A NEW YEAR, A NEW BREW | Live Young and Free

?A New Take on Homebrewing for 2013 ?

All photos by Russ Huband

For most, the term ?homebrew? conjures up memories of green plastic bottles, and beer that tastes more like cider, green apples, or vinegar, and was most likely stolen from the basement of a friend?s dad.? But homebrewing has changed, and good homebrew will give any craft beer a run for its money.? This could be due to the increasing availability of fresh, quality ingredients and live, liquid yeast, but I think it?s more than that.? Judging by the homebrewing community that I know, I?d say that people are homebrewing not to save money on beer, as may have been the motivator in the past, but because they enjoy craft beer and want the satisfaction that comes from crafting something truly delicious on their own, and to tailor those beers to their own specific tastes.

I?ve always enjoyed good food, and quite often when dining out, would find myself thinking of how I could change the dish, or what I could do to make it more personalized to my taste.? Quite some time ago, I started drinking craft beer, but thoughts like this never really crossed my mind.? After all, homebrew tastes like homebrew, and you need a brewery to make good beer, right?

Homebrew can be as good as craft beer. Even better if you get it just the way you like it

That stigma began to change for me a few years ago when some friends were teaming up at a local brew-on-premises, and invited me to join in.? The place is called Bedford Brewing Company, and they differentiate themselves from most U-Brews by brewing beer entirely from scratch, using only fresh grain, hops, water and yeast.? I decided to give it a shot, and the group of us brewed six different styles, including a very light ale, a hopped up IPA, and a dark peated ale.? Every one of the beers was fantastic, and I officially had ?the bug.? They were so good in fact, that every time I was out for beer I found myself contemplating ways that I could sneak my own beer into the establishment (the ?dollar a beer? price tag may also have had some part in this).? This is a great way to try brewing before investing in any equipment, and makes for a good ?soft? entry into the hobby.

I continued to brew at Bedford for a year or two, but when I started to get serious about recipe creation and experimentation, I found that I was a bit limited.? Certain beers and beer styles require changing the types and quantities of grain that are used, and due to their process, some of these are not possible in a U-Brew setting.? It was then that I started looking into brewing at home, and what equipment was required to brew quality beer the same way: from fresh grain, hops, water and yeast.

Crushed Pale Malt: fresh crushed grain has a beautiful malt aroma, and is essential in creating a top quality homebrew.

Fresh Grain (Pale Malt & Roasted Barley): pale malt makes up the majority of most recipes grain bill, with specialty malts like roasted barley giving the beer coffee, chocolate, caramel, and bready flavours.

Roasted Barley (Whole & Crushed): roasted barley gives beer the bitter, coffee like flavours associated with stouts and some porters.

Brewing at home allows you to brew whatever you?d like, and because you?re producing small batches, there is less risk when it comes to trying something radical.? Since the material costs of a 5-gallon batch are only around $10 ? $20, there is not a lot to lose should a batch go awry.? The biggest upset is the lost time and disappointment of a spoiled batch, not to mention the risk of running out of fresh brew to drink.? The cost of equipment varies: a basic homebrew setup can be had for as little as $150, while a full blown mini brewery can cost as much as you?re willing to spend on it.? For the home enthusiast, Hobby Beer & Wine on Finlayson has a great selection of fresh ingredients, gear, and everything else you?ll need to get brewing.

There are a few notable downsides to homebrewing that should be mentioned.? The first thing you?ll notice is a drastic increase in beer consumption.? I struggle hard with this one, since my detached garage and ?brew house? have no running water, but 3 taps on a fridge, backed by 3 different kegs of beer.? There have been plenty of occasions where I have been working in the garage and wanted a glass of cold water, but opted for cold beer simply because it was more accessible.? The next big problem is that once you get into it, you?re going to want to brew more beer than one person can possibly drink (ok, maybe not possibly, but realistically).? The bright side is that this problem is one that solves itself.? Once your friends find out you have a brewery in your garage / kitchen, you?re not going to have any problem getting rid of excess, and you?ll even see your friends more often.

The altar of any great man cave, the beer fridge. Kegging homebrew is a great way to save yourself the time of washing bottles.

If the thought of crafting your own personalized tasty beverages appeals to you, there is a bounty of information online, and several large recipe databases with great community reviews, that can serve as very good jump off points.? The Victoria homebrew club, BrewVIC, is also a great place to start, with monthly meetings to discuss brewing various styles of beer, and a very supportive community of all levels of homebrewer to answer questions and give advice.? The club has group brews every once in a while, which are great opportunities to come out and see the various different brewing setups.? So for the New Year, why not try something different and give your palate a new impression of homebrew.

Source: http://liveyoungandfree.ca/food-drink/a-new-year-a-new-brew/

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