Homebrewing

"...and I will make it felony to drink small beer"
--William Shakespeare King Henery VI

I used to brew 4 or 5 5-gallon batches of beer each month. That was when I had a roommate and friends that visited frequently. Also, I was working at the Modern Homebrew Emporium in Cambridge, MA so brewing was a large part of my life. I have now taken to making wine and am a partner in the Linus Creek Winery.

Beer brewing is great because you get to see and taste the results typically within a few weeks. This gives you the opportunity to really dial-in a recipe to your liking. Wine, on the other hand, is made only once a year and I am only making one or two varietals a year. The trial-and-error aspect is gone. In contrast, beer needs more attention throughout the process whereas the wine process easily adapts to anybody's schedule. Wine is only demanding to be monitored for a 2-week period in the fall. Aside from that it really just hang's out and waits for me.