#37 Learn How To Brew Beer

Hey guys! I'm back! Thanks to some really good friends of mine, Ciara and Devin, I got the opportunity to learn how to brew beer, which is number thirty seven on my never-ending bucket list. This whole process was quite the science experiment, and unfortunately I was only there for about half of it because the night Devin was brewing was the same night "The Sound of Music, Live!" premiere was on, and Lord knows I can't miss a chance to laugh at an attempt to remake a classic.

So here's my understanding of brewing beer, which I'm sure Devin will have some corrections or additions for because let's face it, I'm sucky when it comes to this stuff.

1) First the malted barley is soaked in hot water to release the sugars, and if I remember this step correctly, Devin had this cool sock-looking thing that was comparable to stockings to soak the malted barley in.
2) The sugar-malt stuff is boiled with the hops in order to season it. The hops grows on these giant tree-like stalks that kind of look like something out of a Dr. Suess story.
3) After all of this cools off, yeast is added and fermentation begins. I got this handy dandy definition online because as we all know, science and Bridget do not really mix. I'm trying, people, I really am! Fermentation in brewing is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions.
4) After this process if over, you can begin to bottle the beer

So I'm pretty sure this is the super condensed, cliff notes version of this, but I do have to give a super big thank you to Devin for teaching me, because it actually was way more interesting than I thought it was going to be, and there's a lot more to it than I anticipated! Also, thanks to Ciara for making an awesome dinner for us and just for being awesome as always. I'm sure I sound like a huge idiot trying to explain this whole process, but it also wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.

Now that we've checked that one off the list, the new number thirty seven is, "Read Fifty Shades of Grey," which will no doubt be an interesting experience. A friend of mine actually suggested that I read this, so shout out to Melynda for giving me something super uncomfortable to read for the sake of blogging.

Until next time,
Bridget