How To Start Homebrewing

Or rather, where to start

I think it's reasonable to assume that most people who contemplate taking up the hobby of Homebrewing do a great deal of research on the internet before hand. You may be reading this very article as part of that initial exploration. By now you have probably read elsewhere that you can make great beer in your own kitchen with a modest investment of time and money. It's true! Homebrewing is fun, easy, and inexpensive. In fact it actually saves you money in the long run. Having said that, I encourage you to continue your research. Keep reading for the next few lines of text at least.

The way I see it, you don't really need to read another article about how to do your first extract brew, or to explore yet another introduction to the basics of fermentation. You only need to do one thing.

Either by asking google, or checking the phone book, work out where your nearest Homebrew supplies shop is, then.. go there.

The reason I'm suggesting this is that if you do decide to take up Homebrewing, your local supplier is probably the next place you will find yourself. Why not just go there now and ask for information? Don't be embarrassed, or worried about getting talked into something. Homebrewing suppliers spend more time talking customers out of things than they do making sales pitches. Their approach to keeping your business is to make sure that you enjoy yourself, and don't become discouraged.

The best way to ask for information is to just ask. Say something like this: "Hi! I'm totally ignorant! How do I Homebrew?" Say it with a smile too. No joke. Your supplier will actually respect you for this. People who answer questions for a living know that there is deep intelligence behind a straight question.

What you don't want to do is walk in five minutes before closing time on a Friday and ask "Hey! I want to make an all-grain chek pilsner, and it's for a friends wedding. Will it be ready next week?.. Oh by the way it's my first time brewing, so I was wondering how much it will cost."

The cost would be the least of those worries. I doubt that any Homebrewing supplier likes to spend twenty minutes explaining to a customer why something won't work out, when that time could have been spent constructively. It's not just a one way street though. You can help your supplier help you.

Your first trip to the Homebrewing shop

Here are few simple things to keep in mind for your first trip to the Homebrewing shop:

Narrow it down.

If you want to make a decision, decide on what sort of style of beer you would like to try. A pale ale? A bitter? A stout? Give your supplier something to work with. Otherwise, just ask for the house favorite. They will probably have a tried and true recipe memorized that will work out beautifully.

Not too narrow.

Don't set your heart on duplicating a commercial beer. Just focus on learning how to make beer. Chances are, your first extract brew will taste better than store bought any how.

Not a lager.

To do a lager properly requires a longer ferment, stricter temperature control, and in some cases a complicated mash. In the middle of winter, your basement might be cold enough to do a good lager, but that's not something you want to be worrying about when your just starting out. If you insist, here is an article about doing a simple lager with no special equipment. No guarantees. I suggest you file this away for later, and try an ale or two first.

No internet recipes.

I run a Homebrewing web site, so why the hell would I say something like that? Well it doesn't really have anything to do with the internet, other than the fact that it's full of recipes that anyone can print out and take to there local shop. The problem is that every Homebrewing supplies shop will have varying stock. Hops, yeast, and grain are all subject to shortages, and varying distribution. For example you may not be able to get "American 2-row". There might not be any UK Goldings left in the freezer. Chances are the first thing you will not be able to get is the exact yeast culture specified.

Your Homebrewing supplier will be able to work out perfectly good substitutions, but if it's your first time brewing, the art of substitution, which is an essential skill for a brewer, will be incomprehensible to you, and so it wont be a good learning experience. No need to add to the confusion. Just file that print out away for another day.

Observing the four suggestions above, you will notice the common thread. Simplicity. Keep it simple. Keep it basic. Take small steps. Take your time.

This all assumes that you will be able to find a good Homebrewing supplier. I acknowledge the possibility that you wont. If you walk into a shop and all they have are pre-hoped beer kits, by all means, buy a beer kit. Try it out. After that experience you might want to look elsewhere. I'm not putting down kit brewing. Lots of people get hours of pleasure from kits, so how can I knock that? I simply think it's important to have options.

A good Homebrewing supplier should at least stock 2-row pale malt, a few specialty grains, hop pellets, and powdered yeast. If they have that, they will undoubtedly have all the extract you could need to do your first brew.

If you can't find a Homebrewing supplier AT ALL you can get most of the equipment you need from a wine shop. Really, wine and beer are such close cousins that many shops serve both disciplines. You might also be able to get ingredients from a U-Brew, a Micro-brew, or a Brewpub. Just phone them up and ask if it's OK to come in and buy a little grain and hops off them. You might be able to score some liquid yeast to.

If none of these options are available to you, perhaps you live in the far north, or Antarctica. Perhaps a lager would be a good choice of beer style in that case, but your reading this now, so you must have the internet. With the internet, you can order whatever you want. All you have to deal with is shipping, handling, and loneliness.

In any case, have courage.

Remember that you are endeavoring to learn an ancient craft. Brewing has been around since the dawn of civilization. The irony of our times is that brewing has never been so well understood, by so few. In other words, for thousands of years making beer was a house hold activity, like baking bread, or spinning wool. Everyone could make beer, but for most of human history no one knew what yeast was. No one knew how enzymes worked.

On the one hand It was a form of magic in the sense that under the right conditions beer would just happen. On the other hand It was one of the first sciences in the sense that reproducing those right conditions for a desired effect was a matter of trial and error.

Today brewing is a mixture of heavy industry and microbiology. For a few centuries now brewing has been steadily insolated away from the general public. Out of billions, only a comparative handful of people know how to make the most popular beverage in the world.

Is this the fault of the big beverage corporations? Nope.

Is it the fault of prohibition? Not even close.

Is it the fault of the industrial revolutions? Well what social change can't be traced back to an industrial revolution if we are willing to look outwards to place the blame?

I'll tell you who's fault it is. It's your fault, and it's also mine.

For years, I enjoyed beer, and it never occurred to me to wonder how it was made. I never ventured the question. Through a strange chain of events I eventually came to Homebrewing, and I enjoy beer now as never before. That is the key. A little bit of knowledge is dangerous, and also profitable. It can entice you to learn more.

Enjoy yourself.

If you choose to become a Homebrewer, you will take on an awesome responsibility. You will be responsible for enjoying yourself. That's it. That's the whole point.

It doesn't mater if you never do anything except extract brews. You can use beer kits for all I care -- not that you should give a damn what I think, or anyone else. Do it yourself, and enjoy what you do. No art can survive if there are none willing to practice it. None will be willing, unless the art can be enjoyed.

Go forth and brew. It is your blood right as a human being.

Also, as a little reward for tolerating my loquacious philosophizing, I'm going to throw a little treasure your way. If your still not sure that you want to learn the art of fermentation, there is a ridiculously easy way to get first hand experience of it. You don't have to go to a Homebrew shop for this, just a grocery store. Try this Dirt Simple Recipe For Ginger Ale.