Though it’s been over a month since the day, I thought it was high time I let the digital world in on a very real-world secret. With the help of several friends, I have brewed, fermented and savored my first batch of home-brewed beer. The result, which I have affectionately named Deep Holler Pale Ale, is astoundingly good. This represents the culmination of years (literally!) of planning, planting and learning my way around the exciting world of homebrew.

The process began around March of 2007, when I received for my birthday a gift that has kept on giving: my very own hop rhizomes. The vines that sprouted from them are now in their second year of production, and let me tell you, the produce is mighty indeed.

For the recipe, I used one called “American Pale Ale” that I got ingredients for from the good man Craig at Hop City over on the West side. The recipe called for a total of 2oz Northern Brewer hops and 1.5oz Cascade hops. Since Hop City sells plug hops in 2oz vacuum-sealed packs, I thought it foolish to let a good half ounce go to waste, so I threw those in during the last addition.

I was keen to use my own harvest in the brew, however, so I decided to dry hop the batch after it had fermented for about a week. I transferred the wort to a secondary fermenter and added a good helping (maybe 16 or 20g) of whole Cascade hops from my garden.

After another week, it was time to bottle. After still another week, I sampled the first beer late on the night of Kip’s birthday, and passed it around to friends. The results were surprisingly excellent! I feel like the flavor has only improved as the beer ages a little in the bottle. While the initial hop punch has always been significant, the middle notes have become more pronounced in the subsequent weeks.

Kip’s brother Paul, a graphic designer, is graciously designing label art for us to use, and we’ve got big plans to make the Deep Holler brand a mainstay of the local scene. Up next is Kip’s favorite style, a hefeweizen! Into that we plan to incorporate some coriander that we harvested from cilantro plants that went to seed in the garden. I just love using so many parts of the harvest!

Want to help with the brew next time? Just let me know!