I received a gift certificate to Beer at Home for Christmas from my mother-in-law. Thanks, Linda! So this weekend, I’m going to brew a batch of American style IPA.

I’ve been experimenting with homebrew software and really like Beer Alchemy from Kent Place Software. I had a license a few years ago, but through multiple email and computer changes, I lost it. Not wanting to spend $30 on another license at the moment, I remembered that I had downloaded the Brew Pal iPhone app a few months ago.

Before my Beer Alchemy trial had expired, I formulated a big Imperial IPA recipe. Turns out it was too big for my setup. To do five gallons, I’d need a 10-gallon Mash/Lauter Tun, and I’ve only got a 5-gallon one. So I decided to dumb down the recipe and make a standard IPA (it was only later that I came to the obvious conclusion that I could brew a 3-gallon batch and it would fit).

Making cider: Here are two gallons of Cider I started. One will be dry and the other sweet.
So you want to try home brewing, but you don’t want to spend a lot of money on something that you’re not sure you’re going to like? Well, here’s a super easy way to get started without spending lots of money.

I’m talking about making hard cider. Technically, this isn’t really “brewing” since you’re not actually cooking anything. And it really has more in common with winemaking, than beer brewing, but it will get you off on the right foot.

Until last Sunday, I hadn’t brewed a batch of beer in a year. The reason for the delay was that I didn’t want to brew another batch until I could do it the “real” way.
 
For those unfamiliar with homebrewing, there are two methods: extract and all-grain. Until Sunday, I had been an extract brewer - that is someone who purchases a pre-made malt extract, adds water and hops and boils it all.