Makin’ Beer – Part One
This week’s craft is: Beer!
In the last week I’ve been discussing the craft and process of beer-making with my dad. What started out as a few questions ended up with making a batch of beer just to demonstrate the process. So, every couple of days for the next two weeks until the beer batch is done, I’ll give some of his answers about beer-making, throw in some trivia, and actually go through the beer process as it unfolded. (The image to the left is a glass of my dad’s homemade wheat beer.)
The Interview:
Q: How long have you been making beer, and how did you get started? (the image to the right is my dad “cooking” a batch of beer wort in his kitchen.)
A: I’ve been making beer about 4-5 years since I came upon a Mr. Beer kit in a shop in Kemah, Texas. I like beer, so I thought I would get it and try it.
Q: Why did making beer appeal to you – why did you start?
A: It was an opportunity to make something with grain and with yeast. I also like making bread, but the process of making beer is more interesting, and it takes longer. In addition, I was interested in learning about beer because it is one of the most ancient foods.
Q: What has turned out to be the most interesting aspect of beer-making? (Barley grains pictured to the left.)
A: I like it because it is a process. There are a number of steps in making beer, and it is interesting to prepare and watch each step in the process. Sometimes you have to do something, but a lot of it is watching as it prepares itself. That’s interesting.
In addition to the process, it is more fun than other things you can make because it creates a food product in the end. It’s not something you just throw away or can’t use.
Making Beer, Day One:
(Follow the link to see the ingredients and the directions for the first day of beermaking.)
The beginning of crafting
Having a new blog about my crafting sidelines inspires me to talk a little about how my adventures in crafting began. Crafting, to me, implies experimentation, so my mind thinks back to my Cabbage Patch Kid and my 10-year-old self making little doll clothes. My mom had this huge box of leftover fabric from her many years of sewing clothes for herself – thinking back it was a big box of all seventies fabric I wish I still had! What a stash that would be now!
The one I particularly remember is a skirt and sleeveless top in red, white and blue striped and textured fabric one summer. It was nearly the 4th of July and I didn’t know how to sew. I made huge stitches and it had ragged edges, but it worked. Despite this inventiveness and exploration, my mom was not inspired to teach me to sew. Sewing was not her favorite thing because she had once had to do it out of necessity, not fun or creativity. She had moved on to other things in my childhood.
So it was really much later when I was in college that I finally learned how taught myself to sew. 
I once bought an inexpensive chair (like the Poang but cheap) at IKEA with no real cushion cover, and I also bought a piece of striped fabric that was on sale. I made what was, essentially, a 5′ long bag to cover the chair cushion. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it more than got the job done. I had some fabric left over and made a cushion as well, and stuffed it. The curious thing about those projects was the hand sewing – I had no machine, so every stitch was hand-placed chain stitch.
That was 1994, and I still have that cushion. It’s faded now, and the stuffing isn’t quite as fluffy as it once was, but it’s been reborn as my dog’s favorite place to sleep! (See little sleeping Audrey above.) My efforts paid off in another way as well! My grandmother – the expert seamstress of 70 years’ experience, the woman who’s made a little of everything (perfectly) on her sewing machine – heard about my painstaking efforts and bought me a Singer sewing machine.
That was then, this is now, many projects later. Crafting is awesome.
