Brewing Beer-

So after it's been a few weeks since the last post. Carolyn, Brian and I finally had a weekend to get together and start our next "arts and craft" project.

Brewing beer Mmmmm.....

So 10:30a Saturday morning we met at Hops and Berries to pick out our ingredients. Brian was great; he spent time in his Beer Bible to pick out recipes he thought all three of us would enjoy. To our/his dismay not all of the ingredients were available. So we reverted to the brewing recipes at Hops and Berries. We found a brown ale recipe with caramel, nutty flavors.

Hops (the green leaf) wheat (grain), and the yeast(tube).

The grain go into the bag.

We start with boiling water (almost) to 160 degrees. Carolyn is monitoring the temp.

The grains are dipped in the water, similar to a tea bag method.

Calculating our total investment. Initial batch of beer will cost us about $5.00 per bottle. Following batches are projected to be around a $1.00 per bottle.

*if you drink beer with pop-off (not screw-off) save the for us.*

Our next step is to stir in the malt. It looked yummy enough to try. Our instincts were right. It taste like molasses...and is sticky just like molasses

Hops are added at intervals. The first batch into the tea bag and steep for 40 min. This is for flavor.

The second batch for 20min. This batch adds to the complexity of the boquet.

Keeping track of the temperature.

Pull the hops, and cool as quickly as possible from boiling to 80 degrees. This is the concentrate. We will add it to cold water and then add the yeast.

Ah! The yeast. Final step.

Now we (we, as in Brian) have to agitate the beer.

It starts fermenting in the bottle for 10-14 days.

Then we bottle....and wait 4 weeks for consumption.

Life most recently

Life most recently has been....shall we say, unconventional. January 15th my lease expired on the apartment. The house is not currently have the ability for me to live in it. So my dear friend Carolyn has so graciously extended her roof to shelter me while her boyfriend is in Iraq. I truly don't know how long. I will share that information when I know. I know how anxious everyone is to come and visit. And yes, have the HUGE house warming party!

So, I am terribly excited to share the details of this picture. You will notice the setting as O'dells. Brian, Carolyn and I meandered over after visiting Hops and Berries. You see, the three of us are the newest home brewers in Fort Collins. Our name? Well, we'll share in our first "Tapping" Party.

After "brainstorming" at Odells, we thought it was necessary to venture to Big City Burrito (especially since Carolyn has lived in this town for 10 years and has had only one, very bad experience). It is now safe to say she no longer hates Big City. Thank you Brian. Just down the street there were two yaks in Old Town. The opportunity of "Facebook Profile Picture" screamed to Brian, while Carolyn and I were excited that the yaks were actually advertising a new fiber (as in yarn) store.

On our way back to Brian's place there was a sign advertising a HUGE Power Ball drawing that night. So being the experienced gamblers (truly none of us had ever purchased a lottery ticket) we decided we should try our luck. Still waiting for a phone call from Brian telling us we are millionaires!

These are the little feet belonging to the newest diva. Jenny's little girl Colette.

... and these, her hands...

Oh, there she is.

Headed to Boulder to grab dinner with Amanda. Had a Birthday dinner and played with our imagination and the camera a bit.

This is my most recent master piece...and Italian Creme Cake with Marscapone icing. (Secret: it looks better than it tasted.) I need to find a new cake recipe. The fruit and icing were perfect.

Until I know more....or brew our first batch ;)