Shortly after the start of the year, Julia and I found ourselves in Time The Bookshop. It was right then and there, seeing a For Dummies book, that I predicted my hobby for the new year – homebrewing.

I love the For Dummies range of books.  I’ve got 4 already and they have all been exceptionally helpful.  So Homebrewing for Dummies became number 5.  Ever since reading the first page I couldn’t wait to get my hand on the equipment and ingredients that I needed to get started.

Two month’s later, following a multi-purpose trip to Singapore, I finally have my first batch brewing in the corner.  It was quite a mission to source everything that I need locally. Although Kota Kinabalu is rife with homebrewing (think Tapai, a local rice wine), proper brewing equipment is virtually impossible to track down, and people brewing beer at home I don’t think is at all common. So I had to wait for a chance to go to Singapore.

There, in stark contrast, it seems home brewers grow on trees, and it was with little effort that I tracked down a few suppliers.  Shortly after arriving in Singapore I walked down the road with my very own brew-kit, containing everything I needed to start brewing right there on the sidewalk, if I wanted.

Back at home, I started the process immediately. The ideal temperature for homebrewing around 25°C.  My living room averages about 27°C across day and night.  Unfortunetally, it seems as if stirring my brew has jacked up the temperature outside, and we’ve been experiencing scorcing heat over the last 3 days and now the coolest part of my air-condtionless house is a pretty average 30°C.  Not sure how my brew will feel about that.

The homebrewing experience has spurned a totally new section and, so far, 1 sub-section on my blog.  There is the general Homebrewing Beer section and then the What’s Brewing Now section under that.  Check it out (if you’re interested) – I intend to keep a detailed log of what I’m doing. – for my own reference, and perhaps as a reference for somebody else who can learn from my inevitable mistakes.