Is homebrewing ever easy? In short, yes and no. When I first started thinking about brewing beer I felt unsure at first if I had the skills it would take to be successful. It seemed that somehow I had adopted the assumption that brewing beer was simply too hard. I thought that the brewing equipment required would cost thousands of dollars and I would never have enough space or time to devote to my new passion. Luckily my wonderful wife thought I was capable of the task and purchased a starter kit for my birthday. This was probably to keep me from talking about brewing beer every day, which had gone on for about a month straight. I've been hooked ever since.
I started off probably like most with an extract kit (Irish Red to be specific), an inexpensive 5-gallon kettle on my stove top, and a back deck full of snow as a wort chiller. It was not exactly the worst set up I've seen, and it did actually produce a drinkable beer. I have since moved beyond the tiny upper level duplex and have now taken over a brew lab in the basement of the house we purchased back in 2013. No more fluctuating fermentation temps, as one will experience when fermenting in a closet. That actually worked pretty well until I did my first Hefeweizen.
Some where between 12 and 16 hours after pitching yeast, the krausen got stuck and clogged the air lock. The pressure eventually built up so much that when it finally blew, it erupted a thick mixture all over my dress clothes, the inside of the door, ceiling, and pretty much everything else that was in there. I still have a shirt that has the faint smell of yeast, clove, and bananas. Needless to say, blow off tubes are now used in every primary.
Here is this year's combination of Columbus, Magnum, Nugget and Chinook. I think next year I will do a better job of separating them
Around the time I noticed my ability to start really tasting beer (I had been a Michelob Golden Lite-only kind of guy up until that point, or a Heineken if I was feeling adventurous), I began feeling the urge to brew my own. New flavors like Fat Tire or Bell's Two Hearted were almost too bitter for me, but now I can definitely taste that pronounced malty flavor with a bitter end that had previously escaped my taste buds. I was certainly reprogrammed after my first home brew session. Other IPAs, Porters, and Pilsners began to come to light as I was becoming more conscientious of beer and all its complexities.
Again, I really owe all of this to my wife for getting me started. She probably regrets it a little, as it can sometimes consume an entire weekend which, in her words, "could be better spent fixing things around the house". Brewing brings relaxation for me in the midst of a busy life with three children. The great part about the kids is the two eldest help me harvest the 12 hop vines that are now in their third season of growing. They are well established and somewhat out of control. Maybe next year I can train them a little better; the hops that is, not the kids. They are still a work in progress.
Chiller A/C unit, FTSs 7-gallon Conical Fermenter, and control station
I brewed just over 30 extract batches before attending a class on sugars and later a class on all-grain brewing, both offered for free at my local homebrew store. With a good knowledge base of basic brewing and the newly acquired supporting information on how malt is turned first into fermentable sugar and then into beer, I had plenty of confidence to step up the process and go all-grain. I purchased a 10-gallon kettle, two 10-gallon coolers (mash tun and hot liquor tank), a steelhead pump, and even an old window air conditioning unit which I converted into a glycol chiller using plans that I found on HomeBrewTalk (it was an article by David M. Kucko). I have paired the chiller with a 7-gallon SS Brew Tech FTSs Chronical system with internal chiller and a Johnson A419 temperature controller for the A/C unit.
This should be enough gear to get me into trouble. Now to just find the right time to start brewing.
So is brewing easy? It can be. The willingness to experiment and fail only to try it again is all it really takes. Kids, no kids, house or small corner, home brewing is a craft that I think can almost be done anywhere. My ultimate goal, and I encourage others to do so, is to enter at least one beer in a beer competitions to just see what's out there and learn from others.
Cheers!!
Bio:
I started Home Brewing in the spring of 2012. I had heard an ad on the local radio (The Current 89.3 FM) that showcased a special offer from Northern Brewer and finally I decided to look on their website. Shortly after, I ordered the catalog and started dreaming, while questioning myself and my ability to brew my own. Now a few years later, I'm ready to switch from extract brewing to all-grain; first brew session Labor Day 2015.//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
I started off probably like most with an extract kit (Irish Red to be specific), an inexpensive 5-gallon kettle on my stove top, and a back deck full of snow as a wort chiller. It was not exactly the worst set up I've seen, and it did actually produce a drinkable beer. I have since moved beyond the tiny upper level duplex and have now taken over a brew lab in the basement of the house we purchased back in 2013. No more fluctuating fermentation temps, as one will experience when fermenting in a closet. That actually worked pretty well until I did my first Hefeweizen.
Some where between 12 and 16 hours after pitching yeast, the krausen got stuck and clogged the air lock. The pressure eventually built up so much that when it finally blew, it erupted a thick mixture all over my dress clothes, the inside of the door, ceiling, and pretty much everything else that was in there. I still have a shirt that has the faint smell of yeast, clove, and bananas. Needless to say, blow off tubes are now used in every primary.
Here is this year's combination of Columbus, Magnum, Nugget and Chinook. I think next year I will do a better job of separating them
Around the time I noticed my ability to start really tasting beer (I had been a Michelob Golden Lite-only kind of guy up until that point, or a Heineken if I was feeling adventurous), I began feeling the urge to brew my own. New flavors like Fat Tire or Bell's Two Hearted were almost too bitter for me, but now I can definitely taste that pronounced malty flavor with a bitter end that had previously escaped my taste buds. I was certainly reprogrammed after my first home brew session. Other IPAs, Porters, and Pilsners began to come to light as I was becoming more conscientious of beer and all its complexities.
Again, I really owe all of this to my wife for getting me started. She probably regrets it a little, as it can sometimes consume an entire weekend which, in her words, "could be better spent fixing things around the house". Brewing brings relaxation for me in the midst of a busy life with three children. The great part about the kids is the two eldest help me harvest the 12 hop vines that are now in their third season of growing. They are well established and somewhat out of control. Maybe next year I can train them a little better; the hops that is, not the kids. They are still a work in progress.
Chiller A/C unit, FTSs 7-gallon Conical Fermenter, and control station
I brewed just over 30 extract batches before attending a class on sugars and later a class on all-grain brewing, both offered for free at my local homebrew store. With a good knowledge base of basic brewing and the newly acquired supporting information on how malt is turned first into fermentable sugar and then into beer, I had plenty of confidence to step up the process and go all-grain. I purchased a 10-gallon kettle, two 10-gallon coolers (mash tun and hot liquor tank), a steelhead pump, and even an old window air conditioning unit which I converted into a glycol chiller using plans that I found on HomeBrewTalk (it was an article by David M. Kucko). I have paired the chiller with a 7-gallon SS Brew Tech FTSs Chronical system with internal chiller and a Johnson A419 temperature controller for the A/C unit.
This should be enough gear to get me into trouble. Now to just find the right time to start brewing.
So is brewing easy? It can be. The willingness to experiment and fail only to try it again is all it really takes. Kids, no kids, house or small corner, home brewing is a craft that I think can almost be done anywhere. My ultimate goal, and I encourage others to do so, is to enter at least one beer in a beer competitions to just see what's out there and learn from others.
Cheers!!
Bio:
I started Home Brewing in the spring of 2012. I had heard an ad on the local radio (The Current 89.3 FM) that showcased a special offer from Northern Brewer and finally I decided to look on their website. Shortly after, I ordered the catalog and started dreaming, while questioning myself and my ability to brew my own. Now a few years later, I'm ready to switch from extract brewing to all-grain; first brew session Labor Day 2015.//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
