Last month I decided to start brewing my own beer.  I’ve had the idea (and the necessary reference material) for a few years now, but there was always one reason or another for holding off.   Now that I finally have the space and resources to keep several batches going at once, I decided it was finally time to take the plunge.

After reading a few books to get an idea of how the process works, I picked up a brew kit and some recipe kits from Midwest, an online home brewing store that has received a lot of praise in the homebrew community.  Lincoln has a decent homebrew shop, but even with shipping costs I ended up saving a ton by going with Midwest.  I did buy a few things from Kirk’s Brew, like a brew pot and a few other odds and ends.  I think Midwest will probably be getting most of my business while I’m still in the kit brewing phase, but I may go to Kirk’s if I start designing my own recipes.

Beer making isn’t a fast process.  It takes 4-6 weeks before the beer is drinkable, sometimes longer if it’s a complex beer and the flavors need time to mellow.  I worried over a few minor mistakes on the first batch (a brown ale), but yesterday was bottling day and and a quick taste test proved I didn’t make any horrendous errors.  It pretty much just tasted like flat beer.  I won’t know for sure for another few weeks, as the bottles still have some aging and carbonating to do before they’re truly ready.

While the brown ale was fermenting, I went ahead and whipped up a batch of German apfelwine, which is a dryer-tasting version of hard cider.  That has another week or two until she’s ready to bottle.  I’m also planning to brew my second batch of beer tomorrow afternoon (an English bitter).  If I stay interested (and my concoctions actually taste good) I’m going to try and crank out two batches a month.  Each batch makes two cases, so that should keep me pretty boozed up for the near future.