mmm, beer

Homebrewed beer: It makes a great gift, spices up your parties and is easier than it sounds, at least according to Erik and Kelley Ingvarson, who brew up all sorts of good stuff at home. And, full disclosure, Erik is my brother, so I have firsthand knowledge of just how excellent their beer is. Erik (pictured above working his beer magic) fills us in on the benefits of DIYing it and why life is better when you don't have to worry about running out of beer.

Why did you decide to brew beer?
My wife and I decided to brew our own beer because, like baking bread or making pasta, it is a fun process and you can fairly easily make an excellent product. We enjoy a variety of styles of beer, and homebrewing has deepened our knowledge and appreciation of beer and what goes in it. We make excellent brews at a fraction of the cost of retail.

How did you get the equipment, and how much does a batch cost?
There is a brewers supply store in our town as well as a number of online options. The basic equipment to get started costs about $75. A kit to make 5 gallons of beer (about 50 12-oz bottles) is less than $30 — so after the initial investment in equipment, it's about 55 cents a bottle.  It takes about 2 hours to brew a batch, followed by about a week of fermentation. Then bottling and re-priming takes another hour followed by a couple of weeks of aging and waiting (the hardest part). 

Read on for more about this strange brew...

Where do you get recipes?
There are numerous recipes available in books and online, where there is an enthusiastic homebrewing community. Most brewers supply stores will sell kits containing grain, hops, malt and yeast along with a recipe — this is the easiest way to start out. Once you've got the hang of the brewing process, the recipe options are limitless. We also like the fact that we can control the quality of the ingredients in the beer we brew.

What is your favorite style of beer?
We have brewed probably 12-15 different styles and enjoyed them all. The top ones probably have been a porter, Czech pilsner and a California steam beer. More than once have we tried something at a bar and tried to emulate it (fairly successfully) at home. I'll put our top beers up against any brews out there! Beer seems to really benefit from being brewed in small batches, giving the homebrewer an advantage over the commercial brewer.

What is your favorite part of homebrewing?
Drinking our own beer! The brewing process is interesting, and it is very satisfying to pop the cap on your own creation. Beer is a versatile beverage that you can study, critique and analyze. Or you can just drink it without much thought at all — it suits many moods. There is also a comforting feeling in having 300+ bottles of beer in the basement — if the world runs out of beer, we are ok for a couple of months.

When you serve or give away brews, what is the response?
We frequently have friends over to taste the different brews and often bring a six-pack for the host/hostess when invited out — it is always well received.  As a gift, it is both personal and fun.  And, at $2.50 a six-pack, economical as well.

Our tasting parties have been a lot of fun and encouraged some of our friends to brew their own as well.  With the increased availability of quality microbrews and foreign beer in the US, people are more knowledgeable and interested in beer than they were a few years ago. Homebrewing lets us make the next step as not only people who are interested in beer but produce it as well.

We have homebrewing friends who trade bottles with us and others who bring us empties in hopes of getting them refilled.  It has been a very fun and social hobby for us. Cheers!

Comments

Yay, homebrew! My friend has made us pumpkin beer for Fall, and even honey mead wine using his beer equipment.

Great idea! I'm gonna steal this one!

How long will home brewed beer last in the bottle? And no, I don't mean before one drinks the yummy brews (!) but rather what is its shelf-life and what kind of conditions does it need?

Ahhhh homebrew... I was always interested in creating a batch or two, but never got around to it. I was introduced to the idea at Chico state, where they had several homebrew shops. It seemed fascinating to me. Maybe someday....

Hi Chris,

I asked my brother about the shelf-life of home-brewed beer, and here's his response:

It depends on several things--some beers (or barley wines) can age up to 25 years! There is actually quite a market for vintage beers and tastings of "vertical flights" of the same brew from a variety of years. Beers that age well tend to be higher in alcohol, darker and sweeter.

Beer, like wine, will change over time largely because of oxidization--certain flavors will mellow and others will become more pronounced. Some of our home brews have sat on the shelf for a year and developed quite enjoyable flavors, whereas others seem to lose their luster after 9-10 months.

Most of our homebrews seem to be at their best about 3-4 months after bottling. We keep beer in the basement, which ranges from 45 to 60 degrees--I think a fairly constant, cool temperature would be most important.

Home brewed beer is great. The price always kept me away from doing it myself, but after reading this blog entry it seems to be much less expensive than I thought. One question, where do you store the beer while waiting for the aging process to complete? I assume there are certain conditions that are necessary for the beer to turn out right - is there a temperature range that I need to be concerned about?

Thank you for the inspiration! I've studied, collected and always favored wine. Your story, however, encourages me to investigate the many qualities of beer and develop a deeper appreciation. Cheers!