Hopz
Senior Cook
Thought I would try to start a thread on Homebrew. I suggest we brewers can provide some info to the non-brewers which they might find helpful if not interesting.
So Ronjon and others, chime in. (Lets keep it sort of non-technical unless something comes up.)
Most large American brewers, Bub/Millers/Coors, use a lot of cheap adjuncts (additives) to their swill, er beer, to save money. What we are talking about here is Corn, Corn Sugar and Rice, instead of malted barley. This is a cheap way to feed the yeast to make alcohol. Unfortunately it does not add much in the way of (good) taste.
The beer made in America pre-prohibition was fuller, richer, and more authentic than what is going on in the large houses today. A good homebrewer can make just about any style of beer made in the world toady.
The Craft Brewing movement (brew pubs and microbreweries) are making authentic, real beer with just 4 ingredients, malted barley, water, hops and yeast.
The ingredients and equipment to make your first batch of homebrew can be had for about $50. Most serious cooks can do it for less because they probably have large stock pots. But you do need to come up with about two cases of good bottles. Do not try to re-use the twist off cap bottles. They are thin and weak.
The old wife's tale about exploding bottles has been surpassed by far better kit ingredients and better yeast. As long as you follow the sanitization scheme you will not have bottle bombs.
By the way, you will probably find you spend more time cleaning and sanitizing than actually cooking the beer.
Legality? Homebrewing is legal by Federal statute. The main limits are the volume of beer you make each year, limited to something like 500 gallons (no body keeps score- its the honor system)...and you can't sell it.
Questions?
So Ronjon and others, chime in. (Lets keep it sort of non-technical unless something comes up.)
Most large American brewers, Bub/Millers/Coors, use a lot of cheap adjuncts (additives) to their swill, er beer, to save money. What we are talking about here is Corn, Corn Sugar and Rice, instead of malted barley. This is a cheap way to feed the yeast to make alcohol. Unfortunately it does not add much in the way of (good) taste.
The beer made in America pre-prohibition was fuller, richer, and more authentic than what is going on in the large houses today. A good homebrewer can make just about any style of beer made in the world toady.
The Craft Brewing movement (brew pubs and microbreweries) are making authentic, real beer with just 4 ingredients, malted barley, water, hops and yeast.
The ingredients and equipment to make your first batch of homebrew can be had for about $50. Most serious cooks can do it for less because they probably have large stock pots. But you do need to come up with about two cases of good bottles. Do not try to re-use the twist off cap bottles. They are thin and weak.
The old wife's tale about exploding bottles has been surpassed by far better kit ingredients and better yeast. As long as you follow the sanitization scheme you will not have bottle bombs.
By the way, you will probably find you spend more time cleaning and sanitizing than actually cooking the beer.
Legality? Homebrewing is legal by Federal statute. The main limits are the volume of beer you make each year, limited to something like 500 gallons (no body keeps score- its the honor system)...and you can't sell it.
Questions?