this brew’s for you…

…and you and you and you!

i have missed you blogger nation!!! it’s been far too long but i haven’t been resting on my laurels! instead i jumped on something that has been a mainstay all my life, namely following in the footsteps of my father and brewing my own beer (with a little help, of course!)

since i was a little girl, i can remember the carboys lined up next to the dinner table, their stoppered airlocks bubbling at irregular intervals. my father has always had something in the works whether it was crushing grapes for wine-making, roasting his own malts or bottling his own champagne. my popularity in high school reached it’s zenith when i showed up at parties carrying a six pack of home brew…

last year during an afternoon at a local beer garden, i had a fantastic belgian ale. smokey, oaken in flavor, i was hooked. unfortunately, my ability to locate another tulip glass of the blessed brew proved futile as none of the stores carried it and the brewer was more nano than micro. not a problem! with research and very vivid recall, i was able to work with my father and the amazing guys at stein fillers, to create my own smokey goodness!

the wort (being stirred by my father above), was creamy rich, caramel in flavor and benefited from three different hops and a beautiful belgian yeast. one pound of cane sugar and tons of honey during the fermenting process netted a whopping 15% alcohol level. hence the need to serve in a small tulip glass!

fast forward six months, after fermentation and bottling, a $50 investment yielded 57 bottles of my brown bomber belgian ale. considering i paid $10 for my initial drink that fateful day last year, it was well worth the money! so with specialty brew by ‘dunbar + daughter’, i raise a glass to you and the best of health and happiness in the year to come!