My Thoughts on Home Brewing Over The Past 25 Years
Today was going to be brew day. I had plans to make 10 gallons of Baltic Porter. But, as luck would have it, it is raining, cold, and windy. So Im sitting here in my favorite chair in my sunroom looking at the rain and the trees blowing around thinking of brewing. With nothing better to do (I guess I could change the burned out light bulb in the master bath) I decide to write down some of my thoughts. The Baltic Porter can wait, I have 25 gallons of beer either fermenting or lagering now.
I was helping a new home brewer out a couple of weeks ago and I realized much has changed in home brewing since I first started almost 25 years ago. It is very similar to the old story on how to boil a frog. For those not familiar with this, it basically says that you put a frog in a pot with cool water. Then slowly turn up the heat and the frog never knows that it is being boiled because the change in temperature is so slow.
Well, that was me with this greatest of all hobbies. There was never a revolution in my technics and equipment, but a slow evolution.
I started as many home brewers back then, with a can of malt, (Blue Ribbon?) a bag of yellowish unnamed hops, and a white pack of something labeled Brewers Yeast. I didnt brew again for almost five years. I dont think I need to explain.
My next attempt was with a can of pre-hopped malt, actually understanding that sanitizing was part of brewing, and less is more when it comes to priming the bottles. I could actually drink what I made, and it was certainly in the beer family. Home brewing would forever be part of my life, just like having a car or playing hockey.
I was so proud that I had bottles of beer that I made and wanted someone to try it, but who? Then I remembered my old childhood friend Chuck. As kids, Chuck would do anything I dared him to do. I would often say something like, Hey Chuck, bet you wont drink chocolate milk and grape Kool-Aid! Chuck would drink it. So now I knew who to get to try my beer. When Chuck came over, I proudly opened the bottle with that familiar sound of a fittttt, poured it in a glass, and said, Hey Chuck, bet you wont drink my home brewed beer! After a few smells of the glass, he asked if I really brewed this. I said yes and he pushed the glass away. A lot has changed since then. Now friends and family always come by, get a glass and pour a beer from one of my taps before even saying hello!
What happed from that day with Chuck, to today? Again, it was an evolution, not a revolution. My first mash system was two pickle buckets with a hundred holes drilled in the bottom of one of them. Bleach as a sanitizer. Carboy brushes. 8000 BTU stove top. All this eventually made good beer. But brew day was more than one day. By the time the wort went into the fermenter, the kitchen was a disaster, I was exhausted, but the wonderful smell of boiling wort filled the house.
Todays brew day includes Blichmann burners. A keggle for a multi step mash, a five or 10 gallon coolers for a single step mash and sparge water. A grain mill. A 20 gallon brew kettle. Computers, iPhones, and an iPad. My home made stir plate made out of an old Mac Mini. Of course, the selection of yeasts, grains, hops, and other adjuncts are infinitely better and more varied. However, the most significant additions to my brew day are Star San and Powdered Brewery Wash. It is my humble opinion that Star San is the single greatest thing that we as home brewers have today that was not available to me 25 years ago. I think I can do without all other things I now use, but I will never give up Star San.
I would like to hear from other home brewers. What do you think has changed your brew day the most? Is there some other silver bullet that I should know about?
Guess what, the sun is coming out and the wind is dying down.
Today was going to be brew day. I had plans to make 10 gallons of Baltic Porter. But, as luck would have it, it is raining, cold, and windy. So Im sitting here in my favorite chair in my sunroom looking at the rain and the trees blowing around thinking of brewing. With nothing better to do (I guess I could change the burned out light bulb in the master bath) I decide to write down some of my thoughts. The Baltic Porter can wait, I have 25 gallons of beer either fermenting or lagering now.
I was helping a new home brewer out a couple of weeks ago and I realized much has changed in home brewing since I first started almost 25 years ago. It is very similar to the old story on how to boil a frog. For those not familiar with this, it basically says that you put a frog in a pot with cool water. Then slowly turn up the heat and the frog never knows that it is being boiled because the change in temperature is so slow.
Well, that was me with this greatest of all hobbies. There was never a revolution in my technics and equipment, but a slow evolution.
I started as many home brewers back then, with a can of malt, (Blue Ribbon?) a bag of yellowish unnamed hops, and a white pack of something labeled Brewers Yeast. I didnt brew again for almost five years. I dont think I need to explain.
My next attempt was with a can of pre-hopped malt, actually understanding that sanitizing was part of brewing, and less is more when it comes to priming the bottles. I could actually drink what I made, and it was certainly in the beer family. Home brewing would forever be part of my life, just like having a car or playing hockey.
I was so proud that I had bottles of beer that I made and wanted someone to try it, but who? Then I remembered my old childhood friend Chuck. As kids, Chuck would do anything I dared him to do. I would often say something like, Hey Chuck, bet you wont drink chocolate milk and grape Kool-Aid! Chuck would drink it. So now I knew who to get to try my beer. When Chuck came over, I proudly opened the bottle with that familiar sound of a fittttt, poured it in a glass, and said, Hey Chuck, bet you wont drink my home brewed beer! After a few smells of the glass, he asked if I really brewed this. I said yes and he pushed the glass away. A lot has changed since then. Now friends and family always come by, get a glass and pour a beer from one of my taps before even saying hello!
What happed from that day with Chuck, to today? Again, it was an evolution, not a revolution. My first mash system was two pickle buckets with a hundred holes drilled in the bottom of one of them. Bleach as a sanitizer. Carboy brushes. 8000 BTU stove top. All this eventually made good beer. But brew day was more than one day. By the time the wort went into the fermenter, the kitchen was a disaster, I was exhausted, but the wonderful smell of boiling wort filled the house.
Todays brew day includes Blichmann burners. A keggle for a multi step mash, a five or 10 gallon coolers for a single step mash and sparge water. A grain mill. A 20 gallon brew kettle. Computers, iPhones, and an iPad. My home made stir plate made out of an old Mac Mini. Of course, the selection of yeasts, grains, hops, and other adjuncts are infinitely better and more varied. However, the most significant additions to my brew day are Star San and Powdered Brewery Wash. It is my humble opinion that Star San is the single greatest thing that we as home brewers have today that was not available to me 25 years ago. I think I can do without all other things I now use, but I will never give up Star San.
I would like to hear from other home brewers. What do you think has changed your brew day the most? Is there some other silver bullet that I should know about?
Guess what, the sun is coming out and the wind is dying down.