Is It Possible To Brew a Beer as Good as Top Quality Craft Beer?
Approved by:
Paige Master, Gainesville Weddings in Gainesville Florida
Regular people have been brewing their own beer for centuries. Here in the United States, quite a few of those early settlers who founded our country happened to be home brewers, including “The Father of our country” George Washington. In 1919, the “Great Experiment” made it criminal to make beer in the U.S., though of course we are all aware that didn’t stop people. Malt extract was widely, and legally, sold throughout prohibition, and it actually commonly displayed a warning not to add water and yeast, because alcohol could well result. That was a dark time for brewers, and you can probably imagine that quite a lot of the beer produced in people’s homes back then was just not very tasty.
The good news is, the Great Experiment came to an end in 1933, however one key thing was missed – winemaking in the home was legal, although the particular law permitting home winemaking just didn’t specify beer. This oversight was finally corrected in 1978, when Jimmy Carter authorized H.R. 1337, which contained an amendment exempting home brewed beer for family consumption from being taxed. As I write this, home brewing is legal in almost every state (tough luck, Mississippi and Alabama).
Though Prohibition really was a massive disappointment for the commercial brewing industry in the U.S., the decade of the ’90s brought about a revolution of sorts. The so-called microbrewery trend brought to the U.S. varieties of beer many of us had never tasted before. There were lots of fantastic, neighborhood brew-pubs appearing across the country. At the same time, there were lots of not-so-good places as well. Now it is a couple years into the second decade of the 2000s, and now I can honestly say that the beer we find in stores today is so much better than it was 20 years ago. Most of the lower-quality breweries have faded away, though the really good places continue to turn out better and better product, year after year. It’s hard not to ask yourself why you would consider brewing your own beer. I mean, can you create a brew with the same quality as a Stone Ruination IPA, or an Old Rasputin Imperial Stout?
I’m happy to say, absolutely yes! You probably won’t do it from the start, it takes a commitment to learning the craft, but the reality is that the ones brewing your all-time favorite micro-brewed beer got their start through home brewing.
You probably won’t brew a beer quite as good as those world class breweries the very first time. But you can brew a really good beer from your very first batch The very first brew will be one that you’ll brag about, one that will put a smile on your face the moment you sip it and know you made it yourself. And, setting aside the occasional mishap, every batch you make will be a little bit better than previous attempts. Though I encourage you to aspire to make a beer that tops the best you can purchase, most of the enjoyment to us home brewers is brewing often, improving slightly with each effort. That, and of course sharing our finished beer.
If you’d like to take your home brewing to the next level, you can find some great information at AllGrainBrewing.org.
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