barleycorn's craft brew

For T's birthday, I gave him a coupon for a beer brewing session at Barleycorn's Craft Brew in Natick. He has always loved beer & the processes surrounding any aspect of beer, so this was the perfect gift. Today was a cloudy gray and chilly day, the perfect day for being inside & brewing some beer for a few hours. We headed over for a 2pm brewing appointment, and spent the next 2.5 hours preparing every bit of the beer.

 

First, we measured out the grains, according to the recipe we picked. 

 

 

 

Next, we milled the grains.

 

The milled grains were put into the muslin brewing bags. We steeped the bags in water like tea, before adding in the extract and stirring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we brought the mixture to a boil, increasing the foamy top and then letting settle five times, before measuring and plopping in the hops.

  

 

 

 

Over the two and a half hour brew time, there were a few waiting periods where we looked through the local beer paper. Who knew there were so many breweries, pubs, and restaurants surrounding craft beer in Massachusetts (not I)?!

 

heh heh...pumpKAN get it?

After adding the final hops, we drained our product into a large canister, adding the yeast, and rolled away to ferment for the next 2 weeks.

 

In about 3 weeks, we will head back to bottle our own 12.2 gallons-worth of beer to take home with us for the fall season!

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diy lemon exfoliating scrub

There's nothing like a good exfoliating scrub in the summer. This combination of lemon, salt, and olive oil leave your skin glowing (and it only takes 3 minutes to whip up with everyday items)!


Items you will need (for 2 small jars-worth, 1 for you and 1 as a gift!):
1 cup sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp lemon juice (and zest)


Directions:
1. Mix olive oil and sea salt together bit by bit (may not need all of it, depending on consistency...no one wants a runny exfoliating scrub)

2. Add zest of lemon and lemon juice. Package in air-tight jar. 

 

Boom. Done. Wrap accordingly if you plan to share. Use towards end of shower for gleaming clear skin with a healthy smooth glow!
 

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