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20 years ago, my wife gave away my carboy and put dog food in my ABS plastic bucket that I did my first ferments in. I have constantly reminded her of that violation. This Christmas, she bought two brew kits for me. So of course, I had to try it out right away. I did a kit for a Honey Brown Ale - Similar to Newcastle. Yesterday, I cracked open a bottle with friends.

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq, Aug. 20, 2009 – The 304th Sustainment Brigade and Joint Base Balad have their own Martha Stewart tucked in the H-6 housing area here. Army Maj. Gina Garbedian shows off her containerized housing unit at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Garbedian spent six months decorating the unit to make it feel like a home away from home during her deployment. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Maj. Gina Garbedian, a Los Angeles native, moved into her containerized housing unit in November and has made it her home away from home. "It was like...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."'Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis.Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes...

WATKINSVILLE, Ga. - A northeast Georgia woman is suing her county's fire department, saying she hurt herself sliding down a firehouse pole during a party. Andra Gooch, of Watkinsville, claims the Oconee County Fire Department and county commission chairman were negligent when she hurt herself at a Nov. 2003 party. Patrons at the party - for the son of a fire department employee - had access to the pole and the area where fire trucks were parked and other equipment stored, according to the suit. At some point during the night, Gooch slid down the firepole from the second story...

MOUNT VERNON, Va. - George Washington's estate on the Potomac River hasn't been home to a working distillery for about two centuries, but that changed Tuesday as whiskey makers toiled on the founding father's popular recipe. "For me, it's like standing on hallowed ground," Jim Beam master distiller Jerry Dalton said as he took a break from recreating the 18th century recipe to survey the scene, three miles from the main house where Washington lived from 1754 until he died in 1799. Washington started his whiskey business in 1797, after leaving politics. It was a thriving enterprise that yielded 11,000...