THE OTHER PRESS

OT HE R

 

What it’s like

by Peter Laurie

Reprinted from the Char-
latan

by Canadian University
Press

Dinner was almost ready.
“How about a beer?’’ asked
my host. Tony opened us
each a cold pint and set
them down on the worn
table top. It was late after-
noon by this time, but still
quite hot and the bottles
were wet with condensation.
I took a long pull at mine.
“Holy shit!‘‘ I exclaimed.
“Is that ever good!‘ |]
turned the bottle around to
have a look at the label.
There was no label. And as
the truth hit home on me |
turned to my friend and host
with new respect as his face
lit with the quiet, slightly
embarrassed pride of the
amateur artist.

“You like it?’’

Three years and 2,400
miles now lie between me
and the Vancouver Island
homestead of 39-year-old
Tony Berniaz, professor of
organic chemistry turned
back-to-the-lander, tree
planter and home brewer
extraordinaire. | Neverthe-
less, those two pints of dark
ale I savored while dinner
cooked outside over a low
fire were enough to convince
me that home brewing was
definitely worth looking
into.

I now make my own beer;
and while I am still a long
ways from matching that
lovely dark stuff Tony pro-
uces I can clearly see the
advantages of shunning the
local beer store for the art of
the underground  brew-
master.

First of all, the price is
right. A case of 24 now
retails for $13.45 plus a
$2.40 deposit. Three-fifths
of the retail price goes
Straight to taxes; another
fifth covers the beer comp-
any’s advertising, distribu-
tion and profits; the remain-
ing fifth is-you guessed it-
the actual cost of making
your favourite brew (this
information comes to you
courtesy of a salesman for
Labatt’s who, for obvious
reasons, prefers to remain
anonymous).

The point is obvious: you

can make your own beer for
a hell of a lot less than
you're used to paying. Al
Feldman, a Carleton indus-
trial design student who
started making his own last
year, says his cost for 24
beers is about $4.50.

Yet the ’small is beautiful
economics of home-brewed
beer aren't everything. The
real advantage is the taste.
Yes, you, even you, can
eventually make a beer that
will put old John L. or Karl
what’s-his-face to shame.

 

 

°
- aye ee
Een e Meh Si

 

“WRT fay y

WA

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brewing beer is a highly
developed skill, honed
the master swillers thro
out the ages. While -
following recipe isn’t ex
those master brewers wo
recognize it. The mini:
Starting equipment nee
and the work involved

provide the amateur b
maker and his or her fell
consumers with many ho
of drinking pleasure.

 

EX BEER DRINK