Sniffing Hops

I have many friends-of-friends who homebrew, and many more who know their way around a fine craft beer. I used to be just fine with a case of PBR until we went on an amazing adventure to Germany and there, Oktoberfest - after which I've never been able to stomach a domestic big-name beer. I don't mean to sound like le douche; I assume everyone has something like this. Perhaps you've never been able to buy shoes at Target after getting your first Jimmy Choos. Or something. Is that still a popular fancy shoe brand?

Anyway, if you aren't familiar, homebrewing is the popular past-time of brewing your own beer at home. In the U.S., it is legal as long as you don't brew more than 100 gallons a year for one person, or more than 200 for two or more people. And you can't sell it. But if you want tasty beer to drink at home and trade with your homebrew buddies - or barter with your friend who makes artisanal soaps - you're all set. 

I like cooking and I like good beer, so I signed up for a class offered through LivingSocial, one of the group couponing wunderkinds. They have their own event space in DC, which I hadn't seen before, and they hold a variety of classes, from wine tasting to pole dancing to the art of bonsai. Accompanying me was my husband, Justin, a fellow fan of good brews and also of self-sufficiency lest there ever be an apocalyptic event that leaves us living in the woods to sew our own clothes and make our own booze. 

The venue was much cooler than I had anticipated. The facility took up the whole 6+ floors with classrooms and event spaces, plus a subterranean bar. The building was beautifully restored - I couldn't find the year but it seemed like early 20th century to me and had subtle art deco touches scattered throughout. The halls were dark with rich blue lighting bouncing through the stairwells around the central elevator. It felt cool, important. 

Our instructor was a guy named Mike who started homebrewing in college just short of a decade ago. He had such success that he's written for a variety of industry publications and has his own book coming out soon. He also writes a blog called The Mad Fermentationist. Mike knew his shit. 

The middle one did not look that awesome and glowy in person

The long classroom-style tables were set with a handout and three small beer samples. The samples were delicious, although I was a bit disappointed to find we didn't receive any tips or references to how to create these beers throughout the course. Instead, the beer samples seemed to be there to appease us. The other students were all hovering in the 25-35 range; about one third were furloughed government workers (as determined by a show of hands). 

Mike fired up a presentation on the two large TV screens at the front of the room and proceeded to fly through a very superficial overview of the homebrewing process in 90 minutes. He had a mad-scientist style set up at the front with a bubbling pot of water to steep grains in, some jugs with tubes in them that would be used for siphoning the beer out of the hoppy, grainy water and then cooling it off, and containers of grains and hops for us to smell. He used the set up much like a TV chef, showing us one step and then asking us to pretend it had been an hour and it was time for the next step. I appreciated the effort, but I don't feel like he showed us anything I couldn't have conceptualized otherwise. For example, I am quite familiar with the way steeping something in boiling water works. 

I dazed off about halfway through the presentation. This was no fault of Mike's - he was an excellent presenter and clearly well-educated on his subject matter. It just got a touch too reminiscent of high school chemistry for me, and the ol' mind started wandering, and next thing I knew I'd missed the part where the bubbly liquid actually became alcoholic, which many would argue is the key part of a beer.

The most interesting part to me was finding out more about this subculture of homebrewers that live among us. I've known people who enjoy homebrewing, but I didn't realize that there are multiple clubs and meet-ups and other social events geared around people who live to turn hops into suds.

Overall, I think the course would be great for someone who had some exposure to homebrewing (maybe had bought a book and started thumbing through it) and wanted face-time with a master to ask questions. For someone with no experience, I left feeling no more prepared to make my own beer, but definitely more educated about where I should start if I did want to. For now, I'm happy to leave the brewing to Mike and his brethren (and the fine folks in Germany).

Learn more:

• Web: www.TheMadFermentationist.com
• Book: How to Brew, John Palmer
• Classes: www.918FStreet.com (Washington, DC)