Brewing Once Again

After brewing with my brother, it would be a long, five-years until I would brew again. This is not because I didn’t enjoy the process, far from it, but it was merely a problem of logistics: I had moved into a somewhat cramped London flat and no longer had the space appropriate for a brew kit, nevermind storing 40 pints of it. I was also earning very little money, so didn’t have the (admittedly small) finances to invest in a kit.

It was a sad thing but that tragedy, however, kept the brewing flame alive.

This came when I moved to New York. My apartment in Queens was considerable larger than my former abode in Crystal Palace (I realise the irony of having a tiny flat in a place called “Palace”).

My 25^th birthday was on the horizon and my Mum asked me what I wanted for a present. In a flash I realised that I now had the opportunity to re-find this long-lost hobby of mine “A home-brew kit would be great!” I said, my enthusiasm not lost over the pixilation of Skype.

We did a quick bit of research and realized that shipping a whole kit over from the UK would cost more than buying a new one over here, so we agreed on an Amazon gift-card.

Now, it being New York, there were still a few issues that arose: 1. Time (I didn’t want to spend all day brewing at home when I could be out in the Lower East Side with my mates, also I worked 12-hour days); 2. Space (although my room was now twice the size, a five gallon bin would be a little inconvenient) and 3. Money (NYC is the most expensive city in the US).

But once again the Internet prevailed, introducing me to the one and only Mr.Beer, the world’s favourite home-brewing system.

Their kits were the perfect solution: they were cheap (about $40), quick (brew in as little as two weeks) and they were space-friendly (their all-in-one kegs were only 2-gallons in capacity, so fit perfectly in my large-ish closet).

And so I re-found the path I had previously wandered from. I keenly placed my order, sat back and basked in thoughts of future brews

Oh, joy of joys.

My patience was rewarded a few days later by UPS. The package was received by my wide-eyed, over-excited self and I quickly told my colleagues about the New World Order I’d (sort of) bring to brewing. Being the excellent friends they are, they very kindly humoured my aspirations with encouragement and pffers of taste-testing.

That night, back in Queens, I opened the box to begin the alchemy again. One hour later, 2-gallons of American Lager sat on my shelf, brewing away and over the next few months I increased production, purchasing 2 more Mr.Beer kits, turning my closet into a mini-brewery, making Wheat Beers, Oktoberfest lagers, Vienna-style lagers, brown ales and red ales.

I even made a Pumpkin Ale, which was my very first attempt at experimenting with other ingredients. The recipe required pumpkin puree, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. It tasted great, had a deep orangey colour and went down a storm at dinner time. That was around the time I first started thinking about making more than just a plain beer.

The stage was now set for further experimentation and my creative juices, like my beer, were flowing nicely.