Beer and Wine Maker

Draft Beer Technology

This is some awesome new beer technology.  Thought I’d share.

If you have some awesome beer technology to share, join us at the Pub for Beer Enthusiasts, Beertaps.com Pub.

Buying Equipment and Making Beer

Running beertaps.com has been an interesting ride that was more involved than I thought it would be.  But, it has been fun.  Each new challenge has presented an interesting and useful solution.

For instance, when I was asked about the kegerator a customer just purchased, I realized that there probably are more people out there who have the same questions.  So, I wrote a report and published it on the site.  Then, I wrote an article to let everyone know that I wrote the report.

That’s about the time the second question came in about keeping beer lines clean.  Then, about home brew recipes.  So, I kept writing reports to help people and I kept writing articles to make people more aware.

It started out as a big gaggle of reports that I finally organized into a Learning Center that is now populated with great stuff.  From Home Brew Tips and Tricks to DIY Home Bar Projects, I keep adding to the learning center.  But, I’m always willing to hear what you want to know.  I have a form for questions at http://www.beertaps.com/contact.html

But, the recent interactive is the forum I created.  It’s easier than a report to write a simple answer.  Some answers aren’t as involved as putting an entire article together with pictures and everything.  So, I populated the forum with a few items.  But, it’s new.

I’d love to see some people on there soon.  Start some topics and get some feedback.  How else do you expect a forum to get started?

http://brewdrinker.com/thepub/

Hope to see you there!

Benefits of Brewing Your Own Home Beer

There are beer enthusiasts who are deeply enriched in the beer making world, who own their own home breweries and who take advantage of all the benefits. Then, there are beer enthusiasts who have never even thought of making their own. I can’t imagine why a beer enthusiast wouldn’t at least be interested in giving it a try, but I’m going to try to change that now.

There are many benefits to brewing your own beer and I’m going to take it one step at a time. When you are ready to get off this wild ride, take stage coach left and no one will think any less of you for it. But I bet once this journey begins, you will want to ride it until the wheels fall off.

First, brewing your own beer is a way of putting a mark on your own home bar. You can even get online and design yourself a label and then place it on your bottles, glasses and beer taps even. When company comes over, you can have them all try it. It might just become their favorite beer meaning you might just get company more often if that seems like something you would like to have.

Then, you can start marketing your beer to the local bars. Give them a taste and see if they like it. There are different ways to make this happen. You can get in touch with a local bar owner and tell them you would like to have a tasting at their bar. You offer some of your beer for free and then when people say they like the taste, the bar owner will most likely want to stock it. Make a thing of it. It’s supposed to be a fun time. So, have fun!

The next logical level is to enter into some beer events. Start locally, but again have fun. Go across the country if you want. The more exposure you get, the more buyers you get. Don’t be surprised when someone approaches you to see if you want a sponsor. Sponsorship can take you to levels you have never imagined. Nationwide distribution. Export. International attention.

By this time of course, you have expanded your enterprise to include so much more than a bucket and a kegerator. You have built your brewery into a high powered system that produces enough beer to satisfy all your orders. You’ve moved your operation to a local location that houses your brewery and invites the neighbors to wander in and have a beer. You’ve had to apply for your beer license so that you can start selling your beer and you’ve had to build a bar so that your neighbors have a comfortable place to sit. You’ve got a sign on the front of your place with your name on it and you’ve been highlighted in the paper as the local beer expert.

With a few different flavors now in your inventory, you can have a seat. Take a breath. You’re finished the first phase of Operation Your Brew. The rest of the ride goes anywhere you want it to go.

Happy Thanksgiving Beer or Wine

This year when we’re drinking your home brew for Thanksgiving…

What?  You’re not making beer or wine for Thanksgiving?  You don’t have a home brew that you make special for Thanksgiving?

Well, how weird is that?

It must not be a tradition everyone shares.  But, see if you can relate to any of these:

• Sitting on the couch and eating Thanksgiving while watching football.
• Same thing…sitting on the recliner with a food tray.
• Saying, “It’s not worth it.  We’re going to a restaurant.”
• I ordered Pizza and Wings one year…

That was the year I had just finished my home bar and I made my first home brew for our New Happy Thanksgiving Tradition. 

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoys their own traditions, whatever they may be!

The Essential Information On Homebrew Kits

With all the right tools, equipment, supplies, hops, and tidbits included in homebrew kits… they are perfect for people to start brewing their own beer from the comfort of their own home. When starting out, you just want to first get to a point of brewing good tasting beer, and you can’t go wrong with a kit.

Before you go and run out to buy yourself a homebrew kit, you will need to consider your needs. So how much beer do you want to brew? How technical do you want to get? What flavored beer do you want? Etc… Then once you decide on all the important things, you will need a home beer brewing guide to teach you the essentials because quiet simply, the instructions that come with homebrew kits are useless at best. Then once you are well informed, it’s time to buy your kit, clean your equipment, brew your beer, and then drink it (in simple terms).

There is a variant if you would want to determine the color of your beer, and the style of your brew – other than the classic canned beer taste. You can opt to have a different set of ingredients. These are still all-extract kits though as they give you preformulated ingredients.

Once you learn the ropes, then you may up the ante and progress to partial mash brewing which is harder than the standard beginner kit, but gives you a lot more control over your beer’s taste. Partial mash brewing is a lot more hands on as you are boiling more ingredients for set amounts of time to get certain bitterness, and other qualities. Using an extract kit is almost easy as 1-2-3, whereas partial mash brewing gives you the brewer more creative control… you must have previous experience with the basic kits before you progress onto this technique.

The hops are what determine the bitterness of your brew. You can then add the hops later in intervals to give your mix the difference from your neighbor’s – who also has an all-extract kit – beer. To give you a better ambiance while pouring youself a drink, some kits even have a keg system instead of the usual bottles.

Home beer brewing is essentially a fun and very rewarding hobby… the best there is! You as the home brewer should experiment, try new things, and graduate from homebrew kits to more advanced brewing techniques over time. Some home brewers have take a simple hobby and turned it into a career by opening a commercial micro-brewery or two… the choice is yours!

Homebrew kits will help you get introduced and become proficient at brewing beer at home. Luke Porter is an expert brewer who is happy to share the secrets of brewing kits available in the shops today.

Home Beer Brewing Is Easier Than You Think!

Home Beer Brewing is not only great fun but very rewarding. You can make it simply by following the basic instructions in the kit or branch out using different recipes as you gain more experience. With the right kit the process is made so easy with good consistent results.

If you are ever stuck on what gift to get someone on father’s day, birthday, christmas, or any other holiday… be sure to keep in mind whether or not they brew beer at home. Home brewers are always looking forward to adding to their collection of gear that helps them brew great tasting beer.

Tips For Your Home Brewing Success:

One – cleaning and sanitizing all your equipment is vitally important if you want great tasting home brew. Furthermore, the best way to do this is by having a dedicated area just for your home brewing needs, just as you should have equipment that you ONLY use for brewing beer… and not your spaghetti bolognese.

Two – be able to maintain a constant temperature in the fermenter at all times. There is a little secret to keeping the beer temperature constant which you can find in the website below.

Three – refrigerated beer is great beer. Just make sure you cool the beer that has properly fermented and carbonated, don’t cool beer to early otherwise it might end up bad to taste.

Making your own beer, complete with your own label is very rewarding and with the right equipment, setting up your own home beer brewery is not hard at all. You need to invest a little time and effort to learn how to create the perfectly brewed beer and a little money to invest in your first equipment but then you will be able to brew a good tasting beer

If you are serious about home beer brewing, then checkout the website below. It contains all the essential information you need to get started with brewing beer at home, and then progress onto a brewmeister. Cheers!

The home brewing beer ultimate guide is your A to Z of brewing beer at home. One chapter is fully committed to showing you the ins and outs off brew kits, so you are always one step ahead off the home beer brewing game!

categories: home beer brewing secrets,brewing beer at home,home brewing tips,making beer,beer,hobby,technical hobby,alcohol,drinking,recreation

American Home Brewing As We Know It Today

American home brewing adapts to the changes in the political and economic climates of the country. Back in the 90s, America had been the top producer of beer. However, with the global recession that is happening now, many companies are closing. Although of course, some argue that as the economy worsens, beer sells more – many get depressed and thus forget their economic woes through the messy route of drinking. Some people, instead of wasting precious money by raking the bars every night, adapt to the situation – and that is by turning towards home made beer.

Now we all know that back way way in the olden days, home beer brewing was a major and accepted pastime practiced by the colonial people. One thing you might not know that even famous people such as the Great George Washington was an avid home beer brewer, as was Thomas Jefferson and friends!

However, there was a time of prohibition that was devastating to the American population. Prohibition meant that it was illegal to brew your own beer, and heavy fines where placed on people who broke this law… and what a shame that was… some people even went to prison for having a home brewery! Can you imagine a life without beer? Everybody had to content with a watered down lifeless beer – well not really beer but something which was a very poor substitute for it. Nothing substantially alcoholic was allowed and few took efforts in making their drinks less alcoholic but tasty. Unfortunately the American people had to suffice and deal with prohibition. This then led to shop owners renaming all equipment so it couldn’t be associated with running home brewery and started selling it on the sly to hardcore supporters of brewing beer at home. This was quiet easy because the equipment is fairly standard, including buckets, hosing, pots, pans, and other tidbits. The situation varied from state to state. In some states, only those selling home brews were caught while in some, brewing for personal consumption also meant facing legal charges. Good thing those laws have been since relaxed and prohibition has truly been and gone!

In 1935, the law was improvised a bit. Home wine making was allowed without taxes but to brew beer, the interested party must first secure permits and comply with regulations. But despite the heavy regulations, some beer advocates pooled their efforts to promote home brewing. One of the greats in the field, Charlie Papazian first entered the scenario during this time and taught home brewing classes. However, government maintained that unregulated home brewing was still unlawful as any type of brewing could still be employed by moonshiners.

Over time, all the ridiculous rules about brewing beer at home were fully relaxed with Jimmy Carter signing an amendment in 1978 to allow home brewers the opportunity to brew up to 200 gallons of beer a year without any permits or other silly nuances. This then sparked interest far and wide for the American Home Brewer and really led the emergence of a beer nation like no other.

American Home Brewing is happening and well today, so of-course it’s time to sit down, relax, and have a home brew. For those still not up to scratch with home brewing beer, follow the link to find out more!

categories: american home brewing,history of home brewing,home brewing,beer brewing,wine brewing,prohibition,beer,wine,america,history,legislation,hobby

Brew Your Own Beer And Save Money

There are few pleasures in life to match a nice cold beer on a hot day, and the best way to round off a hard days work is, in many peoples mind, a trip to their favorite bar to partake of a couple of glasses of their chosen brew.

However, prices can be a major sticking point for many, as price increases have taken a nights drinking to the level where it is now something that has to be balanced against cost. Although there are other reasons to be restrained when it comes to having a few drinks, such as the health benefits of drinking responsibly, many of us have come to the conclusion that there is no reason to pay higher prices when it just doesn’t seem worth it.

People have been aware of the benefits of having a home brewery for some time now. Still, there is a sense that it’s not the same as bought beer – that it somehow isn’t as good. With well-stocked stores and bars all around them, some people simply think “Why should I bother to brew my own?”. However, as prices at the liquor store and the local bar climb ever higher, it is now more than ever an option to be considered. A home brewery allows you to have a few beers when you want at a price that suits your pocket.

It is just a myth that paid for beer is better than home-brewed beer. With a little trial and error, home brew can be even better than that stocked in your favorite bar. It will take a little time to get the end product perfect initially, as there are few if us who are lucky enough to master the art first time around, but even those early batches will still be drinkable; you won’t be wasting your time making something that you can’t enjoy. Then, with some experimentation and a bit of persistence, you’ll be able to create a range of great beers, that are suited to your own particular tastes.

But you’re thinking – home brewery kits must be expensive? Well, not at all. Certainly so, when compared to what you would spend on a months worth of trips to your sports bar to watch a couple of games at a time, you can begin to see big savings very quickly. But you think the atmosphere will be lacking? Not if you invite your friends around to watch the game and enjoy your home brew too. Believe me, by the time you’re producing a quality end product, you’ll have no shortage of people wanting to pay you a visit .

It is about more than just the end product though, a home brewery is a hobby. Rather than having a hobby that goes nowhere, the beer lover can enjoy the feeling of making something themselves, with the added advantage that no beer tastes finer than that which you have brewed to your own recipe. The endless variations that you can come up with will make it more fun than you could imagine, and all for a reasonable price.

Luke Porter is a home brewing beer enthusiast, and an expert author. You are invited to discover the simple secrets of brewing world class beer from the comfort of your home by reading his latest book, “Home Beer Brewing Secrets” available online today!

categories: home brewery,home brewing,beer brewing,brew beer,beer,alcohol,recreation

Quit Drinking – No Need For AA

A lot of people have a hard time dealing with alcohol addiction. This article is not from AA, but it has good advice, so you should sit down and read all of this to find out how you can effectively quit without using AA!

Do you have a religion that you can turn to in order to help you quit? Do you think being in a group such as AA will help you quit? Do you think AA will help you quit alcoholism?

First of all, you need to trust yourself and believe that you can do it. You don’t have to believe in God or religion although that might help. You just need a lot of self esteem. You can do it! Have you heard of Anthony Robbin’s Awaken the Giant Within? You have the power. You just need to put your mind to accomplishing this task.

Tons of people have warned you about alcohol Your system will recognize it as poison as well. It strains the liver and kidneys flushing the stuff out. There is no value add in consuming an alcoholic drink. You don’t need it. Go home and throw out all your alcohol. If you really need the alcohol, it might be too hard for you to quit straight up like that and you should see a doctor first.

Always keep in mind your end game. Never lost sight of your goals and hopes and dreams. You want to lose some pounds or just get back your bodily hygiene and stop having your bad breath. All you must do is lose that booze.

So, that is the fact. Not too hard, eh? It’s really as easy as it sounds. Don’t hesitate and do it.

If you enjoyed this article, check out my other articles on arranging roses and growing roses.

Home Brewing : A Recipe For Success

Home brewing is something which has been popular for many years. Still, many are resolute that convenience is best for them and continue to drink only beer that they have paid for at a liquor store or at a bar. However, the thing about that kind of convenience is that you pay for it every time. It may not be much at the time, but add it up over a years worth of parties, games, dinners and nights out and it starts to amount to a lot.

The issue of paying an upfront sum for beer brewing supplies puts a lot of people off getting involved with it. They calculate that they could have a few nights at their local bar for the same cost and think to themselves that it would be a lot less effort to do so too. However, the more you think about it, the better an idea it becomes. OK, so the cost is a little bit more than a few crates, but once you’ve got the kit you can keep using it, and when you find your supplier, beer brewing supplies can make more quantity for your spending than you would be able to buy for the same amount.

As well as the initial costs, some people are put off home brewing because it sounds like a lot of effort. It must be better to just let the breweries take care of all of the behind the scenes stuff for us, right? Well, yes, the breweries are there to make your life easier, but think of it this way – it’s like eating out at a restaurant all of time compared to cooking at home yourself. At first restaurant food seems better than anything you could possibly cook yourself, but, with a little practice, you soon develop your own recipes that are superior. It’s exactly the same with beer brewing.

As for the supplies you need, these can be found easily enough. Most larger towns will have a specialist store that stocks the required equipment and ingredients, but don’t worry if your town doesn’t as there are plenty of suppliers on the internet. In fact, buying via the internet may be the best option anyway as the prices tend to be lower. Do a little online research first to find out what you need. There are various beer brewing forums that are full of like-minded beer lovers who will be more than happy to point you in the right direction.

Once you have bought the necessary equipment and supplies, you will just need to follow the instructions that come with them. It is simple enough, just remember not to miss out any of the steps. Hands on learning and regular practice is the best way to make progress. Once you have the basics learnt, you can then start deviating from the standard processes in order to make your own special recipes. Brewing your own beer may sound like too much hassle but its really worth the effort.

Luke Porter is a home brewing beer enthusiast, and an expert author. You are invited to discover the simple secrets of brewing world class beer from the comfort of your home by reading his latest book, “Home Beer Brewing Secrets” – available online today!

categories: home brewery,home brewing,brew your own beer,beer brewing,home brew,beer,alcohol,parties,recreation