I heard recently from somebody starting out in home brewing who was wondering if I had any tips for beginning homebrewers to pass along that might not be obvious from a book. I reckoned a book would hammer home the first commandment of home brewing -- "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" -- so I thought I'd pass along a few others that might be worth considering for the beginning brewer:
1) Find a brewing buddy or two if you can. Both the brewing and the tasting are more fun with a couple of good friends.
2) It might be worth planting a couple of hops vines this Spring. As you start to move beyond the simplest brews, you'll need some hops, and hop prices have risen a good deal over the past few years, which means that you might fine yourself shelling out $3-$6 per batch for hops.
The vines themselves usually start producing a lot the second year, though you may get a few flowers the first year. Planting them now means they'll be ready when you are. Monique and I planted a couple of hops vines this spring, and got just enough to flavor a batch of stout we made this fall. It was genuinely fun to use our own hops for the flavoring, and I'm really looking forward to hopping most of my beers next year off our own vines.
3) Don't be afraid to experiment. Feel like dropping a quart of maple syrup in your stout? Go for it! Want to try adding some vanilla to an ale? Why not? (I can now tell you from personal experience that if you do try some vanilla, the beer really does need to age a couple of months afterwards.) The point is that whatever you do, the end product is likely to contain alcohol and to be something interesting.
And drinking the mistakes can still lead to a fun evening!
4) Most importantly, have fun! Some bits of brewing can get pretty technical, especially if you're just starting or if you're trying something complicated. But at its heart it's not much trickier than baking a cake or a pie, and you'll figure out the tricky bits as you keep trying. Once you've known the joy of drinking the fruit of your labors, no other beer tastes quite as satisfying.
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AWESOME!! I cannot wait to try this!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever made mead? If so, is it more difficult?
Judi
We're trying a variety of mead called a "cyser" right now. It's a combination of cider and mead. I'll post a bit more detail on it as soon as we re-rack it from the primary bucket and take another picture or two.
ReplyDeleteCyser - never heard of it - I'll have to do a bit of research.
ReplyDeleteYou think wine could be made with the same equipment?
Yes, you can make a basic wine with the same equipment. But if you want to age it you'll need a barrel of some sort. And you'll need a corker if you want to put it in wine bottles.
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in La Honda, California, my neighbor and I used to make plum wine with pretty much the same setup. It was ... well, it contained alcohol.