Ep 167 Gluten Free Home Brewing
A Conversation with Peter Corrin of Zero Tolerance Gluten Free Home Brew Club
Let’s start the blog with the show notes for this Episode –
This week’s interview is something, that oddly I have unique knowledge about – brewing beer at home. I speak with Peter Corrin of the Zero Tolerance Gluten Free Home Brew Club who answers all my questions about the differences and unique challenges in brewing your own gluten free beer. This may or may not be something you’ve thought of doing, and Peter gives us some resources to investigate how their group is making the process easier for anyone, whether you have previous experience with home brewing or not. We talk about the costs, expectations, and some issues unique to gluten free. You can find out more online at –
https://zerotolerance.mywikis.net/
Gluten Free Home Brewing – Malt, Recipes & Supplies
Sue’s Websites and Social Media –
Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com
Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com
Facebook – @acanadianceliacpodcast
Twitter – CeliacPodcastCA
Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com
Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com
Instagram – @suesgfbaking
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL
Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com
Other Podcast – Gluten Free Weigh In – https://glutenfreeweighin.libsyn.com
My Thoughts –
Out of the blue, Ellen Bayens emailed about the Zero Tolerance Gluten Free Home Brewing Club and to say that Peter would be an interesting interview. The first thing I did was laugh. Then I wrote back to Ellen to tell her that she had struck on something that I was quite well versed in, at least traditional home brewed barley based beer.
When I was young, actually, from very young, my father operated a business out of our home that sold beer and wine making supplies. It was his hobby, and since he’d had such difficulty sourcing supplies and suppliers, he decided to import the ingredients and equipment needed and open a shop – completely apart from his day-to-day job. This meant that my mother became employee number one and as kids, my brother and I were helping move boxes about and any small way we could lend a hand.
This was just the way I grew up. When I was in grade 4, one of our projects was to make a bristol board showing a scientific process. The process I knew best was the one with the many steps of making beer. I stapled small packets of the ingredients to the board and used plenty of arrows to illustrate the method. I can’t remember what mark I got on the project, but I do remember my teacher being somewhat confused by my choice of subject. As well, it’s something my father is proud of to this day!
At the time, brewing beer and wine in one’s home was somewhat taboo. My father actually had to get a licence to brew beer and wine in his home. We lived just outside Ottawa and the regulations to operate a store out of your home were very strict – positively no signage on the property to indicate a business. Not long after my father opened the “store” with limited hours of operation, we found out that the RCMP had been “tipped off” to cars pulling up, people going to the back door and coming away with brown paper bags. A car was sent to “watch” our home for suspicious activity. The “investigation” was quickly sorted out, as a neighbour was a member of the force and my father had all the correct paperwork to operate a business, even one as unorthodox as selling home brew supplies, as this was the only one in the Ottawa area (and beyond).
Over the years, the hobby of home wine and beer making grew and is now an accepted alternative, even spawning the you-brew businesses that solve many of the challenges of space and equipment. My father is now 90, and his concession is to use a you-brew shop to make his wine as he is now in a retirement home. Some hobbies become part of your makeup and in his case define him. In my case it’s a big part of my memories of home when I was young. To think now that home brew clubs extend to gluten free just warms my heart and brings a smile to my face.