Tweten - Gardening for the Homebrewer

First published in 2015 by Voyageur Press, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

2015 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

Text 2015 Wendy Tweten, Debbie Teashon

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Digital edition: 978-1-6278-8649-9
Softcover edition: 978-0-7603-4563-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tweten, Wendy, author.

Gardening for the homebrewer : plants for making beer, wine, gruit, cider, perry, and more / by Wendy Tweten and Debbie Teashon.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-7603-4563-4 (sc)

1. Food crops. 2. Plants, Edible. 3. Plants, Useful. 4. Beer. 5. Wine and wine making. I. Teashon, Debbie, author. II. Title. III. Title: Plants for making beer, wine, gruit, cider, perry, and more.

SB175.T84 2015

635.2dc23

2015007057

Acquisitions Editor: Thom OHearn

Project Manager: Jordan Wiklund

Art Director: Cindy Samargia Laun

Book Design: Brad Norr

Book Layout: Wendy Holdman

GROW AND PROCESS PLANTS FOR MAKING BEER, WINE, GRUIT, CIDER, PERRY, AND MORE

WENDY TWETEN AND DEBBIE TEASHON

For those of you who werent there, TV ads of the 1960s were heavy on cartoon characters pitching breakfast cereals, tank-solid cars caressed by girls with pageboy hairdos, and beer with heads of foam that exploded out of the glass and flowed down the sides like golden volcanoes.

Decades later, there are still similar commercials. However, many of us have come to understand that beer, wine, cider, and liqueurs are more than a buzz: Theyre art and science rolled into intriguing and nuanced libations. Just as with fine food, those that enjoy a craft beer or well-made wine know that the ingredients make a difference. So it makes sense that if you brew your own, at some point you may wonder: Can I also grow my own?

The good news in a nutshell is a resounding yes! Beginners as well as experts can be proud of their forays into gardening just as they were in their early days of brewing. In other words, even a first effort is likely to produce an ample harvest, just as your first few batches provided a satisfying beverage. Of course, you can also end up with dead plants or a drain pour, but only if youre careless!

Therein lies the beauty of either hobby; these are pursuits of personal enrichment that have only a few simple rules for success. Heres the secret of each: When fermenting, sanitize everything to avoid brew-ruining contamination, and, in gardening, site plants correctly and dont let them dry out before theyre established. If you can remember these guidelines, every step is a new adventure!

Brewing and gardening are good companions. After all, both are natural forces set into motion, then guided by the human hand. In the garden, fruit ferments naturally. Since fermentation relies on the garden, why not take control of the flavors that go into your brews by growing them at home? Well-crafted adult beverages have depth and refinement. One of the most important elementsfreshnessis as elusive as it is esteemed. Elusive, that is, unless youre harvesting your ingredients from your own backyard.

We hope this book will plant a seed. A brewers garden can be so much more than a production plot. With a little forethought, it can be a source of relaxation and pride. When the weather is fine, its an outdoor room. When the year turns cold, your garden becomes ever-changing art outside the windows of your warm house. As two hobbies grow into one, your efforts in the garden and with the fermenter will become second nature. May you gain coordination as your confidence grows, while losing none of your enthusiasm!

R emember playing outside when you were a kid? Climbing trees? Building forts? Turning over rocks to see what crept beneath? It was fun, wasnt it? Well, then you went and grew up. Try having all that alfresco fun as an adult and youre going to get a lot of funny looks. But theres one way to play in your back yard without becoming the neighborhood eccentric: get out and garden.

Not only is gardening enjoyable on its own, its a natural accompaniment to fermenting. Grow it fresh, brew it fresh, and reap the rewards of both hobbies in a most satisfying way. Name two other mutual pursuits whose industry results in an invitation to relax. Do a little harvest, make a little must, and sit down tonight (or in a few months, unless theres homebrew already in your fridge).