How good is beer! You know what’s better than beer? Brewing your own beer. Don’t tell me you’ve never sat at a pub drinking a nice cold beer and thought about what it would be like to run a brewery. Beer on tap, all day, every day. Well, you may not own a brewery but you certainly can have that dream of beer on tap all day, every day through home brewing. And it’s not just the ever flowing supply of beer that’s the benefit of brewing your own beer. Below we’ve listed a few other benefits to help persuade you into the art of homebrewing.
Honey, I’m saving money!
Beer is getting expensive these days. As governments continue to add taxes to beer and the price of a schooner gets higher and higher (especially with craft beer), drinking beer can make a serious dent to the bank account. By brewing your own beer, the average cost of a bottle can be as low as $1! “Honey, I’m saving money!” is what you’ll be saying to convince your significant other about your new hobby.
Get creative and experiment
Everyone needs a creative outlet and beer can provide you that. It allows you to get creative with your recipes and experiment with flavours and styles. None more evident than the rise of experimental craft beers flavours (just look at GABS festival taplist each year!). Brewing will allow you to develop a new set of skills and the result will be a product that you will want to share with friends and family. And nothing is better than enjoying the fruits of your own labour.
Long, rich history of brewing
There’s evidence that beer (or something resembling beer) was brewed way back in the time of the ancient Egyptians. Throughout the ages and cultures of the world, beer has been present. By home brewing, in some small scale, you’ll be joining that long and rich history of brewers. And with the wonders of the internet, you can even recreate history with your brews. You can follow the German beer purity law – Reinheitsgebot and recreate those recipes dating back to 1516. You can follow in the footsteps of Belgian monks who were actively brewing Belgian style beers back in the 7th and 8th century. You even try your hand at some of the old brewing techniques like the Finnish style Sahti which doesn’t use hops or boiling, or the Stone beer method of adding hot rocks to boil wort.
You’ll no longer see beer as just beer
Ever painted a house? At the end, did you get a new appreciation for professional house painters? Same goes for brewing beer. You’ll learn to appreciate what it takes for all those brewers to make the beers you love to drink. Through the brewing process you’ll understand the effort and skill to making a great beer. You’ll start to develop the tastebuds to understand the different flavours of
hops and malts used. The yeast strains and the hard work and dedication it takes to make truly great beer. You’ll no longer see that carton of beer as just beer, it’ll be a product full of intricate little parts that all came together to make that beer. And you will enjoy it more for knowing that.
Beer is social
Beer is a social beverage. And so is brewing of said beer. Through brewing you will meet some great people along the way who love nothing more than to talk about their homebrew and share their homebrew. There is thousands of Facebook groups, there’s brew club communities across the country. You can also get friends and family members involved to help you out in your brewing. They will be willing taste tasters and they can be good for all that cleaning you need (and will hate) to do!
It’ll save your life!
I’m not taking the piss here, beer is actually good for you. Beer contains antioxidants, fibre, protein, vitamin B and is 95% water which you should be drinking 2L a day of as it is! But in all seriousness, research has shown that beer (in moderation) can help lower bad cholesterol, strengthen bones, prevent kidney stones and reduce heart related diseases. It can also help improve
memory and cognitive functions and reduce stress and improve mental health. Why wouldn’t you brew beer – it’s saving your life!
It’s just a great hobby!
If nothing else, brewing is a great hobby. Nothing better than being in the garage all day brewing a beer, drinking a beer and just letting all the problems and stresses of the world fade away.
Advocating Beer Variety 