The art of home brewing

The life of a homebrewer includes a a kitchen filled with boiling pots, grains, and an endless amount of empty bottles awaiting malty liquid. Though homebrewing is not as glamorous compared to equipment and space of a brewery , the process and passion are still present.

A typical homebrewing set up. Photo Credit: James Smith

A typical homebrewing set up.
Photo Credit: James Smith

Paxton Trostle is an airline worker by night and a homebrewer by day. Trostle has been brewing for many years and says that, like many avid beer drinkers, home brewing was a way to create something specific to his preference and share his craft with others.

Trostle preparing the grains for the mashing process. Photo Credit: James Smith

Trostle preparing the grains for the mashing process.
Photo Credit: James Smith

Trostle and his homebrewing partner James Smith like to experiment when it comes to their beer. Smith and Trostle recently experimented with a smoky porter they call Smokey Ejection. Smith says it was a fun beer to brew and that the extra step in smoking wood really set their beer apart from anything they normally drink.

Homebrewing has a following of more than one million people in the United States today, but that was not always the case. It was illegal from the beginning of Prohibition until President Carter signed a bill in 1978 that lifted the restrictions of homebrewing and went into effect in 1979. However, there are still some restrictions when it comes to home brewed beer.

The American Homebrewers Association provides general laws in the United States regarding homebrewing and has an option on their website to look at each individual state’s laws regarding brewing at home.

Beer Review: Four Peaks Peach Ale

While the rest of the nation prepares for the cooler weather of fall with seasonal releases of pumpkin ales, Arizona continues to bask in the sunlight of triple digit temperatures accompanied with light beers. Fruity beers to be precise.

With the can release of Four Peaks Brewery‘s Peach Ale, the remainder of summer becomes a bit more bearable.

Four Peaks Peach Ale Photo credit: Renee Apodaca

Four Peaks Peach Ale
Photo credit: Renee Apodaca

The initial pour releases a sweet aroma of peaches that is not overpowering. The color is golden with minimal head. The first taste welcomes the distinct peach flavor. The peach’s sweetness does not overwhelm the palette, but instead delivers a well balanced fruit flavor. According to Four Peaks website, there are nine IBUs which means there is minimal bitterness.

The absence of bitterness and the fruity content of Four Peaks Peach Ale makes it a great stepping stone into craft beer drinking for those who tend to shy away from beer as their beverage of choice. It is light and refreshing. The low alcohol content of 4.2 percent makes it easy to consume after a day in the Arizona sun.

For those who wish to pick up a six-pack, Four Peaks provides a handy look up tool to find the nearest location selling their beer.

A beginner’s guide to beer terminology

Ask any craft beer enthusiast and he or she will agree that the love of craft beer becomes an indefinite lifestyle. The excitement that comes with the release of beloved seasonal brews, learning about the brewing methods and ingredients, and tasting the distinct flavors of each beer becomes a culture all of its own. In order to truly appreciate craft beer, knowledge of everyday terminology is a must.

Here is a list of common terms thanks to Betty Crocker:

  • Alcohol by Volume (ABV) – The amount of alcohol in beer represented as a percentage. It usually ranges from 3% to 8%, although some beers may have a higher ABV.
  • Ale – Beer with top-fermenting yeast that provides a fruity (and even spicy) taste.
  • Alpha Acids – The bitterness in beer made from the chemical compounds of boiling hops.
  • Bitterness – Bitterness in beer is caused by hops.
  • Bottle Conditioned – Re-fermentation of beer in the bottle resulting in natural carbonation. Yeast will be present at the bottom of the bottle and should remain there when pouring into a glass.
  • Brewpub – Restaurants that brew their own beer to be consumed on premises (and not sold in stores).
  • Cask-Conditioned Beer (aka “real ale”) – Re-fermentation in a keg that results in natural carbonation. They differ from draft beers because they have a lower level of carbonation.
  • Cellar Temperature – Ales served between 48°F and 55°F.
  • Cicerone – A beer expert who obtains certifications through passing  exams of the Cicerone Certification Program in Chicago.
  • Craft Beer – Brewers  that are small (produces less that six million barrels of beer), independent (owned by less than 25% of another alcoholic beverage company) and traditional (malt beer makes up at least 50% of its volume).
  • Dry Hopping – A process in which hop flavor is increased by adding hops to fermenting beer.
  • Fermentation – The metabolism of sugar by yeast and other microorganisms that produces alcohol and carbon dioxide as byproducts.
  • Growler – A half gallon container that allows patrons to take home beer from a brewery.
  • Head – The white foam on top of beer when poured into a glass.
  • Homebrew – Beer that is brewed at home for personal consumption.
  • Hops –The flower of Humulus lupus that creates the bitterness in beer, as well as flavor and smell. Hops extend shelf-life of a beer because of its preservative characteristics.
  • Hoppy – Description of a beer with a heavy hop aroma and bitterness.
  • International Bittering Units (IBU) – The measurement of bitterness in beer.
  • India Pale Ale (IPA) –A type of beer that has high levels of hops and ABV.
  • Lager – Beers with bottom fermenting yeast at a temperature  between  48° F and 55° F that produces a crisp flavor.
  • Malt – A grain used in beer that goes through a malting process and starts  breaking down starch into simple sugars.
  • Microbrewery – A small brewery that brews its own beers and sells 75% of it off site.
  • Session Beer – Beer with low alcohol content intended to be consumed in one session without getting drunk.
  • Top Fermenting – Ale yeasts that form at the top of a fermenter once the fermentation process ends.
  • Wort – Unfermented beer.
  • Yeast – Fungi that metabolizes sugar and turns it into alcohol.

This list is a great starting point to familiarize newcomers with typical beer jargon. Don’t feel threatened or unconfident if there comes a time when a new word or confusing concept is thrown into conversation, fellow brew drinkers would be more than happy to indulge in an explanation!

Then and now: Is beer a man’s drink?

Imagine a gorgeous gradient of gold poured into a glass. Frothy, white foam tops it. The aroma that lingers is a malty scent. The taste is crisp, refreshing to the palette. This is beer.

Though the description beautiful, beer has carried a masculine connotation. But this was not always the case as women (called brewsters) were in charge of the beer scene thousands of years ago. In an article from beer historian Alan D. Eames, he examines the role women had in early times:

Brewster is the feminine form of the word brewer and it is likely that a woman presided over the birth of beer some ten thousand years ago. This most ancient of women’s skills was probably learned before the first baking of bread and certainly before the appearance of wine.

Traditionally, historians locate the birthplace of beer in the areas of ancient Babylon, Sumeria, and Egypt. New findings, however, indicate that beer may have first been brewed in the Amazon basin some ten thousand years ago. Certainly, early civilizations of Amazonia had all necessary components available to brew the same styles that continue to survive today among the tribes of Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador.

Four thousand years before the birth of Christ, women brewers enjoyed great prestige making dozens of kinds of beer in Babylon and Sumeria. Called “Sabtiem,” Sumerian brewsters had the distinction of being the only tradespeople with private deities. Ninkasi–“the lady who fills the mouth”–and the goddess Siries watched over the daily ritual of brewing. Only women were allowed to brew and these Sabtiem made beers from such strange ingredients as spices, peppers, tree bark, and powdered crab claws.

Despite the historical role women have played, beer is perceived as a man’s beverage of choice. In a most recent Gallup poll, 53 percent of men chose beer as their preferred drink while only 20 percent of women chose it.

“Beer is probably more of a man’s drink because it is so hoppy,” said Ana Falteisek, 21, a college student new to the drinking scene.  “Women don’t drink dark beer.”

Dark, hoppy beers are known for their bitter taste.

Ruana Silva, 24, said that the reason she doesn’t like beer is specifically because of the taste.

Most women tend to stray from strong, bitter taste and gravitate towards something much more light.

Light alternatives in beer have been created that greatly differ from their dark counterparts. Some beers are more floral, some malty, and some even offer sweet undertones. There is such a variety in the types of beer being brewed and marketed.

beer sampler

Photo credit: Renee Apodaca

“I would be more inclined to drinking beer if I found one that tastes good to me,” said Silva. “I tend to be drawn to more fruity and chocolate flavors.”