==== ==== Please check out The Home Brewing Academy for great tips on Home Brewing. www.besthomebrewingpractices.com ==== ====
During Prohibition in the 1920's homebrewing became greatly popular and illegal. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, home beer brewing to a odd turn. The constitutional amendment repealing Prohibition allowed the production of wine at home but failed to add beer in its wording keeping homebrewing illegal. This ended up making homebrewers no different than back woods moonshine runners. It also made getting supplies much more difficult. President Carter changed this in 1979 when he signed the Cranston Act which removed federal prohibitions on homebrewing. This opened up the hobby to Americans and started a new generation of home brewers. Many people, in their search for good beer, have turned to homebrewing. It's easy to make a beer that is better than commercial brews in many parts of the world. Others homebrew simply because it is cheap. Today there are more than 600,000 home brewers across the country and the quality of ingredients and advice for homebrewers has improved. Today it is easier than ever to create your favorite brew right in your own home, home brewing kits have come a long way over the years and with little time and allot of patience you can enjoy your own fine hop creations. Most kits come with everything you need from a Brew Keg Fermenter, hopped malt extracts (beer mix) and reusable plastic bottles, and the process takes about 2 weeks "that's where the patience comes in". You can make just about any style beer that you find at the local distributor and many recipes are available online. Beer Brewing Tips: Try different things in your beer. Add some spices. I've read of people using syrups. There are no hard and fast rules. Some of the greatest beers I have tried broke the rules. Just because it sounds sick doesn't mean it will be. Always keep brew logs! Even if you are using a kit. I once made an excellent hefeweizen, but didn't take any notes. A went back to the brew shop but didn't know what yeast I used. With notes, if you make a mistake, you will know what to change. Buy bulk hops as much as possible. You might not need a full pound of cascade or hallatauer hops, but quantity is always best. Buying hops online is usually cheaper, even with shipping. The night before you are going to bottle your beer, set all needed bottles on your kitchen counter top and fill each bottle with water and Star San solution. Let these bottles soak overnight. Dry hopping can add floral character to the beer. The dry hop can be added in the secondary or in the keg. To add the dry hop, add about a quarter to one ounce of the hop in a grain bag and leave them in the beer for a week. This only adds a nice flower aroma to the beer and does not change
the taste in any manner. Distilled water should not be used as it lacks minerals and nutrients that are required for proper yeast fermentation. On the other hand city (chlorinated) water can ruin the taste of the beer completely. The best kind of water is well water or spring water.
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==== ==== Please check out The Home Brewing Academy for great tips on Home Brewing. www.besthomebrewingpractices.com ==== ====