Thinking about Homebrewing

Do you enjoy beer? Yet the better question is do you enjoy craft beers and micro brewed beers? If the answer to that is yes, and you are like me, than you have developed a palate for fine brews! I too enjoy craft brews and have toured a number of micro breweries to get a sense of how beers are crafted and the art of bringing a beer alive. This passion has translated me to bring the art of this craft to my own home and hand craft my own beer.

The art of brewing a beer can be complicated and overwhelming, however there are less elaborate systems to allow the average Joe to step into the art of home brewing without knowing all there is to know about home brewing. Even I, who has been brewing for a few years will admit that there is still a lot that I do not know and I learn something new each and every time I brew a beer.

The first step in crafting your own brew is committing the time that is needed and then taking that leap from just drinking beer to crafting beer. The second step is finding a resource, and yes I am a resource, but only one avenue. I highly suggest that you locate a local home brew retailer. These are normally small shops who devote there attention to catering to the amateur and novice home brewer, not to mention home brewers themselves. These shops provide a valuable resource and are more than happy to answer any question that you may have and even help you solve problems that you may encounter while brewing your beer.

If you are reading this blog, most cases it means that you are thinking about home brewing and just haven't made that first leap! I am going to tell you that you should just do it and my suggestion is to start easy with a basic extract home brewing system. A valuable online resource that I have used to source some of my equipment has been http://www.northernbrewer.com/ who also sells basic home brew kits to get anyone started in the art of crafting your home brew. http://www.northernbrewer.com/starterkits.html This link provides an overview of some home brewing kits, my suggestion is to purchase the basic home brewing set. This is the first set that I purchased and used in crafting some of my favorite home brews.

Although this set provides you with the basics that is needed, it does not supply you with everything. You will still need to purchase a stainless steel pot that can handle approximately 5 gallons of water. (DO NOT USE ALUMINUM, this can cause off flavors) and you will need approximately 52 empty amber beer bottles. Once you collect these three items the only other item you will need is an actual extract kit. Once again you can select a kit though northernbrewer by following this link: http://www.northernbrewer.com/extract-kits.html. I suggest selecting an Ale kit as these are the simplest kits to produce good quality home brew. I will also suggest brewing a Kolsch Extract beer as this is a fairly simple kit and not to mention one of my favorite beers that I like to enjoy on a nice warm summer day, especially after mowing the lawn.

The total approximate cost to setting up a basic home brewing kit is: $169.00 through Northernbrewer.com.

You may be able to source some equipment and supplies cheaper through a local home brew supplier as well, its always a good idea to shop around.

My next blog will be brewing your first homebrew: Extract brewing