Homebrewing can be a barrel of laughs
There's a certain alchemy involved in brewing the perfect pint. I should know.
As a cash-strapped student I dabbled in the art of beer making many times, but despite my best efforts all I ever ended up with was a pint of disappointing sludge instead of the creamy bronze bitter I was aiming for.
Twenty years later – and with the recession starting to bite – I decided to have another go.
After all, a pint of homebrew can cost as little as 30p compared to an average price of 3.20 in a pub.
With my husband recently made redundant, a trip to the local pub was rapidly becoming an expensive treat, so I went in search of a beer-making kit.
This proved quite a challenge.
The girl in the local chemists just looked at me blankly like I was speaking in some foreign tongue, while the health food shop stopped selling them years ago.
Eventually, after half a day spent playing detective, I managed to find one for sale in Wilkinson.
For 20, I got a five gallon plastic bucket and lid, a siphon tube and clip, a hydrometer, a tub of sterilising solution, a packet of yeast and a can of malt extract.
All I needed to add was a bag of sugar and some water and I was good to go.
Now, as I've already mentioned, my previous efforts at home brewing have been pretty awful (and almost undrinkable), but today's kits make it all incredibly easy.
As long as you've got somewhere to store your booze at room temperature while it ferments and have a pressurised barrel (another 20 from Wilkinson) or bottles to decant your beer into when ready, then everything else is straightforward.
Four weeks later and, all being well, you'll be able to enjoy the fruits of your labour.
I've already brewed a couple of different beers since the beginning of the year and plan on being a bit more adventurous with my third batch, adding extra hops and sugar for a stronger brew.
If all this sounds daunting, it's not, as there are plenty of good books on the subject as well as a number of excellent websites.
One of the best is Jim's Beer Kit (www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk), a treasure trove of information on all aspects of home brewing with help and advice only a mouse-click away.
I'd also recommend paying a visit to the Craft Brewing Association's website (www.craftbrewing.org.uk) where you'll be able to find information about local homebrew clubs and introductory courses.
But is brewing your own ale a greener alternative to supping a pint in your local pub?
The jury is still out on this one, I'm afraid.
If you live next door to a microbrewery that only uses organically grown ingredients, then the pub comes out on top, but if you drink imported bottled beers when out and about then homebrew is an obvious winner as it doesn't have any of the associated beer miles.
A hand-pulled locally brewed pint from big, reusable barrels, served in reusable pint glasses is probably the greenest option for most people, especially if it's served at room temperature.
That said, once you've managed to source locally grown organic ingredients for your homebrew – cutting out the use of harmful and damaging pesticides – then homemade beer comes in a very close second.
Even better, if you stick to using reusable bottles or drawing your beer from a barrel, the difference between the two is reduced even further.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Stamford
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -5 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
