Reg's Tale

Reg gets a glazed and distant look in his eyes as he reminisces on a childhood, surrounded by bubbling demijohns!

An uncertain start

(Or how I got into, then out of, then back into brewing my own beer)

You parents give you your looks, your values and in my case a long-term relationship with home brewing that has blown hot and cold throughout my life.......

A Family Affair

I seem to have been fated to brew my own beers and wines. Some of my earliest memories are of the hypnotic bubbling of airlocks. My parents were fanatical home brewers, having a flair for both wines and beers, as well as making their own sloe gin and cherry brandy. Hence a huge variety of airtight jars and demijohns surrounded the radiator in our small kitchen in the Cotswolds. What is more we were never far from a ready supply of ingredients to try out new brews. Our family's home was above the family shop. My mother had anticipated the trend towards health foods had set up a local business selling all kinds of whole and organic foods, so we sat happily over a ready supply of grape juices, dried fruits and so on. Anything that past it "sell by" date simply dropped into the next brew. In fact having a large supply of raisins, organic rice and sultanas led to our family brewing saké by the bin full and distributing bottles to our friends and neighbours. We lived in between two local pubs, but as each landlord got his fair share of free wine for his supper table, they didn't seem to mind a little no-cost competition to their stock in trade.

Starting Young

As a result of this, I guess it was inevitable that I would turn my hand to my parents' pastime. I started first by brewing wine, which at the ripe age of eleven, I was not allowed to drink. However, my efforts seemed to be appreciated as our friends were always keen to get their hands on my latest creation. I started off with a safe-but-simple formula of making rosé wine from any white and red organic grape juice that had gone out of date. Perhaps it was in my genes, but I soon proved to have a talent for making palatable wine from these leftover ingredients. Hence, as I grew older and more confident, I naturally assumed that my skills would be transferable to beer with little effort. What I had yet to learn was that your successes teach you little. What you actually learn from is your mistakes.

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