scopey
Well-Known Member
Wow! I'm impressed by the breadth of subscribers here, from all over the US and the world. BEER. It's what keeps up together (not 'love', as the old song would attempt to lead you to believe...) Seriously, I'm so glad to be back into it--and having this *awesome* resource to refer to for all my noob questions (like that stopper I pushed into my brand new 6.5 gallon carboy--it's out now, with a absolute minimum of hassle, thanks to the plastic bag trick).
I can recall a single moment in time, circa 1993, getting home after an early class at Humboldt State University (I rode my bike). It wasn't quite noon, but what the hell, I popped the (then twist off) top of my Sierra Nevada pale ale and drank heartily. Ahhhh!! There really is nothing quite like a refreshing beer on a warm Spring day. Standing there at the sink, looking through the kitchen window at the prospect of a sunny day ahead...life is good! It was a defining moment for me, realizing not just how good beer is, but how alive it is.
Now, March 2009, me and beer have come a long ways together. It's the IPAs and Imperial IPAs and Hop Bombs that I crave now. One recent heavy IPA session gave me a thought: maybe it's the relaxing & sedative properties of hops that I crave more than the intoxicating effects of the brew??? It's a short walk to my library of modern herbal books, to find out that hops has been used in pillows even for their soothing and relaxing effects. Mmmm, hops pillows!!
Well, I haven't yet made my hops pillow. But I did get my first batch of American IPA in the bottle, and I did get my 2nd & 3rd batches started in the fermentors. And I got one hops plant in a planter, that's got a 4-inch sprout on it. It's all so satisfying--I've no question in my mind that I'll be doing this until the day I die. Probably sucking on a big hops chaw, trying to relive the good old days.
The city I did most of my growing up in, Pleasanton CA, has a main street called Hopyard Rd. Many are the times in my youth that I travelled down Hopyard Road. At some point I learned why it was named that. Sure, now there's nothing but business parks, condos and a rather large mall. But when we moved there in 1979 I swear to you there were cows out in the fields, standing on mounds of dirt as we drove by in our burgundy 1976 Chevy Malibu station wagon.
Brewing beer is like coming home. So many of my life experiences tie into it, in a most rewarding and happy way. Brewing your own beer may not be the cheapest way to go, but it is the DIY way to go. And that's the road I'm taking. Cheers to all you folks who've taken a walk on the road less travelled!
I can recall a single moment in time, circa 1993, getting home after an early class at Humboldt State University (I rode my bike). It wasn't quite noon, but what the hell, I popped the (then twist off) top of my Sierra Nevada pale ale and drank heartily. Ahhhh!! There really is nothing quite like a refreshing beer on a warm Spring day. Standing there at the sink, looking through the kitchen window at the prospect of a sunny day ahead...life is good! It was a defining moment for me, realizing not just how good beer is, but how alive it is.
Now, March 2009, me and beer have come a long ways together. It's the IPAs and Imperial IPAs and Hop Bombs that I crave now. One recent heavy IPA session gave me a thought: maybe it's the relaxing & sedative properties of hops that I crave more than the intoxicating effects of the brew??? It's a short walk to my library of modern herbal books, to find out that hops has been used in pillows even for their soothing and relaxing effects. Mmmm, hops pillows!!
Well, I haven't yet made my hops pillow. But I did get my first batch of American IPA in the bottle, and I did get my 2nd & 3rd batches started in the fermentors. And I got one hops plant in a planter, that's got a 4-inch sprout on it. It's all so satisfying--I've no question in my mind that I'll be doing this until the day I die. Probably sucking on a big hops chaw, trying to relive the good old days.
The city I did most of my growing up in, Pleasanton CA, has a main street called Hopyard Rd. Many are the times in my youth that I travelled down Hopyard Road. At some point I learned why it was named that. Sure, now there's nothing but business parks, condos and a rather large mall. But when we moved there in 1979 I swear to you there were cows out in the fields, standing on mounds of dirt as we drove by in our burgundy 1976 Chevy Malibu station wagon.
Brewing beer is like coming home. So many of my life experiences tie into it, in a most rewarding and happy way. Brewing your own beer may not be the cheapest way to go, but it is the DIY way to go. And that's the road I'm taking. Cheers to all you folks who've taken a walk on the road less travelled!
