My friend P is keen to try his hand at a bit of brewing and needing no encouragement, I invited him round for a session. As a female friend once said ‘brewing really is the ideal subject for men’. It is a simple process which can be made splendidly complicated with a veritable host of terminology. For example ‘sparge the mash tun with hot liquer’ means ‘rinse the grain through with hot water’ and after all that unintelligible chat and fiddling with hot water, grain and hops you get to drink beer – need I say more?
P went for an I.P.A and I created something dark which smelt beautifully of treacle and chocolate. I don’t know what it’s called yet because as it’s my own recipe using home malted barley, wheat and hedgerow hops, it could be quite original!
Boiling the wort (unfermented beer)