February 2008 Archives

In the last 15 years half the amount of acreage dedicated to growing hobs is lost. Because of this the amount of hops on the market has fallen, this makes it difficult for many of Dallas home brew supply companies from being able to supply some of the favorite aroma hops to their customers.

Texans have a reputation of doing everything in a big way and home brewing is no exception. But it will probably take at least five years before the current hops shortage is gone and growers can supply the Dallas home brew supply market with the product. The prices of hobs in Dallas have gone up more than 10-fold in the last decade for the most important ingredient to the home brew market. Dallas home brew supply companies are forced to import hobs from other regions.

The commercial brewers don't have the same problems as the Dallas home brew supply companies as many commercial brewers use hop extracts that can be stored for years without losing their aroma and taste, but it is not a product aligned with the home brewing market. While another key ingredient often supplied by Dallas home brew supply companies barley, has not been affected by the hops shortage, even though the amount grown in the United States is significantly lower than in many other countries.

You cant brew without hobs
Hobs provide the flavor to the brew, so with the shortage at Dallas home brew supply stores brewing beer as a hobby can become more expensive. Barley, the grain of choice for making the malt used in home brewing, needs the floral hops in order to make the distinctive taste of different styles of beer.

Having all the ingredients to make home brewed beer is only half the battle for someone who wants to make their own. The rest of the needed equipment is also available at any of the Dallas home brew supply shops, but a little bit of knowledge based on experience will also be nice to have. Most owners of these store also brew their own and may be willing to impart information based on their own experiences.

While the freshest hops make the best tasting beer, hops that are processed into plugs or pellets have a longer shelf life and require less room for storage at home or in the Dallas home brew supply shop. The choice is a personal one, based on experience from using both types. Buying hobs online can be cheaper than going to your own Dallas home brew supply store, so take a look on the internet.

It makes sense to start home brewing in Maine because there is a real home beer brewing culture in Maine. A great place to visit is the annual Maine Brewer's Festival, you can notice there that Maine has a wonderful appreciation of beer. The festival is a great place to hang out, sample delicious beer and listen to great music.Seeing people who know about beer and speak impassioned about beer is helpful when you are just getting started and is really an important part of home brewing in Maine. At the festival there is a ready supply of ingredients and equipment as well as people who know all about beer, store representatives are present to help you with home brewing in Maine

Learning from other people's errors is a good way to learn about home brewing, the real good home brewing stores in Maine are most of the time also the place that home brewers can get together to exchange knowledge and recipes. You can learn from books or websites but this cant compare with the advise from other home brewers from Maine.

Just look in your local directory or search online for businesses in your area that supply home brewing kits and take a look around. You may find things like recipes for healthier beers with less sugar or even fruit beers to satisfy the daily requirement of fruit!

You need to find the right store for your new home brewing hobby, a good store will not give you free advice and tips and not only the supplies you need to start home brewing in Maine, that is the right way to get the perfect brew. If you are inexperienced look out for a store that will help you out with detailed instructions and staff that are eager and willing to answer all your questions.

Because your first batch or two might not turn out the way you expected, it is best to start small when you start Maine home brewing. Brewing beer although not rocket science does take some time to master. Although you may have read up plenty of recipes and think that with all your research you are ready to buy the cool parts that will help your mini brewery get started, it's best to wait. Ease into the process by getting a starter kit first, you can get those in most Maine home brewing stores.

Don't be put off by the initial price when buying a starter kit, the initial investment may seem steep, most starter kits go for about a hundred dollars at least, but then each kit will let you brew about five batches That is about two cases of beer per brew. So each time you brew your own beer in your own house in Maine, you will get two cases of home made beer. Enough for a party or to last you weeks.

For thousands of years, people have been brewing alcoholic beverages in their own homes. Beginning in ancient Sumer (often referred to as Sumeria), where the fermentation process was discovered, A 3900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, contains the oldest surviving home made beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread.

"Ninkasi, you are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven, Puts in order the piles of hulled grains, You are the one who waters the malt set on the ground... You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweet wort... Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat, It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates."

The practice of brewing beer and similar beverages has been passed down from person to person, country to country and culture to culture for over 11,000 years. During that time, many different types and recipes for home made beer have developed. If you are looking to get into the art of home brewing yourself, trying out simple home made beer recipes is a good way to get your feet wet.

A Simple home made beer recipes
We assume that you have all the necessary equipment:

• a beer brewing kit like this one


• a large pot (ideally five gallon capacity and made of stainless steel or enamel)


• a long handled stirring spoon


• and bottles for storing the beer once it's done

Than you just need to gather the ingredients for your beer. You can check your local listings for a beer brewing supply store or even get them offline. (see here) There are several different home made beer recipes out there when it comes to beer. Each brewer may have their own secret ingredient or add some special combination of herbs or spices to give their beer a unique flavor that's all their own.

When you are first starting out, begin by testing some very basic home made beer recipes.
Your shopping list for most simple beginner's home brew recipes will look something like this:

• 3.5 lbs. of malt extract


• ½ lb. of crystal malt grain


• ¼ lb. of pale malt grain


• ¼ lb. of oat grain


• 1 to 2 oz. of hops


• 1 package of brewer's yeast


• 3/8 cup of corn sugar

To make your beer, steep the grains for 30 minutes. Once they have steeped for this long, strain them, and add them to the large brew pot along with a gallon of water and the malt extract. Allow this mixture to boil. As soon as it starts to bubble, add half of the hops and let it continue to boil for an hour. Remove the hops from the brew pot and add the rest of the hops. Let the mixture (also called wort) boil for another half an hour.

Once the mixture is done boiling, let it cool. After it has reached room temperature, strain the plant material from the wort and pour it into the large glass bottle in your beer brewing kit. Add the brewer's yeast, and place the airlock on the bottle. After 7 to 14 days, your beer should be done fermenting and ready to bottle.

More Home Made Beer Recipes
The recipe outlined here is only one of many. If you are looking for something a bit more advanced, look at the recommended products at this site. If you are looking for another simple and tasty way to brew all kinds of beer you should take a look at this site. You can choose a beer kit package by various factors such as colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin. There will always be home made beer recipes to your taste.

No supplier in your neighborhood? Buy your home brew supplies online.

A lot of people are trying their hand at home brewing making a brand of different drinks, from beer and wine to brewing their own root beer. For some people it is easy to find supplies because there is a home brew supply shop just around the corner, others are less fortunate and would be traveling many miles just to find such a shop, thus making the idea of home brewing less attractive. Luckily these people can get there home brew supplies online and have more choice and a better variety of products. Most home brew supplies online offer recipes and information on how your home brewing efforts achieve the best results.

What are you brewing?
Depending on what you want to brew, beer, wine or soft drinks there will be different equipment needed as well as many of the available home brew supplies online. For many first time home brewers, there are kits available that contain nearly everything that will be required to churn out the first batch of an alcoholic beverage or soft drink, and for the more adventurous there are home brew supplies online for working with different recipes and coming up with stronger versions of the same product.

Home brewing has been around for thousands of years and became extremely popular in the United States during the prohibition and today is undergoing a resurgence in popularity. Many of the companies selling home brew supplies online were not even around 20 years ago but grew into existence due to the increased demand for the products.

The Right Equipment Makes The Process Easier
Some potential home brewers may be reluctant to try their hand on this hobby due to some of the tales of early stills blowing up under pressure. While there may be a certain amount of potential for disaster, if done properly using the right equipment, available from those that sell home brew supplies online, there should be little worry about blowing up the house when brewing a keg of beer.

Home brewing is based on turning sugar into alcohol through controlled fermentation so with a starter kit, a fermentor and a siphon you can get started with home brewing your own beer, wine and/or soft drinks. Brewing in your own home shouldn't take a lot of work nor is a lot of experience needed. All can be done with many of the kits available from suppliers of home brew supplies online. These kits make it easy to test the home brewer's desire to brew their own without having to buy a lot of expensive equipment.

Basically, small scale home brewing is in many ways similar to the process used by large scale brewing companies, only less expensive because you only buy what is needed to mix up a small batch in the basement, attic or even kitchen if you are allowed. And buying your equipment and ingredients from a source of home brew supplies online will not put a big dent in the wallet.

Not having a local shop around that sells the equipment and ingredients needed for home brewing should not stop you from starting with this fun hobby. These days you can find plenty of online shops with home brew supplies. Ask around in forums to see which suppliers are best rated. And even if you do have a local shop nearby stop by a online home brew supplies shop just to check out the different recipes, you may just get inspired by them.