I’m sitting here with a home brew, (wheat/pear for those who are interested) and thinking about all the things people say when they taste my beer, wine or mead. The most common of those is, “I don’t know what I expected, but this is really good!”

Let’s be honest here, you thought about the phrase ‘homemade,’ and your mind automatically when to jet engine fuel. We all know you did, just admit it. I’m okay with that, why shouldn’t you be? After all, I exceeded your expectations, it’s all good.

That’s one reason I prefer the term, “home brew,” instead of homemade. Most brewers do. We all have memories of something craptastic that someone was so proud of being homemade, and think of that, instead of the wonderful creations of others that were truly master craftpeople.

I do hear that with a lot of the crafting I do. It’s not just with the brewing, people have seen my weaving or stitch work and marvel at how good it is. I guess that many of us don’t think of our friends and family as being as talented as they are. It’s a shame that we don’t think more of each other.

Still, I don’t think of myself as a home brewer, so much as a craft beer and wine maker with serious mad scientist tendencies. Instead of a laboratory with test tubes and dangerous viruses, I work in my kitchen, and the danger is in exactly what kind of alcohol yield I can get without distilling.

For those who are interested, my personal best is a 26% (or 52 proof) wine with the innocuous name of Hippie Chick. Go figure.

This weekend, I’m going to grab the husband, go into the kitchen, and work with some wine. It’s messy, tiring work, and lifting those 5 gallon buckets is hard work, but it’s just about the most fun I can think about having.*

*except for stitching, spinning, weaving, drawing, knitting, crocheting,  etc…. My life is filled with awesome. What can I say???