Well how many of you know about homebrew? Believe me, you don't want to know. I never knew what it was until I married in 1962. I had never even heard of anything like the beverage. My mother-in-law's husband, Esco Dean, loved this drink and made it quite often. I don't know what the ingredients are, but he made it in an old churn. I know that he used a lot of sugar and yeast as well as "hops." Am not sure of the amounts but it had to sit for a while as he called it, "workin' itself." He would tie an old white rag around the top and usually it set for about 2 weeks. When it was finished, he had some old 16 oz. Double Cola bottles that he put the finished beverage into and capped it. He had an old antique bottle capper that looked like something they used to cap Coke bottles. He usually made about 24 bottles and set them out in his shed out of the way. When he wanted a bottle, he would walk outside and drink a bottle while he was in the yard.
Esco had a Trading Post where he sold antique furniture. He would go to auction sales and buy this "junk" that I called it, only he called it merchandise and refinish it. It looked like new when he was done. The pre-finished furniture was in the shed where he kept his homebrew. It was hid in the back of the building so no one could find it. I never knew who he thought would drink that stuff. I couldn't stand the smell.
Well one evening while he was watching wrestling, I think it was a Saturday night, we heard a noise like a gun shot. We had some neighbors that liked to shoot at the blackbirds that got in his garden so we didn't pay much attention to the sound. When it happened again, I turned and looked out the window and didn't see the neighbor. All of a sudden, 3 or 4 more pops sounded and then Esco decided to go find out what the commotion was in the yard. Ruby and I followed him to the back door as the popping continued. It seemed to be coming from the shed. When he opened the door, a bottle cap hit him in the head and he ran. When the sound finished, he went in the shed to find all his homebrew was spewing in the floor. None was saved. Seems as if the bottles were too hot and exploded, and homebrew went on every piece of furniture in the building. He lost that batch and didn't make anymore until cold weather. I don't think he made anymore in hot weather as I remember. Usually it was sitting in the kitchen floor after Thanksgiving and it would be gone before Christmas.
