Richard Allison Kelly Turnbeaugh English 2010 September 12 2013 My Search For Clarity As consumers I believe e have become

out o! touch ith hat is in our !ood" #e buy based upon price and ascetics giving little though to ingredient labels" I do not ish to say that all !ood !illers are harm!ul and unnecessary" A!ter all i! the latest !lavor o! color changing $oolaid gave everyone cancer% that ould not e&actly be good !or business" #hat really has me concerned most is the lac$ o! clear understanding o! hat is in hat e choose eat and drin$" The best part o! being a are about !ood additives is e can regulate hat goes in and stays out o! our !ood" #hile many !eel that the '(A is in charge o! $eeping our !ood sa!e% e can ma$e in!ormed decisions and cause change much !aster" In this memoir I hope to in!orm you as to hy I am concerned about hat is going into our !ood and drin$s"

It as )ust another day at the end o! *ay in *idvale +tah" The sun as shinning as the birds danced across the open air and hile I $ne the summer semester as )ust around the corner and there as still multiple things I needed to do% today as mine" It as my bre day" I had spent ee$s )usti!ying today% telling mysel!% this as the last day I can bre beer till summer semester is over" #hile the truth might have been a little di!!erent% I had already in!ormed my i!e that this as the case"

'or those o! you ho have not guessed% I am a cra!t bre er" ,eer is some hat a labor o! love ith diminishing returns" *y batch si-es are normally !ive gallons or roughly !i!ty bottles" #hile that may seem li$e a lot% it is not considering that . gallons ill spend three ee$s in a

primary !ermenter% one ee$ in a secondary !ermenter% t o ee$s in the $eg carbonating% and !inally t o ee$s in a !ridge lagering" It ill ta$e t o months to be ready !or the ancient tradition o! slo ly $illing one/s liver" #hile this process seems li$e an overly complicated list o! tedious tas$s it is actually relatively simple" ,eer is made ith malted barley% yeast% ater% and hops" #hile there are many types o! grains and even types o! hops% these o!!er only the most subtle di!!erences" I bre ith the seasons% spring is !or lighter beers li$e heat or perhaps a

English bitter" Then hen summer comes the ideal beer is clean and crisp ith lo alcohol" 'all and inter seasonal beer gets richer ith subtle caramel !lavors" 'all is my !avorite seasonal bre " The end o! summer is hen hops are ready to be pic$ed" Every year !or the past three years I have been trying to create the per!ect American pale ale matched per!ectly to a season dominated by !alling leaves and the ever classic pump$in pie% this year I $ne I as going to do it"

I had to ma$e sure this beer ent per!ect" I preheated my mash tun and I doughed in the grains" A combination o! victory malt% America t o ro malt% 0ienna lager malt and crystal si&ty as all that as needed" I 1nce the mash has been complete I began a 20 minute boil" The boil started% I tossed in the Amarillo hops and my porch !illed ith a bou3uet o! citrus aroma4 typical o! an American style hop" As I add the ne&t hop addition% I can/t help but to imagine mysel! in a tradition practiced !or thousands o! years" It is li$e I am connected to a long linage o! bre ers that had come be!ore me% as I stir the hops in the boiling ort" 5i$e all good things in li!e the si&ty minute boil as over" It as time to add the aroma hops" This is here the aroma o! the beer came !rom" I turned o!! the burner and and double chec$ed my the eight o! my most important hop additions" The 3uic$er the ort is cooled the more aroma ill be le!t in the beer%

so I said a little prayer to the bre gods as I tossed in the hops and immersed my $ettle in a tub o! ice ater" I turned on the garden hose attached to my ort chiller and aited" T enty minutes later the ort as cooled" I pulled a small sample and measured its speci!ic gravity6dissolved sugars7 it as a beauti!ul 1"0.8" tossed the yeast in my !ermenter and in ent the ort" I blasted the !ermenter ith pure o&ygen to ma$e the yeast happy and set it in my !ermentation chiller"

It seems the aiting is the orst part o! bre ing" This is here all the magic happens" The t o ee$s ere !inally over" I saniti-ed my secondary !ermenter and rac$ed the beer into the carboy" 1nce yet again I pulled another speci!ic gravity reading this time it as 1"012" This as going to be a !ive point eight percent beer" 9udging beer is a di!!icult thing be!ore it carbonates" 'or some reason everything )ust tastes a little bland" In !act I thought it as too bland and this needed to be reconciled" I open up my !ree-er and !ind a bag o! cascade hops" I stare at the hops and stare at my carboy and debated i! this as going to the culmination o! per!ection or merely a last second decision that ould be the demise to the beer" This as the 3uestion all bre ers are !orced to as$ themselves% to dry hop or not to dry hop% that is the 3uestion: This 3uestion separates the hop heads !rom the hop scared" I !ortunately !or me am a hop head so in ent the cascade" This last attempt to ma$e this beer pri-e orthy as either a stro$e o! pure unadulterated genius or my demise" The only thing I as certain o!% as this beer could no longer be called Amarillo pale ale% at least ithout a loss o! integrity that is"

As the ee$s past I $egged my beer% let it carbonate% and lagered it in my !ridge" I shoved my pint glass ne&t to the tap li$e a $id on ;hristmas morning" I pulled the tap handle% out came the yeast that had settled in the bottom o! the $eg and I tossed it do n the sin$" <ou never do

ant to drin$ that much yeast" I !illed the ne&t glass and atched my pint !ill ith li3uid gold" It as the most beauti!ul vibrant gold I had ever seen in a beer" *aybe I as )ust lost in moment and chances are it didn/t glo ith a divine purpose% but you couldn/t o! told me that" It poured

ith a single !ingers orth or starch hite head" I too$ a sip and my nose permeated onder!ul orange and grape!ruit aromas as I che ed on the slight malt and caramel notes" The dry !inish cleansed the palate per!ectly preparing you !or the rest o! the pint" I $ne I had accomplished hat I had set out to do" = The last thing to do as bottle a si& pac$ and send it in to the competition" A couple ee$s later I received my score" A near per!ect !orty three out o! !i!ty !rom the )udges% the only comment as my color as a little dar$ !or the style% but they ere >all aboard"? To celebrate I had a little get together nothing big or e&travagant% )ust several people over during a preeason game o! the @'5" Their as a !riend o! a !riend that pulled his !irst pint and told me that this as not good beer because he could not read a piece o! paper through the beer" I as honestly a little o!!ended at the notion that my pri-e inning beer as sub par based upon someone that is a ,*; drin$er" A ,*; drin$er describes someone that only drin$s ,ud eiser% *iller% and or ;oors" I as not to o!!ended because% ell I thin$ he had no e&perience on hat cra!t beers should be" It did bother me one night as I lay there tossing and turning atching my cloc$ give birth to the ee hours o! the morning" I as$ed mysel! i! I had over loo$ed something: I thin$ I did" #e as consumers ant our !ood and drin$s to not only taste good and remain !resh but% e e&pect per!ect te&tures and tastes as ell" I am not sure hen this transition too$ place but% I thin$ it something e need to be a are o!" In order !or me to ma$e my beer crystal I ould need to add !ining agents such as gelatin% Irish moss% or !ish bladders and I am not illing to do that to

my beer" 1ne day i! I ever open up a bre pub% I might decide such measures to be necessary to gain the popularity I ould need to stay open% but as !or no my beer is all I ever anted it to be"