Where everyday is the weekend…

Make Beer at Home

Make Beer at Home with a Couple of Buckets

Who loves beer? Who loves beer?
I love beer!!

As I mentioned in the 20 Million Dollar Dream Cottage article brewing beer is a weekend hobby of mine.

For anyone that has gone to a U-Brew shop to make beer you probably thought you would get a lot of beer for a cheap price.

Then you found out that you got a lot of cheap beer!

Pint of Beer

The most common recipe in U-Brew shops requires a malt extract. This looks like a dark thick syrup and provides the sugar needed to create alcohol. The problem with malt extracts is that they usually don’t provide the best flavour and always leaves the finished beer way too sweet. I like to compare malt extracts to concentrated orange juice. They provide a cheap alternative to the real thing, but never taste nearly as good.

Recently products have come on the market that are called Ready Brew kits and let home brewers make professional quality beer from home. Magnotta, a brewery in Ontario, won the Canadian Brewer of the Year for 2006 and produces a ready brew kit called Festa Brew. The Festa Brew kit consists of 23L of wort (unfermented beer), a pouch of dry yeast and instructions. The wort is the same stuff that is sold to the public in their award winning beers. All the home brewer has to do is put the wort in a bucket with the yeast, let it sit for 5 days, transfer it to another bucket, and 10 days later transfer it to bottles or a keg. That’s about it. The end result is professional quality beer made right at home for about $10 per 24 bottles.

If you are interested at all in picking up this hobby I would suggest starting with one of these ready brew kits and simply follow the instructions.

Happy Brewing!

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19 Comments »

Comment by newyorkdude
2007-04-25 23:59:30

I’m game. I’ll give it a try — if I can get good ingredients in NYC (I’m sure I can, I just have to find them).

On my India blog in one of the Cochin entries I describe Toddy, a home brew of Kerala. Anyone have any Toddy home brew tips?

 
Comment by Big Cajun Man
2007-04-26 06:01:54

:shock: I did this for a while, and ended up overdoing the malt extract and getting some very fizzy beer. I am also very lazy when it comes to clean up, and you need to be reasonably fsstidious about this to make sure you don’t create a skunky batch. I may get back into this, but for now, I am going to the WINE YOUR OWN places and getting ready for a summer of sitting on the deck drinking “deck wine”.

–C8j

 
Comment by Dirkles
2007-04-26 09:06:49

I really like beer too - do you need to be of age to purchase this ‘brew at home’ kit? If not, then I will surely need to find and buy and brew this beer.

 
Comment by KellyCho
2007-04-26 16:20:54

My high school microbiology teacher used to brew it in his bathtub.

 
Comment by msdanielle
2007-04-26 22:21:11

i have a friend who’s going to be making beer at his house. i think this is kind of the new trend… i can’t wait to try it! :D (i’m too lazy to make it myself)

 
Comment by RennyBA
2007-04-26 23:31:21

Of course as a Viking from Norway, I love beer. This sounds like a great idea. I was at a microbrewery in Trondheim last weekend and they make beer with a personal touch too:-)

 
Comment by N.B. Goldstein
2007-04-27 21:19:34

:mrgreen: I brew quite often - my favorite was a pumpkin ale I made a few years back. It was great around Halloween/Thanksgiving! The hobby is quite easy to pick up - and once you invest in the equipment, it’s pretty cheap to buy ingredients. You can’t beat making four cases of beer for around $25 in malt/hops/etc! I’d encourage all y’all to give it a whirl! Happy brewin’! “Burp…” Excuse me.

 
Comment by BillyWarhol
2007-04-27 21:20:12

My Buddy Blair + another friend John make awesome HomeBrew* Sometimes with a lil extra “Ooomph” in it too!! :lol: I know Magnotta is an excellent Winery as swell so they may have some Wine Kits too*

 
Comment by green
2007-04-28 04:51:57

I’ll try it. It looks cool:) It goes perfect while playing Worms :mrgreen:

 
Comment by Everyday Weekender
2007-04-28 11:34:29

I love hearing about beers from around the world and different home brew recipes. I’ve come across a pumpkin recipe in the past, but haven’t made it. Sounds great though. Newyork Dude I’m going to look into Toddys I’ve only heard of King Fisher from India before.

 
Comment by Angie
2007-04-28 15:06:28

I’ve given this hobby some thought in the past and I will absolutely file your suggestion away in my noggin. I’m just a little afraid of giving beer a try and coming away with a kitchen full of nasty brew.

 
2007-04-29 07:01:39

[…] I’ve never made my own beer at home because I’m lazy. You might be more motivated though: Make Beer at Home. […]

 
2007-04-29 09:18:22

[…] Everyday Weekender - Make Beer At Home […]

 
2007-05-02 06:07:49

[…] you want to Make Beer at Home? The Everyday Weekender will give you some […]

 
Comment by Pablo Rosales
2007-05-09 16:14:26

Beer! I would like to try making the OpenBeer one day, nice blog!

 
Comment by STephanie
2007-06-25 17:39:53

Thanks for the tips. My husband has been itching to make beer at home. We just may try it.

Thanks for joining Make it From Scratch.

 
2007-07-12 11:57:59

[…] wineries, because of marketing, in this area are Kittling Ridge and Magnotta, who also produce Festa Brew from their brewery. I’m not really a fan of either of these wineries. They seem to mass produce […]

 
Comment by Neon
2008-08-20 07:12:44

mmmmmmmmmmm im thirsty

 
Trackback by Jim Socha
2009-01-31 04:02:07

Jim Socha…

Thanks for the beer comment Keggerator - Your Keg Beer Fridge At Home | Everyday Weekender WOW! Is this correct?…

 
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