Our kitchen floor here is so sticky that it rips my flip-flops right off my feet when I walk across. Why, you ask? Are we that dirty? Nope–we’re home brewers now.

We’ve had two big glass carboys for a few months now, but we still needed a lot of other equipment and ingredients to get started. Then this weekend my brother and his girlfriend Aliza–who is an avid homebrewer–came to visit. Not only did they bring us some of her Czech Norris to sample, but Luke suggested we head out to Brewcraft together to get everything we needed.

The next day, Luke and Joe brewed their West Coast Pale ale while I documented the process and occasionally held hot things. You can check out the full photo set here:

Our recipe, handwritten by Griz himself.

Joe watches water boil. He can’t wait to add the grains. Straining the grain tea and adding more water. This process took longer than it needed to because we only have a very small colander with rather large holes.  Hops. Finally, into the primary fermenter. By the next day, it was frothing and bubbling like crazy. The best part of my job was making bread out of the spent grain afterward. It turned out great. 

And now, for your moment of zen: