Want to Learn Beer? Start Home Brewing
April 9, 2009
Home Brewing is one of several unexpected paths I’ve discovered since The Brew Club started almost a year ago. Why was this home brewing concept unexpected to me? Well, I think as you go through the experience of trying new beers of many different styles from many different places, you start to wonder why (or how) can there be so much variation.
For example, Abbey Style beers. They’re similar, but they are each different in their own way. Another example is the subtle but noticeable differences between 5 different Milk Stouts I just had recently. Sure they all have similarities which make them ‘Milk Stouts’ (a subset of Stouts which is a branch of the Ale family….) but, they’re all different. Some a little more chocolate, one slightly sweeter, another a bit more bitter. How is this?
Its the brewing. The brewing process is the WHY behind the HOW.
So what is the best way for the budding ‘beer geek’ to really get under the hood and understand beer? Make some yourself! Now, there is (I’ve found) a huge home brewing community out there to find help and resources as you go along on your beer brewing adventure.
There are homebrewing clubs, support groups and conventions, tons of books and how-to information at every level. This can easily become information overload, but as it turns out, home brewing isn’t as hard to get started as you might think. Today, anybody can buy a quality home brewing kit and churn out a batch (or several!) of very decent beer. Having a simple beer kit is a great way to learn!
But then what? Where next?
If you really want to get into home brewing beyond occasional hobbyist, learning the nuances of home brewing from someone who has already brewed their own beer can be the catalyst you need to unleash your own home brewing creativity! A home brewing mentor is where its at!
Unfortunately, there’s no ‘Mentor in a Box’, but I can maybe offer the next best thing!
As someone also interested in getting into home brewing, I’m really looking forward to following the “How to Home Brew” series written by our friends Mike and Nate over at Thank Heaven for Beer. Just launched, they are going to be posting a comprehensive series about home brewing on their blog that should help answer many questions about getting started with brewing your own beer at home.
Check it out, and ask questions. Mike and Nate are good guys and nothing would make them happier than helping a budding home brewer through the process.
So are you a home brewer? Are there any nuggets of wisdom you wish you knew before you started homebrewing? Let us know!
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April 10th, 2009 at 6:37 am
Thanks for mentioning us!
Michael Reinhardt’s last blog post..Sip With Us Saturday | Hebrew Messiah Bold
April 10th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Thanks Guys!
Last nitght I popped open the first bottle of imperial pilsner I brewed. wow. it was quite alcoholic!
Nate’s last blog post..Sip With Us Saturday | Hebrew Messiah Bold
April 10th, 2009 at 11:57 am
It’s a great period for homebrewers right now. Availability of quality and fresh ingredients in unprecedented variety is better now than ever, and there are lots more places to go for advice than there were when I started making my own beer (this coming July, it will be 38 years since I began homebrewing).
Best advice or nuggets of wisdom? Well, the obvious things, like being diligent about sanitation and the now famous “relax, don’t worry…” mantra come to mind.
I would add that patience is a virtue in homebrewing and is well rewarded. especially where stronger beer types are concerned: You can certainly make many ale styles that are ready to drink a couple weeks after brewing them, but don’t brew a Barleywine and expect it to be at peak flavor 4 weeks or even 4 months after brewing it (a year is a good start). And for heavens sakes…Don’t fall into the trap of being a slave to published “style guidelines”…many of them are way off the mark, although they can be useful IF it is remembered that they are _just guidelines_ and are most definitely not any definitive statement of what a given beer “style” should or shouldn’t be. Your taste buds are your best “style” guidelines in the end. Don’t let the dreaded and overused term… “to style”… rule your world.
Finally, everyone in the many of the terrific and informative beer forums online will offer advice. Consider any advice, but remember that taste is very subjective and everyone’s is different. When in doubt, experiment. All to often, well intentioned advice from someone who doesn’t like a particular hop variety or yeast strain could steer you away from something that you, on the other hand, might really like. Experimentation is the best way to find your own preferred elixer, and is in fact one of the most fun things about the hobby of homebrewing.
It has kept me interested in it for pretty much my entire adult life (though there are some around me who have doubts that I ever reached adulthood)!
April 10th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Professor, thanks so much for the great comment and words of wisdom regarding home brewing! I’m just getting my nerve up to give home brewing a go myself as I dive deeper into this ‘odd’ beer culture! Again, thanks for stopping by and sharing your experiences with us!
Scott – TheBrewClub’s last blog post..Beer Review – The Duck Rabbit Milk Stout
April 10th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Hey, thank for the post. I’m just starting home brewing with one of the kits and I’m curious to see what happens in a couple of weeks. I’ll agree with the professor, I’m trying to follow directions to a ‘T’, but its OK to loosen up. Its supposed to be fun, right!
June 8th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Lee, how did your home brew turn out? Let us know!!!