Brewing your own beer

One important factor: You will like your beer more than anyone else does. That's probably a good thing because who cares what other people think. But don't be the jackass bragging about how great your home brew is to all your friends and telling them, "This milk stout kicks Lancaster's ass!" It doesn't. And if you're not making it with full mash and top, expensive technology, don't bother entering contests.

This is your daily reminder that you aren't special.

 

That's the right attitude.

 

Don't scrimp on yeast. If whatever it is you want to make calls for a special yeast, then use that yeast, otherwise you're not going to get the proper taste.

Good yeast is expensive -- about $7 a shot for the White Labs varieties -- but if you're consistently making recipes calling for the same yeast, you can harvest from one batch for use in another. If you do it right, harvested yeast will keep for a good while.

 

Is scrimping one of those fetishes that involves toes?

 

I've been brewing my own beer for several years now and really enjoy the hobby. I do whole grain brewing now, but it took awhile before I got the confidence to go that route. Partial mash is a great way to begin. Like many have pointed out, use the best yeast possible and use the specific yeast the recipe calls for.

One note: Sanitation cannot be stressed enough. Dont ruin your investment in time and money by not taking the time to properly sanitize your equipment and bottles. Anything that touches the wort post-boil should be sanitized.

Once you start brewing, you won't regret it. Start with a basic recipe or two to get the hang of it (the first time you encounter a foaming hot break, it can be a little disconcerting). Think of it like cooking, at first you follow a recipe and as you gain experience, you start tweaking to suit your personal taste. Grain bills, aroma and bitterness hops, and amounts of priming sugar (for carbonation levels) can be adjusted and it won't take you long for your intuition to guide you. There's plenty of help available on the internet to get you pointed in the right direction. Even my efforts that didn't work out so well resulted in no worse than an acceptable beer. When you get it right, it's terrific.

Charlie's books are great reference guides and I think John Palmer's "How to Brew" is available as a free download these days. Go for it! It's a lot of fun.

 

I'm reading the Palmer book now. I also just bought the "Dummies" book. I'm a big fan of those books and am really looking forward to it. My town also has a home brew club. I requested to join their facebook page so I can find more resources.

I'm really looking forward to this when I get home.