Homebrewing

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Does anyone know what George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin all have in common? Well, yes, they were all founding fathers of our great nation, but they were also all homebrewers. But what exactly is homebrewing? Homebrewing is the process of creating your own beer at your own leisure. It allows for a great degree of freedom when it comes to creating a beer that you enjoy. Today I’d first like to discuss beer in general, the decline of homebrew, and its reemergence. Then I will discuss the three general ways of homebrewing most widely utilized. The first and most simple being extract brewing, the second most challenging style is partial-grain, and the third and most in-depth style of homebrewing is all grain.

So now you have a basic definition of what homebrewing is but I bet at least half of you here today have never heard of it until now. And I bet at least half of you here are saying, “So what, why all this hubbub about beer? Beer is beer, right?” WRONG! According to The Complete Joy of Homebrewing “it is understood that wines are complex and varied” and wine enthusiasts are unquestioned in their devotion while beer enthusiasts are often met with criticism. In fact, there are probably hundreds of different styles of beer to be enjoyed in the world. Now I don’t intend to go over all of these varieties today, but I would like to introduce you to the two main categories: Ales and Lagers. According to Mashtronauts.com, Ales are fast fermenting beers, which lead to higher alcohol content and more complex taste profiles. Examples of ales are porters, stouts, and India pale ales. Lagers are slower fermenting beers, which leads to a relatively lower alcohol content along with a smoother taste profile. Examples of l...

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... week or so, when your beer is done aging, you can crack open a bottle of homebrew and pour it into a drinking glass of choice. Just be sure to leave the bottom ¼ inch, as this will contain some residual conditioning yeast. And in the words of Charlie Papazian, famous to all homebrewers, “Relax... don't worry... and have a homebrew.”

So today we discussed the basics of beer and why it deserves the respect of any other hobby. We also discussed the beginner’s methods to homebrewing, and then delved into the more advanced methods of the all-grain brewer. The point I want everyone to walk away with today is that beer can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be, but that it should always be respected and enjoyed to the fullest. Just remember the next time you crack open a cold “brewskie” that your ancestors over 6000 years ago were doing something quite similar.

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