Tag Archives: homebrew

wedding recap :: details

My last wedding recap post was pretty broad, spanning the big moments to the little ones. The day went by so quickly that it was difficult to remember everything, and had I not had a hand in every single detail I probably wouldn’t have noticed the many layers of meaning.

But many layers of meaning there were and, like I mentioned, nearly everything about our day was touched by someone we love.

First and foremost — and probably our guests’ favorite part of the reception — was the brown ale Andrew and I brewed together, the winter before the wedding. He had given me a legit brew kit for the 21st birthday, and because we are such beer-lovers it was only fitting to make our own for the big day. This was a Newcastle-style brown ale, and the batch yielded about 45 bottles. They went extremely quickly, but we managed to save a couple for ourselves. I named my home brew Dutch Wife Brewery as an homage to Andrew’s very Dutch last name, and mama designed this adorable waterproof label to accompany this particular brew. (My first beer was a dark, rich porter that I called “Dutch Wife Busty Porter.”)

Our table decor was collected from flea markets and thrift stores spanning the tri-state area, and also begged and borrowed from friends and family members. Mismatched china was lent to us from church members and friends with flea market stalls, but the china most precious to me was that lent to me by my paternal grandmother. It was her mother’s wedding china — a gorgeous white plate with grey-silver stalks of wheat in the center. In those small details, we tried to connect the generations in a meaningful way.

Old library books scavenged from the Goodwill helped to add dimension to our tablescapes, and vessels of varying sizes and patterns held small bouquets or single blossoms. Most vessels came from thrift stores, but a few special ones like the crystal globe above belonged to my maternal grandmother.

Our table settings were also unique and special to us. In keeping with the rustic, DIY theme, we used kraft paper and discarded wine corks to mark the place settings at the head table. My daddy cut the corks in half while mama and I made labels, arranged the table settings, and affixed them to the corks. Andrew and I actually picked up most of these corks last summer on a quick trip to Little Rock where a very friendly bartender gifted us with his cast-away corks. Another story, another detail!

Some family friends with an eye for photography ran a DIY photobooth for our guests upstairs in the barn. We used a quilt as a backdrop and provided tons of fun props to make for funny pictures — moustaches and paper hats painted by my friend Elise, giant sunglasses and feather boas from the dollar store, and thrifted picture frames from which guests peeked and posed. Many thanks to the Wiles family for their hard work and creativity!

The calico bunting strung over the dance floor was handmade by my mama and I — we spent hours cutting triangle flags, stitching and glueing and rolling up rope. The end result was a whimsical definition of the “fun space” in the barn, and it is a lasting memento from our wedding-planning time to use for soirees in the future.

Stirring my brew

My kitchen is filled with steam.

My apron is tied double, sticky brown syrup trails down to my elbow, and heaven only knows how I’m going to get that 5-gallon carboy from the sink to the floor to the under-the-stairs cupboard.

I’m homebrewing, and this is the first documentation of this new venture. (Again, I wish I had my camera so I could give some step-by-step photos!)

Andrew gave me a complete homebrewing kit for my 21st birthday before he left for China, and I’ve been researching and dreaming for two weeks now. Tonight I decided that there’s no use waiting for the “perfect moment” because that time would never come, and thus I should make my own action — and isn’t that so true for life as well? We can’t always be waiting for the “perfect” environment, the “perfect” weather, the “perfect” body…life, and humans, is not and are not perfect. We’re made perfectly to be imperfect, and I suggest we all quit with the tiresome charade and accept this already.

Anyhoo….tonight is the night for homebrewing. I’m watching my wort simmer now: the wort is the boiled mixture of malted barley, malt extract, and hops, combined in certain ratios and at certain times in the boiling process to create an early beer “tea” of sorts. This wort, once properly cooked, will be added to a glass “carboy” (a big bottle that typically holds 5-6 gallons), along with more water and brewer’s yeast, to ferment in a calm, dark place for 2-3 weeks. Often, the beer will be syphoned into another container for a double-fermentation. The recipe I’m using tonight calls for such an operation to produce what I already believe is going to be a beautifully dark, rich porter, with all sorts of chocolate and coffee notes. Mmmm.

Not only am I excited about this hands-on, creative process – new recipes, this time for drink! And a DIY-er’s dream come true! – but I’m also thrilled to benefit nutritionally from my homebrew. Unlike beer made in the home, commercially produced beer is pasteurized to stop the fermentation process and essentially kill the live yeast cultures. This makes for a safe and yummy drink, yes, but we commercial beer-drinkers miss out on the vital B vitamin complex found in brewer’s yeast. My homebrew will not be pasteurized, and will therefore be chock full of B vitamins and healthy, fermented cultures. Yumm.

I’ll let you know how this all turns out. I was a bit nervous about this at first, but the process has been smooth and easy. I’m so excited to see the end product but, as always, the journey has been just as enjoyable.

Thanks again to my sweet Andrew for knowing me so well and for buying me a kit. I’ve always wanted to do this!