The Bar Towel

Interesting read.

http://www.thestar.com/living/food/arti ... e-big-boys

Nice to see the SOBs get some press.

Not sure about the writer's description of the brewing process though:

Most homebrewers wait about a week before bottling the beer, then give it a bit of sugar, and another hit of yeast, to induce a so-called secondary fermentation. From start to finish, beer-making usually takes two weeks.

Nice coverage indeed.

But yes, my average brews typically spend a week in the primary & 2 weeks in the secondary, with bottle conditioning after that.

Gedge wrote:Nice to see the SOBs get some press.

Not sure about the writer's description of the brewing process though:

Most homebrewers wait about a week before bottling the beer, then give it a bit of sugar, and another hit of yeast, to induce a so-called secondary fermentation. From start to finish, beer-making usually takes two weeks.

Hey there.
A few things got condensed in the editing process, including my description of the brewing process. Also lost to posterity were Derek's thoughtful comments on homebrewing.
One other thing that was edited out for space was a section about just why homebrewers can make such good beverages compared to other homemade alcoholic producers. Personally, I think the availability of top-of-the-line ingredients is the biggest factor. No winery or grapegrower worthy of the name would be caught dead shipping their best stuff to home winemakers. Some of it might be pride, some of it might be that they can get more money from ``real'' wineries, and some of it might be that grape juice/must is a hell of a lot more perishable than malted grain.
Cheers,
Josh Rubin

tuqueboy wrote:...One other thing that was edited out for space was a section about just why homebrewers can make such good beverages compared to other homemade alcoholic producers. Personally, I think the availability of top-of-the-line ingredients is the biggest factor. No winery or grapegrower worthy of the name would be caught dead shipping their best stuff to home winemakers. Some of it might be pride, some of it might be that they can get more money from ``real'' wineries, and some of it might be that grape juice/must is a hell of a lot more perishable than malted grain....

That's interesting. I'm not a wine drinker, and I didn't realize that homemade wine was not up to snuff. But I have talked to several guys who homebrewed "back in the day" but gave it up because of lack of resources, poor results, and/or inconvenience. Which supports your point, because the accesibility and quality of ingredients has certainly improved (largely thanks to the Internet, maybe?), even in the brief time that I've been doing it.

Josh - thanks for your response. Would love to read the full text if it is available somewhere. Enjoyed the article regardless.

I agree that quality of ingredients is a huge factor. So too is quality of information. When my university buddies and I took a shot at homebrewing in the early 90s we had mixed results - nothing undrinkable, but mostly the fruity stuff people tend to associate with homebrew. This was extract brewing of course, and the supply store had no interest in letting us know about all-grain brewing, temperature control, hop additions, etc. etc.

The web puts homebrewers in touch with knowledge and support networks that just were not there 15-20 years ago. I think this is one of, if not the main reason, I have brewed more than twice as many beers in the last 10 months than I did in the two years we were at it in the 90s before we gave up.

On the home wine maker vs home beer maker:

Most "wine makers" at home are making kits that are "ready" in 6-8 weeks at the most. This stuff is ok (I don't mind some of the high end kits if they are properly aged), but it is a stretch to call the people making it "brewers." There are a few home wine makers making outstanding wine from fresh must/grapes/other fruits, but it takes at least 1 year for white wine and 2 years for red, plus you need/should have a barrel for aging. Most people don't want to wait that long, nor do they want a barrel room in their house (although I have seen them).

Compare that to beer. Most of the traditional kits (I'm talking that junk in a can, or the overly concentrated wort in a bag) make shitty beer. Same with most BOPs. These products are mainly servicing clientele who just want to drink cheap beer. Yes, I realize the new kits (Brewhouse and Festabrew) are much improved, but they still leave something to be desired (in my opinion). However, with a bit of extra effort, you can make oustanding beer at home, and with the right setup, it can be ready in as little as 2 weeks.

In Canada, there are a ton of people making cheap wine and beer kits because alcohol is very expensive here, whereas there is a very small kit market in the US, where alcohol is comparatively cheap.

All grain homebrewing is big in the US, in part because of the growing presence of craft beer, and there is almost no such thing as pre-hopped wort kits or BOPs.

In Canada, we have almost the complete opposite - a comparatively weak craft beer scene and a ton of crappy wort kits (available in most supermarkets). This results in uneducated beer drinkers; not only do they not know what good craft beer is, but you mention "homebrew" to them, and they say, "yeah, my brother/friend/uncle used to make it, that stuff is terrible/smells like skunk/gave me the shits."

Fortunately, things are slowly improving, but it is an uphill battle.

Hey there.
A few things got condensed in the editing process, including my description of the brewing process. Also lost to posterity were Derek's thoughtful comments on homebrewing.

Hi Josh, it was a great article non the less. I especially appreciated your mention of homebrewers retail both in the article and in having our url in the sidebar.

Any time you want to have a beer and talk about homebrewing supplies and retailing just give me a shout.

Cheers!
Brian
Homebrewers Retail