Bottling Day

So we bottled the Scotch ale on Sunday at my dad's. All the brothers were there, plus two sig others and an offspring. The Sprout got to help a bit, or at least pose for a few photos that made it appear that that was the case. We spilled a little and got fewer bottles than we should have, and when we sampled the stuff before adding it to the priming sugar it tasted like a super nutty brown ale, and we think The Sprout might have put one of the bottles in his mouth before we filled it, but hey, we got beer. Or we will in three weeks or so. We're planning a Thanksgiving dinner debut, if my father can leave it alone for that long.

Today Dad wants to start the second batch, an IPA. These are kits he bought from STL Wine & Beermaking, by the way. We'll get the hang of extract first, then, someday, go grain. Then again, maybe I should see if we're any good at this before I make any predictions. I wish I'd had time to go to the Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day gatherings I read about recently, but for now I'll just keep reciting the Papazian mantra: Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew. And until we have our own, that means a homebrew of George's or Gabe's or Sarah's, my lovely friends who have bravely gone before.