I enjoy brewing beer at home the traditional way using just the basics of grain and hops (and a few other healthy ingredients). I started brewing more than 20 years ago although only from kits until about 1996 when I had a go at full mash brewing from grain for a year or so. After that, I only brewed about one brew (kit brew) a year until late in 2005 when I decided to get back into all grain brewing again.
At that time, forums had appeared on just about every subject you wanted and I found Jim’s Beer Kit to be a very friendly site and a good source of information. I now help to develop and run The Home Brew Forum and we try to ensure that it is always friendly and helpful as well as being informative for the beginner and more advanced brewer at the same time.
My Brewing Equipment
It is possible to brew beer with very little equipment but if you get into brewing and want to save a bit of time and money, a few pieces of equipment can be put together by a keen DIYer.
One of the most useful devices is an insulated mash tun as this helps to maintain a steady grain temperature during the mash period. Another very useful device is a Counter-flow chiller/cooler coil. This allows the beer to be cooled rapidly after boiling which enables the yeast to be pitched more quickly.
Finally, the temperature of the beer during fermentation can have a significant effect on the final flavour of the beer – a temperature controller is another useful addition.
Lastly, you may be interested to know how I brew beer.