... dear Reader - this is blatant self-promotion about an ebook I put together.
Why would Prowl or Ratchet need home-brewed beer?
After another day repairing battle damage, arguing with Wheeljack and stopping Megatron from turning Earth into a Decepticon fuel depot, even an Autobot might want something stronger than energon.
How to Home Brew Beers: The Complete Kit Brewer’s Handbook by J.J. Ryan is written for humans who want good beer without building a brewery inside the Ark.
A standard 23-litre batch produces around thirty large bottles and can cost between $15 and $30 in ingredients. That is often less than one dollar per bottle. Compare that with a round at the pub and the financial logic becomes harder to ignore than Starscream demanding leadership of the Decepticons.
The book’s real value, however, lies in consistency.
Kit brewing has a poor reputation because too many batches are fermented too warm, bottled too early or made with careless sanitation. The result can be thin beer, harsh flavours, flat bottles or explosive carbonation worthy of a Wheeljack experiment.
Ryan has made those mistakes himself. He has brewed hundreds of batches, pitched too little yeast, mishandled fermentation temperatures and learned why a bubbling airlock cannot be trusted as proof that fermentation is complete.
The advice complements The Optimus Prime Experiment’s guides to making good home-brewed beer and using simple tricks to improve beer kits.
This is a focused handbook rather than a glossy brewing encyclopedia. Beginners will find a safe route through their first batch. Experienced kit brewers will gain more from the troubleshooting and ingredient sections.
Optimus Prime would wait patiently for the beer to condition. Prowl would record every gravity reading. Bumblebee would add too much priming sugar. Starscream would bottle after three days and blame Megatron when the cupboard exploded and you don't want that, we've been there, and you don't want that...
For more essential Cybertronian dietary research, see What Do Autobots Eat?
