There have been a lot of news in 2007 about how the shortage of hops will affect the price of beer in a dramatical negative direction. There haven’t really been a price increase yet, but one of the news sources, Seattlest.com, believes that the price increase will start in 2008:
The brewing industry is seeing an unprecedented shortage and price increase for malted barley and many types of hops, the two building blocks of beer. This issue has gained quite a bit of press over the last few months, but we haven’t really seen much of a change yet. Once prices go up for all our favorite brews, more people will take notice. With the new year just starting up, we’d expect to see higher prices kicking in shortly.
I love to read about people starting out with home beer brewing. Today I found an interesting post by Steve Hendry in which he explains his first home beer brewing episode using the Mr Beer brewing system.
Here’s an excerpt of Steve’s interesting post:
I have always wanted to try my hand at home brewing. Last night I made my first batch. The process of making beer is much more involved than I expected.
The Mr. Beer kit helps by doing a lot of the time consuming work for you, like pre-mixing the hops and barley and grains to help you along. I am making a pale ale. The exception is that I am inventing a new pale ale.
I’ve just been informed that there’s a new beer blog in town: Beer 357.
Here’s what the press release had to say:
Beer aficionado, George Rushforth, has partnered with Neekam company to create the Beer 357 Blog. This blog will act as a source of information and networking for popular topics like home beer brewing and more. This blog’s mission is to provide information on glorifying that tasty beverage that has so many fans, beer!
It sounds like Beer 357 might become a handy resource for beer drinkers and brewers alike. Here’s another excerpt from the press release:
… Home beer brewing is gaining popularity as people seek to emulate the micro breweries that have become so popular with more advanced beer drinkers. Beer making supplies are readily available in unlikely places. You could even start your own beer of the month club featuring your own brews!
The recipe collection covers both simple and more advanced recipes and is suitable for beginning brewers and more advanced home beer brewers alike.
The only downside is that the recipe collection costs 20 bucks, but if you run the numbers, that’s a mere $0.03 per recipe. Interested? Take a look at ‘The Home Brewers Ultimate Recipe Book‘!
The post covers a lot of really useful tips and describes common pitfalls that new home beer brewers make. The post outlines the following tips for the budding home beer brewer:
Don’t be too eager to try your latest batch
Keep good track of your recipes
Start out slow, but be willing to experiment
Realize that water quality is important
Add some personality to your home beer brew
Don’t be too eager to try your latest batch
Most folks, including myself, are all too eager to try their latest batch of beer. I urge you to have patience!
The guys over at Make Beer At Home (awesome site, be sure to bookmark it!) have created a really extensive recipe collection for various types of delicious lagers and ales.
Ale Recipes
Make Beer At Home has a collection of 43 ale recipes at their site split into the following categories:
Extract Recipes (19 recipes) – Extract recipes make really good beer. They are the best way to get into brewing your own beer at home. They require the least amount of equipment and don’t take nearly as much time as it does to brew an all-grain batch. They are easy to use with the recommended home beer brewing kits!
All Grain Recipes (23 recipes) – All-grain recipes require the use of ‘mashing’ procedures and advanced equipment such as mash tun and lauter tun. Additionally, you will need a 40 quart brew kettle, a heat source that is more efficient than an electric range and a wort chiller in order to make these recipes – basically something you don’t have access to when you’re just starting out. Keep them around for inspiration though!
According to Brewmaster World the tool lets you ‘calculate the correct EBC beer analysis e.g. the alcohol content, the degree of fermentation. The Beer Calculator allow for calculation of blending (mixing) for each batch.’
For now it’s packed with home beer brewing kits, home beer brewing kit refillers, home beer brewing kit accessories and home beer brewing literature. I’ll be adding more interesting items whenever I find cool brewing related things.
A smart thing to do when starting out with Home Beer Brewing is to purchase a mini-brewing kit. It will save you loads of time and the kits are very cheap nowadays. If you want to build your own little brewing facility by yourself you’ll need to put a lot more time and effort into the brewing process but you’ll learn a lot along the way.
The Mr.Beer Deluxe Edition Beer Kit allows you to make 2 gallons of your own home brewed beer and it lets you drink your first batch within just 2 weeks.
Included in the kit:
1x Brew Keg with Lid & Tap Assembly
1x Standard Brew Pack
12x Reusable Plastic Caps
1x Complete, Easy to Follow 4 Step Brewing Instructions
The Mr.Beer Premium Edition Beer Kit allows you to make 2 gallons of your own home brewed beer and it lets you drink your first batch within just 2 weeks.
Included in the kit:
1x Brew Keg with Lid & Tap Assembly
1x Standard Brew Pack
8x Reusable Plastic Bottles
8x Labels with Mr.Beer Logo
1x Complete, Easy to Follow 4 Step Brewing Instructions
Here’s another set of really cool videos I’ve also found on ExpertVillage.com.
This time the videos are hosted by Eddie Leal who is an award winning “Master Brewer” at the Steelhead Brewing Company in Irvine, California. In the video series Eddie shares his thoughts about home beer brewing.
Why pay up to 50% more for beer bought in your local store when you can brew your own delicious beer? Brewing your own beer is fun, exciting and rewarding and the only thing you need is a decent brewing kit!
