Drinking it is the best part....Right?

About a month or so ago I decided that I wanted to start brewing my own beer. There's just something really exciting to me about creating my own beer. I'd say it's the entrepreneur inside me that wants to own his own microbrewery, as well as the satisfaction of taking that first taste of something you created. So, instead of just talking about it, I went out and started to do some research on home brewing. Sure, Amanda's family brews their own beer in California, and I could easily contact them for advice and troubleshooting. That's too easy. I want to blaze this trail the old fashioned way (Oregon Trail Style). I want to do the research, talk to people, go to classes, buy a kit, and then brew my first lot of beer. I mean c'mon, I love to talk to people and pick their brains about why the do the things they do. I want to know why they used a certain ingredient over another. Why they boiled the wort for 5 minutes longer. Where they let their beer ferment, and at what temperature. These are things I want to find out myself and then put my own spin on them. Isn't that how most people do it? (Zuckerberg, Gates, Trump). Usually me and my friends sit around, on a porch or around a fire, and talk about ideas, places, trips, and goals. You'll more than likely find a few adult beverages being enjoyed on the porch or at the fire. Our biggest character flaw, as a group, is we never really act upon any of these great ideas for one reason or another. The underlying reason 99.9% of the time is because we do not have the money to pursue an idea. Another underlying theme to most of the ideas we have is they all center around owning and working our own bar/restaurant. Even in high school we used to brainstorm about the bar theme, specials, locations, and names. Every last detail was discussed from the color of the walls, to the style of the bar, and even the jobs we would all hold at the establishment. Each of us had a unique skill that would benefit the business in a positive manner that none of the other members had. Josh (logistics, buying), Eric (finance, money), Russ (F&B manager), myself (marketing, sales). Our girlfriends would be the bartenders, and we even had Jordan to fly the plane with promotional signs. Wait, I almost forgot, Josh C. could play a tune and we would play live music on the weekends. Everything is perfect, right? Well, everyone put this idea in the back seat and went to pursue their career out of school. Well 4 short years later everyone has realized they don't want to work for the man. We want our own place, with our beer, our food, our rules, our customers, and our quality. I don't know when this dream will happen, but I know it will. It may take investors, luck, the lottery, who knows...but it will happen. A wise man once told me, "I'd rather make less money to do something I love, than make more money and never be truly happy." Sure, money buys big houses, nice cars, and a hell of a swimming pool, but if you work 100 hours a week to obtain them, you never get to see them. At this point in time, you may ask yourself "What the hell does this have to do with brewing?" EVERYTHING....This is the story behind why I want to brew my own beer. Drinking it isn't the best part to me, it's the dream behind the drink. It's the story of the flavors and aroma that makes the beer taste so good. It's the hard work put behind the curtains so people can enjoy what you've created. So this will be my blog of how I go from chemical and environmental marketing to microbrewer/pub owner. It may take awhile, but the journey is the fun part. I'll be updating the blog with everything I learn, everything I read, recipes, random thoughts, and reviews on what I brew. At the end of each post I'll give a little preview of what's to come next. We call that a cliff hanger or a teaser. So here it goes!!!!!

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Chapter 1 - 3 Review of How to Brew by John Palmer

My experience at Porterhouse Brew Shop