I taught a friend of mine to homebrew last weekend. Actually, I demonstrated a little bit about brewing to him and then he had to leave to go to a wedding. He seems excited about it though, so I'm hoping I can get him to brew another beer in the near future, and this time actually have him do the work. Part of the problem was my fault. My propane tank was running low, but I didn't realize it. It couldn't manage to bring the water to a boil. When I went to buy a new tank to replace it, it heated to boiling within a few minutes.

The recipe was the Terrapin Rye P.A. clone that ran in Brew Your Own a while back. Fermentation took off like a rocket with the airlock rolling for about three days, then slowing down on the fourth and coming to a complete stop on the fifth. I actually have to transfer it to secondary tonight to dry hop it with Amarillo. The friend also couldn't make it for that. If it weren't for the fact I was using him to get the chance to brew again since I couldn't afford it, I'd be irritated. I'll post here on how the beer turned out.

Oh, and if you're in Georgia, try to make the Classic City Brew Fest in Athens on Saturday, April 3. The festival is the largest that I know of in the state and TheBeerCellar.com (my beer site) will have a booth set up giving away magnets and a flyer with recommendations on what beer to try first.

Speaking of festivals, I'll be judging the Border Beer Bust in Augusta at the end of April. The organizer is trying to get together a very impressive lineup of beers and breweries, so if you are able to make it, I'd suggest trying to. It's on Feb. 23-24 and costs $10 which includes your tasting mug and 3 tickets. Extra tickets are $1 a piece. I'll be posting more info on that later.