Homebrewing by Drew Beechum

• Beer Basics: Your Primer to a Sudsy World
• Your First Batch
• Malt, Extract, and Grains
• Hops: Putting the Bitter In
• Water: Ninety-Five Percent of Your Beer
• Yeast: The True Beer Makers
• Ingredients Beyond the Basic Four
• Brew Gear
• Beyond the Basics: Extract Brewing
• Cleaning: Keeping Your Beer Squeaky Clean
• Fermentation
• Serving Your Beer
• What Went Wrong?
• Your First All-Grain Batch
• Joining with and Competing Against Your Fellow Brewers
• Recipes from Great Britain and Ireland
• Recipes from Germany and Eastern Europe
• Recipes from Belgium
• Recipes from America
• Experiments: Recipes from the Laboratory
• Additional Resources
• Calculations
• Standard Brewing Processes
• Extract Brewing Checklist
• All-Grain Brewing Checklist

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Unless you've avoided beer for the past twenty years, you've seen changes come at the taps and shelves of your local bar, grocery store, and liquor store. What used to be a lineup of monochromatic monotonous brews has sprung into riotous life. Strange old names like Porter and India Pale Ale crop up like long-forgotten adventuring uncles. The sheer variety of new beers daunts even old hands.

If you've never tried these new brews, stop right now. Put this book down! March to the corner store and try a new beer, something unfamiliar, something not called a “true pilsner.” Prove to yourself — and to those who still say, “But, I don't like beer!” — that the beer spectrum doesn't end with “lite” beer.

The newfound multitude was born out of a beer desert by folks like you. Travelers roaming the wilds of Europe knew there was something missing at home and set to changing the situation. These early homebrewers worked with scant information and scanter ingredients. The early accepted wisdom and myths were tested, discarded, polished, and refined. The fiscally brave among them jumped at the chance to reintroduce Americans to the taste of real beer. They continue to expand the beery horizon and even now many of their successors start as homebrewers.

So why brew when you can enjoy the new American beer oasis? Maybe you want a creative project, to work with your hands. Maybe you want to recapture the fun of your childhood chemistry set. Or maybe you just want to try your hand at learning a skill that's always been fundamental to civilization. No matter the reason, there's an indescribable thrill of pride when you open a beer for friends and they look in wonderment and ask, “You brewed this?” That's the moment you'll be hooked and wonder why you never tried this before.

Brewing offers a chance to explore skills you never knew you had. You can learn the biology of yeast, the chemistry behind mashing, or the detective skills needed to track down obscure bits of brewing history. All while enjoying the gustatory pleasures of delicious beer. Some brewers get juiced by recipe development; others by creating labels and crazy names; and others by endlessly tinkering, soldering, and welding to make their next great gizmo.

You'll find a new world of friends and odd fellows open up when you brew, from the beer enthusiasts hunting the next great brew to your fellow brewers discussing their latest exploits. You might even get to know your neighbors when they find out you make great beer.

Homebrew clubs have sprung up all over the country, and even those without one nearby can find camaraderie in numerous online forums. Talking with experienced brewers is the fastest way to learn. One lesson you'll quickly discover is that there really is no wrong way to brew. Get four brewers together in a room and you'll find at least five different brewing techniques, and they'll argue why three of them are “wrong.”

Compared to even ten years ago, homebrewers have access to an embarrassment of riches. The selection of ingredients and equipment has exploded. Today homebrewers use the same high-quality ingredients as the big boys and have adapted and built the gear needed to make great beer. Veteran brewers shake their heads in disbelief.

All of this has made it possible for a new brewer to make a great beer the first time out. Long gone are the days of porcelain crocks, weird yeasty odors, and busted bottles that showered your clothes in beer. In just a few batches, you'll find homebrewing in your thoughts. You'll dissect the beer before you and figure out how you could make your own version. You'll toss recipes around in your head, deciding how exactly you want to create a new taste.

This is an exciting time to be brewing. There's a growing back-and-forth with pro brewers. They watch and feed on the creative output of the homebrewing community and return the favor with their own exciting twists.

So, grab a kettle and make a beer. It's your first step on an endless exploration and your chance to continue the brewing lore.

Thank You

Many, many thanks go out to the following folks who, by donating their recipes and brewing techniques, broadened the number and depth of brewing projects and philosophies brought to you in these pages. Brew their beer and give them a silent raise of the glass. If you ever meet them, rest assured, they'll talk your ear off about beer and maybe even let you buy them a glass or two!

In addition, thanks to the many members of the Maltose Falcons who worked on many of these recipes including Cullen Davis, Kent Fletcher, Jim Kopitzke, and Jonny Lieberman.

Brewer Recipe Credits