HOME BREWING BEER – Learn how to make beer at home with Dr. Homebrew’s How-To Beer Book. (Available now in both paperback and hardback copies – MAKES A GREAT GIFT!)

The seemingly magical process known as “fermentation” has been around well beyond recorded history, is steeped in endless tradition, and has been an integral part of our human culture the world over. What is considered by some as common practice in everyday life is revered by others as a glorious opportunity for self-expression. That opportunity, my friend, is “Home-brewing.”

DEFINITION: Home brew (noun): an alcoholic beverage (as beer) made at home.

As its name suggests, homebrewing is the process of making beer at home. As foreign a concept as that may sound to you at the moment, the process of “brewing” has been practiced for thousands of years in various locations all around the world, with a multitude of different ingredients, and has brought smiles to billions of individual faces.

Amazingly, some of those combinations of fermentation and imbibing have occurred naturally, without any influence by man. But once those seemingly random reactions were manipulated by thirsty humans, the rest was history, as they say. What was once a misunderstood but enjoyable chemical reaction has since been studied, practiced, and refined by varied civilizations – each of which has developed their own regionally exclusive and culturally influenced concoctions. Factors such as indigenous ingredients, climate, and even the ability to forge metals have all played a part in the act of “homebrewing.”

A quick hop and a skip down to your local brewery will reveal a maze of megalithic structures that would seem right at home in an oil refinery, yet with the skillful hand of an experienced brewmaster they can easily bring about a masterful composition of sweetness and bitterness, dancing seamlessly together like a well-tuned violin concerto. Yet no violinist gets to play at that level without first practicing on their own. So fear not if you possess little in the way of metallic brewing contraptions as metallurgical advances have only made things more convenient. The basics of home brewing beer have remained almost the same since the very beginning and you don’t need much to get started!

One of the most beautiful aspects of fermentation, especially when practiced at home, is the fact that it occurs naturally. This is just a small part of why home brewing beer has persevered through the test of time and has been adapted to many different people and places the world over. Whether you have access to fresh honey, tea leaves, grains, sugar cane, fruits, vegetables, or soda pop, with some patience and a little help from mother nature, you can homebrew nearly anything you want. In fact, that’s exactly what has happened for thousands of years! People have utilized ingredients in their area, adapted those ingredients to the technology at hand, left room for yeasts of various kinds, and created their own unique and entirely home-made alcoholic drinks. The possibilities are literally endless!

Learn to make your own beer now… with Dr. Homebrew’s How-To Beer Book!

The secret to success as a homebrewer is creativity. If it weren’t for creativity, we would never have things like airplanes, power tools, or Mozart. When it comes to home brewing beer, the sky’s the limit! Sure you could try your best to replicate the disgusting taste of a commonplace beer like that of Lake’s Ltd., or you could lead a rebellion of free thought and self-expression by making something truly delicious and one of a kind. That’s the beauty of homebrewing your own beer, wine, mead, or anything else you can imagine, because the only impedance to making something wonderful are the boundaries of your imagination.

Is Home Brewing Beer Safe?

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s address a couple questions I’m sure you’re just itching to ask. Such as, “Is it safe to homebrew beer?”

Well, that’s an excellent question my friend! Let’s put on our lab coat and safety glasses and get to the bottom of that, shall we?

While homebrewing beer is frequently described as a hobby that can be either as expensive or as complicated as you wish to make it, it would be fair to say that an inherent increase in caution would be warranted and wise when brewing your own beers. It’s important with anything you do in life to exercise a certain degree of caution, and fermenting your own ales and lagers is no exception. Whether you’re walking across the street to get to your local pub, cutting vegetables in your kitchen with a knife for dinner, or knowing when to stop drinking and call a cab for a ride home at the end of the night, caution is a natural and instinctive part of our lives.

As for specific safety concerns when brewing up your own tasty batch of suds, the process is not too unlike that of making tea – albeit on a much larger scale. When you brew your own beer, you’re dealing with hot water, sugar, and the process of transferring your “sugar tea” to a fermentation vessel of some kind. If you’re capable of handling a pot of boiling water and steeping the grains or liquid extract syrup safely, then the only other safety concern you need to keep in mind is sanitation, which won’t be a problem, provided of course you follow the procedures discussed later in this book.

The importance of sanitation cannot be stressed enough as yeast isn’t the only microscopic organism looking to crash your fermentation party. If your beer gets any organisms in it besides the yeast you want to be in there, there’s a good chance that your beer will not only taste unpalatable to most, but could very likely contain some other type of bacteria that is normally best avoided and should not be ingested. The best way to stay safe when brewing your own beer is to keep anything that comes close to your homebrew clean. From the room you choose to brew in to the instruments you use to stir your “sugar tea” with, you need to keep things clean and sanitary at all times. This is very important!

Is Home Brewing Beer Legal?

You’re probably also wondering about the legalities of homebrewing. In other words, “Is homebrewing  beer legal?”

To be honest, I’m no international lawyer and I don’t even play one on television. For me to pretend to be an expert on the legalities of making your own alcoholic beverages would be laughable and, at best, dishonest. I can only suggest that you consult with your area’s legislative office or local authority to ask and clarify the matter before you begin. While most countries do allow for small quantities of homebrewed alcoholic concoctions to be made by those of legal drinking age, I can’t speak for the entire planet and hold no responsibility for you should you decide to brew your own beer in a part of the world where doing so is considered against the law.

Not only is the fermentation process both safe and legal in almost every part of the world, but brewing your own beer has unending potential for exercising all of your senses and expanding your creativity. The processes involved are relatively simple and can be masterfully combined to create a beer that you can be proud of when you raise your glass at your next toast.

Homebrewing Beer Has Never Been Easier!

Beer, as we know it today, is the result of an amalgamation of generations upon generations of brewing experience and technological innovation. Ancient cultures have understood and practiced fermentation for a multitude of reasons, including spiritual enlightenment and, of course, personal satisfaction. For such a simple and ancient process to have not only persisted through time, but to have both evolved and thrived for thousands of years, one can not doubt the magic that can be experienced through the fruits of this simple act.

The allure that home brewing beer had in the past and continues to have all over the world in various forms is proof that when you combine the traditions and practices from ages past with the technological developments of today and the future, the potential for brewing evolution is truly astounding.

As a homebrew hobbyist, you have access to a community of fellow beer brewers that will gladly share both their experiences and honest opinions with you, while happily offering up advice to help you thrive and improve as a homebrewer. Should you have aspirations of brewing beer as a profitable career, Dr. Homebrew’s How-To Beer Book will help you get your start. After all, you’d be hard pressed to find a successful head brewer didn’t get his or her start as a homebrewer first and then worked, over the years, to hone the skill sets necessary to produce beer on a commercial scale.

I salute you in your quest to learn more about the magic and mystery of homebrewing and I’m pleased that you chose me (Dr. Homebrew) to be in your beer brewing instructor.

Now it’s your turn. Home brewing beer is easy! Learn to brew your first batch of beer with Dr. Homebrew’s How-To Beer Book. Available now in both paperback and hardback formats. Makes for a great gift too!