts.

Boil of a new brew starts tomorrow. In the meantime, I have a lot of cleaning to do. Sigh.

COMPLETELY related note:
I missed out on Amy's brew day today. I really could have used it. Long story, poor me, boo hoo, has everything to do with not so happy neighbors, a landscaping project, and then having to fill in for an employee on a Saturday afternoon/evening.

QUESTION:
That being said, KC brewers, if I can provide an actual venue, a free, private space, a place to gather, consume, discuss and teach/mentor the slower of us (me), would you be interested in an another meet up? The door is wide open. We could even invite home brew stores to come bring us goodies. I work in marketing, people, I will find us free stuff if I need to stoop to that level. Brew club peeps, experts & proven winning brewers (Jeff, I am looking at you) and fans (Bullevard) would you consider it?

I've always had a thing with gravity

Gravity testing on the brew starts now. Then on to moving it from one fermenter to another. Aren't you glad I updated you all on that? I am sure.

I've been kind of busy. Not in a bloggy way. Perhaps a little burnt out at the end of the day, too much time, too little do. Strike that, reverse it, you know. But it is summertime, GORGEOUS, and I have a little positive thing here: I paid a stranger to power wash, strip and restain my deck because I want to enjoy it, and I couldn't face doing it again. Grab a sixer of something interesting & meet me in the backyard, anytime.

Edited to note - This started out around a 1.020, I think. I should have done a better job of reading that specifically. Here's where we are now. Going to 2nd it because it really needs some clarification if my husband is going to drink it at all. :)

Double double toil and trouble

We have bubbles. One at least every 3 seconds. So I have that going for me. Which is nice.

Got wort?

I FINALLY have the wort in the carboy, and after messing up the seal, potentially sprinkling the dry yeast wrong, and almost forgetting to take a hydrometer reading, I THINK we may be in business. I have no idea. This batch is my warm up batch. No harm if it sucks, right?

Still haven't started

I went out of town to visit my mom in New England for Mother's Day, work's been all consuming, and I haven't had at least 4 hours at home to myself in the past 2 weeks, but I think I may be able to start my brewing experiment tonight or tomorrow night. We shall see.

In the meantime, please read Bull E. Vard's announcement that THERE IS MORE SAISON BRETT AVAILABLE! Oh yeah. Happy.

And the waiting begins

So I took too much time to get distracted by shiny objects, as is my thing. Trey is WAY ahead of me. But I finally got off my duff, went to Northern Brewer, and ordered myself a kit for pale ale, and the starter kit with TWO plastic carboys. Yes, TWO. I have a soda keg, and I bet I can grab 2 cases worth of bottles in a short time period, so I will be brewing two test batches after receipt of said purchases. Kegerator supplied by my employer (ahem). Heaven help both my coworkers and my husband. Here we GO.

ATTN BEER BREWERS

I need some advice. I really want to start brewing. I have been goofing around with *thinking* about it for about a year. A friend of mine said he would do it with me, but my foot dragging pushed his impatience, and he started without me last night. He's doing a Cream Ale, from some sort of starter kit, and brewing straight to a keg. Booo. But it seems to have been the competitive spark I needed to get off my duff and start.

I bought this book, and I ended up getting a little more freaked out after reading, since it suddenly felt a lot more like chemistry class than home ec. I can bake, I should be able to brew, but now I am over thinking it. I am definitely starting from a kit from a local homebrew store, and I am STILL compiling a list of equipment I need. I'm recruiting the husband into the hobby, so I won't be alone.

I would love feedback from all you awesome people out there, you award winners, you serious brewers that I admire so much. Here are my starter questions:

1. What are the must have, no messing around, don't bother if you don't own this, equipment that you would recommend?
2. For a first timer, what style of brew would YOU recommend starting?
3. Should I attempt bottling, or is keg brewing easier? I have access to kegs and a kegerator, so I feasibly could do it, but am afraid of ruining so much beer all at once.
4. What are the worst mistakes newbies make, and how can I avoid them?

Thanks guys, I really do appreciate it!

Now I HAVE to try brewing....

because this is officially the name of my first batch.