Posted on 10 June 2010. Tags: Airtight Container, bottles, Containers, Different Things, Extent, home, Home Brew Beer, Home Brewed Beer, home brewing, kegs, Lengthy Periods, Long Periods Of Time, Period Of Time, Refrigerator, storage, Storage Tips, Tendency
When you want to store your home brewed beer, there are a couple of different things that you will need to take into consideration. For example, it is very important that you store your home brewed beer in an airtight container. The reason why this is so important is because your home brewed beer will have a tendency to spoil faster if it is not stored correctly.
Something that a lot of people don’t realize is the fact that beer does not really get better with age. In other words, in contrast to whine, you will typically want to enjoy your beer sooner rather than later. This means providing your beer with as close to an airtight environment as possible. This will enable you to enjoy your beer for a longer period of time without having to worry that it will go bad or otherwise spoil.
Having a special refrigerator that is exclusively devoted to storing your home brewed beer is usually a very good idea. This will ensure that you can carefully place your containers within the refrigerator and not have to worry about them being disturbed by other items being removed or placed into the refrigerator.
Something else that you need to consider is the fact that you may not necessarily want to undertake the expense of being able to store your beer for lengthy periods of time. In other words, a counter-intuitive storage idea is to simply drink the beer that you make. The reason why this can prove to be such a good idea is because the beer will be significantly fresher and better tasting.
In the final analysis, you’ll find that it’s significantly more challenging than meets the eye to appropriately store your home brewed beer. You may very well end up in a situation where it simply makes more sense to enjoy the beer that has been made and to not worry so much about trying to store it for long periods of time. But to the extent that you want to put some away for later enjoyment, just remember to place it in an airtight container and to consider refrigerating it as quickly as possible.
Posted in Featured Articles, Home Brewing Tips
Posted on 09 June 2010. Tags: equipment, home brew kegging, kegging, kegs, supplies
A question that often arises amongst people who really enjoy making home based beer is whether or not there is a quick and easy way to keg a beer. (You know, placing the beer in one of these larger barrel-like containers.) If you don’t already have a beer kegging system, you can buy one from a nearby home brew shop or one of the bigger online brewing supply stores. A kegging system is basically made up of a keg, a CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas tank, a pressure regulator, and two hoses. Not exactly “cheap,” but far from being astronomically expensive.
If you are getting started with kegging your own beer, it is best to purchase a complete starter system from a single store. This is something that a lot of people are at least vaguely familiar with. In case you’re unaware, complete kegging systems typically are priced less than $200 for an initial setup. This also happens to include all incidental expenses, etc. Several ultra popular (and successful) home brewing supply stores that sell kegging equipment can be found on the Internet.
It’s natural for you to wonder whether or not it even makes sense to purchase any kind of kegging system. After all, shouldn’t the focus and emphasis be on simply getting the best flavor possible out of your home made beer? This is something that you cannot really focus on if you’re also trying to pay attention to a lot of other variables that have less to do with great tasting beer and more to do with other things.
Here’s the bottom line: creating your own kegging system may initially seem extremely silly. After all, you are probably thinking to yourself that it just makes more sense to purchase some of the beer you enjoy “straight off the rack.” In other words, why go through the hassle and expense of putting together a full-fledged kegging system? At some level, this is a very difficult question to answer unless you truly have a deep-seated passion for making your own beer at home.
What you always need to keep in mind is the fact that creating your own homemade beer will also bring with it a variety of other responsibilities that you will have to deal with on a consistent basis. Nevertheless, it is a significant advantage to at least know how to create your own keg with the beer that you have made at home.
Posted in Home Brewing Tips
Posted on 08 June 2010. Tags: deals, equipment, home brew online, supplies
It wasn’t long ago that people who were interested in homemade beer would have to spend a lot of time searching for the best deals possible. There really wasn’t a single place where a person could go to discover some really good deals on equipment and supplies that would be needed to make homemade beer. With the advent of the Internet, this has all changed.
Nowadays, it is not unusual for a person to be able to find a wide variety of different beer making supplies for fantastic prices on a variety of websites. In fact, the Internet as a whole has dramatically altered the way in which people shop for all kinds of different things. This also includes the way people shop for beer making equipment. Now before you think that you can literally go onto the Internet and immediately save a bunch of money, think again. You need to have a reasonable sense of where you can go to get some really good deals on this kind of home made beer making equipment.
The very first place to start is by visiting your favorite search engine. You can start doing a lot of research to see if you can find a suitable online venue through which you can purchase home brew beer making equipment for a price that will not impact your budget. Be patient while doing this research. The more patient you are, the higher the chance that you will ultimately find something that is useful. After all, you want to make sure that you are utilizing an online retailer who is both legitimate and who has been in business for a little while. While this doesn’t guarantee a successful buying experience, it dramatically boost your chances of not getting scammed.
Here’s the bottom line: the Internet has ushered in a new world in which people who have an interest in making beer at home can quickly and easily determine whether or not they can get a good deal on some of the necessary equipment that is used to make their home brews. Go ahead and check this out for yourself, you’ll be very glad that you did that will have a much clearer understanding of everything.
Posted in Home Brewing Tips
Posted on 07 June 2010. Tags: hobby, home beer brewing community
Did you know that there are a lot of online communities that you can access via the Internet through which you can communicate to a wide variety of individuals who have an interest in making beer at home? This is something that a lot of people don’t realize. You need to stop whatever you’re doing and start thinking about the Internet as being one large interpersonal communication facilitation mechanism. That definitely sounds like something very complicated, but it is not.
People from all walks of life have decided to create accounts on various online community forums where the topics can be as wide and varied as the individuals who join these particular communities. The discussion will primarily center on one or two topics. For example, some online communities talk about homemade beer making. When you stop and think about it, these online communities make a lot of sense. How realistic is it to assume that you will randomly run into somebody as part of your everyday life who will share most if not all of your interests?
The best thing about online communities is the fact that many of the relationships that are developed will be mutually satisfying and well worth the effort that’s required to get involved in one of these forums in the first place.
Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of getting involved with an online community whose focus happens to be home made beer is probably the fact that you can exchange ideas and concepts with other people who have a similar interest as you do. Let’s face it, these other community members are probably experts or at least are people who take the subject seriously enough that they have done a lot of additional research. When you ask a question in one of these communities, it’s not surprising when a lot of people respond to your question with specific details.
Here’s the bottom line: if you are somebody who enjoys making beer at home, then you owe it to yourself to seriously evaluate whether or not joining an online community devoted to talking about the subject is right for you. More often than not, you will derive a lot of benefits from joining one of these online communities. However, you always need to be mindful of the fact that not everybody in the community will be helpful. Do not let yourself be dissuaded or disappointed by the rudeness or silliness of one member.
Posted in Home Brewing Tips
Posted on 06 June 2010. Tags: bottles, bottling, home brew beer labels, labeling
Making your own home brew beer labels is significantly easier than it was in the past. In fact, thanks in large part to modern technology, the process has become easier than ever before. The very first thing that you need to realize is that you will never really be able to match the professional quality of label that you might expect to find a store. After all, you are literally making this beer at home and so the beer label itself will have a little bit of an amateur quality to it — but not much.
So what has made the process of creating a beer label significantly easier for those who choose to create their own beer at home? The answer is staring right at you. It’s your personal computer and printer. You can literally utilize software that will make the process of designing a label both quick and easy. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t have a lot of artistic experience. The software that exists today can turn virtually anybody into an expert home brew beer label maker in a matter of minutes.
After you have decided upon to design of your particular label, all you need to do is insert some specialized label paper into your printer. Let’s briefly talk about the special label paper. You can purchase it at most office supply stores. What it lets you do is essentially print on a specialized sticker that can then be removed from the sheet of paper and placed on your home brewed beer containers. In other words, you don’t actually have to worry about purchasing expensive labels that are made by some third party company. You can literally create your own labels from home.
Something to take into consideration is the fact that your first few labels may not necessarily look the way you want them to look. The solution to this problem is to spend a little bit of time playing around with the software. You can do a couple of test runs and make adjustments as needed. Within a relatively short amount of time, you will be well on your way to creating some fantastic home brew beer labels.
Posted in Home Brewing Tips
Posted on 05 June 2010. Tags: home brew beer kits, home brew recipes, home brewing
Congratulations! You have made the decision to start making beer at home. Now you need to figure out which beer making kit is right for you. One of the most important things that you will need to take into consideration is the amount of overall support that exists for a particular beer making kit. This not only means any support that the company that produces the kit might be able to provide you with, but also the amount of support that you can get from fellow beer making enthusiasts who have purchased the same kit.
You may be surprised to discover that there are a large number of individuals who interact with one another in a variety of online forums where they talk about making beer at home. There are large sub communities of people who will frequently discuss a particular beer making kit that they happen to enjoy using. The reason why it is so important to identify these types of informal support groups is because you can often get a lot of help from individuals who participate in these groups. If the particular beer making kit that you are considering selecting does not have a large online group of followers, you may find it more difficult to get answers to questions that you might have.
Something else to consider is price. There are a wide variety of different prices for different beer making kits. If you’re just getting started, you may be better off investing in a more limited beer making kit that does not necessarily have as many features as a more expensive kit. You can gain some incredible hands on experience working with a less expensive beer making kit. This will not only save you a great deal of money, but it will also give you a little bit more confidence to actually use the kit and not worry so much about the end result.
Once you have more experience making beer at home, you’re certainly free to try one of the more expensive and elaborate kits that are on the market. But when you’re just getting started, make sure that whatever kit you purchase comes with a lot of support and that it’s priced at an affordable level.
Posted in Home Brewing Tips