Growing a Farmer 2.0

How the Land Taught the Farmer to Live

A look at the considerations of how our actions shape the world around us versus how the world shapes and defines our decisions.

Kurt Timmermeister's attitude throughout Growing a Farmer is defined by change, risk, and acceptance of results. In nearly every chapter, Kurt is faced with a new challenge toward the future of his farm as well as himself. The author uses this book as an expanded metaphor showing how growing yourself as a person is much like that of growing crops on a farm, changes will be made as they are needed. This is shown in the decisions our farmer made with every life experience. Kurt spent a large portion of time both managing and working in a restaurant. Little by little, the process and quality of the foods pushed him to supply himself with more natural and traditional alternatives for his own meals. So, Kurt started a farm to produce his meats and vegetables more naturally. After enough of those meals, he decided to share his love of higher quality and homemade foods with as many loved ones (and eventually customers) as he could. We must refine ourselves as people to grow into the greatest yield possible--just as day to day decisions are made to crops, such as the amount of water to give them.

Nothing is consistent and each product differs week by week on a farm. Therefor, Timmermeister is required to make risky decisions in order to maintain his farm and livelihood. When a product turns out differently than expected, the farmer is forced to accept the fruits of his labor. Kurt would never see his products as any better or worse than store bought ones. Rather, he noted that each set of bacon and every tub of butter was different, spotlighting the unique characteristics. I really enjoyed the "Butchering" chapter for this reason. He talks about how "we all want to create industrial butter, industrial bacon, industrial pork. That is our reality." But true bacon will not always be 7x1 inch slices with alternating stripes of fats and lean meats. And butter will not have the perfect consistency to spread over toast. The farmer matures and grows in his love for the exciting uniqueness of each week's supply. He finds motivation to get out of bed every morning to take on a new challenge and to care for the flora and fauna of his farm. I believe that this is what allowed Kurt to understand the difference of how the farm grows the farmer when the farmer believes he is the one growing the farm. I believe this love and motivation is what led to the sharing of his experience in this book.

The Gruppster’s Brew

A Guide on Creating an Enjoyable Beer that Defines Your Style

"Image courtesy of VisitMontgomery.com"

I didn’t care much for beer when I was younger. In fact, I didn’t enjoy a “cold brew” until my late teen years when I tasted my first craft beer. But what really peaked my interest in craft beer, a holy grail of drinks, was the discovery of microbrews. Now, some people might say that alcoholism and science cannot coexist. Home-brewing not only disproves this idea, but it also shows how the two enhance one another to produce a beverage of such quality enjoyment. Like any practice, the brewing process gets easier and results in a better product with each subsequent trial. Now if you read this guide and your first brew doesn’t reach the standards that you were expecting, you just need to remember the encouraging words of our 39^th President’s brother, Billy Carter: “There is no such thing as a bad beer. It’s that some taste better than others.”

Engineering Your Beer

Step one in producing your delicious creation is to determine the type of beer you would like. First off, you will decide whether to brew an ale or a lager. While there are many different variations of these two categories such as bocks, IPAs, stouts and barley wines, there are far too many to define and describe here without writing a short novel. The idea is to pick a general style you want to try out and then research the specifics of your choice. Ales are great to begin with, as they have been the style that has been getting our ancestors hammered for centuries in the past. Lagers, on the other hand, are considered a much younger species of beers since we have had less experience with them (only the last few centuries or so), but there is no wrong choice.

Once you have made your initial decision, the real fun of the creation process begins. Now we can decide upon the numerous appearances and tastes that will fashion your wort and, in turn, your beer. Wort is what we like to call our liquid before the fermentation process, when all of the human effort (besides bottling and drinking) has been completed. I will go into more detail about how this gets turned into beer later on in this guide.

"Image courtesy of SmithsonianMag.com"

As you will experience, the malts and hops you choose will define the taste of your beer throughout the creation process. Certain malts will develop into sweeter flavors than others. The right combination of malts with the hops can complement each other to give you a good, balanced brew. Similar to many other types of pairings, the general rule applies - opposites attract. You can also create a “hoppy” beer by choosing an especially strong set of hops to add earthy, herbal, spicy, or even citrus-like flavors and aromas to the beer. Hops are also what give the beer its bitter taste, which you can later quantify in what has come to be known as International Bittering Units (IBUs). For example, “an American Light Lager may have 5 to 8 IBUs, while an Imperial India Pale Ale (IPA) may have 100 or more IBUs” (Nachel 1). Along with bitterness, the color and gravity—the general viscosity or thickness of the liquid—of the beer can largely impact the overall enjoyment of a beer.

Color begins with the grains you choose to make the beer. “All beers have color, whether it’s light, dark, or somewhere in between… Light-colored grains results in a pale-colored beer; conversely, darker-roaster grains produce darker beers” (Nachel 1). Some of my favorite breweries manage to even create red colorings in their beers. Gravity on the other hand comes from the level of maltose dissolved in your wort. With higher levels of maltose per unit of volume, the beer will gain a more “full-bodied” feeling. This is similar to the idea of wine having “legs” when swirled in the glass. All of these factors will come to define the greatness of your drinks.

Alter the Process, Define the Taste

So how do we begin the process of brewing our well-thought creation? You will have to gather all of the required equipment and ingredients. You will need:

-       5+ gallon boiling pot

-       A fermentor of equivalent size,

-       Sterilizer

-       Thermometer

-       Hydrometer

-       Scales (optional)

-       Straining bag (for your grains)

-       A barrel or bottles depending how you would like to ferment your beer

-       Bottle caps and a bottle capper (if you choose to use bottles)

-       A syphon tube

-       The ingredients of your chosen beer

Since I don’t want to bore you with all the specifics and many steps that are subject to change with each brew, I will include a link to a YouTube video created by WNCBikeRider that can describe the basic process with some visual demonstrations. The man may seem a bit dry in his tutorial, but the dryness only added to the humor in my opinion.

After a few trials, you may begin to embrace your inner artistic self by changing your temperatures, heating times, or the volumes of ingredients to enhance your brew to better fit your liking; I personally like to add in multiple varieties of hops and in greater quantities to produce exotic flavors that transform the brew into a novel creation. I have used Simcoe hops, for example, which provide a pleasant pine flavor that I highly recommend trying. Adding extra hops can turn your IPA into a Double IPA or even an Imperial IPA. The endless possibilities of manipulating your beer allow you to explore your creative side in the art of brewing.

"Image courtesy of BigCommerce.com"

John Palmer summarizes the process in 5 easy steps:

“1. Malted barley is soaked in hot water to release the malt sugars.

2. The malt sugar solution is boiled with Hops for seasoning.

3. The solution is cooled and yeast is added to begin fermentation.

4. The yeast ferments the sugars, releasing the CO₂ and ethyl alcohol.

5. When the main fermentation is complete, the beer is bottled with a little bit of added sugar to provide the carbonation,” (Palmer).

Palmer has links on his page that will describe a few alternative methods like brewing with extract and steeped grain, but this guide is meant to explain the more creative aspects behind the process. You begin with a large (preferably 5 or more gallons) pot of boiling water in which you place the grains contained in a bag, similar to a tea bag diffusing in water. When the water is at a boil and the grains have seeped into the water, you should add the packets of malt that you have selected. At particular intervals after pouring in and stirring the malt, additions of hops must be added to the mixture. The choices you have made at the start of the brewing process come in to play here and will express their colors in the final product. In addition, the timing of adding the yeast to the mixture can make an enormous difference in your beer. I also told a small white lie when I said you need to decide at the start whether the brew should be an ale or lager. It is in fact the type of yeast you use that actually determines the category of your beer. While top-fermenting yeast will float on the surface of your beer during fermentation and produce an ale, bottom-fermenting yeast, in which “the yeasts sink to the bottom of the beer during fermentation” (Nachel 2) will produce a lager. I bet you always thought that yeast infections could only be a bad thing, but without them, alcohol would not exist.

Unleashing Your Inner Beer Snob

Once your yeast has turned your wort to beer and you bottle your brews, you need to continue to keep your beers in a temperature-controlled environment. After a few weeks, your beers are ready to be tasted. If this is your first brew then you should probably try the first opening with a sample group to make sure the taste is at least close to par (I said the process was fun, but not always easy). When you’re willing to share the beer on a larger scale, I recommend having a beer tasting party. My brothers and I would invite all of our friends whom appreciate a good beer and everyone would bring a large bottle of a craft brew made by their favorite brewery. Give everyone a tasting cup (preferably a clean glass each time) and a small sample from each bottle. Now is the time to unleash your inner beer snob. 

"Image courtesy of TheCraftyBastards.com"

To earn the title of a beer snob, you will be required to have experience with many of the various craft brews—you can’t trust someone who only drinks Shock Top and Coors—and a certain vocabulary to show off your beer smarts.  I mentioned earlier how you can shoot for a well-balanced beer, but describing a beer goes way beyond saying that one has an even level of flavors. Beers can be hoppy or malty, floral or roasty, or perhaps even complex and aggressive. The more you experience tasting, the better you will learn these terms along with many more. No one becomes an expert after the first IPA.

At some point in your beer tasting party, you should bring out your creation to allow your friends a sample. You will know immediately by their faces if your beer should be put into a competition or poured into the toilet. Take everything you hear into consideration and try again with your next beer. Perhaps you added way too much malt or didn’t leave your grains in long enough. On the other hand, you may have brewed an amazing beer. If so, you should do your best to replicate your work and enjoy the fruits of your labor long into retirement.

The Bottom of the Glass

Your first attempt at home brewing may be full of mistakes and your efforts may result in a liquid so bitter that you wouldn’t let your dog drink it. I encourage you to not let a single failure stop you. Brewing is a fun and exciting experience when you finally get the hang of it. I highly recommend that you brew with your best friends and drink from start to finish. One last piece of advice I will give you is that the better your hops smell, the better the taste they will add to your finished product. Good luck and happy brewing!

Works Cited 

Ettlinger, Steve, and Marty Nachel. “The Basic Styles of Beer”. Beer for Dummies, 2^nd Edition. <http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-basic-styles-of-beer.html>

Ettlinger, Steve, and Marty Nachel. “Traits of Taste in Different Beers”. Beer for Dummies, 2^nd Edition. <http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/traits-of-taste-in-different-beers.html>

“How to home Brew Beer in Your Kitchen”. Web. <http://drinkcraftbeer.com/home-brewing/how-to/how-to-home-brew-beer-in-your-kitchen.html>

Palmer, John. “Introduction.” How To Brew. 2015. Web. <howtobrew.com/book/introduction>

The Gruppster's Brew

A Guide on Creating an Enjoyable Beer that Defines Your Style

Some people might say that alcoholism and science can never coexist. Homebrewing not only disproves this idea, but it shows how they may enhance one another to create a treasure unlike any other. Like any practice, brewing becomes easier and produces a better beer with each trial. Now if you read this guide and your first brew doesn’t reach the standards that you were expecting, you just need to remember the words of Billy Carter, our 39^th President’s brother. “There is no such thing as a bad beer. It’s that some taste better than others.”

Engineering Your Beer

Step one in tasting your delicious creation is determining what type of beer you would like. Your first decision is whether to brew an ale or a lager. Now there are many different variations of these two categories such as bocks, IPAs, stouts, and barley wines. There are much too many to define and describe without writing a novel for you. The idea is to pick a style you want to try out and research the specifics of your choice. Ales are a great place to begin, as they have been the drink getting out ancestors hammered(intoxicated) for centuries into the past. Lagers on the other hand are a much younger species of beers and thus we have less experience with them.

Once you have made your initial decision, the real fun of the creation process begins. Now we can decide upon the many looks and tastes that will come to formulate your wort and, in turn, your beer. Wort is what we like to call our liquid before the fermentation process, when all of the human effort has been completed.  I will go into more detail about how this gets turned to beer a later on.

Choosing your malts and hops will come to define the taste of your beer throughout the creation process. Certain malts will develop into sweeter flavors than others. The right choice is essential in attempting to develop a balanced brew. Like many other types of pairings, opposites attract. For this reason, you can choose an especially strong set of hops to add.  A hoppy beer is how you might describe a beer with earthy, herbal, spicy, or even citrus-like flavors and aromas. The hops are also what give the beer its bitter taste. This bitterness will eventually be measured in what has come to be known as International Bittering Units (IBUs). “An American Light Lager may have 5 to 8 IBUs, while an Imperial India Pale Ale (IPA) may have 100 or more IBUs” (Nachel 1). Along with bitterness, the color and gravity of the beer can make a huge impact on its overall enjoyment by a seasoned beer snob.

Color begins with the grains you choose to make the beer. “All beers have color, whether it’s light, dark, or somewhere in between… Light-colored grain results in a pale-colored beer; conversely, darker-roaster grains produce darker beers” (Nachel 1). Gravity on the other hand comes from the level of maltose dissolved in your wort.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-basic-styles-of-beer.html

Alter the Process, Define the Taste

So how do we begin the process of brewing our well thought creation? The process is much more detailed than any one person can describe. For this reason, I will include a link to a YouTube video created by WNCBikeRider that can describe the steps better than I can. The man may seem a bit dry in his tutorial, but the dryness only added to the humor in my opinion.

How to Brew Beer at Home: Start to Finish. Tips & Tricks. For the Beginner of Expert

WNCBikeRider

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oobHoJYRezw

John Palmer describes the process in 5 summarizing steps.

“1. Malted barley is soaked in how water to release the malt sugars.

2. The malt sugar solution is boiled with Hops for seasoning.

3. The solution is cooled and yeast is added to begin fermentation.

4. The yeast ferments the sugars, releasing the CO₂ and ethyl alcohol.

5. When the main fermentation is complete, the beer is bottled with a little bit of added sugar to provide the carbonation (Palmer).” This is where we realize that yeast infections aren’t always a bad thing.

So you begin with a large (preferably 5 or more gallons) pot of boiling water in which you place the grains, inside of a bag, into the water to diffuse like a tea bag. When the water is at a boil and the grains have seeped into the water, you should add the packets of malt that you have selected. After some time of the malt adding to your mixture, you need to add a few additions of hops at particular intervals. The choices you have made at the start come in to play here and will show their colors in the final product. The timing that you add the yeast can make an enormous difference to your beer. I also told a small white lie when I was telling you when to decide whether the brew should be an ale or lager. Which type of yeast you decide to use is what determines the result. A top-fermenting yeast will float on top of your beer during fermentation and will produce an ale.  On the other hand you may decide to create a lager. This is dome by using a bottom-fermenting yeast, in which “the yeasts sink to the bottom of the beer during fermentation” (Nachel 2). This is when you really get to decide which type of beer you will have, but of course you must order and have ready the yeasts beforehand. 

Unleashing Your Inner Beer Snob

Learning how to properly taste a beer and appreciating one for what it is will come soon. Unfortunately for my wonderful readers, these ideals will come with Part 2 of my discussion on the proper creation and enjoyment of a beer.

(Works Cited will be added within the finalization)

Does the Man Shape the Farm, Or the Farm Shape the Man?

I have always felt a special connection with nature, one that is shared with very few of my peers. On an average day, I can find happiness simply by walking outside and lying in the grass with the air of any season filling my nose. Would I be able to start a farm and live like Kurt Timmermeister for the rest of my life? Perhaps. I never believed in the idea of performing work for money and in turn spending said money on my needs or wants. I’ve often considered attempting to find the ideal location in nature where I could live with the animals to hunt and gather. Nothing seems to be 100% free of some form of governmental control or from some incredibly dangerous animals, so I haven't found my location to live quite yet. Now, this may seem like a wild style of life and you would be absolutely correct to think so. The very idea of abandoning society and the ones you love in order to live as a hermit in the danger of the woods is insane.

Kurt’s life seems no more and no less wild in some respects. The actions he took could be considered equally risky than living as a hunter/gatherer. For the majority of his days he was alone as well. With a farm, he risked more than just his wellbeing though. If he failed in his venture, he would lose everything. After giving up his business in the city and placing all of his faith in the farm, he relied on the yield of his crops and the stock of his animals to survive. In the life of a nomad, the difference is that one gives up everything to be closer to nature and experience the ancestral ways from long before in our history. The more I discuss the contrasting ideas, the more I realize how confusing they must sound. Perhaps I have seen too much about the simplicity of nature. I love the order that exists within the chaos and I feel that I connect with Kurt in this way.  He would see the beauty in the smallest things about the actions of bees and recognize how orderly and structured they actually are. The bees would spent all of their days to make honey to support their hive and of course their beloved queen.  They of course would use the most efficient shapes for their body, the hexagon, to store their hard work. This drew me in heavily as it enhanced the idea of every species having a particular order to personalize itself.

We can see this most vividly in the pages where Kurt describes the regulations and the process of selling your produce at a Farmer’s Market. Like bees, we as humans have a particular order. Everyone pitches in and does their part, but the human species just has a much larger number of specialized jobs to perform. With all of the personalization factors I saw though, the most interesting choices were the ones that our Farmer made to his Farm. I was always wondering if he really made all of his decisions himself though. He became repulsed by his own restaurant's food when he learned how food was prepared for masses of people. After he discovers the fruit trees he owned under the blackberry bushes, he plants more trees to form an orchard as a worthwhile investment for his retirement. I myself love to reflect on the events that occur in my own life and follow the path that will cause me to act the way I will, both in the present and future. Considering your path, you may choose whether to remain on the path you are on or to alter your course. With all of the similarities in views, I am excited to see what the remainder of this book has to offer. See you all at the end of “The Table.”