A Perfect Hobby for that Guy Who Loves Beer

If the man in your life is thinking of getting into brewing beer because he loves drinking different beers, there are some solid reasons to encourage that enthusiasm.  Your first reflex might be that he already has a love of beer and that making his own is going over the top.  But in truth, making the move toward home brewing has a lot going for it and it is a very creative and productive approach to the love of fine beers.

Getting Set Up to Make Beer

The hobby of brewing your own beer at home is growing steadily as more people discover how much fun they can have making their beer at home and how great absolutely fresh beer can be.  There may be no more gratifying moment for a home brewer than to serve your own fresh beer to your guests iced down in your favorite beer mugs and hear the rave that your beer is as good as the store bought beer they like best or maybe even better!

Getting that First Batch of Beer Brewing

Beer is such a popular beverage because it has such a deep earthy flavor and because the variety of flavors, brands, colors and textures of beers is so diverse that you can explore a new brew every time you want a beer and never get bored.  And yet most of us pretty much settle on one taste and stick with it.  That is until we discover brew pubs. That is when our eyes are opened to the idea that we don't have to depend on Budweiser and Miller for good beer.  It can be made right at home.

Great Grains for a Great Beer

One of the great reasons for learning to brew your own beer is to learn more about the various grains and ingredients that makes one beer better than another one.  When you first start your hobby of home brewing, you no doubt got connected to a local club or association of home brewers.  They can help you learn the lingo and how to tell what the best grains are to use in your beer.  But before you go to the first meeting, it might speed things up if you knew the basics.

Kegging

When you first learn the craft of home brewing, one of the big steps is the transfer of the beer into larger bottles for fermentation and then smaller bottles for storage and to serve guests your delicious brew.  This can be messy but it is an important step along the path to great tasting beer.  And learning the beer transfer and bottling skills will be a big step as your sophistication at home brewing comes along.

Making Your Beer Crystal Clear

Beer is about a lot more than just a great tasting beverage. The drinking of the beverage is only partially about the taste of the brew itself and very much about where you have your beer, what you drink it out of, how the beer looks in the glass and who you are drinking it with. And while you as a home made beer brewer cannot control many of those factors, you can control the quality and ambiance of the beer you make, so it not only tastes great but is visually appealing as well.

The Heart of Great Hops

There is no denying that a great beer has a unique flavor that is unlike any other beverage in the world.  That artful blend of bitterness and the rich grain flavors can give you a beer that is bold and stout or one that is mellow and smooth.  And while every component of the brewing process contributes to that unique flavor, the hops can make a huge impact on the outcome of your beer.  That is why it's important to understand the role hops plays in the brewing process...

The Malt of Beer

We tend to think of "malt" as a thing. Of course, there is the candy malt and there is the old fashioned "malted" that was the stable of 1950s "malt shops."  But when it comes to beer, just about anyone, even people who are not involved in home brewing, can list the ingredients as hops, malt, and grains.  So, as part of our quest to become more familiar with all of the aspects of beer making, it's a good idea to explore more deeply what exactly the malt in beer is all about.

Tricks of the Trade for Making Great Beer

The process of making beer at home is a pretty cut an dried operation.  That is one of the reasons that home brewing has become so popular, because you can get set up to brew beer at home with a relatively low investment in equipment and ingredients. And once you get started, you're not likely to stop. When you finish that first batch and store away to be sampled in a few weeks, the excitement that you will soon be drinking your own beer is a unique feeling and one you want to repeat often.

What Beer Making Gurus Know

The great thing about brewing your own beer is that you can be good at it starting out and get great at it over time.  You can make each and every batch tasty and enjoyable but at the same time always be driven to make a better brew.  Part of the function of home brewing contests and being part of your local brewers club is that you get those tips and learn from the old pros at brewing so month by month and year by year, your beer gets better and better.