Liam Todd: Home Brewer
Multimedia and story by Baylen Brown
“It’s gonna be a good one!” Todd says, tapping his recipe book with a long wooden spoon.
His book is a worn spiral notebook filled with his hand-written recipes, marked with adjustments, notes and doodles.
“A lot of these are kind of embarrassing,” laughs Todd. “I write little notes… see like this one.”
He points to a large notation on one recipe.
“’FAIL. Don’t do this again, stupid’,” he reads. “That’s hilarious.”
Todd brewed his first batch of beer at the age of 19, and for the next six years he tried again and again, testing new ingredients, tweaking the recipe, making something new each time.
“The awesome part about brewing is that you have absolute control; you can tweak the flavor, hops, yeast, bitterness… Once you realize what all the malts do, how they affect flavor, you can easily throw together a recipe in 15 minutes, and it’ll taste pretty damn good every time.”
“I’ve never brewed the same beer twice,” Todd says.
In the six years he has been brewing, Todd estimates he has brewed between 30 and 40 individual recipes, many of them thrown together the night before the brew… just like this time.
“That’s when they turn out the best, too, when you’re just sitting there, with time to think,” Todd says. “The best time to write your recipe is the night before you brew, especially after a couple beers.”
“Every time I make a new recipe, I can’t wait to try it. It’s exciting. I love doing it.”
“It’s gonna be a good one!” Todd says, tapping his recipe book with a long wooden spoon.
His book is a worn spiral notebook filled with his hand-written recipes, marked with adjustments, notes and doodles.
“A lot of these are kind of embarrassing,” laughs Todd. “I write little notes… see like this one.”
He points to a large notation on one recipe.
“’FAIL. Don’t do this again, stupid’,” he reads. “That’s hilarious.”
Todd brewed his first batch of beer at the age of 19, and for the next six years he tried again and again, testing new ingredients, tweaking the recipe, making something new each time.
“The awesome part about brewing is that you have absolute control; you can tweak the flavor, hops, yeast, bitterness… Once you realize what all the malts do, how they affect flavor, you can easily throw together a recipe in 15 minutes, and it’ll taste pretty damn good every time.”
“I’ve never brewed the same beer twice,” Todd says.
In the six years he has been brewing, Todd estimates he has brewed between 30 and 40 individual recipes, many of them thrown together the night before the brew… just like this time.
“That’s when they turn out the best, too, when you’re just sitting there, with time to think,” Todd says. “The best time to write your recipe is the night before you brew, especially after a couple beers.”
“Every time I make a new recipe, I can’t wait to try it. It’s exciting. I love doing it.”