| Best Hobby During The Pandemic by Mike Greenstreet Hello Bob - I know there are a lot of people like me that have been sheltering in place,deprived of things like going to a restaurant or bar. My thumbs are sore from scrolling through endless Facebook rants. Cabin fever is starting to set in. So I asked myself what would I really like to do? I decided to do what millions of Americans have been doing for decades: Make beer at home. What better time than now to pick up a new hobby? I discovered that homebrewing can be as simple as dissolving extract into a pot of boiling water on your stovetop and pitching yeast. Or you can easily go down the rabbit hole of brewing equipment and assemble a pro-grade nano brewery in your garage that’ll have your neighbor secretly questioning if you have gone off the deep end.. Sky’s the limit, really — if you have the space. If you wade in with serious effort you’ll be turning water into delicious beer in no time. And you can have some fun naming your beers like I did to mine ,-“Locked Down Lager” and “Pandemic Pale.” I’ve just started homebrewing and find it to be both stimulating and therapeutic. When I’m homebrewing alone in my garage, I zone out, and it becomes this relaxing “me time.” I get all my supplies online and simply learned from the many videos available on youtube and other places. If I can do it so can you. I guarantee that homebrewing will give you a reward that goes beyond just making beer. You will get a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment that might surprise you. Homebrewing is as American as apple pie and baseball. Some historians believe pilgrims on The Mayflower landed on Cape Cod not as an intended destination, but as a result of being low on beer. In the early days of colonialism. For them clean water was hard to come by. Beer was a healthy alternative for hydration as it contained necessary nutrients. An easy remedy was to brew their own. Production of alcohol at home was outlawed by the federal government in 1919 as a result of the impending era of Prohibition. Although America went dry for 13 years, homebrewing exploded althought it was illegal. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt homebrewing was not included in the ratification of the 21st amendment. Americans were again allowed to legally produce, sell and consume commercial beer, but homebrewing for private consumption remained illegal. It wasn’t until 1978 when President Jimmy Carter signed H.R. 1337, that homebrewing was again legal at the federal level. In 2011, President Barack Obama became the first known sitting president to homebrew beer inside the White House. With help from then-White House Chef Sam Kass, So be presidential and make some homebrew. If you're new to the hobby get a basic extract kit. It's easy, simple, and fun. The best part of course is you'll have your own beer to sit and drink while you make more beer. If one good things comes of this pandemic it just might be that we have more homebrewers than ever before! It's been fun to write something about my favorite hobby - Thanks, Bob. ------ Thanks Mike for a most interesting submission. Homebrewing is a great hobby. With many people staying home during the Covid crisis it's a great activity for them to try. BeerNexus has a column devoted to homebrewing that's worth checking out. I'd like to invite everyone to send me their own columns about anything related to beer in any way just as Mike did. I select the best and publish them here. So join in and get writing! Cheers! Bob |
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