Kitchen Visit: Baruch Rock Homebrewer
Remember that time I spent New Year’s Eve rocking out in the middle of nowhere Connecticut at a Jewish food conference? Oh yeah., that happened.
Since 2010, I’ve been attending the annual Hazon Food Conference, and this year was no different than the rest- simply incredible. One of the many sessions I was able to attend was about making beer at home.
And while I’m still working up the courage to make my home-brew dreams a reality, for now, I thought I would share this interview with Baruch Rock, who taught a session on home-brewing during the conference.
How Did You Get Into Brewing Beer?
When I was sixteen, I was a member of 6 person team who spent five weeks with the student conservation association in Clearwater National Forest, Idaho.
At the end of our stay, as we were preparing to leave the wilderness, I recall our team leader talking to a ranger about some home-brews that he had left for the ranger in the fridge at the station.
Curious, I inquired as to what that meant, and that’s how I learned about the freedom to create tasty beverages in one’s home was a possibility.
Alcohol had nothing to do with it, the freedom of my wilderness experience was palpable and this seemed like another way to express the identity I was forging for myself at that time in my life.
What’s the Best Beer You Ever Tasted?
For me, the taste is more than just what the sensory areas of my tongue and the interpretive centers in my brain tell.
Taste derives from the wholeness of any beer, where were the ingredients sourced? Are they local? Are they organic?
For me, the taste is also about associations, memories, experiences, surrounding the beer experience.
I say this humbly, but the best beer I ever tasted was an all-organic porter that a friend and I brewed up in his kitchen in Alfred, New York when I was a Sophomore in college.
It was delicious, refreshing, everything I knew home-brewing could be.
What Are Some Tips You Would Give to Other Home Brewers?
As Charlie Pappazan teaches in his home-brewing guide: “Relax, don’t worry- have a home-brew.” This advice is essential, have fun while you are brewing and brew with friends.
I would also say, be clean, be clean, be clean- make sure your brewing materials are properly sanitized, it is time-consuming but worth it!
Top Beer Destinations?
My house on Shabbat!!! Blue Mountain Brewery in Virginia, Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, California, and Brooklyn Brewery in New York.
Thank you Baruch for sharing your wisdom with us and letting us get a glimpse into the life of a home-brewer.
Baruch’s message regarding taste is so beautiful, and a great reminder to all of us when indulging in the small pleasures of life! Enjoy, y’all!
