It's hard to believe Drew and I started brewing beer together 4 years ago. To commemorate that first group brew, every fall Drew hosts a brew day at his house with the Backyard Brewers.

Through the years, the event has grown. As with most things we tend to do, it's also has a name.

Brewgiving.

I, for one, love Brewgiving, as it gives me a chance to just brew and not worry about running the grills. I find my brewing schedule benefits greatly from my attentiveness. No surprise there.

This year, sadly, the whole gang couldn't make it as our schedules sometimes just don't mess. Nonetheless, Drew, Bryan, and I carried the mash paddle for them…and later welcomed Dave, Eric, and our female associate members, more commonly known as wives, for beers.

Drew brewed the imperial stout I brewed almost two years ago. I have a few bottles left and even though the carbonation came out too low (which is why I keg...It's carbonation foolproof), I really loved it. Drew felt it was a bit too sweet for his taste, so he made a few changes to the grain bill and mash temperature. I'm dying to see how it comes out.

I brewed…well, I'm not sure what I brewed. About 5 weeks ago I selected a recipe and picked up some additional ingredients to supplement the other grains I had on hand. Some of the grains I picked up at Brewtensils were a mixed bag of dark and roasted malts. For smaller and more speciality grains, I have the exact amounts measured out to avoid buying a big back of something I only need a few ounces from.

Like an idiot, I never wrote down what recipe I was using. I unsuccessfully tried to retrace my steps to figure it out, hoping I could match up grains and yeast. Nope, I substituted the yeast too. Backtracking = screwed.

So, when you are given grain, even if you don't know what it is, you still make beer.

That's what I did.

Hopefully.

While we went through our processes, help was never to far away. I've asked Drew repeatedly about adding a spigot to his kettle. He outright refuses. Pour and pray.

While we mashed and brewed, we also tasted.

Brian brought several bombers to supplement Drew's homebrew. Griffin's Bow is a favorite of mine.

So is My Antonia from Dogfish Head. Both are stellar and if you see them at your local, pick them up.

Speaking of homebrew, Drew's converted fridge turned kegerator continues to perform.

Outside of his three tap system, his use of a drywall mud tray and vent louver as a drip tray is ingenious. After all, it's The Drew. I would expect nothing less.

As the brewing pushed towards hop additions, the food started up.

Which was good…brewing makes you hungry…or is it the drinking?

Fried food is a brew day staple and since the fryer was already out, Drew rightfully decided to utilize it further. Meet dinner.

Yes, fried turkey…well, soon to be fried turkey. Outside of some initial safety steps, like ensuring the turkey is thawed and not using the fryer in the living room, the whole operation is really set it and forget it.

As Mr. Turkey fried its way to perfection, I wrapped up my brew.

Based on what I "think" I was brewing, I hit my gravity marks. As did Drew.

His imperial stout is a big beer and with an Original Gravity of 1.10 it's well on its way.

With the yeast pitched, we quickly turned our attention to dinner.

The turkey turned out incredible. Surprisingly, at least to me, I've only had deep fried turkey on a couple occasions and I've never made it myself. I need to. Drew's turned out really good.

It would not have been Brewgiving without a proper sit down meal and thanks to Drew's wife, we had more food than we knew what to do with.