Make Your Own Damn Beer

this is the slogan of Austin Home Brew Supply, from whence cometh the makings of our beer. or ryan's beer, as the case may be. he just got a new brewing pot, so we finally had a couple of batches fermenting in our pantry. they were just as excited as we were: both batches fermented like crazy. like, all over the pantry, or kitchen, or kitchen sink. if you're not familiar with the process, it first goes into a large 5-gallon fermenter, where it bubbles like crazy for a while. it then transfers to a 5-gallon glass jug, the separator. after it sits in there for about a week, it is time for the fun part: bottling. it's the first time that Finn has been old enough to notice. bottling beer is FUN, even for a not-quite-two-year-old.

The first step is pumping it from the separator to the "Ale Pail." here is the empty jug, with the pump:

that great big metal doodad? that is the capper. it  presses down
the spikey metal-edges on the caps.

here it is. check out that rich, dark brew. this is an Imperial Stout. looks it, don't you think?

the Ale Pail has a nifty spout on it, so you can bottle that stout deliciousness. Finn doesn't even know what to do yet, but he's already ready to do it.

he doesn't really want Daddy to help him (although he may be okay with helping Daddy), but this is a firm condition for being allowed near the bottling spout.

once the bottle is nearly full, though, Daddy takes over. otherwise beer ends up on the floor. it really is almost-beer, at this point. when it is in the Ale Pail, extra sugar gets added so the beer will ferment in the bottles. this is how it gets carbonation.

here, he's holding the bottle for Daddy. excitement!

one batch of home brew fills about fifty bottles. we ran out of bottles for the second batch, as we had purged when we moved, so we have jars of beer in our pantry. it's sort of groovy, actually, in that sort of "we make so much beer we ran out of bottles." except not really.

each empty bottle mouth eagerly awaits its turn to drink it down

unfortunately, i could not get a photo of actually capping the beer, 'cause i was helping Finn do that. you put a cap on the bottle, edges all flayed out, and center it just right under the capper. then you push down on that handle. it's a good thing it has so much leverage, because even so i can put my whole weight on it--pick my feet off the ground, even. it has holes in the base so you can bolt it down. maybe when we buy a house. this one is called a mechanical one. ryan said he used to have a hand one--a hand-held device where you use your own self to seal the caps. good thing he upgraded!

and you know what? Finn has outgrown this romper. as he will tell you, "Finn + Losh [are] growing growing growing!"