Welcome: A Blog With No Name

Hello, and welcome to my blog, "Fermentivity." This blog has multiple aims, mainly because I'm lazy and don't want to keep up with more than one blog devoted to different topics. However, the overarching theme, here, is creativity. Creativity, next to my family and education, is one of my highest values. For me, this value is expressed through a variety of mediums, most actively and prolifically in the form of homebrewing and other fermented beverages and foods. I also enjoy several other culinary crafts including cooking, creating fermented (pickled) foods, and soda making. These--and other artistic forms--may be the subjects of future blog posts. Moving on (I prefer to ramble if possible, and you will find me to be a liberal user of parentheses).

I have been a homebrewer since September '11, and have been a consumer of craft beer for several years prior to my homebrewing adventures. I was turned on to homebrewing by my brother-in-law, who has been brewing for about 3 years now. As of today, I have brewed 31 beers, mainly ales but also a couple of lagers. Some of them have been the same or nearly the same recipe, but (as homebrewers know) one never really homebrews the "same" beer twice.

What I love about homebrewing, like my other interests, is that it efficiently combines the exactness of science with the expressiveness of art. The homebrewer has the option of including as much or as little of both in their expressive experience. The homebrewer is also a witness--if mindful--to the metabletics that result in bringing one to where they are. How did you get to where YOU are? Think about it...were it not for a mistake here, a chance meeting there, where would you be right now? So it goes with homebrewing; things happen, ingredients may be unavailable, one may say "what the hell." But that's homebrewing; we homebrewers are NOTHING if not experimentalists. Why, you may ask? That's simple, because we can! I have brewed some very interesting beers with very dichotomous flavor combinations. For example, I brewed a cream ale (a very light, very drinkable beer), but with jalapeno peppers and pineapple. For some, the beer was described as "life-changing;" others graciously declined to finish the glass. I love to challenge the taste buds, but to do it well with as high quality base beers as possible.

Homebrewers brew because they have a passion for great beer and creativity. Anyone who gets into homebrewing because they believe it to be more economical quickly finds this to be false. It is much easier to buy great beer at the liquor store. I don't want to think about the money I've spent on ingredients, supplies, equipment, and some pretty expensive commercial beers to keep my palette fresh and inspired. But it has been money well spent. I am also a card carrying member of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), which is the official group of individuals founded by Charlie Papazian, the Godfather of homebrewing. So, I'm rambling again, and I want to publish this initial post before I go to bed. So here it is. If you've read this far, you are a trooper and true beer lover. Please post your comments, requests, suggestions, or grammatical corrections. More postings will follow including recipes, brewdays, discussion topics, and inspirations. Maybe the occasional haiku. Anyway, enjoy!

Until next time, BE FERMENTIVE!