How Home Brewing Evolves

We all want to brew the best beer possible. We aspire to brew to the point of even surprising ourselves, right? You've brewed several kit beers and they are now turning out to your liking. They're hoppy with a nice maltiness and has an aroma that makes for a true brewing masterpiece! Brewing with extracts and specialty grains only takes about 2 hours from start to finish, and you really don't need a whole lot of equipment.

When you have mastered brewing with ingredient kits, consider developing your own recipes; adjusting the hops, grains, carbonation and other things, such as fruit flavoring and spices to give your beer the exact character you won't find at the store or at the local brew pub.

There is nothing more exciting than when you begin exploring the world's classic beer styles. Barley & Vine has a nice selection of ingredient kits that can take you around the world of all of the English, Irish, German, Baltic, and American style brews.

To help get a better idea of the different classic styles, pick up a copy of "BREWING CLASSIC STYLES" for a well-written book covering both the recipes and the brewing techniques you'll need to make some of the world's finest beers. The really cool thing about learning the different styles of these countries is that you discover that they brewed some beers for the hot summers, such as the Belgian Saison. Incidentally, the Saison has become my summer favorite. I brewed it for the first time this summer and have probably brewed five batches, including a "Gluten-Free" version that really turned out good! We'll get into the Gluten-Free in a later article!

With the fall time cooler weather now here, we brewed an American styled Robust Ported patterned after the Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter. We brewed this all-grain and used the brew-in-a-bag brewing technique. The same recipe can be easily brewed from extract by simply replacing the base grains with liquid malt extract. I was seriously considering delving into the Belgian beer styles (keeping with the Belgian Saison). I decided on using Belgian Abbey base grains and a Belgian yeast for the best of BOTH worlds. (Hey! when given a choice, take BOTH!) I feel pretty confident it will be an interesting brew! I do favor maltiness. Again, brew the beers YOU like.

While serving in the US Air Force, I lived in England for three years in Laxfield, Suffolk County. Just a stone's throw from the King's Head and the Royal Oak Inn. The fresh brewed English ales sparked a true appreciation trying new and tasty beers. The good thing about brewing your own beer, you can brew and enjoy ALL of the beers of the world for a fraction of the cost of traveling to these countries. Don't get me wrong, we spent a week in Ireland and later a week in Frankfort, Germany further exploring the wonderful flavors of these countries.

While they are years ahead of the US, we DO have a growing beer culture that YOU are a part of. Beer and brewing is at the heart of the original social networking! When you brew, always invite a few friends and introduce them to Craft Brewing at it's best. Nearly everyone likes a well made brew. Give 'em a chance to see how it's done. Before long, you'll find that nearly all of your friends brew!