A couple weeks ago, I started my first batch of home brew beer. My brother-in-law Scott got me a kit for Christmas and I've been soaking up tips and tricks from the local brew club members and my friend DeWayne. A couple weekends ago, DeWayne invited me over to his place to brew a few batches. I had a marvelous time and even managed to snap a few pictures while trying not to screw anything up. Beer, after all, is very serious business!

The day started out with a trip to our local brew supply store, Bluestem Winery in Parkersburg, IA. The owner Vern Holm, was very good about helping me find the supplies for a beer that I enjoy (English Brown Ale) that was also easy for a beginner to brew. Back at DeWayne's place we set to the task and before long, my first batch was well underway. As is so often the case when I set myself to a new project, things didn't quite go according to the plan. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but one minute we were discussing beer making and enjoying the unbelievably gorgeous Sunday afternoon and the next minute...chaos! You see the second step in beer making after getting the water to a boil is introducing your grains. You do this by putting them in a muslin bag and placing this in the boiling water, not entirely unlike making a giant cup of tea. Somehow, the end of the bag that stays out of the water got a wee bit too close to the flame and started on fire. I was frantically looking for my water bottle or ANYTHING to put the fire out, when DeWayne calmly grabs the flaming bag, lifts the lid on the pot and slaps out the fire. He then turned to me, grinned and with that typical Iowa tone said, "well...THAT's never happened before!" We had a good laugh and christened this batch "Burnt Muslin Ale" It's now been a couple weeks, and the beer is in the secondary fermenter soon to be bottled. Then a few weeks in the bottles and we will find out if it's fit to drink!

A few more pictures from our afternoon of brewing: