Ramblings of a 34B cup...

CHIT-CHATTING ABOUT ALL THE THINGS YOU COULD CARE LESS ABOUT...
Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Create Your OwnpetcentricOddcast Powered

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Makin' Brew-ha-ha!

Instead of B.Y.O.B. it was MakeYourOwnBeer. "Super fun," as my, "married," friend (inside joke) Catfish would say. Vine Park Brewery has got to be one of St. Pauly's best kept secrets. So here's how the whole thing works step by step. Beer makin' ain't for kiddies so enlist a cute Jr. High gal to look after your Hank for a few hours (don't think his mom didn't have to text for permission to stay out later than anticipated). Next pick what kinda beer you are gonna make and decide who's the A. Class Clown, the goofball you gotta love. B. Bossy know-it-all, who thinks they know more than the teacher. C. Brains behind the madness, coming up with all the naughty ideas, but too nice for the teacher to suspect. Or D. The "A" student, good at reading and barking out directions. (If you really need, the answers are below.) Ok, back to makin' beer. We made the Walnut Brown Ale, which required adding hops and gluten to the big kettle. They don't let ya do a thing unless you wear these big rubbers, when you bend over, I mean, when you add stuff to the kettle so you don't get burned (can you say lawsuit?). Basically this stuff boils for about 30 minutes and they send you to this great hole-in-the-wall bar across the street to make buds with the, "beer bellied," bartender (so fun, but perhaps slightly seedier than their website lets on). If you are a really good student you come back across the street in time to add the hops to the wort (not namin' names, but our star pupil sorta f'd up after a glass of vino). Then the wort is pumped out of your kettle into a big container into which you pour your yeast. This big container is left to ferment for about a week (be nice to the guys working there or you never know what may get added) before it arrives in the walk in cooler for the big cool off. You can walk out the door and leave them to do the clean up knowing in 3 weeks you will come back to bottle. But the night is still young so you MUST head over to Shamrock's for a Nookie burger , a couple of commercially brewed beers, a swing around the dance floor and if you're lucky, a visit with a goofy regular who won't leave ya alone. Cap off the evening with good night kiss, take two Advil and come back in three weeks for the details on the bottling process. All the taste(less info) and no calories.

Quiz Answers (as if you didn't already know) A. Catfish. B. 34B cup. C. My hubby. D. Nicki Potato.

4 comments:

gina said...

Firstly: i got all the answers right. NOW who's the A-student?!

Secondly: i just saw the "Nookie Burger" on Diners, Drive-Ins and dives and i can't believe i never had one before we left MN. i can't believe it.

Thirdly: what a great idea - bottling your own beer...fun!!

Fourthly: (for Nickipotato)- love that sweater!

Nicki said...

Reading about that day was "almost" as fun as livin' it. Almost. Great post! That was SUCH a fun day! Thanks again for driving...looks like I needed it.

Disgruntled Princess said...

I tried to do that for the Big Guys birthday one year, but no one volunteered to be the designated driver...should have called you!

Anonymous said...

Hi Brooke,

My name is Luna and I'm a Stanford University student interning at Cooliris, a web start-up in Palo Alto, CA. Your blog always has great shopping tips and I thought you'd be interested in a brand new shopping experience our free browser add-on Cooliris (formerly known as PicLens) has to offer.

Personally, I find online shopping tedious. I can usually buy what I want, but what about the excitement and the fun? All I've ever gotten from traditional online shopping interfaces are headaches. But Cooliris changes all that by bringing the mall to your desktop.

Featuring a full-screen interactive 3D Wall Cooliris revolutionizes the way media is viewed on the web. With Cooliris, viewers can seamlessly browse and instantaneously zoom in on thousands of images and videos in seconds. Cooliris covers your shopping needs with Macy's, eLuxury, Beauty.com, Nordstrom, Apple iTunes, Amazon, and more so that you'll be able to find what you’re looking for faster than ever.

I'd love to show you Cooliris with more than words, so please check out Cooliris at www.cooliris.com. You can see a demo of how the product works as well as download it for free. We hope this new virtual mall will give your readers a great new way to shop online! I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have and I look forward to hearing your feedback.

All the best,
Luna and the Cooliris Team
luna@cooliris.com