Loving beer isn’t something original or new. In fact, so many people across the globe love beer that not only is it the most popular alcoholic drink, but it’s also the third most consumed beverage overall. And yet, every beer-lover out there seems to have their own very personal and intimate relationship with beer. For some, it’s a part of a ritual, for others a treat after a long day, or after a job well done, a way to celebrate something. In any case, for a lot of people, beer has a meaning much deeper than simply a beverage they sometimes drink.
Even though science explains the creation of this ever-so loved beverage perfectly, it still seems like nothing short of miraculous. And it’s even more miraculous that it is quite simple to be able to do it yourself. Homebrewing has become a very popular hobby for so many people in Australia and worldwide, and it has never been easier for people to give it a try for themselves.
Nowadays, with just a few clicks on your favourite electronic device, you can get the entire equipment for home brewing that you need, as well as the ingredients you need for the recipe in no time. You can buy all the equipment separately, or you can get a starter kit. Later, for the brewing bot, you can make your ingredients or buy them, you can follow recipes, you can experiment, or you can buy kits for the specific beer style you like. In other words, if you love Indian pale ale, you can buy IPA brewing kits and in just a few months watch a game or have a get-together with your loved ones over your homebrewed beer.
Equipment
If you are thinking about becoming a homebrewer, you definitely should have a grasp of the basics of the process of brewing. As you know, beers are made of water, cereal grains, hops and yeast. In very simple terms, the process consists of milling grains, adding them to water, filtering, adding hops, fermenting the liquid obtained with brewing yeast. For all of that to happen, you will need several pieces of equipment, including the bottles and the bottle caps, as well as homebrew fermenters, waterproof thermometers, hydrometers, and so on.
Ingredients
Beer lovers often joke that drinking beer is not the same as drinking alcohol, and the reasoning is that it is water. This claim is both true and false. First, beer is an alcoholic beverage. Second, most beers are over 90% water. What’s more, without water there isn’t beer.
To brew your beer, you will have a lot of this crucial ingredient. And just like the other ingredients, the quality and the taste of the water will have an impact on the result. Naturally, the water you use must be potable. However, if the tap water in your home is potable and tastes good, you can use it to make your beer. Moreover, it’s important to note that during the process of brewing, you will use much more water than what will be left in the beer.
The second ingredient is a cereal grain. The easiest way to start the process of fermentation faster is to buy malt extract. While some brewers prefer brewing with grains, using a malt extract can give you more control over the brewing. Moreover, many good quality malt extracts can give amazingly tasty results. Plus, using malt extracts guarantees you consistency in the beer flavour.
The third ingredient is yeast. Yeasts are microscopic single-cell organisms, which belong to the fungus kingdom. There are two brewing yeast species, and these organisms convert food into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This process is known as fermentation.
The fourth ingredient is hops. Their role, more than anything, is to add that beautiful bitterness we all love because the liquid we get from fermentation is sweet without it. Hops are added in much smaller quantities than the malt. They are added by taste. For home brewing, you can get hops pallets.
Naturally, different types of beer will have different recipes. As we mentioned, nowadays you can buy all of the ingredients, specifically designed and packed for homebrewing. And if you are chasing after a specific beer style, you can buy kits, including lager, pilsner or IPA home brew kits, which will contain the right ingredients to help you find your favourite brew.
What Kind of Beer Will You Brew?
If you have decided to brew your beer, you likely are one of many who adore beer. It also means that you probably already have your favourite beer, not only in terms of brands but also in terms of beer types. Lagers, IPAs, pilsners and all the other varieties of beer all defer in the manufacturing process. All of this gives them a different look, different colours and thicknesses, but most importantly it gives them different flavours.
But, as you know, things are even more complicated than that, because, within those types, there are even more variations. And this leaves a lot of room for experimentation and originality. So, it ultimately all comes down to taste, and to get the right flavour, you will most likely need to try several recipes. This is why it’s best to try not to settle for one type before starting to homebrew. Instead, whether you start with lager, pilsner or IPA brewing kits, next time try something new, and then something new, and so on, until one day you are ready to improve upon your recipes all alone.
