Home Brewing Beer

There are a lot of great brands of booze out there and all, but honestly I like to make my own whenever I can. If you want to get into the whole “eco-friendly” thing and not have it just be something that you just use as a badge, then getting into the DIY thing is really something you need to consider. After all, there really isn’t any way to be more eco-friendly than making things for yourself in a responsible way.

One of my favorite things to do in the world is brew my own beer. I wouldn’t exactly call myself the next Master Brewer at Sam Adams or anything, but I like to have fun and come up with different types of beer. These days, I use my own setup that I put together after years of trial and error, but I really wouldn’t recommend that any budding home brewers start off building their own sets. I started with a set that doesn’t even exist anymore, but there are a lot of great starter sets for anyone looking to get into home brewing. One of the best that I’ve found for the money is the Maestro Home Brew Kit.

Just so you know, I do have some pretty specific criteria here– the most important of which being a balance between price and usefulness for beginners. I mean, the reality is that the first time you make your beer you will suck at it. There’s really no getting around that. It’ll be drinkable and it will get you drunk, but you won’t really get into your stride. However, this doesn’t mean that you should just start using a crappy set just because it’s cheap. Even brewers with a lot of potential can be put off by a bad first experience with a cheap starter kit that produces crappy beer. The great thing about this set is that it also includes an automatic siphon, which is a lifesaver when you finally get into bottling. All in all, it’s a great set to get started on, and it won’t break your bank if it turns out that you’re really not as into home brewing as you may have thought.

jareds | My Bio & Articles

Jared Skye is an environmental scientist and author of sustainability and self-sufficiency themed media.