Last year my family (Mum, Brother & Wife) decided we'd "make" the presents we give each other. This was both a nod to our creativity and a recognition of the financial benefits we could reap with such an approach. It was a reasonable success; My Biscotti were well recieved, Craig painted a cracking piece of modern art that hangs in my hallway with pride, my Mum's glassware is up in my bathroom and we all enjoyed my wife Jenny's Cranberry Chutney. We resolved to repeat our approach to gifts this year.
Now, I've always been a creative person, but I've never been particularly skillful or dedicated. I've spent a fair bit of money on things that simply gather dust such as the Electric Guitar that sits on its stand outside my study, or the Telescope that used to sit in the same spot until a friend accepted it as a gift. When it came to deciding what to make this year, I had an easy option; My Biscotti was pretty decent and it keeps really well. I've spotted a nice recipe for Chocolate brownies and we're only two weeks into
The Great British Bake-off so there's room for inspiration yet.
Baking this year however, is a little predictable. It's also a slight challenge as my Mum has picked up a Gluten allergy and whilst modern recipes & ingredients mean this is not insurmountable, it's enough of a schlep that I started looking at alternatives. I initially looked at curing my own meats, I don't know anyone who doesn't like Chorizo or Parma Ham. A few days of web-based research put me off however. The margin for error when dealing with meat that hasn't been cooked but is consumed several months after the animal has died is a little too tight for my liking. I then remembered that I like beer, and so does my brother and to a lesser extent, my wife...
I decided last week that I would brew some beer for my brother for Christmas. I ordered a
Homebrew Kit online on Friday, selecting
Mexican Cerveza as the type of lager I would craft. He doesn't like Bitters or Ales as I do and I figured that at worst I could cover my lack of brewing prowess with shitloads of Lime wedges. I do a fair bit of online ordering but I usually manage to be surprised when the parcel finally arrives at the door. I'm not sure if it's the promise of cheap alcohol or simply the strong desire to get started on what is a fixed term process, but I am quite excited about getting my kit.
To temper my enthusiasm I spent a couple of hours this weekend looking into how homebrewing worked, and I discovered a website where you can design your own bottle label.
The Beer Labelizer site made me think a little bit more on the details. What would I call my beer? Which brewery did I say it was for? How on earth do I attach the labels? I came up with this:
I themed the wording around Spanish, thinking it looked cool. Hermano is Spanish for 'Brother'. I've named my brewery, and this blog, Isla Quemada which roughly translates as the town it will be brewed in. Chilling suppresses taste usually, so that bit makes sense I hope.
The kit should arrive this week so I'll hopefully be up and running within a week. Wish me luck!
Scott
P.S. Apparently attaching paper labels with a light coat of milk on the rear is the pro method.
The only slight disappointment is the inclusion of plastic bottles. The purist beer drinker in me is a bit put off by the idea of drinking crisp, fresh cool Cerveza from a 750ml plastic bottle. That being said, its possible to have glass bottles explode if the bottling process isn't completed at the right time or I over-carbonate the bottles. Plastic is certainly safer and with this being my proverbial Homebrew cherry getting popped, I think it's best to have as many beneficial supports in the process as I can. Plastic it is!
