Training Wheels

In my post from last weekend, I discussed using Munton's CarbTabs instead of sugar when it comes time for bottling the batch of home brew that is currently fermenting in the keg. Unfortunately, the store that I visited last Saturday was out of carbonation tabs and drops. I considered ordering the CarbTabs online, but I did not want to pay $5 on shipping for a $3 product. The good news is that yesterday, I was able to pick up a pack of CarbTabs at American Brewmaster which a great beer- and wine-making store located off Capital Boulevard here in Raleigh.

There was one thing that kind of irked me while I was in the store. I was in the line to check out, and the guy manning the cash register got a call from somebody asking about supplies for their Mr. Beer kit. The guy told the person that the store did not carry Mr. Beer products, but the store could help them with some of the necessary supplies. The particular problem is that Mr. Beer kits have a two-gallon keg while most brewing supplies support five-gallon batches or larger. What irked me though, was after hanging up the phone, the clerk snidely (in my opinion) commented something to the effect that the person should get a real brewing kit. I do not think that veteran home-brewers should be critical of the Mr. Beer kits. I think that is similar to making fun of kiddie bikes with training wheels. I hope someday to move up to a more full-functional brewing setup. That might not ever happen, but if it does, the Mr. Beer kit would have been the initial impetus for getting me to that spot.

Moving on to another topic, I have changed the title of my previous post from Thursday twice now. Since this is my site, I suppose I can do as I please. I originally went with just "Same Old, Same Old", but I was not completely happy with that title. The next day, I changed it to ""Same Old Story" which is closer to what I intended. This morning, I changed the title again, this time to "Same Old Song and Dance" which is the title of a Aerosmith song. We know that I like referencing songs. Perhaps tomorrow I will change the title once again maybe to "Same Ol' Situation" which of course is a song by Mötley Crüe.