Beginner Brew

[BLG]

Hi all. I've never brewed anything in my life, but I'd like to try because I do love beer. There is a catch, however: I'd like to brew a beer that can be done without buying any sort of ingredients from the store. I have quite a bit of land and would like to try to grow on my land everything necessary for the brew. Can someone suggest or point me in the direction of some recipes which includes ingredients which can all be produced naturally on site?

 

[Hello]

That's a tall order. Your best bet is to research the basic ingredients in beer then figure out how to grow them. Good luck with the yeast though. Best to start growing grain and hops.

 

[kombat]

In theory, it should be pretty easy. After all, beer is just 4 ingredients: Barley, hops, yeast and water.

I'm guessing you have easy access to ample water.

Lots of people grow their own hops.

The barley would be a little trickier, but if you have lots of land and are willing to put in the time and effort of learning how to malt it yourself, it could be done.

The yeast, I'm afraid, you will have to buy. But in theory, you'd only have to buy it once. If you learn to harvest, culture, and ranch yeast, you could maintain your own yeast bank in a simple home laboratory.

The hard part, in my opinion, would be the barley. Malting barley properly seems like a very finicky process.

 

[GASoline71]

Growing barley is one thing... malting it is another.

As far as yeasts go... You could always do an open coolship and invite wild yeasts.

Gary

 

[Facinerous]

Agreed with kombat.

I would recommend just going for it. Buy what is necessary to brew a batch of beer and learn the process. In the meantime of doing so you can also get into the process of growing the stocks necessary to grow and brew everything yourself.

The difference between the two would be about nine months. You can brew something now for roughly 30 to 40 bucks and have beer in six weeks, or you can spend 30 to 40 bucks on what is necessary to grow everything and have beer in nine to 12 months. Your call.

I was seriously interested in malting my own barley, but in reading the process I decided it is better to let the maltsters (malt masters) do what they do best and i could reap the reward.

There is certainly something said for truly doing it yourself, but I think in many respects its best to let the masters show their art.

 

[Cyclman]

+1 Malting can be done, but it isn't simple. Here is an article on how to do it: http://byo.com/stories/item/1092-make-your-own-malt

I would buy base malt, grow and roast your own specialty malt. And plant lots of hops, you'll use them if you have them!

 

[rhys333]

Just watched a really interesting youtube video on malting this evening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY95ikN2YsY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[amie]

This episode of Tudor Monastery Farm includes some of the process of making historic ale, including malting and collecting wild yeast. I'm sure it can be done, but I don't think the end product will be much like what you think of as beer.