Better Than The Real Thing?

Anyone who brews their own beer is sure to be asked the question every once in a while – “Do you really drink that stuff? It can’t be anything like as good as the real stuff, can it?”. This is a hard one to answer, as it is a matter of personal taste. Early on in your home brewing experiments you may be forced to admit that your efforts fall somewhat short of what you would like them to be. But the truth of the matter is that there are a lot of people who brew, and drink, their own beer because they like the taste and enjoy the process.

Whether the beer is better than commercial branded beer is a subjective matter. Some people will definitely prefer home brewed beer while others will swear that if it isn’t a global name it isn’t worth drinking. But for people who like to have a modicum of control and a bit of a change once in a while, home brewing has an obvious advantage. If you buy a crate of any commercial beer then the first can or bottle of it will taste the same as the 24th. And the next crate you buy will taste the same again.

When you brew your own, you can make changes with every new batch you brew. You just need to buy the ingredients – which can be less than a dollar if you are just looking to add a fruity flavor to the beer – and make the necessary changes to the brewing process. The more you brew, the better you will get, and as long as you like the taste, nothing else really matters.

Tags: Beer styles, real stuff, Home Breewing for Everyone, global name, subjective matter, personal taste, Featured

Mixing Your Drinks

Brewing beer is difficult, but worthwhile. The last decade or so has seen a massive rise in the different ways that beer is created and flavored, and in recent times we have seen a new arrival in the market – beer that is flavored with another alcoholic drink. Among the most well-known of these beers are the ones flavored with tequila, but there are other beers on the market that have vodka and whisky added at a certain stage in the brewing process. To some, that is brave and to others it is insane – but these brews are flying off the shelves.

If you are interested in brewing this kind of beer yourself, the most important advice is to be careful, and it is widely agreed that if you are going to add another alcoholic drink into the mix then it should be done at a late stage in the brewing process – otherwise you risk ruining the taste of the drink and potentially making it dangerous to drink. However, if you can master it this is another string to your bow and makes for a very interesting flavor.

The other thing to be aware of is just how much of the other drink you add to the mix. In this case the watchword seems to be “less is more” – adding a lot risks making the beer undrinkable when what you are really looking for is a “hint” of the new flavor rather than an overpowering taste of it. If you want to drink something that tastes like neat whisky, then neat whisky is a far preferable option.

Tags: alcoholic drink, Featured, new flavor, Home Breewing for Everyone, Beer cocktail, new arrival, massive rise

The Delicate Balance

Brewing your own beer is not an easy process. From start to finish it can take weeks, and it is obvious that the longer it takes to do something, the more chance there is that that something can go wrong. Therefore you need to be practically parental in the way you bring along your home brew. It is something that rewards careful planning and cautious management. How well you have done will only be confirmed when you first taste your newly-brewed beer.

The fact is that there are some aspects of the process that are beyond your control. You can buy the best equipment, recommended by experts and talented amateurs, you can follow the recipes right down to the last miligram and final punctuation mark. However, there is still the chance for something to be not quite right, and this is where you will find yourself calling on people who have been there and done that.

It has been seen on several different home brewing forums that a person goes from start to finish in brewing their beer, bottles it and leaves it for drinking and when they come to it, sometimes months later, it doesn’t taste right. Asking around to see what the problem is, they are asked by someone who has been brewing for more than a decade: “What kind of water did you use?”. And something as basic as the pH balance of the water used can interfere with the quality of a beer. Don’t be discouraged if something small knocks your brew off – put it down to experience and learn.

Tags: beer bottles, Pabst Brewing Company, All you need to know, Featured, delicate balance, ph balance