Left Brained Brewing

    I Started brewing beer at home with a "Mister Beer Kit" in 1999. I actually received two kits for my birthday that year. One from my wife and the other from a co-worker who had recently purchased a kit for himself as well (brewing beer was on his bucket list). The beers from the kit turned out well enough but there wasn't much creativity involved in the process. Pour pre-hopped malt syrup into a pot with water and boil for ten minutes. Cool in the sink for 30 minutes, dump into plastic container, sprinkle yeast and set near a heater vent. Actually, putting the fermenter next to a high heat source was a very bad idea but it seemed like the right thing to do.  I soon learned that beer making ingredients could be found locally at homebrew supply stores. All I needed was a good recipe and I would be crafting high quality beer at home.
     I started out by trying to clone craft beers that I enjoyed and that were available at that time. Ohio was not yet selling beers above 6% alcohol so the choices at the store were limited. Two beers that I was able to get my hands on were Pete's Wicked Ale and Red Hook ESB.  I was determined to duplicate these beers for two reasons. One was to save money and secondly it would be really cool to make good tasting beer at home. Most of my batches were "drinkable" but not quite what I was hoping for. So, I continued a quest for better recipes to try to improve the final product.
    After several years I came to realize that great beer does not come from great recipes. It takes some knowledge of basic science and creativity to obtain good results. I have found that the more knowledge I have of the beer making process, the more that I am able to get a desired result. I have also learned to accept the balance between strictly following a recipe and taking risks. I recently made a beer from wild hops and wild yeast. Lets just say it seemed like a good idea, but I won't be attempting it again soon!