The scent in the air when walking into our Williams College dorm was easily recognizable: beer. Today, though, the scent was not yesterday night’s beer pong game — that’s right, the smell was something other than Keystone Light, it was fresh homebrew.
   
Though our small liberal arts college provides an amicable environment to those with refined tastes, a noticeable gap exists: beer brewing. Williams features a winter study course called “Introduction to the Economics, Geography and Appreciation of Wine” and various clubs for bread making, cheese tasting, organic food harvesting and other gastronomic activities, so the lack of a strong beer brewing culture on our campus is hardly inconspicuous. Some friends and I hoped to fill the gap, beginning in our dorm kitchen.
   
Our journey in homebrewing (er, college brewing) began, fittingly, in the library — with some basic research. We knew very little about beer brewing, apart from the fact that the necessary ingredients included yeast and some sort of starch (which we later learned was actually some sort of malt). We quickly delved into books, websites and Brew Your Own, trying to absorb as much as possible about the art of making a good brew.
   
One thing quickly intimidated us. “Sanitation” surfaced repeatedly in our readings and the thought of trying to find a sanitary spot among the many dormitory kitchens on campus quickly itched our nerves.
   
Instead of throwing in the towel, however, we assembled at our local brewery supply store and purchased the necessary items. Conveniently, we were able to purchase a brewing kit, which provided all of the essentials: buckets, siphons, yeast, hops, malt, instructions and, most important of all, sanitation materials.
   
Back at the dorm, as if it were Christmas morning, we scattered our newly-purchased items across our common room floor, looking at each item, flipping through the instructions and the accompanying brewing guide. Sanitation again resurfaced in these instructions, though the word intimidated us less given how simple the included sanitizer was to make.
   
After thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing, all went smoothly, apart from the liquid malt extract that stubbornly decided to remain in its can. After some digging, we managed to get (almost) all of the malt into the boiling pot. For storage, we opted for the dormitory basement — perhaps not the best location as far as sanitation is concerned — but our small dorm rooms were not an option.
   
And so we waited for three long weeks. Finally we unearthed our bucket from the basement to find something that, reassuringly, smelled like bread fresh from an oven. Though the bucket was covered in a few cobwebs, no mold or mildew had colonized our brew. After a few spills — no use crying over spilt beer — we added some sugar water and moved our beer into (clean and sanitized) bottles, and the waiting was on — again. Only one week to go!
   
And finally the day arrived when we not only had a quality, homemade, beer, but 50 bottles of it to boot! Nicely carbonated, but not too much like many commercial beers, our final brew had a distinctly wheaty flavor.  All the A’s in the world could not satisfy these college students the way drinking our very own, homebrewed beer did.
   
Will this become a hobby? Yes! We’ve already assembled ingredients for an imperial stout. Any lessons learned? Definitely. A whole world of beer better than the usual varieties that circulate on college campus is readily available to everyone, given a bit of effort and a lot of patience.