Spirit Guides

When it comes to beer and wine, there’s no lacking in selection in stores. You can spend quite some time haunting aisles searching for the right spirit. Should I crack open a lager or am I feeling stout? Is tonight a Merlot or Moscato night?

Now, you can have the blitheful experience and join the growing numbers of home brewing and winemaking enthusiasts. Amateur ale artisans and sommeliers can peruse through books and other materials to learn how to have their own barrel of fun at home. You can even take the brewing out of the basement and into the kitchen.

Check out some of these “spirit guides” to home brewing and winemaking:

• Beer craft : a simple guide to making great beer by William Bostwick
• The Brooklyn Brew Shop's Beer Making Book: 52 seasonal recipes for small batches by Erica Shea and Stephen Valand with Jennifer Fiedler
• The Complete Homebrew Beer Book : 200 easy recipes from ales & lagers to extreme beers & international favorites by George Hummel.
• The complete guide to making your own wine at home : everything you need to know explained simply by John N. Peragine Jr.
• First Steps in Winemaking: a complete month-by-month guide to winemaking in your home by C.J.J. Berry

For more things to get your spirits up, the Birmingham Public Library will hold its monthly Bards & Brews event at the Avondale Library location tomorrow. Sign up and live music begins at 6:30 pm, and the poetry begins at 7 pm. The cost is free. You must be 18 years old to attend and 21 to drink. IDs will be checked. The Bards and Brews event is usually held the first Friday of the month at the Central Library location.

Business, Science, & Technology Department
Central Branch