The second batch is burping while I type. Looking forward to it. An English nut brown ale.

I am realizing now that I should have done a few minor things differently, but hey, I’m going to just relax, not worry, and have a homebrew!

I bought mine at a local home brewing store. Depending on the size of your town, you might have one too. There are plenty of places online to look. Here’s one:

Midwest Homebrewing

My kit cost about $100, but didn’t have to pay shipping and got one with the glass carboy, which is more expensive. You can get a basic one for around $60-70.

A kit will generally include everything you need to brew the beer, but ingredients for each batch and reusable bottles are an additional cost.

Huge rave: The lawnmower repair advisor suggested a Bud Lite. I told him I would just Relax, quit worrying , and have a Home Brew!! Ahhhh!! I feel much better, now. I will just take the lawnmower to the advisor and let him fix it. It just barely started greening up here anyway. It would have been a waste of gas to mow it yet.

Llama-Get Charlie Papazian’s “The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing” and it will give good advice and great recipes. It will tell you what equipment to get for the basic brew kit.

I suggest you reward yourself with a Guiness or HB for every few pounds lost. Why torture yourself. Rewards for small victories make for more small victories. Rewards for impossible tasks make for no rewards and a grumpy fat guy. I would bet Mrs. Llama and Baby Llama, whose fleece is white as snow, would prefer the former.

Rant: Have now gained 40 pounds since Christmas too.

Rave: Good to hear that home Brew Beers are good and my thought that spending all the time and money to produce skunky beer was wrong

Rant: Have to lose 40 pounds before I can have a Guinness or Home Brew.

Rant: Always thought Williamsburg was just another tourist trap.

Rave: Won’t paass right by the turnoff to Williamsburg on I-64 the next time driving back from the beach.

Congrats to the degree earners above - well done!

Someone please tell me a good home brew kit to start with. Maybe I can get a batch ready to celebrate losing weight - as a personal reward!

I had the $70

Rant: . . . for driving 3 1/2 hours (I hate driving) . . .

Rave: . . . to a writers conference . . .

Rant: . . . once I wasted a lot of time yesterday trying desperately to find someone to care for my dog for 24 hours, but . . .

Rave . . . I’ll also see a college friend (whose wedding I was in) I haven’t seen for about ten years, and her four or five children born since then (most of them anyway, one died at two in a tragic accident) . . .

Rave . . . and when I get back, next week I have three radio/newspaper interviews (based on my second book).

Also, a decision may be made about my third book today (if the committee accepts it, it has to be approved by management, but I think with this book that’s a formality–I imagine I’ll know either way by the middle of next week). At this point I rather expect a no, but for complicated reasons, even a no would be good news–I just want an answer either way, and had expected to know all the way back in February.

Enjoy your weekend, y’all!