How’s it going today my friend? At the time of writing this it is Friday, which mean as soon as I get this done it is time to crack open a home brew and enjoy the day… TGIF baby!
Speaking of homebrew… I do get a slight chuckle anytime I get asked the question how to make craft beer at home… and the reason I have this very small chuckle is that I believe there is a misconception between homebrew and craft beer.
I believe that some people, and not saying you, BUT some people think there is a difference between craft beer and home brewed beer…
Now don’t get me wrong…
… when I say home brew I am not talking about beer made from the beer kits aka the can of goo… what I am referring to is All Grain Beer made at home.
You see Craft Beer is simply All Grain home brew made on a bigger scale…
Where at home you would typically make 5 – 10 gallons of beer… in a micro brewery you could be making 5, 10 and even 1000s of times that amount…
BUT the beer is the same!
The process of making Craft Beer and All Grain home brew is the same.
OK enough on that… I just get on a tangent some times as I own a small brew pub where we brew our own craft beer… it is the same beer I brewed at home, just on a bigger scale.
Alright so how to make craft beer at home… lets get at it.
Lots of Content on This Site
I have tons of post on this site that will show you the step by step process of making beer.
If you have never in your life ever brewed any beer at all than I do recommend that you step back from all grain brewing and brew 1 – 2 beers from a kit.
I find this is important as it helps you to learn the process one step at a time…
Making beer from a kit is much easier than jumping straight into making all grain beer… AND it shows you how to ferment your beer, condition your beer, bottle your beer… and the importance of cleaning and sanitizing.
It also gets you use to some of the equipment you are going to use like a fermenter, etc.
Brew a couple of batches of beer from beer kits… put the bottles of beer away for a few months as they will taste better if you do… than move into All Grain Brewing… you will be glad you got the basics down pat if you do.
The following are two links to help you brew a couple Beers from Kits:
==> This post will show you the equipment I recommend you start with and the kit comes with everything you need to get started plus ingredients to do one batch of beer:
==> This post will walk you through the process of making your first beer from a kit:
Moving Onto Craft Beer AKA All Grain Beer
OK so once you get your first batch of beer brewed from a kit and are ready to move on to all grain brewing… or maybe you just ignored my suggestion and are heading directly into the advanced level stuff… this is what you are going to need to do:
First you will need to get the brewing equipment.
There are two sides to brewing beer…
A Cold Side and a Hot Side.
1) The Cold Side – this is where you ferment, condition and bottle or keg your beer.
The equipment you need for that is listed in the two links I just gave you.
2) The Hot Side – this is where you take the grains and turn them into beer.
Here you are going to need brewing vessels aka kettles.
Depending on which method of brewing you choose will determine how much equipment you need to purchase. The more equipment means the more expensive it is to start brewing.
Lucky for you I specialize in what is called BIAB brewing… or brew in a bag. It is the least expensive form of all grain brewing out there and makes excellent beer.
You can learn exactly how to do BIAB Brewing and what Equipment you Need here:
What Craft Beer are You Going to Brew?
Now onto the fun part…
What beer are you actually going to make?
There are recipes literally everywhere… some are better than others.
But since I’m such a great guy and have your back… and since you are asking how to make craft beer at home… well I’m going to let you in on a little secret.
Some companies…. such as Adventures in Homebrewing have put together All Grain Beer kits based on famous craft beers from around the world.
These kits come with everything you need to make your favorite craft beer. Ingredients, grains, hops, yeast and exact instructions for making the beer I.e. the Recipe.
So that is definitely where I recommend you start.
Here is a post about Adventures in Homebrewing that I did and it actually has a link to these Craft Beer kits:
And There You Have It
Check out those posts and you will find more than enough information to get your first beer brewing up like a champ.
If you need any help at all drop a comment in below and I will be sure to help you out my friend! Happy brewing!