Bucket of Poison

So along with the hundreds of hobbies that I already have, recently I added beer brewing to the mix.  I don't have any pictures of this process yet but imagine me and my friend Amanda drinking in my kitchen while attempting to make a brew without all the necessary tools while my husband and our friends are playing Magic and speaking in a nerd language incomprehensible to either of us. 

Tools we were missing: steeping bags, long metal spoon, enough ice or freezer packs to cool the pot down, and also a cooking thermometer.  It was like trying to brew beer as a pilgrim.  I now know how my ancestors suffered.

Luckily, my parents only live a few streets away so I was able to borrow a candy thermometer from them which worked fine.  I didn't know about the metal spoon part before I left their house so we were out of luck on that one.  By the time that information came up I was already three beers deep. 

Anyways, there's a step in beer brewing where the pot of everything that been boiling for over an hour needs to have the temperature dropped down below 75 degrees (the closer to 60 degrees the better I believe) so that the yeast can be added.  We barely had any ice in our freezer so my friend smartly grabbed a reusable freezer pack to put directly in the pot of beer to cool it down quicker.  Worked like a charm.

Cut to a week later when I'm using the same freezer pack in my lunch bag and discover that it has a leak in it.  So, potentially, I have a giant bucket of poisoned freezer pack goo beer sitting in the closet of my sewing room.  Considering this batch was meant to end up as Christmas presents neither one of us were too pleased.  The only thing I can do now is wait a couple weeks and check on the beer to see if it looks okay.  The yeast will go fucking crazy if anything nonsanitized is in it so it will be pretty clear whether or not the batch turned out drinkable.   

Poison or beer?

However, we find solice in the fact that if the batch is ruined we can blame my mom.  I did steal the freezer pack from her.  Thanks a lot Mama Kuff.