Homemade Beer
Why Brew Your Own Beer?
October 30, 2009 by financemyhome · Leave a Comment
You know, if you enjoy beer so much, why not go out and buy some? Or just visit the nearest pub with a nice ambiance and have a nice enjoyable drink there? Why bother to spend time and effort to brew your own beer? Well, there are lots of reasons why I brew my own beer and some of them might even surprise you.
1. It just taste better. If you have not tried the beers I brewed, you may not agree. The beers you brewed from the basic beer kits will most likely taste better than the cheaper commercial ones you buy from the store. Unlike commercial ones which pasteurized, home brewed beers have no preservatives or any artificial additives (as they will kill off the yeast), so they are all natural. Of course, high quality ingredients will give a better quality batch. And like wine, beer will usually taste better as it ages but with commercial beers you can’t age it since it is already pasteurized.
2. It can be actually very easy. In fact, all you need to do is to add some dextrose (or malt) to the beer ingredient kit and the resulting beer should work out fine and you can have a very decent drink in just under 4 weeks. I mean what is easier than that? But with that said, you can make the brewing process complicated as well, depending on what style and what type of beer you want. Some brewing styles take up to a few hours to complete and needs tons of expensive equipment.
3. You get to experiment and taste different beers. This is probably the best part. You get to play around with malt extracts, grains, sugars, yeast, hops and other ingredients and make yourself a batch that is truly yours and ultimately unique. Or you can simply attempt a clone of a very popular commercial beer. Time consuming, but fun.
4. Cheaper. Of course with the high tax on alcohol in most countries, it will definitely be cheaper to brew your own beer. Sure, it depends on the ingredients and the style of the brew, but most of the time, you will find it to be cheaper.
5. It’s a great hobby! I mean it is like taking a break from your stressful life and relax by brewing beer, that’s it. Nothing much to it. Some people go around and attempt to kick a ball into a huge net and scream while others jump off tall buildings with a rubbery rope tied around their ankles. I brew beer, so can you.
6. Teaches patience. You won’t get it anywhere else. Imagine, after you finish your wort, you will have to leave it to ferment for a few days or even a few weeks. And after bottling, you will need to leave it to carbonate for a few days or even a few weeks as well. And if you are patient enough, you could age your beers for even longer and this of course will produce a even better tasting beer. So the longer you wait, the better the result will be. Patience is a virtue!
7. It makes beer. The result of all your hard work is beer. You get a lot of it if you are successful. So you don’t have to worry about not having beer when your friends come around. And you will find that your friends are coming by more often than not because you have an continuous supply of good quality and delicious alcohol to share. And beer brewing is all about sharing with your friends right?
Boon Leong is a vivid beer brewer. He has a blog about beer brewing and he administrates a web directory with a comprehensive listings of Restaurants in Singapore
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ong_Boon_Leong
http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Brew-Your-Own-Beer?&id=1800970
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Homemade Beer – Get Started With This Simple Guide
October 30, 2009 by financemyhome · Leave a Comment
By William Swan
She’s a pretty girl, and she can make a cake from scratch, but can she make homemade beer? You might be surprised at how many people make and store homebrewed beer. Is your mate among them? Are you?
Beer making follows very simple rules. So, why wait? If homebrewed beer is something you’d like to try, then this should help you get started. And the good news is that it costs very little to bottle your first homemade brew.
People have been making homemade alcohol for thousands of years, ever since man first stumbled onto fermentation. After tasting the results of fruit left to rot in the bottom of a jug (wine), he moved to grains, which are the main ingredients of beer. Beer recipes have been found among some of the world’s oldest recorded Sumerian writings.
Homebrewed beer is a thoughtful process, not a complicated one; it involves 6 components or steps:
1. Mash is made when a malted grain is mixed with water and then heated causing the starch to change into sugar. Mashes are available in a “No Boil” Kit, a partial mash, or the most complicated option, a full mash.
2. Wort (pronounced wirt, not wart) is the liquid formed by the malted grain mash. Wort can be purchased pre-made in dry or liquids.
3. Fermentation happens when a sugar mash is encouraged to convert into alcohol and carbon dioxide via the introduction of bacteria (yeast). Once yeast is added, wort becomes beer.
4. Conditioning (also known as secondary fermentation) is when the beer is siphoned from one container to another and allowed to brew again.
5. Carbonation takes place with the addition of a second sugar to the beer, which is then stored in either bottles or kegs.
6. And the easy part….Drinking!
Still afraid to get started? Perhaps master brewer and author, John Palmer, can help. He knows the ins and outs of home-brewing beer and the mistakes that can be made. He says his first homemade beer was “fit only for mosquitoes to lay their eggs in.”
He suggests beginning with a “fool-proof” ale beer recipe because ale is the easiest type of homemade beer to make. Palmer includes terms and tools you’ll need to make your first beer.
You could start brewing beer from scratch or you could begin with a home brewing beer kit which can be had for under $100. Beer kits are available from your local beer and wine supplies store, eBay, or one of the links below.
A simple search of the Internet will leave you with thousands of returns for recipes, games and other important beer information. Making your own beer can not only be useful it can also be a great experience. Think about it, they brewed their own beer years ago and look how much fun they had. So much they tried to shut them down! Try and stay out of trouble, but there is nothing any better than a home brewed cold one.
Caution
Homemade beer is for your consumption; stay out of trouble, don’t sell it.
And play it safe, check with your state or provincial laws before embarking on your homebrew beer adventure.
Love beer? Check out theses beer t-shirts
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_Swan
http://EzineArticles.com/?Homemade-Beer—Get-Started-With-This-Simple-Guide&id=523919
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