We here at DCBeer.com have a great time drinking craft beer, but what isn’t always apparent from our posts is that most of us brew our own beer as well! We all love the craft beer community that is increasingly blossoming in the District, but there is a very lively hombrewing community as well! Recently, Andrew brewed a Belgian wit and he was lucky enough to have Jonathan Reithmaier (check out Jonathan’s blog here for some expert discussions of coffee, among other things!) on-hand to videotape the process. We thought we’d share this video with you so you can see the way a basic extract batch of homebrew comes together. Be mindful of the fact that this video boils (literally!) a two to three hour process into two minutes. Great beer, sadly, cannot be made in minutes, but we can assure you that the process produces wonderful results!
Homebrew: Belgian Wit from Jonathan Riethmaier on Vimeo.
Still here? More importantly…still interested? We assume the answer is yes! (How could it not be?) We’re going to be putting out some articles geared toward aspiring (or already established) homebrewers, and first we want to give you a list of resources to check out. Stay tuned as we post a bare bones equipment guide over multiple installments so you’ll know what kinds of equipment you’ll really need to start brewing your own beer.
Let’s get you to the goods! Here’s a list of some great resources for homebrewers!
The seminal homebrewing primer is Charlie Papazian’s (founder of the American Homebrewers Association and head of the Brewers Association of America) The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Charlie strikes a good balance between keeping things simple and not dumbing it down too much all the while reassuring the fledgling homebrewer-to-be that everything will be okay through the mantra “Relax, Don’t Worry, Have a Homebrew.”
John Palmer’s How to Brew is also an amazing resource. Great information for homebrewers of all experience levels. Even better? The first edition is free online!
BrewAdvice.com is a community of homebrewers who answer all kinds of questions from the mundane to the ultra-complicated.
HomeBrewTalk.com is perhaps the ultimate resource. The collective experience level is here is just insane. Whether it’s equipment, recipes, fermentation, or anything else, you can be sure you will find an answer here.
Other homebrewers, especially those I’ve encountered through Twitter and DCHomebrewers, are wonderful resources. The best thing is you will almost never find a homebrewer who doesn’t want to talk homebrewing. It’s inconceivable to me that you’d find someone who fit that bill.
Lastly, but definitely not leastly, your local homebrew shop (especially MyLHBS at Seven Corners) is a phenomenal resource. This is what these folks do for a living after all; they are usually experienced homebrewers who are all to happy to answer your questions and point you to what you need.
Have your own resources that we missed? Leave them in the comments! Stay tuned for the bare bones equipment guide, coming to a favorite local DC beer blog near you!
