Adventure #20 - "There's nothing in beer that will make you sick... except the alcohol."

We're getting better at this secret adventure thing!  This time around, Lisa was the planner, and she kept the identity of our March adventure private up until she sent out the following riddle one week in advance...

"Blonde or brown?  We're off to the lab to make a witch's potion, of sorts.  Call it chemistry or call it the satisfaction of enjoying the fruits of your own labor."  

After considerations that we were dying our hair or making bath products, most of us came to the (correct) conclusion that we were brewing beer... and we were pretty excited about it!  

Above, is our finished product... pretty legit, right?  I wish we could take full credit, but we couldn't have done it without the guidance and supervision of some pretty cool guys at Brew Lab in downtown Overland Park.  It was quite a process, but they made it super easy for us novices.  Our "Brewing Specialist," Tyler, was so knowledgeable and had the answer to every one of our questions.  I wish I could do him justice by correctly and properly explaining the process now, but that's going to be impossible.  There was just too much to absorb!!!  So instead, this is going to be a story told primarily by photos.  If you'd like a better explanation, you're just going to have to go find out for yourselves... which I highly recommend you do!

Part One (Saturday, March 15):

First up, what I expected would be the most challenging part of the day... all six of us had to agree upon which two types of beer we would be brewing.  At Brew Lab, they offer two different methods to brewing: "all grain" and "extract."  We would be making one of each.  Tyler mentioned that an Oktoberfest varietal would make the most of the "all grain" experience, so we chose that, as well as a Blackberry Wheat for our "extract" brew.  We began at the wall of grain, where we were given instructions on what type and how much of each grain we needed for our particular recipe.

Our Oktoberfest called for eight different types of grain, which we each took turns measuring out.  As you can see by the focus all most of us are displaying, we were determined to get those measurements precise...

Cono, "Nailed it!"

After collecting all of our grains in the orange bucket, we sent them through a grinding machine to be milled and then poured it all into a large stainless steel vat of water...

Alli gave it all a good stir, under many watchful eyes...

Then we allowed that to heat up to a temp of 157 F for 60 minutes.  At some point in the process, the beer traveled through those tubes from one pot to another...

While our Oktoberfest was cooking, we got started on our wheat beer, which we were making from extract. If I'm not mistaken, I believe the extract is essentially grains that have already been cooked down and made into a thick molasses-like consistency.  Here we are measuring out the extract and adding it to a new vat of hot water...

At some point, we threw in some yeast and some hops (the hamster food looking stuff), and let that all cook...

We had some downtime while the beer boiled... 

"When in Rome..."

When the 60-minute boiling period was complete, the beer was sent through a filter, and then a cooling device and ultimately ended up in the glass barrels you see below.  After a little shot of CO2, they were ready to be capped...

From there, we transported them to the basement, via pulley system...

... where they lived with their friends for two weeks...

Here we are feeling accomplished (and hungry) after a fun day of brewing...

Before leaving, we trialed Alli's new key chain breathalizer...

The result...

I'm pretty certain the only time you'll see a Femme in a beer lab with a blood alcohol level of .00 is when she's pregnant!!!  That's right!  Our little Lisa is expecting her first in early August.  We are all beyond thrilled to welcome a new little one into our lives!!!

Part Two (Saturday, March 29):

Two weeks later, we returned to find our babies waiting for us...

We washed and sanitized our bottles...

Then added the blackberry flavoring to our wheat beer and transferred our brews from their glass barrels into kegs...

The final step of the process was bottling.  We used a handheld gun-type thing to shoot both CO2 and the beer itself into the bottles, and then capped them with pry-off caps...

So efficient...

And finally, our finished product!  We ended up with 106 bottles of beer, which we divided amongst ourselves.  We did get to taste a little sample of our brews, but they were room temp and lacking carbonation, so the verdict is still out.  After they sit for two weeks, they will be ready for consumption, and we'll let you know what we think!

  

In the end, there wasn't much challenge or enlightenment involved, but our adventure provided us a time to catch up with one another and to work together on a project.  I think it was probably something that most of us would not have done on our own accord either... so an "adventure" it is!