I’ve had the itch to brew some beer since doing a batch of wine a few months ago. Hanging out with brewers I felt left out of the fun! Homebrewer/Neighbor/Friend Brad Daniels of Peace Brewing gave me the skinny on brewing in the OC. (Nice articles on his set up here and here.)

There are a couple options in OC for homebrew supply, and it basically works out like this: North OC hit Addisons Homebrew Provisions (AHP). South OC hit O’Sheas. I think Brewbakers in HB also sells kits. I’ve talked with a few brewers that shop at both AHP and O’Sheas and everyone has extremely positive reviews. Me, being from North OC chose Addisons. You can also purchase everything online, but I highly recommend supporting local business. The other bonus to shopping at a local shop is the ability to join their homebrew club, message boards, and even have people to call with dumb newbie questions.

Wheat Malt Extract, Recipe, and a Cold Beverage. The jar is filled with Whirflock, whatever the hell that is.

I purchased the starter kit, a 7.5 Gallon Brew Kettle and a Wort chiller (optional). One morning I was eating some Cream of Wheat with real maple syrup for breakfast, and decided that was my inspiration for my first brew. A simple Maple Wheat beer! Eric at Addisons whipped up a quick recipe for the base Wheat beer and made a substitution for the Maple Syrup. All I had to buy was the Maple Syrup from Trader Joes.

IKEA stands for "I Kiss Everyone's Ass". A quote from when I worked there twenty years ago. Picked up a scale, measure and a timer.

I don’t have a super good burner so I opted for the one on my BBQ. I figured it scorches the crap out of beans in ten seconds it should do a fine job boiling six gallons of water. It did okay. Most of my brew time was waiting for boil to happen, which is not exciting. While at IKEA I bought a few items as well, a timer, measure, and a digital scale. I also bought a BUTRÄK.

Homebrewing made easy with a Kenmore BBQ! Wort chiller just chillin' and hanging around, ya know, shootin' the breeze.

All in all it went fairly smooth. My only issues were my own retardedness thinking the Arrowhead 2.5 Gallon jugs were 2 Gallons. I was about to add a third jug and the pot was full. Also, my wort chiller leaked into the wort. I had some good fermentation after five hours! The following morning it was bubbling away.

Brewing up the beer. Note the hop sack. "Hop Sack" is my new favorite derogatory term of endearment for fellow homebrewers.

I’ll keep you posted when I bottle it, and drink it, and hopefully not die.