An interesting, short, homebrewing adventure- The Prof
Written by Tom Becham for professorgoodales.net
My wife and I hosted a brewer’s group meeting at my home last night. Our home
brewing group is small, and is a subgroup of the local SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism – a group of historical re-enactors).
My friend Mike was making a batch of Irish Red Ale. However, he was running late and instead of pouring his wort into the fermenting bucket and cooling it via tubes so he could pitch the yeast there, he decided to pour it all into a glass carboy and take it home, let it cool overnight, and add the yeast this morning.
Well, I was helping him pour, by holding a funnel and strainer over the carboy. The carboy must’ve been old and/or weak/defective. Because with about 2 gallons poured in, it just collapsed. The bottom fell out, splashing hot wort over my right shoe. My running shoes have mesh inserts so they can “breathe”. Problem is, that goes both ways. The wort burned a small patch on my right foot leaving a blister. I should be fine in a couple days, since right after the massive kitchen clean-up, I applied aloe to the affected area.
So, I’ve suffered my first brewing injury, which I guess makes me a real brewer.
And each time I tell the story, it’ll get more and more exaggerated. “There was an inch of beer on the floor, and all my neighbors came over with straws…”
As an ironic post-script, and with references to world events, I suggested to Mike that is he can salvage any beer from the leftover wort, he should call it “Kitchen Tsunami Red Ale.”
Tom Becham lives in California, he’s a homebrewer and reviews beer, brewpubs, breweries and beer events for professorgoodales.org.