On Beer and Brewing... Sort Of

So, instead of going to the range due to the crap weather, I wound up going to watch a home brewing demonstration over at this place. Fascinating stuff. Damn tasty, too. They had a couple of their varieties on tap in the back room, free for the taking and let me tell you, their honeyed pale ale was frigging GOOD. Makes me want to try making my own. The guy doing the demo really knew his stuff - he answered all the dumb questions I threw at him authoritatively.
One guy's question threw me for a loop, though. He asked, "What can I used in the process other than honey? Is sugar a good substitute? I really can't use honey because my wife is pregnant and she can't have it."
Uh, dude, if she's pregnant, I'm pretty sure she shouldn't be on the BEER, regardless of honey content.
When class got out, we traipsed over to a local brewery that I never even knew existed up until that day. They've been in business for a year, and one of the partners was a high school classmate of one of my friends. Small world. Tasty beer, and real friendly guys. They were only too happy to give us a tour of the place, and show us the process from start to finish. I was especially impressed by the way they engineered some home-grown solutions to some of the problems a brewery faces - for example, temperature control, which can be a bit of a challenge down here in the Southland. My friend was so impressed, she asked to work there for free to learn the trade. Her dream is to start up her own microbrewery up north, so this was an ideal opportunity for her - especially since she's unemployed at the moment, so she has the time to devote to this.
All in all, not a bad way to spend a day, if going to the range is out...