DIY: This home-brew is for you
Posted
Jul 14 2008, 05:05 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
With American icon Budweiser becoming a foreign-owned brew, and the cost of hops and other ingredients driving beer prices up, maybe it's time to get downright domestic about beer.
Honestly, folks, it's not that difficult to make beer at home, as Lise notes in a two-part post at Frugal in the Fruitlands. We used to do it -- and were amazed at the quality of our results. Some upfront investment is required for carboys, fermentation locks, bottles and some other equipment -- but you may be able to find them on Freecycle. You can also have your friends save their beer bottles, Lise says.
Plenty of online help exists to get started, including the Making Homemade Wine and Beer blog, Beer Expert (a British site that also explains how to play old-fashioned pub games), and the BeerSmith Home Brewing Beer Blog just for starters.
We really liked Lise's overview. (To read her posts, click here and here.) From our own experience, we can tell that she and her husband, Matt, know their stuff.
They got their initial guidance from the Food Network's Alton Brown and Charlie Papazian's book, "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing," which we also used as a guide. It's thorough, easy to follow, and a very fun read.
Lise says Matt generally makes five gallons -- 48 bottles -- for a cost of $40 to $50, but he makes some pretty fancy beers. She adds, "Our figure of $40 to $50 includes more expensive ingredients, including honey and limes. You can probably make a brew for as little as $20, once you have all the equipment. Considering a case of Sam Adams costs around $20, that's a true bargain."
