September 15, 2006

Zymurgy. It's not just a good Scrabble word.

Tired of crappy beer? Tired of paying a couple of bucks a bottle for the good stuff? People have been making their own for millennia. You can, too. It's never been easier to get started in basic beermaking. You can make almost any style easily. All you need are some malted grain, hops (which may have other interesting uses,) some brewer's yeast, and water. A clean environment, some time, something to put it in, and you too can drink what you like. Happy homebrewing!

posted by hicinbaby 18 years ago
  • Druther ale than beer. Pale lagers are beyond the pale.
  • It's only a good scrabble word if you happen to have the only two Ys in the game. On the other hand, beer rocks.
  • And beer has two ees. Whereas lager only has one. So does ale. And hops has an o, but malt doesn't. Wait. *unsteadly sets glass down on table What ways your point?
  • Perhops: ... he woz only taking extreme peecautions against prostate cancer? ... he woz only looking for some hoppiness? More seriously, though, what size thimbles do Oz- folk serve beer in?
  • I make beer, and have done this for 15 years. As soon as the weather cools off a bit, perhaps in three weeks, I will brew my first batch of ale. This will be batch number 109, each 5 gallons - or about 54 bottles. One of my odder batches was the Tuna Beer. You flinch in horror, as everyone does. However, tunas are colorful and fruity, with lots of seeds and color. I also made a kick-ass mead, which we took on our honeymoon.
  • First batch of ale for the brewing season, that is.
  • Beermaker here. Making my fall grain order in a week or so. Can you say November porter and January stout? I can. There are few pleasures that match the satisfaction of popping the cap on a bottle of suds you've tended from grain to glass. I am blessed: I brew, my across the street neighbor brews, one street over is a water chemist in the pilot brewery at Anheuser Busch here in St. Louis, he always has a couple 12's of failed experiments. Sunday night is "Neighborhood Watch" night. We put the kids to bed, drag our lawn chairs and coolers out to the cul-de-sac, and reward ourselves for another well-worked week.
  • I feel the need The need for mead
  • Looks like you've just found one of my big hobbies.
  • Only Fes could turn "Neighborhood Watch" in to "Neighborhood Debauch"
  • And it's GramMa with the breakaway slamdunk! YYyesssss!
  • And beer has two ees. Ah, yes, the ease of beer.
  • Another MST3K reference explained.
  • Which one? The nanites' microbrewery?
  • From Final Sacrifice, when Zap Rowsdower is pouring gas into an empty beer bottle. "This is no time for zymurgy!"
  • Beer is not the answer. Beer is the question. Yes, is the answer.
  • Ahhhh. All roads lead to Rowsdower.
  • "Yes" is indeed the answer. HomeBrewer here too. Only one link to add, that book by JPalmer is available in its entirety: How to Brew
  • Ooh, very nice, Lafe. My latest brew, a red ale of the Irish style, goes into the bottles today. I'm really hoping that Santa brings me one of those nifty five gallon draft dispensers. And bees, I'm with you, ale all the way. Aside from tasting better, it's way easier to brew (top fermented, warm) than lager (bottom fermented, cold.) Cold can be difficult here in San Diego.