redfish-bluefish
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- Jul 5, 2016
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Not the most entertaining "Florida Man" headline, but give me time; I've only lived here a few years.
I moved to the Tampa Bay area at the same time as two guys who are good brewers and who are now good friends. I've been a winemaker, but never brewed until I hooked up with these guys and "helped" (ie. tried to be useful and stay out of the way) on a couple of brew days. A month ago my wife and I were cruising a Goodwill and I found an unopened Brooklyn Brewers Chocolate Maple Porter kit for $8. I was actually going to pass (I already have all of the hardware in the kit from making wine), but my wife threatened (?) that if I didn't buy it she would. Yes, she is awesome.
What's really been holding me back is Florida. My house is at 78 most of the year, and I've been unable to make wine or try my hand at brewing, and have had limited space to set up a fermentation chamber. Anyway, I bought the kit.
The next day I talked to one of my brewing friends who wisely advised the hops and yeast would at best be highly suspect, so after getting his thoughts on the kit and process I headed to our local brew shop and got new Fuggles and English Ale yeast. When my wife and I had a solid evening we brewed it and ran it over to my friend's fermentor, where it has been for 1.5 weeks. During that time I realized how much I missed making wine, and we both enjoyed brewing that little batch, so I watched craigslist and found a decent deal on a 7cf Danby chest freezer. I'll make the space.
My deepest apologies to any of you hoping for a real "Florida Man" story. I truly hope that is never me, but who knows down here...
I moved to the Tampa Bay area at the same time as two guys who are good brewers and who are now good friends. I've been a winemaker, but never brewed until I hooked up with these guys and "helped" (ie. tried to be useful and stay out of the way) on a couple of brew days. A month ago my wife and I were cruising a Goodwill and I found an unopened Brooklyn Brewers Chocolate Maple Porter kit for $8. I was actually going to pass (I already have all of the hardware in the kit from making wine), but my wife threatened (?) that if I didn't buy it she would. Yes, she is awesome.
What's really been holding me back is Florida. My house is at 78 most of the year, and I've been unable to make wine or try my hand at brewing, and have had limited space to set up a fermentation chamber. Anyway, I bought the kit.
The next day I talked to one of my brewing friends who wisely advised the hops and yeast would at best be highly suspect, so after getting his thoughts on the kit and process I headed to our local brew shop and got new Fuggles and English Ale yeast. When my wife and I had a solid evening we brewed it and ran it over to my friend's fermentor, where it has been for 1.5 weeks. During that time I realized how much I missed making wine, and we both enjoyed brewing that little batch, so I watched craigslist and found a decent deal on a 7cf Danby chest freezer. I'll make the space.
My deepest apologies to any of you hoping for a real "Florida Man" story. I truly hope that is never me, but who knows down here...
