-My first question was an easy one:
What do you like best about brewing?
No surprises here; the answer that came up across the board was the satisfaction one gets from creating something, that something in this case being their own beer. Brewmaster J. likened it to cooking in the sense that something consumable and nourishing is created from base ingredients, time, temperature, and a bit of natural chemistry. Brewmaster P. postulated a parallel to that by saying there’s a satisfaction in “[making] things that most people assume have to be manufactured.” And Brewmaster R. weighed in with the very good point that brewing your own beer allows you to make something that you just can’t buy anywhere. I agree with all of this. Even though my experience in homebrewing has extended to only two offerings, both times I thoroughly enjoyed myself while I was doing it. It just seems like this is the logical conclusion of getting into the non-mass-produced beers of the world.

P. also expressed his fondness of teaching the process to others. In his words, “Having them say ‘That’s it?’ and being able to say ‘Yes’ is fantastic.”

-Next up, I asked the obvious follow-up question,
What do you like least about brewing?
For all of us—R., P., J., and myself—the answer was easy: the cleaning. Allow me to explain. Beer brewing, while somewhat simple in its A-to-B-to-C-ness, is ridiculously tedious in its prep work. Every piece of plastic, glass, metal, and human must be cleaned, rinsed, cleaned again, rinsed, sterilized, autoclaved, certified by the CDC, FDA, and BATF…and then rinsed again. The single most time-consuming process of brewing beer is waiting. Thankfully, you’ll be keeping yourself busy with cleaning during that waiting time, so the tedium will just fly by.

J. brought up a point in his answer that I hadn’t even considered: part of his least-liked aspect of brewing was the…recipe? But when I thought about it, it made sense. As he pointed out, when one is at the novice level of brewing, adherence to the recipe (correct amounts of water, hops, yeast, etc.) is paramount, because a batch can be ruined with just a little misapplication of ingredients.

-My next question was personal (I told you this was hard-hitting stuff),
What’s the best thing you’ve ever made? What are you most proud of?
P.:
1) The first Old Ale I made in the midst of a bout with pneumonia.
2)An Apple Wit that was crafted after someone on [a] homebrew community said it wouldn’t work.
3)The Barleywine that will not be repeated

R.: Best (and most likely unique) beer we’ve made was a Lemongrass Wheat beer. We brewed it again to serve at our wedding

J.: My pride, and my shame, is my Gruit. The brew is bracing, with sweet gale up front, ginger at the back and yarrow, wild nettles and march rosemary throughout.

BigShow: At the moment, it’s the Bw’Arleywine—also known above as the Barleywine that will not be repeated—brewed for Boys’ Weekend Out 2008. This started out as a copy of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, and due to malt and hop shortages at the store, morphed via substitutions into a sweet, caramel-colored, full-flavored bière magique. Alas, the recipe for this genius was never put to paper, having been made up on the spot in the supply store and the kitchen.

-Next, I asked my subjects to gush.
Who is your favorite brewer?
J. named our friend Steve Bernard as his favorite brewer. Steve is formerly of Mercury Brewing and The Tap in Haverhill, MA. He is currently heading up bottling and some distribution work at Three Floyds Brewing in Munster, IN.

R. named Dogfish Head as his current Brasseurs l’Amour. As he pointed out, there are always great beers coming out of their Rehoboth Beach, DE brewery, and they’re never afraid to push flavor boundaries. See what he means at Dogfish.com

I’m hard-pressed to name a favorite brewer, but I’d have to give the nod to Dogfish Head (for uniqueness of styles). Close second-placers are Southern Tier, Victory, and Blue Point.

-As we stumbled into the homestretch, I lobbed an easy one.
What is your favorite bar in which to enjoy sweet beers?
P.: People’s Pint in Greenfield, MA; and Rudy’s in New Haven, CT

R.: Redbones (Somerville, MA); lots of taps that are always fresh.

J.: Cambridge Common (Note: absurdly loud sound) on Mass Ave. 30 taps, 14 of which rotate, plus a cask and bottles. Runners up: Redbones, Sunset Bar & Grille.

Beer Cellarmaster E. offered his faves, as well. Redbones, Cambridge Common and Christophers [on Mass Ave.].

BigShow: I’m going to go with The Publick House in Brookline. While I have noticed a decline in general atmosphere and service recently, I’ve been a loyal patron of the place for the past five years—ever since moving in to my first apartment up the street from its Washington Square location.

And there you have it — a unique cross-section of the vibrant Boston homebrewing community. I leave you with a final observation. As much as brewing is about the creation, it’s also about the sharing of that creation. There’s a certain feeling these brewers get in taking what they’ve made, using only a few simple ingredients, time, and heart, and giving it to friends and family saying, “Please, enjoy this with me. There isn’t a lot of it, and it will never taste like this again, but I want to share it with you.”

Unless it’s Bw’Arleywine. That stuff’s gotta last.