Why every beer lover should home brew

Forget viscous, enamel-stripping concoctions served by the ladle from a bathtub. Homebrew is like another grain-and-yeast favourite: bread. It’s hard to beat a fresh loaf hot from the oven. And similarly, fresh beer brewed at home can match – or even surpass – what’s available in our shops, pubs and bars.

Why homebrew?

Not only can you create some of the best beers you'll ever try at home, it will also help you appreciate beer even more says Mark James, Beer Hawk's Beer Buyer.

Things have never been better for the discerning beer drinker. With an unprecedented vista of styles, tastes and experiences merely a mouse click away, why should we bother to take the time to make beer at home?

Many, or even most, of the brewing heroes of the craft beer scene started out by making beer at home. Stone, Mikkeller, and our own Brewdog, did just that. Given the expense of setting up a full commercial brewery – and how inexpensive it is to do it at home – it makes complete sense to try it out on a smaller scale first before taking the plunge.

And that leads neatly into the next point: it’s not that hard. Fermentation is a natural phenomenon, and yeast are all too happy to make sweet grain juice into beer, given half a chance. Control and consistency take skill and experience, but as a starting homebrewer you don’t need to worry too much about that.

"There's nothing from stopping the homebrewer from adding vast amounts of exotic hops"

You have the luxury to avoid cost and scale, and have a crack at making exactly the beer you want to taste. A lot of modern craft brewing tries to capture as much hop character as humanly possible, and nothing’s stopping a homebrewer from adding vast amounts of exotic hops at the last moments of the boil, minimising the vaporisation of precious oils.
Furthermore, homebrewing educates and advances one’s appreciation of all beer. Smell some hops. Chew some malted and kilned barley. But perhaps don’t eat too much live yeast; the flavours yeast imparts are produced in the fermentation process, and live yeast has a lively effect on the gastro-intestinal system.

Homebrewing is a social hobby, providing great beer for yourself, friends, family, and guests.