A beginner's guide to homebrewing > It’s like being Martha Stewart, but you're drunk Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager ou love making stuff, and you love drinking beer. So why not try making the stuff you love? While homebrewing might strike you as a trend of the last decade, it has existed for a ridiculously long time. In fact, some sources claim the first documented recipe for how to make beer comes in the form of a 3,900-year-old poem, dedicated to the patron goddess of brewing. While modern homebrewing lacks the divine connections that first recipe held, it’s still a wildly enjoyable hobby to get involved in. But, before you dive into homebrewing, there are a few things you should know. First off, you need to consider the available space wherever youre brewing. Necessary supplies include a 30-litre pot for boiling water, a primary fermenter pail and secondary carboy, as well as the bottles you'll be filling with delicious, sudsy goodness. Most recipes are for 23 litres of beer, so you'll need at least that many one-litre bottles. It’s not an overwhelming amount of supplies, but apartments in the Lower Mainland can be squishy enough as is, so make sure you clear some shelf space ahead of time. You'll also need a dry, dark space to leave the beer while it’s fermenting, such as a closet or crawlspace. Once youre fully equipped to start homebrewing, it’s a ridiculously cheap alternative to buying beer—we’re talking $2-3 a litre of good beer! ...You do have to stomach the initial buy-in, though. Dan’s Homebrewing in Vancouver has a $75 starter set, with all the basic supplies sans the boiling pot. However, there are a few other items you should grab to make your life easier, which include a thermometer, for when youre cooling the beer down before the fermentation process; a hydrometer, to measure the alcohol content of your batch; and a spray bottle, because every stage of homebrewing involves an absurd amount of sanitizing. In total, you're looking at about a $110 initial investment, but it’s all equipment that you can use forever. After a handful of batches, you'll be saving money from how little the ingredients cost. The moment you decide to start homebrewing, immediately start hoarding your empty swing-top bottles. Most homebrewing stores sell bottles and caps but having your own stock can save you money. Plus, if you invest in swing-top bottles, you don't have to keep restocking on bottle caps. Howe Sound Brewing have perfectly-sized one-litre bottles, and their beer is delicious anyways. Grolsch bottles are another option, but they're half the size of Howe Sound, so you'll have to collect twice as many. On the subject of bottles, you may be tempted to bottle using some of your leftover growlers with screw-top lids. The problem with using these is that, during fermentation and carbonation, there’s a build-up of gases inside the bottle. Swing-top lids give a bit of leeway here, while screw-tops don’t. There are some anecdotes online about screw-top bottles exploding during the process, while some people claim they've never had an issue. My advice—let your friends know youre looking for swing-tops and stick to buying Howe Sound for a month so you can stock up on swing-top bottles and never have to worry about your beer blowing up if it gets too carbonated. The last piece of advice I have for you on homebrewing: recruit a co-pilot! Aside from sharing the initial cost of equipment, having a brew partner makes those multi-hour brewing and bottling sessions into just another hang-out. You'll also have someone to bounce ideas off of for future sudsy creations, and you get to celebrate as a duo whenever you've completed a successful batch. From the outside, homebrewing can look like a pretentious arena, full of neckbeards and down-talking. But it can also be a great, low- commitment hobby. Plus, the payoff of having delicious beer at the end is unparalleled by any other hobby. So, what are you waiting for? Photo by C J Sommerfeld All hail king kale C J Sommerfeld Contributor Kis is the king of crunchy salad material. A subculture in modern day health and fitness enthusiasts has been created for your highness: Kale chips! Kale bread! Kale-infused soda water! Kale granola! Cruelty-free fair-trade organic 98 per cent kale chocolate! However, when finishing off my bowl of kale salad I’m left with one question—why? Okay I get it, kale bathes your body in vitamin E, lutein, and is great for your bones; but is it just me or does kale salad make your stomach feel like an acidic green planet full of foreign green matter? Why are we so obsessed with this crunchy Wash the green beast with tap water until all dirt and invisible pesticides have been washed down the drain. Use scissors to cut the kale into bite-size pieces into a bowl, and don’t worry about removing the stem. Squeeze the half lemon into the same bow! until there isn’t a drop of lemon juice left beneath the peel. Evenly sprinkle the Himalayan sea salt throughout the lemon juice- soaked kale. Once your tablespoon is empty begin massaging the lemon juice and salt into the kale with your hands. Massage for a few minutes before placing the bowl in the fridge. Wait 15 minutes. During this waiting period the lemon is undergoing a chemical process leaf? But, I’m sure plenty of other hard- to-chew plants can supply our bodies with similar benefits. Our markets are stocked with this crunchy leaf so we might as well scavenge to find a way in which we can eat it and reap its benefits. Ladies and gentlemen, I have discovered a life buoy to rescue you from drowning in this acidic green planet: Kale ceviche salad. No, it did not come from the coast of Peru, and no, there is no fish involved. My theory for this salad is this: Use the same chemistry which cooks fish in ceviche to break down the cellulose that makes kale so fibrous and unappetizing. Now am I just super hip or am I actually on to something? called denaturation which tenderizes the leafy green. Denaturing the cellulose in the kale means that your body does not have to perform this process once ingested. This means your body excretes less enzymes, making your stomach feel less acidic post-kale salad indulgence. While this denaturation process is happening, prepare the Hawaiian papaya. Skin it and cut it lengthways, use a spoon to scoop out the peppery papaya seeds—we will not be using these nor the skin. Cube the papaya flesh, mixing the orange cubes into the refrigerated bowl of denaturing kale. Sprinkle the hemp seeds atop the softened kale deliciousness and enjoy!