Politics And Beer!!!!

So, I thought I’d give a couple of quotes ……..

• Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world. – Kaiser Wilhelm
• Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza. – Dave Berry
• You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline – it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. – Frank Zappa
• God made yeast, as well as dough, and loves fermentation just as dearly as he loves vegetation. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

And, lastly, and most importantly ……

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer. – Abraham Lincoln

As I am, Abe, as I am.

I thought I’d give the readers an update as to what I’ve been up to since I’ve semi-retired from blogging.

While the picture above isn’t a picture of the ale we’ve brewed, I do have a couple of pints in the freezer, in “Ball” canning jars, as we speak. 

So far, it’s been a smashing success!  My vision is to have our own brewery in a few years.  Why?  Well, there are several reasons (or rationales).  But, the biggest reason is that a while back I saw a need for additional education of my grandchildren.  They need a more “hardened” (if that’s the right word) education.  That is to say, a practical application to things they weren’t really being taught in their school.  My vision goes well beyond just having a brewery.   It’s the whole nine yards!  As of now, we’re (my son-in-law, and daughter) just getting through the process of getting a good beer taste.  I had some last night, first taste, and thought it most excellent!  Tonight, I’m going to taste it again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke or something.  The carbonation period didn’t seem to take as long as it should have, so there’s a concern, but, again, it was most excellent last night.

Essentially, what we’ve done was to buy a “kit” ……. where you buy the grains, hops, extracts ….. etc. and then brew some beer.  Now, we play with it to get the taste, color, aroma to what we think is best.  As we work through that part, we also work to reduce our reliance upon the “kit” products, that is to say, we do it and make it ourselves.  We’re already growing our own hops (two different types).  Our next batch, we’re going to essentially make our own barely extract (the sugars necessary).  …… Later, we’ll malt our own barely.  Eventually, we plan to grow our own barely.  ……. the yeast is a bit of a conundrum for us.  I think it will be trickier to get that right, but, I think we will, it will just have to come later. 

There’s so much to teach and learn throughout the process.  I can’t think of a better educational tool.  The weights and measures, the math, the science, the biology, chemistry, physics!  Wow!  How much is a bushel?  How much area do you need for the required amount of barely and hops?  How many ounces are in a pint?  How does that equate to milliliters?  What makes that grass grow?  Why is it different to what is ideal for the hops?  What do the sugars do?   What’s the process?  What’s the chemical equation for that?  (I don’t know that answer, right now, but, I’m certain some chemistry minded people do know, and there’s always search engines!)  What else can we do with barely?  What about wheat?   …….. then, later, at what speed must one go, for how many miles, to ensure timely delivery to a location?  How much weight does the cargo add to the vehicle?   ……. This stuff is going to keep me young through the maturation of my grandchildren!!!!  ……. well, one hopes.  Worse case scenario, we enjoy a good beer at a much cheaper price than store price of crappy beer. 

For the most part, my son-in-law has done most of the heavy lifting in the project.  But, my daughter and I are the expert tasters! 

Well, that’s for today. 

My next update will be about the fantastic experience of leading a small congregation in singing while playing the guitar!  This is even greater than the above!  It’s been such a great experience!  I’ve never been so humbled and elevated at the same time!  But, that’s for another post.