Make beer, not war
Homebrewing: sweeping the nation, building steam, potentially releasing said steam in a violent explosion inside your garage. Avoid that last part with help from the 3 Stars Brewery team at their new DC Homebrew Shop.Opening Friday next to the site of their forthcoming brewery, the shop stocks stacks-on-stacks of the equipment and ingredients necessary to self-beer, and just as importantly, a sales staff of former homebrewers (soon-to-be pro) who'll show you how everything fits together. First-timers can pick up pre-packaged kits full of buckets, bottling spigots, and glass fermenters, then grab ingredient packets (which contain malt extract, easier to work with than actual grain) for classic recipes like English brown ale, German altbier, or an American cream ale described as "an easy drinker", so clearly they've never seen you fumble around trying to get a "bottling spigot" to work before. For the more experienced, there's next-level rigging (like immersion wort chillers and conditioning tablets, natch), along with flavorful specialty grains, malts (from chocolate to red wheat), and hops like cascades for pale ales, citra for fruitier brews, and warrior, a bittering agent (the Ultimate Bittering Agent?!).In the future they'll hold classes and demos, but for now, be sure to hit Friday's grand opening party, where guest brewers will be on hand to drop free tips & techniques sure to raise a few eyebrows, assuming there are any left in the crowd.