Welcome to the Nabe, Brooklyn Homebrew.

In case you didn't take me seriously when I suggested you start to brew your own beer, you should reconsider this growing trend because Brooklyn Homebrew has officially opened in Gowanus. Danielle Cefaro and Benjamin Stutz now have a real store as opposed to their dining room in a Sunset Park apartment, and more space means more yeast, hops, and malts.

If you're still wary, remember--it's 2010, which means that you can learn to do anything on youtube, including how to brew beer in your 600-square-foot apartment. Your girlfriend may object, but she'll eventually get used to steamy windows and what smells like a Kellogg's factory for a few hours every month. So what's stopping you? Head on over to Brooklyn Homebrew and get your hops on.

the daily [mis]haps

Brooklynites are known for being the crafty type, but now the DIY fad has extended beyond handmade jewelry, silkscreened t-shirts, and hand-knit scarves. Brooklynites have entered the world of home brewing, taking on the challenges of sufficiently sterilizing buckets and funnels and bottles, measuring accurate amounts of yeast and malt and hops, and adding their own personal touch without making something either toxic or just plain disgusting.

I can attest to this process, because there are currently 50 bottles of beer in my living room along with another whole bucket embarking on the fermentation process. We've only had one explosion thus far, leaving chunks of fallow-colored sludge stuck to our walls and ceiling, but that's just part of the enterprise.

And we have the couple at Brooklyn Homebrew in Sunset Park to thank for their lovely assistance, grinding and providing materials and warm reassurances. And if I haven't convinced you to head over to their store to begin your own home brewery, just think of how rewarding it will be to finally drink all that beer you so worked so hard to make. And the simple fact that you'll be drinking lots of beer.