Beer Making At Home

Home brewing has really come on in recent years with the availability of products which make the process fun, easy to use and quite tasty as an end result. I don't endorse one beer-making kit over any other because good results can be achieved it seems with all of them.

I've been brewing my own beer for about two years now. While I am not a big beer drinker I love that they make great gifts, especially during the holiday season. I use the Mr. Beer system, which can be purchased at places like Total Wine, Cost Plus, and directly through their website for about $40. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get started with this hobby. Typically a starter kit might feature two or three types of beers for the hobbyist to make. Mr. Beer offers many recipes in its catalog, including various lagers, red beers, wheat beers and stouts. Refills featuring such recipes can cost $10 to $30; most make upwards of two plus gallons of beer.

The Mr. Beer kit comes with clear instructions, a brew keg, one beer recipe (wort), plastic PETA Bottles and a no-rinse sanitizer which must be used in order to eliminate bacterial growth. Brewing a flavor is very straight forward. The keg and all utensils used are sterilized in solution provided. A fructose booster is brought to a boil in a sauce pan and the wort (containing the hops and other beer essentials) are added to the dissolved booster.

The sterilized keg is filled with two gallons of distilled water, the wort mixture and the brewers yeast that comes with each beer recipe. The liquids are given a gentle stir, the keg is sealed and then stored in a cool dark place for a minimum of 7 days to ferment. Best results are achieved if you let the brew ferment for up to 10 days.

Fore those of you worried about ferment odor, relax. There is no smell of any kind. I use the top shelf of a closet in my exercise room. It's no maintenance at this point; the yeast does all the work for you!

At the end of the fermentation you are ready for bottling. After sterilizing the bottles according to procedures outlined in the instruction, a specified amount of sugar is added to the bottles and beer from the keg is poured into each one and sealed. At this point it is flat beer. The sugar feeds the yeast in the beer, which results in natural carbonation. This process is called conditioning, which takes a minimum of four days. I let the beer condition for about 10 days, again in a cool, dark space. At the end of this period the beer can be chilled and is ready for drinking. The head on the beer is fantastic.

One must remember that this is unfiltered beer. There will be yeast at the bottom of the bottle. The longer the beer conditions the clearer it will be come. I've let beer condition for weeks before refrigerating it. That beer is as clear as commercial brands.

If you are looking for a fun and relatively in expensive hobby to undertake I do recommend home brewing. It is relatively easy to do, tasty and makes a great gift idea. Alcohol content? I've measured between 3.5% and 6% with an accessory I purchased from the manufacturer to determine alcohol content. The more sugar in the wort the higher the alcohol content will become. Do try this!