h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have recently discovered this wonderful hobby. The perfect one for all beer snobs. You get some hops, malts, etc and brew a beer exactly to your liking. Well okay sometimes you get a concoction that a alcholic dog wouldn't touch but heh. BEER!! is worth the risk! There is actually a law in the US that allows a individual to make a obsceane amout of beer (so long as he does not sell it!).

Here-here Yashi, let's have more talk of this home brewing. I too have caught the bug, and what a delightful infection it is. Laws vary widely from state to state regarding what you can and cannot do, but most have been relaxed to a point where a home brewer would need to brew a 5 gallon batch more than 100 times a year in order to bother anyone - other than one's spouse, the neighbors that live downwind on brewing days, and anybody that doesn't like the sound of slurred speech broadcasted with a bullhorn at 3 AM - but that may just be in my area.

Yep, homebrewing is the perfect hobby for the true beerlover, especially for a chemical engineer who was once a cook for seven years! I just got into the whole thing in November 1999 when a friend bought me a couple of beginner's books. I have since made nine batches of everything from a hoppy lager to porter to weizen, and even a traditional mead (not a true beer, I know, but delicious!). Most of them turned out very good! It's surprisingly easy to make. So much variety. And I carefully design all my own recipes, so it's truly my own creation with its own uniqueness, distinctly mine. Yummy!

I have enjoyed this hobby since the ripe age of 16... the crafty kid doesnt bother with the liquor store... and there arent any laws prohibiting the sale of grain and hops to someone under 21.... however.... I may have been taken advantage of when I bought my 100,000 btu propane stove... actually... I was taken advantage of.... all you need to start is a bucket... well.. you need a little bit more.... check out the start up kits at your local brewing store.... or you could buy some online... BUT WHATEVER YOU DO!!!! DONT BREW THE BEER IN A BAG!! AND DONT USE HOPPED EXTRACTS!!!... get a kit involving a food grade plastic fermentor... and fresh ingredients... after you taste your first batch you will find yourself at the county reastaurant supplier buying yourself an eight gallon stainless stockpot with a bottom spout.... I order all my equipment online now... http://www.cellar-homebrew.com/indexyh.html but if you want to shop around then you can find links to lots of willing suppliers and purveyors of equiptment and ingredients here.... http://www.beertown.org/AHA/Zymurgy/zymmain.htm not to mention some expert advice.... the magazine is a must for the homebrewer... although I find the best advice is in the "best of zymurgy books" which are occaisionally on the shelf at places like borders or barnes and noble.... I bet amazon has some... your beer book should bear the name "Charlie Papazian" at least as editor.... and I have already made this entry long and dull ... but if you have read this far all I can say... if you love beer.... and you like to make a mess... this is a hobby that you should take up... and happy brewing...

Here's something for you advanced brewers to try. Your batch will come out smooth and strong. Once you have a large (say 10 gallons) batch of your favorite brew fermented (Monkeyboy, Herr Seitz and I like to do it up with lots of hops), siphon it off into a keg and hook it up to a CO2 tank. Now here's the brilliant part: Stick the whole keg/CO2 apparatus into an empty refridgerator and turn the temperature down WAY LOW. Wait a couple days then fill your bottles from the keg. When you clean the keg after blowing it out, you'll find a layer of snow on the bottom. When you open one of the bottles you'll find a pleasant-tasting, highly alcoholic beverege which is not entirely unlike beer. Bottoms up!