Hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas. This year’s theme for me was kitchen stuff. The wife got me all manner of kitchen doodads. Two of note that I’m playing with. I got a Coopers Micro Brew Kit and my first batch is brewing now. I’ll tell you how it goes.
And I got a dehydrator. I’ve so far made beef jerky, fruit roll ups and dried some apples. It’s pretty cool. I loved the jerky and the kids like the fruits. I’ve ordered the Dehydrator Bible for more ideas. The directions and recipes that came with it are a little lacking.
My sis-in-law brought me a bottle of mustard oil from China. The label was all in Chinese, except for the product name. How they got it on their jet flight home is a mystery to me.
Websites told me that the stuff was possibly toxic, it was a potent lachrymator (like teargas), and it would make great Chinese and Indian food. A cautious sniff convinced me it clears sinuses.
I think I will try cooking with it sometime when I have a few days to recover.
I am highly interested in the outcome of your brewing.
Santa brought me a Mr Beer brewing kit, and like you, the first try is brewing now. Looking forward to seeing how it works.
Good luck with the beer. I’ve been brewing for about 10 years now and it’s been a wonderful hobby. If you get really into it like I have your garage will start to look like a laboratory.
Also, brewing a batch of beer is cheap – far, far cheaper than buying it at the store – but you will never ever break even on equipment costs. There’s always something else to buy.
In other words, it’s reloading for the beer drinker