The Beginning of an Obsession

So here is the first post. It all began in February 2013. Sam convinced me to purchase a homebrewing kit from the local homebrew supply shop. I was hesitant to cough up $200 for the kit and ingredients for our first batch of beer, but I am so glad we did. Homebrewing has become a hobby that we can do together. With two chemical engineering degrees, I was sure we could have fun making great tasting beer.

For our first batch, we brewed 5 gallons of a partial mash red ale. We brewed on the stove, cooled the wort in the tub, and bottled on the bathroom floor. It was by no means pretty, but we had fun doing it.

It all began in a college apartment.

The first batch wasn't even in bottles before we brewed a second batch. Since Sam chose the red ale, we decided to alternate who made the recipe. Thus, the concept of "His and Her Brews" was born!

Sam suggested that I can pick the second recipe "as long it is dark". She loves dark beers, and I love hoppy beers. Naturally, I chose the best of both worlds, an English Double Black IPA... she was not thrilled.

Rule #1: You can't brew beer without enjoying a homebrew.

 In a matter of two weeks, my apartment had carboys fermenting in two closets. Good thing we had extra space!

Finally bottling time came. That's when we figured out that in order to bottle beer, you need to drink beer. Our favorite Old Chicago's waitress (also named Sam), helped us out by supplying Sam and I with extra bottles from the restaurant.

Peeling labels off 100 bottles is very time consuming.

This is a quick history of how Sammi and I got involved in homebrewing. There will be plenty of posts to come about new beers we brew, equipment upgrades, and hopefully changes in the Louisiana distribution laws.

Our big dream is to open a nano brewery. There will be many steps between our 5 gallon batches here, until nano scale brewing, so hopefully you enjoy following us on our journey.