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I have bee promising myself a return to home brewing for some time.

First attempt at stout

When I bought my first house I was rather strapped for cash and was looking for inspirational ideas for Christmas presents on next to no budget. A chance conversation with my Grandad had me hitting upon the idea of making him some stout. As publican’s he and my Nana were very proud of their cellar and had won awards for their stout.  My stout was never quite up to their standards but I can boast the fact that when I also became a Landlord,many years later, I was complimented many times for the standard of my stouts. I think it must run in the genes.  Brewing that first year led on to many happy years of home brewing anything from bitter to wine and even whisky one year. I am sure that the obsession was one of the reasons I and my then partner landed the job of Publicans, the other being that I was brought up in pubs as my Grandparents managed pubs for the first 15 years of my life.

I lost my interest in brewing at home as life became more hectic and my own career took off.

So, today was finally the day. Having found a kit for sale in the local health food shop of all places  I set to and sterilised all my equipment and then got to brewing up the magic potion.

There it is sitting on my worktop where it will be bubbling away and doing its thing for the next 5-10 days.

Christmas presents for the men in my life this year will consist of, at the very least, one bottle of Stout Chez Moi. As I have a very large collection of beer glasses from my travels, thanks to my obsession of trying different beers in different cities, I may even part with my favourites to make up a basket of items for a fun night in.