What, you don’t think Mennonites ever drank? Not so! As I’ve researched my Mennonite ancestry, I’ve discovered that I’m descended from a brewer & vinegar-maker (einwohner) named Jacob Wiens. Maybe you are too. That means we’re like 7th cousins or something. Cheers to that!
So, when friends suggested we attend an open-fire brewing workshop at FortWhyte Alive in Winnipeg, I said YES!
As we walked to the brewing site, we stumbled across this — a sod house!
Apparently they’ve done some brewing in there too. Reminded me of the sod house at the Mennonite Heritage Village!
We started the afternoon learning about the grains that go into the beer. Here I am nibbling on some roasty grains:
Once everything was put together in a pot, we headed outside, and onto the fire it went!
I thought of my great-great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Wiens, village brewer in Prussia. Did he make beer this way? It’s likely, isn’t it?
Two beers were made on this day: A dry Irish stout, and an American Pale Ale. And we did not drink any. I think it had to cool off and go through a few other processes… which I don’t remember because sometimes I’m a bad listener and even though I really enjoyed our day… I figured I’m content with purchasing a beer at a pub. And that’s just what we did, after this.
