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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Old dogs, brew tricks

Rick Bonino

After all these years of writing about beer, it’s hard to believe I never brewed any before.

Oh, sure, I’d seen various stages of the process in action, but I hadn’t actually been involved hands-on in any way.

When I was working full-time, I always figured I was too busy. And now that I’m semi-retired, with (theoretically) more time on my hands, I still don’t feel the urge to have homemade beer around when my job is trying all the new commercially brewed offerings that come along.

But this summer, my fellow Spokesman expatriate, Jim Kershner, ended up growing barley in his backyard along with the hops he’d had for a few years. We saw a golden (or amber, perhaps) opportunity.

We reaped, we threshed, we winnowed, we malted (more or less), we harvested. We laughed, we cried (or at least felt a little like it at times), we drank a bunch of beer along the way.

When all was said and done – with the considerable and generous help of Peter McArthur and Cameron Johnson at Nu Home Brew – we ended up with something that was reasonably drinkable, if not particularly memorable.

And most important, we got a story out of it, like we knew we would all along, for better or worse. That ran in today’s newspaper; you can read it here, if you haven’t already.

I don’t know that I’m in any hurry to homebrew again – though if anyone out there is so inclined, be sure to check out the demonstrations and discounts coming up at Nu Home Brew on Saturday for National Learn to Homebrew Day.

But I might get the opportunity to continue my career, as such, on a more professional level. Keep an eye on this space for further developments.