Ivan has been really into beer brewing over the last few months. I helped brew the first batch but then after that I had just been helping with things like bottling where it is a lot easier with two people. Not last weekend but the weekend before Ivan and I brewed a big batch of Super Fruit-tea beer together. I find the whole brewing process really interesting so I thought I would share a few photos taken while we were getting our brew on.
This photo makes me laugh. I don't know why I find it funny that one step requires us to pour beer into a huge cooler and let it sit. I think it's just because it makes me feel super classy.
This is the part where you throw some dirty underwear in for extra flavour. (Not really, those are the grain sacks, they just look like underwear to me in this photo)
These pellets that look like rabbit food are the hops. They smell really strong.
This is the tea that we added to the beer for flavour. Just a side note, this tea tastes amazing! I tried it after we brewed both hot and cold and it is so yummy.
Here we are cooling the beer with Ivan's homemade immersion chiller.
There is a bunch of wait time during the brewing process so we worked on our wedding thank you cards (finally).
Farva says "It's about time slackers!"
Brewing your own beer - how exciting! How long do you have to wait before you taste it? Or can you taste it straight away with beer? Jen x
ReplyDeleteBefore the beer is completely finished and ready to drink it is about a month. You can taste it at any stage though as long as you don't contaminate it!
DeleteMmm underwear beer! Can't wait to chug some right from a spout in your cooler! Hehe. It does look like an interesting process and I do want to try green tea superfruit beer. Sounds delish!
ReplyDeleteHa! We made a large batch so I'll save you one!
DeleteBest picture of Farva, EVER! He looks like a little drunk.
ReplyDeleteAlso, birch beer! GET ON IT!
Hahaha!
DeleteWe have been looking into making root beer/birch beer. It's on the to make list for sure! I can't wait!
Was this picture taken after Farva tasted the beer? :)
ReplyDeleteI think it's amazing that you brewed your own beer. I'm curious how it tastes with the green tea flavour..
Haha! Looks like he snuck some beer but no, no beer for kitties ;)
DeleteOh yeah, about the green tea flavour...when we moved it into the secondary fermenter we took a taste and so far so good!
DeleteHi Elycia!
ReplyDeleteI know Lipton tea tastes great, but Lipton does animal testing.
There were warning for example from Avaaz two years ago.
Just thought that you might be interested in that.
Love,Anja
Hi Anja,
DeleteI hadn't heard about that, thank you for mentioning it. I just looked into it though and you will be happy to hear that as of January 2011 Lipton no longer tests on animals. Hooray!
Here's a link:
http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2011/01/31/victory-lipton-ends-cruel-animal-tests.aspx
I should get Chad into brewing beer or us. He needs a new project. We're behind on writing our wedding Thank-You cards too.
ReplyDeleteshey and I want to start brewing our own beer! is it expensive?
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check with Ivan on exact prices but it is definitely cheaper than buying beer at the store, especially in Canada! It seems like a bunch of people are interested in this so I may do a more informative post about it including prices. :D
Deletethat would be so fantastic!
DeleteMy husband has been wanting to brew his own beer for a long time. I'm so sending him a link to this post. He'd love it. I didn't know you could use tea to flavor beer. I might actually drink it!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about the Thank you card. I totally neglected to send any from our reception. Oops. Two days after our party we moved across the country, I kind of used it as an excuse ;)
Have a great week!
Brewing beer sounds like so much fun! We have a family friend that brews hard cider and it is so heavenly! Your beer sounds delicious! I wouldn't mind trying a sample. haha. Happy brewing!
ReplyDeleteThat is SO cool! I love it!
ReplyDeleteWould that tea be good mixed with lemonade? I'm so addicted to half&half right now, and I want to make a batch with some kind of really good tea and that looks pretty good.
That Farva picture...no words.
xomando
bahaha! Farva is so cute!! I will have to try that tea!! I love finding new teas to try out!! Thanks Elycia!! xo
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting hobby, I'd love to try making my own beer! Adding tea is a good idea too, fruit beer is the best!
ReplyDeleteFaye x
Awesome! Also, great picture of Farva!
ReplyDeleteLove that you have a brewing guy too! My man is a home brewer and I help him out too! I really enjoy stirring the boil and adding the hops.
ReplyDeleteWe also use a cooler for our mash. It is also blue. Is their one cooler that all homebrewers use?!
What a cool project! Someday (after my 21st in a few months) I'l have to try brewing my own beer!
ReplyDeleteI have been homebrewing for about a year now and I love it. It is so much fun, and so satisfying to drink knowing that it was homemade. My man helps me with the heavy lifting and engineering aspects of it- oh and the drinking, he helps with that too... :-P Despite that, I still have a "cellar" with around 12 cases of beer that I just can't seem to make a dent in. I guess I need more friends. Maybe once the weather cools off, if you and Ivan are interested, we could do a homebrew mail swap? I think that would be awesome. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe got given a book all about writing thank you notes for a wedding present. It was the most thoughtful gift from our wedding and one that we used then and still refer back to. :)
ReplyDeletehmmm nice day u had :)
ReplyDeleteI made my own beer in an advanced microbiology lab in uni. We even cultured our own Saccharomyces cerevisiae! It turned out a little sludgy (which is better than my lab attempt at tempe) but not as great as the stuff my grandpa constantly made in his basement at the farm. Way to go grandparents - always out science experimenting me!
ReplyDeleteWOO WOO! Left handed! Go Ivan! bahahah.
ReplyDeleteI love this. I really want to brew my own beer. Er, well, maybe help out with someone who is brewing their own. I love that you guys added tea to it.
So how delicious did it taste with the underwear added in?
bahaha.
That seems like something my boyfriend would love to do. I like the idea, but in reality I'm probably wayyyyyy too lazy to actually attempt it myself when I know I can just pull one out of the fridge ready to go, haha.
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ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I'm not the only person that puts off writing Thank You notes... I procrastinate SO bad when it comes to that. Maybe because I have such a hard time coming up with something to write in them other than "Thank You for the _____." >_<
DeleteOh my gosh! Farvas face is the best!
ReplyDelete-Meg
Ahhh so cool! My boyfriend and I haven't tried brewing beer yet, but we started homebrewing mead a few years ago. I love coming up with new flavor ideas :)
ReplyDelete