You made your own beer?
It’s here again: National Homebrew day. If you’re not familiar with this holiday, you probably never tried it. In fact, you probably give the side eye and say “You made your own beer?” in a Clark Griswold kind of tone, when someone offers you a homebrew. Chances are, if you actually try it, you may be pleasantly surprised. The art form has come a long way. Brewing your own beer was commonplace for centuries. Archeologists date brewing back to around 5000 BC. And, before mass production methods, most people had no choice but to brew at home. It was a common practice in the United states up until prohibition. But, in 1979, legal restrictions were lifted. And, on May 7,1988 Congress officially recognized national home brew day as a holiday.
When home brewing was legalized, it was hard to find supplies and ingredients. And, people had to experiment or work off a few limited recipes available. Remember, this was before the internet. I remember reading Charlie Papazian’s recipe book. That was the go to. And, there was one store where you could get equipment and ingredients. Today, you can get everything you need online, delivered to your door in a couple days. And, if you don’t have the time or impetus to create your own recipes, you can buy pre-measured kits for convenience and consistency.
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No need to panic
Some of you may remember a scene in Breaking bad where Hank brewed his own beer, and the bottles exploded. While this can happen, it isn’t a common occurrence if you do it right. The most likely cause of such an accident is too much sugar and high temperatures. Yeast eats sugar to create alcohol and carbonation. Too much creates a build up in pressure. In that show, they are in a dessert, so temperatures will be higher. Yeast works best at around body temperature. So, a hot summer day and excessive amounts of sugar combine for an explosive scene.
A few broken bottles and a bit of a mess are about the worst things to expect from home brewing though. You’re not going to get sick from home brew (unless you don’t properly sanitize your equipment or use perishable ingredients. It’s malt, hops, water, and yeast. So, if you are a beginner, start with a kit. Once you become comfortable with the processes, feel free to branch out and experiment. It’s a couple hours of work (if you want to call it that. Then about a month of waiting to drink the fruits of your labor. Don’t worry. Brew happy.
Don’t be surprised when they say “You made your own beer?”
Your average mass produced beer drinker is suspect of anything that isn’t sold at sporting events. So, when you say you made your own beer they expect something weird. For the typical lager drinker, home brew is something too exotic and scary for their palates. But, you can brew all types of beer from lager to stout. The beers I typically brew are a little heavy for the Coor’s light crowd. But, they always have a surprised look that it is actually good, even if not to their taste. I even have friends who will mix a lighter beer with mine to make it closer to what they “like”. I suppose I could make a lighter brew too. But, that’s not to my personal taste.
And, don’t forget, when you brew your own beer, you know exactly what ingredients you put in your beer. And, you can control whether or not it’s organic and free of fillers, etc. Your typical mass produced lager has things like rice and corn as ingredients to make it cheaper. And, it shows. When you brew your own beer at home, you decide what goes into it. You get a premium quality brew for a lot less than you would pay for a similar brew in a store or brewery. Although, over the past couple decades, the price of ingredients and equipment have gone up. Most likely this is because breweries don’t want people to make their own.
What is the cost?
So, to brew your own, you’ll need to invest a bit in equipment up front. You can get your basic equipment for under $200. But after brewing about 10 batches that investment will be recouped in ingredient savings. You can get a kit that makes 5 gallons of beer (about 2 1/2 cases) for as little as $20. Most are around $40, though. But, that’s still far cheaper than the minimum of $1 per beer you pay in stores. And, if you buy bulk ingredients, you can even do better than that.
So, the bottom line is: less money, higher quality, and more control. Why wouldn’t you brew your own? There may be some trial and error in the beginning. But, once you get into the flow of it, you can produce some truly exceptional beers. Look at all the artisan breweries popping up all over the place. Most of them started as home brewers. So, why not give it a try? Who knows, you may even convert some of your less enthusiastic light beer drinking friends. For a mini tutorial on how to brew, see our home brew post from a couple years ago here. And, get ready to enjoy the fruits of your own labor, plus save some money. See our recipe to get you started.
Cheers!
Suddenly Last Summer Autumn Ale
Ingredients
- 6 Gallons Water
- 1 Lb Caramel malt
- 1 Lb Dingeman's malt
- 1/2 Lb pale Ale Malt
- 1/2 Cup Green Cardamom Seed
- 1 Pint Fresh Blackberries
- 9 Lb Golden Malt extract
- 1.5 oz Cascade Hops pellets
- 1 Oz Mighty axe Tropica Hops pellets
- 2 Oz Mosaic Leaf Hops
- 1 oz Tetnang hop Pellets
- 1 Each Flocculation tablet or 1 oz Irish moss
- 11.5 g Safe Ale T 58 yeast
- 2 Oz cascade Hop Pellets for Dry Hopping
Instructions
- Sanitize all fermenting and bottling equipment before each step in the process.
- Boil 2 gallons of water in a 5 gallon pot. Place The malts and cardamom in a brewing bag. Simmer for 45 minutes.
- remove the bag and drain it into the wort. Whisk in the extract and the berries. Bring back to a boil. Then add the cascades, mighty axe, and mosaic hops. Boil for 30 minutes. Then add the tetnang hops and flocking tablet. Continue boiling for another 15 minutes.
- Strain the wort well through cheesecloth into a sterilized Brewing bucket. Then, transfer to a carboy. Add clean cold water directly to the wort in the carboy until you get to about 6 gallons. Allow the wort to continue cooling.
- Once it is down to room temperature, add in the yeast. Place a blow-off tube in the top of the carboy to allow excess material and gas to escape during the active period of the yeast. Put the carboy in a cool dry place where it won't be disturbed or exposed to light for about a month.
- After about 3 days, the yeast activity should slow down enough to replace the blow off tube with an airlock. At this time, add the dry hops, and cover with an airlock. Let it ferment for another 10 to 14 days.
- After a couple weeks, there should be little to no yeast activity. You will know this by limited or non existent bubbles in the airlock. At this time, you can bottle or keg the ale.
- Boil 1 cup corn sugar or similar sugar in a cup or 2 of water. Transfer the beer from the carboy to a bottling bucket carefully. Use a Siphon, and be careful not to suck up the sediment from the bottom of the carboy. Going through another filter is a good idea here as well.
- Once the beer has been strained into the bottling tub, whisk in the corn sugar mixture. Then transfer the beer to your bottles or kegs. Cap and allow to ferment for a couple weeks, then open and enjoy.