Beer Brews - Home Beer Brewing

Some homebrewers strive for perfection of specific styles of beer and enter their products in competitions. Others simply brew to have styles of beer on hand to drink and share that are otherwise commercially unavailable, or in an unacceptably poor state when they are available. Others, with access to extremely large quantities of bio-materials (grains, rice, beets, potatoes, etc.), produce their own alcohol fuel for powering farm equipment, as well as cars and trucks, at a considerable cost-savings relative to paying for fuel at the pump.

One of greatest draws of homebrewed beer is the opportunity to enjoy beer that is ‘live’. Since almost every beer available is pasteurized, it is almost impossible for the average beer drinker to enjoy beer in its natural state. Pasteurization requires the beer to be cooked, which results in the disappearance of natural carbonation. Commercial brewers collect the boiled off alcohol, mix it with the pasteurized beer and force carbonate the brew. The disadvantage of this is the fact that all of the yeast is killed in the process. Therefore, the beer tastes considerably dissimilar from ‘live’ beer (that is, beer containing live yeast). Moreover, the beer will not age properly without live yeast. Homebrew is almost never pasteurized, therefore the carbonation present is naturally produced by the yeast, the taste is a more natural flavor, and the beer will age, changing in taste, texture and color over time. Homebrew is one way the general public can enjoy beer in its natural state, although some draught beer offerings are not pasteurized. Another exception is a type of beer occasionally offered by pubs and breweries known as cask conditioned beer, which, like homebrew, is not pasteurized.