In my short time here at HBT I've had this feeling that SWMBO is usually meant as more of a derogatory term even if it is used in jest. It seems that She Who Must Be Obeyed usually must be obeyed when it comes to brewing in the house, making a mess of the kitchen, or spending money. Lately, the term SWMBO has come to mean something entirely different to me. Let me explain with a little bit of background first...
It was Christmas of '95 when my wife (SWMBO) got me a home brew starter kit with the plastic bucket fermenters. She did all the research and it was a total surprise. For the next 3 years or so I brewed extract batches and she was always supportive of the amount of spending (time and money) in relation to the hobby. After my first infected batch, a Pumpkin Ale, I mentioned needing to replace my scratched plastic fermenters with glass carboys and she said I should get them...so I obeyed. She was even supportive when I mentioned going all grain so I could make an Oktoberfest. However, life got in the way around the '98-'99 time frame and we moved a few states away. As a result, the home brew gear remained packed away while we went through some job changes, a couple more moves and the birth of two children. The gear waited patiently for me until late last year.
I mentioned wanting to start brewing again a couple of times last year but the thought of cleaning all of that dusty, dirty equipment kept me from doing it. When the equipment was packed away I don't think things like PBW and Star San were around so I thought a lot of manual cleaning would be involved. She kept telling me I should get my stuff cleaned up so I could start brewing again but this time I did not "obey". It wasn't until Christmas 2010 came around and Santa brought me a Pale Ale kit that I started to "obey" SWMBO. Over the next couple of days I managed to get all of the equipment out of the attic and get it cleaned up. It is amazing how many years of dirt & dust an overnight soak in PBW can clean! No manual cleaning was required other than disassembling the bottle tree (purchased by SWMBO many years ago) and running it through the dishwasher. So again, I "obeyed" and cleaned up my brewing equipment and ordered a few new things like tubing and racking canes.
I recently mentioned wanting to go all grain and again SWMBO was supportive of the idea. Even more so after finding out all grain would be half the cost of extract brewing :rockin: After brewing two 5g all grain batches in the garage with a turkey fryer I mentioned wanting to make 10g batches and she was in agreement so again I "obeyed" and purchased a Penrose Kettle, new burner, two 10g coolers from Home Depot and all of the stainless fittings needed to make a mash tun and HLT.
With warmer weather on the horizon I told her I was thinking about turning the laundry area in the basement into a brewery. This made sense to me since I would no longer have to take equipment to the deep sink in the basement to clean it and there are two natural gas drops already plumbed in the laundry area. The basement temps are in the low to upper 60's depending on the season so I could ferment down there year round without having to move carboy's down the steps. She thought that was a good idea so I again "obeyed" and the basement brewery was born. I figured since I would need a way to cold crash and maybe lager a batch or two I was going to need a fridge down there as well. Again I "obeyed" my SWMBO and found a nice full size fridge kegerator on Craig's List that made it's way down the steps last week.
I have been using picnic taps to dispense from corny kegs in the garage fridge since January. My original idea was to have two kegs on tap with two more carbing/conditioning. Now that I have a fridge in the "brewery" for carbing/conditioning I asked SWMBO if she thought having 3 or 4 taps on the garage fridge was a better idea than the originally planned two taps. I gave my "rationalization" that four taps would give us a Pale Ale, Blonde, IPA and a "seasonal" brew available. She suggested I plan for a future "expansion" and go with three taps now and get another one this fall. Again, I "obeyed" and ordered three Perlick faucet/shank combos and started to research the tap spacing required for four taps so I would have room for the fourth "expansion" tap for an Oktoberfest this fall
Since the 14" drip tray I wanted was out of stock I ran this by her figuring the extra $30 for a drip tray would be a no go. I was surprised yet again when she said she liked the 4 hole drip tray better. She said since Keg Cowboy had a "cooler" name than the vendor with the "out of stock" drip tray I should order it, so I "obeyed" yet again
This week I brewed my first two 5g batches in the "brewery" and they are fermenting away nicely at about 66 degrees in my 62-63 degree basement. To make this whole situation even better the last two times I have asked her which beer she would like me to get for her, her requests were for a home brewed Sierra Nevada (Biermuncher's Clone Recipe) instead of the commercial version because my home brew tastes better! My SWMBO is mostly a fan of Pale Ales while I have been enjoying IPAs lately. Yesterday I asked her if she had any input on what I make next and she said Dogfish Head 60 minute (Yooper's Clone) so again I must obey. :rockin:
So as you can see, the term SWMBO has a whole new meaning for me now...I no longer think of it as a derogatory term but rather a term of endearment. Here lately, I don't seem to mind obeying my SWMBO at all
It was Christmas of '95 when my wife (SWMBO) got me a home brew starter kit with the plastic bucket fermenters. She did all the research and it was a total surprise. For the next 3 years or so I brewed extract batches and she was always supportive of the amount of spending (time and money) in relation to the hobby. After my first infected batch, a Pumpkin Ale, I mentioned needing to replace my scratched plastic fermenters with glass carboys and she said I should get them...so I obeyed. She was even supportive when I mentioned going all grain so I could make an Oktoberfest. However, life got in the way around the '98-'99 time frame and we moved a few states away. As a result, the home brew gear remained packed away while we went through some job changes, a couple more moves and the birth of two children. The gear waited patiently for me until late last year.
I mentioned wanting to start brewing again a couple of times last year but the thought of cleaning all of that dusty, dirty equipment kept me from doing it. When the equipment was packed away I don't think things like PBW and Star San were around so I thought a lot of manual cleaning would be involved. She kept telling me I should get my stuff cleaned up so I could start brewing again but this time I did not "obey". It wasn't until Christmas 2010 came around and Santa brought me a Pale Ale kit that I started to "obey" SWMBO. Over the next couple of days I managed to get all of the equipment out of the attic and get it cleaned up. It is amazing how many years of dirt & dust an overnight soak in PBW can clean! No manual cleaning was required other than disassembling the bottle tree (purchased by SWMBO many years ago) and running it through the dishwasher. So again, I "obeyed" and cleaned up my brewing equipment and ordered a few new things like tubing and racking canes.
I recently mentioned wanting to go all grain and again SWMBO was supportive of the idea. Even more so after finding out all grain would be half the cost of extract brewing :rockin: After brewing two 5g all grain batches in the garage with a turkey fryer I mentioned wanting to make 10g batches and she was in agreement so again I "obeyed" and purchased a Penrose Kettle, new burner, two 10g coolers from Home Depot and all of the stainless fittings needed to make a mash tun and HLT.
With warmer weather on the horizon I told her I was thinking about turning the laundry area in the basement into a brewery. This made sense to me since I would no longer have to take equipment to the deep sink in the basement to clean it and there are two natural gas drops already plumbed in the laundry area. The basement temps are in the low to upper 60's depending on the season so I could ferment down there year round without having to move carboy's down the steps. She thought that was a good idea so I again "obeyed" and the basement brewery was born. I figured since I would need a way to cold crash and maybe lager a batch or two I was going to need a fridge down there as well. Again I "obeyed" my SWMBO and found a nice full size fridge kegerator on Craig's List that made it's way down the steps last week.
I have been using picnic taps to dispense from corny kegs in the garage fridge since January. My original idea was to have two kegs on tap with two more carbing/conditioning. Now that I have a fridge in the "brewery" for carbing/conditioning I asked SWMBO if she thought having 3 or 4 taps on the garage fridge was a better idea than the originally planned two taps. I gave my "rationalization" that four taps would give us a Pale Ale, Blonde, IPA and a "seasonal" brew available. She suggested I plan for a future "expansion" and go with three taps now and get another one this fall. Again, I "obeyed" and ordered three Perlick faucet/shank combos and started to research the tap spacing required for four taps so I would have room for the fourth "expansion" tap for an Oktoberfest this fall
Since the 14" drip tray I wanted was out of stock I ran this by her figuring the extra $30 for a drip tray would be a no go. I was surprised yet again when she said she liked the 4 hole drip tray better. She said since Keg Cowboy had a "cooler" name than the vendor with the "out of stock" drip tray I should order it, so I "obeyed" yet again
This week I brewed my first two 5g batches in the "brewery" and they are fermenting away nicely at about 66 degrees in my 62-63 degree basement. To make this whole situation even better the last two times I have asked her which beer she would like me to get for her, her requests were for a home brewed Sierra Nevada (Biermuncher's Clone Recipe) instead of the commercial version because my home brew tastes better! My SWMBO is mostly a fan of Pale Ales while I have been enjoying IPAs lately. Yesterday I asked her if she had any input on what I make next and she said Dogfish Head 60 minute (Yooper's Clone) so again I must obey. :rockin:
So as you can see, the term SWMBO has a whole new meaning for me now...I no longer think of it as a derogatory term but rather a term of endearment. Here lately, I don't seem to mind obeying my SWMBO at all
