OnTap Magazine

ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2025 | 47 BAKING SUPPLY STORES DEFY SCIENCE 03 It seems that peculiar gravity fluctuations aregenerated by spice and baking supply stores - fluctuations that only you are sensitised to. These places pull you in and prevent you from leaving without an armful of exotic spices and adjuncts that will form part of the next brew. This may lead to an overaccumulation of exotica, which in turn can make your kitchen smell like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. But, then again, how else are you going to brew that bold Witbier? Embrace the strange. Experiment with spices and herbs in your next brew. Watch out for over-extraction and long boiling times, as this will tend to create unpleasant bitterness. Good base beer styles to add spices and herbs to can include Saisons (try a basil Saison), Amber Ales (great with juniper berries added), and of course, Belgians (the usual suspects of coriander and mandarin peel). PLASTIC BITS & PIECES FIND YOU 04 Odd little plastic elbow joints of various angles, a collection of rigid plastic straws, airlock lids, beer line coiled in figure eights. This is not free association; this is the contents of the storage box you keep underneath your desk in your study. The thing is, you never know when you may need "it." What if you're brewing at a friend's house and their setup doesn't allow for a nice, even lauter flow? That elbow joint and larger diameter tubing sure came in handy, didn't they? Don't even mention John Guest fittings. The way they just, work. Mmm. John Guest. Give in to plastic magnetism. Collect ever-more bizarre plastic widgets. Because your next brew day may just depend on one of them. YOU'VE GOT BOTTLES. SO MANY BOTTLES… 05 All available nooks and crannies in your house have been recommissioned as GSUs (Glass Storage Units). Your cupboards are 40% glass bottles (brown, obviously; 660ml, preferably), and 60% hope (don't worry, you will be brewing again soon). You scoff openly at anyone who lifts a green glass bottled beer to their lips. Don't they know that it's virtually guaranteed to be skunked? Don't they realize what danger they're in? The local liquor store has a photo of you next to mugshots of shady characters who pass fake money. It's labeled: "Stop giving this weirdo all our crates." A clean, label-free (brown) glass bottle is a thing of beauty. Take time to admire its shape, its resistance to harmful UV radiation, and its delicate neck that will soon be anointed with a brand-new crown cap. Ignore the kegerator fanatics. Sure, kegging your beer is obviously more efficient and party-friendly. But can you gift an entire keg of one of your super-hoppy IPAs to a houseguest? They don't have a tap installed in their home, do they? And you can't submit a keg of your beer to a homebrew contest, now can you? No. You can't. So hold on to those bottles like they mean something. Also: forget the swing-top Grolsch bottles. Not only do they need their gaskets replaced, but they have "Grolsch" embossed on the glass! And they're green! Green! Use them for salad dressing, not something important like beer. Homebrewing changes your kitchen. It may possibly change the way you look at the world. Don't worry. This is not an obsession. It's a reasonable response to a crazy world that doesn't know its IBUs from its ABVs. And if you suspect that you may be one of those oddball folks called homebrewers? Cheers to you! And to the things you have bubbling away in a dark corner somewhere.