Further on down the road…
In about 3 weeks, I’m taking one more step toward my ultimate goal of becoming a professional brewer: brewing school. The American Brewers Guild to be exact.
In about 3 weeks, I’m taking one more step toward my ultimate goal of becoming a professional brewer: brewing school. The American Brewers Guild to be exact.
Okay, so you feel like you’ve got a handle on extract brewing. You like the beers you’ve made so far, but you’re looking for a little more of a challenge. You’ve mulled it over long enough, you’re ready to make the transition to all-grain brewing.
Okay, so at this point, we’ve covered the basic equipment, ingredients, your first brew day, post-fermentation, and yeast starters. Now it’s time to cover some of the brewing goodies that aren’t actually necessary, but they sure are nice to have.
So, you’ve made your first batch of extract homebrew, and you loved it! Now you’re looking to make some improvements for your second batch. One of the easiest things you can do to drastically improve your beer is to make a yeast starter.
So, you brewed your first batch! You’ve likely been staring at this for the last several days: The airlock has been click-click-clicking away, the yeast swirling dramatically inside the fermenter. Now the foam is beginning to subside, the airlock is bubbling more slowly, and you’re beginning to wonder… What now?
You’ve gathered all your equipment. You’ve agonized over the decision of what recipe kit to brew for your first batch. Now finally, you’re ready to brew! OMG!
Tuesday night, I had the great pleasure of attending the Five Course Winter Brewmaster’s Dinner at Iron Hill North Wales, presented by Head Brewer Vince Desrosiers and Chef Tim Andrews. Five dishes, five beers, five fabulous beer and food pairings.
Okay, so you’ve got all your equipment. Now you’re ready to get all your ingredients so you can start brewing! I recommend starting off with recipe kits from your local homebrew shop or an online store, simply because they come with everything you need, pre-measured and ready to go.
Homebrewing is a fantastically rewarding hobby. A little creativity, a little science, a little manual labor, plus you end up with delicious, homemade beer in the end! Certainly something to be proud of.
There is an awful lot going on in Asheville, beerwise and otherwise. I already mentioned a ton of great places after my quick trip there this summer and in my previous two posts, but they’re worth listing again here: Pisgah, Asheville Pizza & Brewing, OysterHouse, Green Man, Mellow Mushroom, Bruisin’ Ales, Craggie, and Highland (hoof!). [...]