The Homebrewing Guest Blogger Returns!Welcome to another whenever-I-feel-like-writing post on home brewing! From here on out I'd like to move from general brewing procedure to more specific brewing information. Truly, you don't need this knowledge, but that's like saying that, in order to eat, all you need to know is how to make sandwiches. You'd stay alive, but the boring flavor of sandwiches and lack of creativity involved in making sandwiches would be numbing.
I hate working at Panera.
Anyway, knowing more about brewing and the science of brewing can help you create better tasting, more consistent beers. The result of a little learning is a more flavorful, more complex brewsky that you can feel proud of.
So, mashing!!
First Stop - Des MoinesThe first official stop to my beer trip came Monday night at El Bait Shop in Des Moines, Iowa. I figured that since I’m going to a ton of breweries in cities all over the United States I should start the trip off here at home. And if that’s what I’m doing, then what could possibly be more appropriate than to hit up a homebrewing event?
I obviously couldn’t show up to a brewery to find out much about homebrewing so instead I did the next best thing; I went to a meeting of the Iowa Brewer’s Union...
Personalized Beer LabelsSo this is a beer bottle. I’m sure you’re familiar with those. This one originally held Sam Adams, the Boston Lager I think, but I’m not positive.
It is just one of many that I use when I try homebrewing. I always save most my pry off bottles when I’m drinking at home so they can be refilled with my own beer later. Here is the problem, they’re ugly, especially when the labels have been removed. I’m typically not too concerned about aesthetics, especially when it comes to beer, but it still bothers me a little.
You can make your own labels with a few kids of label-maker things. You can get labels that you run through your printer too. Usually either one of those options turn out looking like crap. I know, I’ve tried both...
My Homebrewing Attempt: BottlingLast week I put up an article about the cooking stage of my attempt at homebrewing a Bavarian Hefeweizen. Today, the bottling!
I checked on my brew a day after I put it in my fermentation bucket. True to form it was bubbling away as the yeast ate my priming sugar and pooped out alcohol. Is that not the most magical thing you’ve ever heard of? Well, the yeast kept kicking out alcohol and bubbles through the airlock for the next three or four days. Then I let it sit a few more days and it was time to bottle it up...
My Homebrewing AttemptI’ve only homebrewed a couple of times. I’ve had a couple of disasters, but mostly just mediocre beer. I’ve tried a pretty decent number of homebrew that was delicious though, so I keep trying. I figure that even if my batch sucks, I can always boil some bratwurst in it!
This time I bought the Bavarian Hefeweizen ingredient kit from Beer Crazy in Urbandale. It’s a fairly simple kit (which is needed for a guy like me). Instead of having to steep the grains I got one that uses malt extract...
I got a job okay? Welcome to the third installment of my whenever-I-feel-like-posting column about brewing your own beer! Last week (month?) I clued you into the equipment you’d need to become a brewmaster and this week I’ll be piloting my truth plane and carpet knowledge-bombing your brain with the steps it takes to successfully make your first batch (war jokes aren’t in poor taste are they?)
You may need some additional items if your kitchen does not have them already. These items include (for a 1 gallon batch) a stockpot (about 6-10 qts.), 12 empty swing-top bottles (Grolsch bottles or similar, can be ordered online), a strainer, a funnel, a thermometer, honey, and a lot of ice. Once you have these items collected, you’re ready to get started...
Free Beer!
It’s a phrase that gets everyone’s attention. In the rare instance that someone has to miss out on free beer, they’re usually pretty broken up about it. That’s why I was shocked that the Iowa Homebrew Fest had a pretty meek turnout. I guess the article
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in Cityview didn’t do quite enough to convince people to drag their lazy butts off their couch for a few hours to suffer the arduous task of imbibing in free homebrewed beer. I thought it was going to be packed shoulder to shoulder...
You’re Going to Brew DammitWelcome to the second weekly installment of "Ian J Barker's Kosher Brewing Funtime Extravaganza For Adults, Mazeltov!" This week I'll give a brief rundown of the brewing types and go over the equipment you'll need to make your first batch.
Types of Brewing
Let's get right down to it. For homebrewers, there are generally only two methods of brewing beer: extract brewing and all-grain brewing. Extract brewing uses malt extract while all-grain brewing uses actual malted grain. The difference you ask? While malt extract brewing is easier and more consistent, all-grain brewing is considered by most to be the true brewing experience...
Homebrewing Guest Blogger Ever since my first sip of Hoegaarden in the summer of 2008, I've had a love affair with craft beer. The taste, the texture, and the sense of place that comes from a quality brew is as much a spiritual experience as it is a physical one. Which would explain why monks are so daffy for the stuff...
But even more interesting than drinking the beer is making the beer. At a place like Anheuser-Busch or Miller-Coors, they use the same ol' process, over and over again, with little creativity outside of the advertising department and then hock it on unsuspecting college kids (read: me) while quietly raking in mountains of money...
