Oddly enough, I had the biggest present under the Christmas tree at my girlfriend's house this year. I had been looking it over for a few weeks, trying to figure out what it was, but then on Christmas morning, I unwrapped what could be the start of a new hobby (read: obsession). I had, in my hands, a Mr. Beer homebrewing kit.
Over the past three years, since turning 21, I have been religiously trying and loving new beers. All in all, I've easily downed over 150 different bottles, cans, and draught pints. Seasonals, IPAs, pilseners, ales, lagers, wheat beers, and my personal favorite, stouts. I've read as much about the different kinds of beers as I cared to, trying to find out what made them taste the way they did, and how I could notice differences between two lagers, or ales. Overall, I found some beers that I enjoyed (most of them), and a few that I most certainly did not. I was always left wanting just a little bit more though... This Brazilian Xingu would be better if it were just a tad less sweet. Thailand's Singha is good, it just needs a little something to make it unforgettable etc.
Wherever there lies a problem, a solution exists, and I had one; I can just brew my own beer. It wasn't until I tore into my Mr. Beer box that I realized how easy it seemed. Sanitize your equipment, mix some powder and water, boil, and voila! Beer! This rudimentary kit does indeed make beer, but I was already intrigued, and was wondering what exactly was in the powder and extracts I was mixing together? What steps had been taken already that were beyond my control in making my perfect beer?
Curling up with Charlie Papazian's "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing" immediately cast light on what exactly was happening in my sealed fermenter in my kitchen, and I was already beginning to formulate my master plan on how to zero in on that perfect pint.
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