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Beer
is one of the oldest man-made beverages in the world,
but until the rise of commercial breweries in the 1800s,
most beer drinkers in the U.S. made do with homebrew.
Pat Turnbull, a Troy resident in his
early 30s, is continuing that tradition of homebrewing
beer because he enjoys doing it and because he likes drinking
beer he’s made himself. Turnbull has been making
beer for four years, since he received a home-brewing
set as a present. He learned from trial and error and
talking with other homebrewers.
Using only barley, yeast, hops and
water, Turnbull and friend Brian Smallwood
make ale in five-gallon batches. They use the top-fermenting
yeast method, which requires less specialized equipment
than the bottom-fermenting process that produces a lighter
lager. At the Festival, they will be cooking a batch
of beer each day, displaying equipment and supplies,
answering questions and maybe even offering a few samples
of ale.
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