Be Your Own Brew Master

Ok guy, you’re a huge beer enthusiast. You’ve dabbled a bit with ales and lagers, made memories with stouts and lost many more with Hefeweizen (damn ze Germanz!!!). So what new fermented territory is there to cover since you’ve conquered the world’s finest beers?

Our Recommendation: Brew Your Own Beer!

These days home brewing is made easy for the beer hobbyist with the advent of smaller fermentors that can be stored in any small space, like right between your George Foreman Grill and the Magic Bullet. And don’t worry; you won’t be out in the woods like uncle Ned making moonshine in your overalls. Unless that’s what you’re into. 

There are a few online brewing distributors to grab your equipment from but if you’re a novice, we’d point you in the direction of Mr. Beer. You can get a convenient all-in-one brewing package for under $100. If you’re on a beer budget (no pun intended), choose the $49.95 premium box because it includes the basics without the frills. 

Steps are fairly simple and the package has it’s own brewing book incase you need more description:

Step one: A sterile environment makes great beer. Clean everything that will come in contact with your sauce; pots, siphons, mixing sticks, and especially those grubby claws of yours. 

Step two: Brewing the wort creates the body and taste of the beer. Wort is the combination of the malt extract, hops and other flavoring ingredients. I recommend cooking it a bit beyond the recommended time, which is usually between 45 minutes to an hour. 

Step three: Don’t rush the yeast. This is where the science experiment really goes freaky. Yeast convert your wort to beer as a by-product of digestion – yes, you’re essentially drinking excrement. College bingeing memories will never be the same. Let these guys do their job for a few days. Little tid-bit of info to impress your beer bros: that layer of sediment at the bottom is what the Aussies eat for breakfast – vegemite.

Step four: Bottle and wait. This is where most novice brewers tend to drop the ball. Bottling is the last process where the yeast have slowed down tremendously and start to give the flavor to your brew. So it’s important to be patient and sanitary when you’re pouring and capping. The Mr. Beer kit gives you some plastic bottles and caps to do this very easily. When you decide to expand your horizon, there are glass-bottling kits that will give you an authentic feel to the experience. And if you’re hardcore or an alcoholic, you can buy the reusable 1 liter growler and brag about it during your AA meetings.

In Conclusion: Now remember, beer brewing is a process of sweet… err, bitter frothy love mixed with the timings of Kama Sutra. The whole process from hops to hammered happens over the course of a month depending what you’re brewing and how long you can hold out. Give the bottles at least 2  – 3 weeks of proper storage before you start to taste it. My personal experience -  keep a few around for a month or two longer. Then you can notice how much the taste and body can change over time.

Good luck and happy brewing my friends.

Click Here to Get Mr. Beer for Only $39.95!

Mr. Beer is…

4 Summer Beers that’ll Put a Smile on Your Mug

By Michael A. Chang

Sorry to bring the bad news, but summer is half way over. Bummer. But there’s still plenty of time to do things you’ll regret later on in life.

To help you along this path of poor decisions, we offer a choice selection of microbrews to begin the night, or if you’re ambitious . . . the early afternoon.  

Fair warning though, for those living their heydays right now (college, recently graduated, and recently unemployed), these might cost slightly more than the 36 value pack of Bud from Costco.  
 

Long Trail IPA:

This is my normal go-to brew at the local dive bar when I’m craving a nice ale to start the night. It’s easy on the palette with a light touch of citrus and goes great on hot evenings when preparing for the night. Brewed in Vermont, those guys up there apparently do more than milk sap out of trees and make icy moguls on ski resorts.

Victory Hopdevil IPA:

If you’re into Hops, then this is a great warm-up. It’s floral beginnings and hoppy end will give you a worth while appreciation of what an IPA can be. Victory mostly comes out with great tap beers but this one is a nice bottle selection.  

Dogfish Head 60 Min IPA:

So here’s a little tidbit if you didn’t know, the longer a brewer brews the malt/hops, the stronger the resulting fermented beverage. DFH has mastered this science into a start-up business. They have 3 kinds of IPA’s: the 60, the 90 and the 120. Because we’re talking about starting your night and not ending it, I’ll recommend the 60. It’s another citrus flavor but slightly darker than the above mentioned beers and goes great with beers, hotdogs, and other pre-festive dinings.  

Legacy Hedonism:

If those other beers are the way to ease you into the night, this one . . . this one is a 10 meter belly flop into a hot tub full of fine frisky ladies. Hedonism has a sweet hoppyness that is very easy to drink. But like that stranger who offers you candy, this one has an ulterior motive with ~ 8% ABV. Drink this and yes, hedonistic tendencies may arise . . . just keep the farm animals locked up.

Salute the Flag with a Can of Suds…

Written by: John White

Consider showing off your patriotism by sipping on an American cold one. But be forewarned, your choice of American beers is shrinking faster than the economy.

Last year marked a tragic period in American beer history.  The European company based in Belgium, "InBev," purchased one of the few remaining American owned Macro-breweries, Anheuser-Busch.

InBev is now the largest brewing company in the world, with over 250 brands in production.

Sadly, the former great American beer brands such as Budweiser, Michelob, Busch, Rolling Rock, and Natural Light are now owned by the European giant, InBev.  Can you believe that the "King of Beers," our beloved Budweiser, is now a European beer?

So we lost Bud, no sweat – we’ll just switch on over to Miller, right?  Nope, Miller is no longer an American brewing company either.  Some of Miller’s most recognizable brands include the legendary Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Lite, Olde English, Icehouse, and SouthPaw.  These former American heavy-weight champs are now owned and operated by SABMiller, a South African company.

Heck, even our iconic Coors brand is now just a regional division of the "Molson Coors Brewing Company," which is mostly Canadian owned.  Coors, Bluemoon, Killians, and Keystone – all owned by our neighbors to the north.

It seems as though we don’t have too many choices anymore when it comes to sipping on American suds.  All hope is not lost, though.  If you truly want to show your patriotism by drinking good-ol’ American beer this Fourth of July, consider the following four (4) options:

1.  Yuengling

Yuengling & Son, otherwise known as "Yuengling,"  and pronounced "ying ling" is the oldest operating brewing company in the USA.  Yuengling was established in 1829 by the German brewer, David G. Yuengling, several years after he immigrated to the United States. Yuengling is located in Pennsylvania, and is still American owned and controlled by a Yuengling heir.

Yuengling’s beers include:

Yuengling Premium, Light, Traditional Lager, Dark Brewed Porter, Lord Chesterfield Ale, Original Black & Tan, and Light Lager.

Visit: www.yuengling.com

2.  Boston Beer Company

The Boston Beer Company is a relative newcomer, founded in 1984 by Jim Koch in Boston, Massachusetts.  The Boston Beer Company is the largest American owned brewery, and is most famous for it’s Samuel Adams brand of beers.  The Sam Adams brand began with "Samuel Adams Boston Lager," in 1984 and has since grown to include an additional eleven (11) year-round beer varieties.

Boston Beer Company’s year-round beers include:

Sam Adams Light, Boston Ale, Pale Ale, Cherry Wheat, Cream Stout, Brown Ale, Hefeweizen, Scotch Ale, Black Lager, Honey Porter, and Irish Red.

Sam Adams also produces four (4) different seasonal beers at different months throughout the year: White Ale, Summer Ale, Octoberfest, and Winter Lager.

Visit: www.bostonbeer.com and www.samueladams.com

3.  Pabst Brewing Company*

Pabst claims to be the largest American-owned brewer, but a more accurate description of Pabst is that they are the largest American-owned marketing company that is in the beer business.  The Pabst Brewing Company is often referred to as a "virtual brewer" because it outsources most of it’s 85 brands of beer brewing to Miller Brewing Company (SABMiller – the South Africans).  In fact, Pabst closed all of it’s breweries, and no longer brews a single beer themselves.

Some of Pabst’s most recognizable brands include:

Ballantine Ale, Black Label, Blatz, Colt 45, Lone Star, McSoreley’s, Old Milwaukee, Olympia, and of course Pabst Blue Ribbon ("PBR").

Visit: www.pabst.com

4. Your Local Microbrewery

A microbrewery is a small craft brewery of local & regional origin that has a limited production capacity and whose beers are usually distributed within a restricted geographic region.  A microbrewery can usually be found in or around most major metropolitan areas.  A microbrewery is simply a very small local commercial brewery.  A large number of well-known microbreweries were founded by friends getting together to make their own homemade beer for fun.

The best-known American microbrewery is the "Sierra Nevada Brewing Company," located in Chico, California.  Sierra Nevada is famous for it’s American Pale Ale, which can be found in liquor stores throughout the United States.

Visit: www.sierranevada.com

Happy Fourth of July!  If you drink beers this July 4th, be sure to Drink American!

And be sure to read: Hangover Prevention & Cures