Valentine’s Day is coming up – it’s this Friday, by the way. Need a gift for the brewer or beer geek in your life? Show them how much you love them with the gear that will allow them to take their favorite hobby to the next level! Here are some gift ideas!

1. A Bag of Grain – For all-grain brewers, you can never have too much malt. A 50 lb. bag of two-row brewer’s malt will be enough to form the base for at least 4-5 recipes. You can be sure that this is a gift that will be put to good use!
2. Grain Mill – With all that grain, your homebrewer may want their own mill. After all, the grain will have the best flavor and efficiency of it’s milled on brew day. The American-made Barley Crusher can mill up to six pounds of malt a minute when you use an electric drill. The 15 lb. version has a hopper that will hold more than twice as much grain.
3. Mash-Lauter Tun Set-Up – If your homebrewer is eager to advance to all-grain brewing, they will need a mash tun (a separate vessel for mixing grains with water). Our cooler style mash-lauter tuns offer convenience and affordability. A stainless steel mash tun with false bottom can easily be the centerpiece of a state of the art home brewing system.
4. A New Fermenter – Allow your homebrewer to make even more beer with an extra fermenter! The 6-Gallon Poly-Fermenter is ideal for primary fermentations and has a spout for easy transfers. You can also choose from a variety of fermentation carboys.
5. Homebrew Draft System – Give your homebrewer the convenience of serving their homemade beer on draft! A standard draft system makes this possible. Also consider a kegerator conversion kit so your homebrewer can build their own kegerator!
6. Homebrew Equipment Kit – Maybe your beer lover has yet to begin homebrewing. In that case, get them a Beermaker’s Necessities Box, an equipment kit including all the tools of the trade. You can also choose an ingredient kit for their first batch. The only other thing you will need is a five-gallon brew pot.
7. A Homebrewing Book – Homebrewing is a constant exploration of techniques and ingredients. Help your homebrewer along on their journey with one of our popular homebrew books or DVDs.
8. Gift Card – Not sure what to get? Let your homebrewer choose for themselves exactly what they want! Gift cards from E. C. Kraus are a great option. (And they take the guesswork out of gift shopping!)

Are you a homebrewer? What would you like for Valentine’s Day?
————————————————————————————————————
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

There’s a nearly endless debate among brewers about the merits of two-row barley versus six-row barley. Some homebrewers have a preference for one over the other, but in fact, neither is “better” than the other. Both six-row and two-row malt have their place in craft and home brewing. This post will explain the difference between six-row and two-row barley and will help you make the best decision about which to use.
It’s important to keep in mind that as an agricultural crop, barley varies from season to season, from crop to crop, and from field to field. However, generally speaking…
Six-row barley is:

• arranged in six rows around the stalk
• smaller in kernel size than two-row barley
• higher in protein content
• higher in husk content

2 Row Barely is:

• arranged in two rows, on opposite sides of the stalk
• larger in kernel size
• lower in protein content
• lower in husk content

In the early days of colonization, six-row barley grew more readily in North America than two-row, whereas in Europe, six-row was primarily used for feed. Therefore it is more common to find six-row barley in American-style ales and lagers than it is to find it in traditional European styles. That said, modern advancements in agriculture have allowed both two-row and six-row barley to be grown in North America.
So, which should you use in your beer?
Because of the larger kernel, two-row barley provides more extract potential per pound than six-row barley: 37 points per gallon vs. 35. This often makes it more cost effective for larger breweries to use two-row, but for the average homebrewer the cost savings is negligible.
Though two-row barley offers more extract potential, six-row offers more diastatic power than two-row malt. This makes six-row barley ideal for brewing with high quantities of adjuncts and/or specialty grains. Because grains like rice and corn don’t contain the necessary enzymes for conversion, six-row is ideal for brewing adjunct lagers.
Here is a summary of the difference between two row and six row barley:

• Both two-row and six-row malt make for a great “go-to” base grain for many styles across the board, though you may get more extract per pound using two-row malt.
• The higher protein content in six-row malt may increase a beer’s body and head potential, but brewers should take care to get a good hot break to avoid haze formation later in the process.
• Six-row can be helpful when brewing a partial mash recipe. The extra diastatic power can help conversion of the mini-mash if there is a high proportion of adjunct or specialty grains.
• Six-row barley is most commonly used for American beers. Consider six-row if brewing traditional American styles such as American pilsner, American wheat beer, and American cream ale.
• Due to six-row’s smaller kernel size, grain mills may need to be set to a slightly smaller grind.

If you’re open to experimentation, try this: Brew two identical batches of beer, one using two-row malt and the other using six-row malt. Keep the hop schedules, yeast selection, and fermentation schedules the same. Can you tell a difference between two row and six row barley? What are the characteristics of each beer? Which do you prefer?
————————————————————————————————————-
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

Continuing our exploration of homebrewing terminology, this week we will focus on some characteristics and terms you may hear having to do with beer yeast. A basic understanding of these words will help you produce the beer you want to drink.

• Attenuation – Attenuation is a percentage that describes that amount of sugar consumed by yeast. If you want a beer that finishes dry, you should consider a highly attenuative beer yeast. Example: Wyeast 1028: London Ale has an attenuation of 73-77%.
• Flocculation – Flocculation describes the tendency of beer yeast to clump together and fall out of suspension. A well-flocculating beer yeast will be easier to clear. A yeast that doesn’t flocculate very well may cause haze or have an impact on flavor.
• Lipids – Lipids are a category of molecule that, among other things, include fats. Lipids are a natural component of malt and beer yeast need some lipids in order to reproduce. But any excessive lipids can negatively affect the head stability of your homebrew. Be careful when brewing with nuts…or bacon for that matter.
• Acetaldehyde – If you’ve ever had a beer that smelled like green apples you’ve probably picked up on acetaldehyde. It’s a natural by-product of fermentation, but excessive amounts smell like Granny Smith apples. Be extra careful with fermentation temperatures when brewing high gravity beers. Acetaldehyde can also indicate bacterial infection.
• Diacetyl – Another by-product of fermentation, diacetyl is a chemical that gives off a buttery aroma, just like movie theater popcorn. Brewers will sometimes utilize a “diacetyl rest” at the end of fermentation, a slight rise in temperature which encourages yeast to consume diacetyl. Low levels of diacetyl are considered acceptable in some styles of beer.
• DMS – DMS, or di-methyl sulfide, is yet another chemical compound produced by fermentation. It is also produced while heating wort. In large amounts, DMS smells like canned corn or cooked vegetables. To avoid DMS, seek a vigorous, rolling boil and leave the brew kettle uncovered. During fermentation, keep temperatures in check.
• Esters – Like phenols (see part 1), esters are an aromatic product of fermentation, usually described as fruity or spicy. Esters tend to be more common at higher fermentation temperatures. For some beer styles, esters are desired. Check the BJCP Guidelines for whatever style you’re brewing to find out if esters are appropriate. Esters can be manipulated by yeast selection and fermentation temperature.
• Autolysis – Autolysis is yeast death. It can cause off-flavors sometimes described as burned rubber. It isn’t very common, but if beer is left on the yeast in the fermentation vessel for too long and at too high a temperature, autolysis may occur.

Are there any other homebrewing terms you’d like to learn about? Share in the comments below!
————————————————————————————————————-
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

Picking up where we left off in Part 1, here are some more homebrewing terms that might cause some of us to scratch our heads and say, “huh?” Just remember not to let the jargon slow you down. Even without a firm grasp on the terms, you can still make good beer!

• Grist – Grist refers to the crushed grain that goes into your homebrew. Sometimes you’ll hear someone refer to the percentage of their grist, as in “the grist was made up of 80% Pilsner malt.”
• Gravity – Gravity is used to describe the amount of sugar in the wort or beer. The original gravity (OG) is the amount of sugar in the wort before fermentation; the final gravity (FG) is the amount of sugar left over in the beer after fermentation. Gravity is measured with a hydrometer and notated in specific gravity (eg. 1.048) or degrees Plato (12). When beers on a menu show their gravity, it usually refers to the OG.
• Racking – Racking is simply the process of siphoning the beer from one vessel to another, as when moving from primary fermentation to secondary. The goal is to take the beer off of the trub at the bottom of the fermenter.
• Trub – Trub (pronounced troob) refers to the hops, protein, and other material at the bottom of the kettle or fermenter. In the case of the fermenter, the trub will be made up of mostly dead and inactive yeast cells, but may have some other particulate in there as well. Brewers try to leave behind the trub when moving the wort into a fermenter or racking the beer from fermenter to fermenter.
• Whirlpool – After the boil, a whirlpool helps to cool the wort more quickly and causes the trub to collect in a nice pile at the bottom of the kettle.
• Infusion Mash – An infusion mash is the simplest form of mashing, in which the crushed grains are soaked in hot water at a steady temperature. (The other mashing methods are described here.)
• Saccharification – Saccharification is the process in when starches are converted into sugars. This takes places during mashing. (The root saccharo- means sugar. Yeast, or saccharomyces cervisiae, is the organism which consumes sugar to make beer or wine.)
• Tannins – Like wine, beer has tannins, too. Tannins can be found in grain and hops and can contribute a dry, astringent mouthfeel. The may or may not be desirable depending on the beer style.

Are there any homebrewing terms you’d like to learn more about? Leave a comment below!
———————————————————————————————————-
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

In October, I brewed a Belgian Cherry Dubbel and experimented with using fruit juice in the beer. To refresh your memory, the beer recipe called for adding one to two pounds of fruit per gallon of beer to the secondary fermenter. The recipe’s author, Randy Mosher, recommended going on the heavy side with the fruit. Since finding 10 pounds of black and tart cherries would have been a challenge (not to mention quite expensive), I opted to use cherry fruit juice instead.
For the black cherries I added one 12 oz. bottle of R. W. Knudsen’s Organic Black Cherry Juice Concentrate. According to the label, this was equivalent to about 4 lbs. of fruit. For the tart cherries, I used a 32 oz. bottle of Whole Foods brand tart cherry juice. I figured this equaled about 3 lbs. of fruit. I mixed a small sample with about two-ounces of the beer and decided the ratio would work.
After about four weeks in secondary, I bottled it up. Two weeks later, I served it at a homebrew festival.
So how did it turn out?
As is often the case, the beer got mixed reviews. (That’s ok — everyone has different tastes!)
Some people loved it. Several people commented on the wonderful cherry aroma. There were a couple guys in particular who were reminded about a certain cherry beer from their home state in New York. They came back again and again for more samples.
On the other end of the spectrum, one gentleman made a nasty face and said, “I’d rather keep fruit OUT of my beer!” And of course there were dozens of people who fell between the two extremes.
For my tastes, I found the beer to be very full-flavored, but a bit fruit forward — probably just young. It had a good balance between sweet and tart cherry flavor, but the beer came off as a little heavy on the caramel malt. I believe this made the black cherry flavor seem more pronounced than it really was. It’s also likely that the fruit juice contributes a more powerful flavor than the whole fruit would have. If I were to brew it again, I would cut back on the caramel malt (limit to ~1 lb. in a five-gallon batch) and reduce the fruit juice by about 25%.
Still, it’s an enjoyable beer to drink (despite a 7.7% ABV) and I expect it to age well. I will stash some bottles and try it again later in the winter. Based on my experience, the fruit flavors will balance out with time. I’d also like to try cooking with some of it. The beer could be reduced into a very tasty cherry syrup, which I imagine would be delicious drizzled over vanilla ice cream and chocolate cake…
In the end, it was a successful experiment that I can take into future batches of beer. As is often the case, this batch will inform every batch from here on out.
Have you ever tried using fruit juice in beer? What did you learn? Share in the comments below!
———————————————————————————————————
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

The only thing that might be better than a good homebrewed beer is good food made with homebrewed beer. Put them together this winter for the ultimate homebrew creation!
Here are three recipes for cooking with homebrew beer that will keep you nice and warm this winter – don’t forget to serve with a tasty brew!
Homebrew Beer Marinade
This recipe comes out of my favorite all-around cookbook, The Joy of Cooking. It works great for beef and pork, helping to tenderize the meat and improve flavor. Use it before stir-frying meat or for a standalone meat dish. Keep in mind that hops will come through in the dish if you use a hoppy beer. I suggest a brown ale or porter for the beef or pork. Feel free to tweak the recipe to suit your tastes!
Makes: 1 2/3 cups marinade (good for 3-4 lbs. meat)
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (12 oz.) flat homebrew beer
• 1 tbsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/8 tsp. hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:
Open a homebrew beer several hours before and allow it to go flat. (You can speed up the process by pouring the beer several times between two glasses.) Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Marinate meat for 2-12 hours. Have a homebrew!
25-Minute Bacon Beer Cheese Soup with Chicken
I recently stumbled across this recipe on the Slow Roasted Italian. Beer, cheese, bacon…who could ask for more? The author, Donna Elick, calls for witbier, which should contribute a subtle complexity from the coriander. You might also try a rye pale ale, bitter, or porter.
Makes: 6-8 servings
Ingredients:

• 6 slices thick cut bacon
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. ground chile de arbol (or cayenne pepper; to taste)
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup beer, Belgian style wheat beer
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cups half and half
• 8 ounces mild cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• chives
• croutons

Directions:
Roughly chop bacon and cook in a large pot until lightly crisp. Cut chicken in 1-inch cubes or smaller. Remove bacon from the pot and reserve, and then cook the chicken in the bacon fat. Remove chicken and reserve. Add the butter to the drippings then whisk in the flour and seasonings. Add the liquid ingredients. Whisk to combine and bring to a gentle simmer. Add cheese and mix until smooth. Add Worcestershire, bacon, and chicken and stir. Garnish with chives and crouton and enjoy with a homebrew!
Alaskan Stout Dessert Glaze
It recently occurred to me that my cherry dubbel would make an excellent sauce for chocolate cake or vanilla ice cream. Although this recipe calls specifically for Alaskan Stout, don’t be afraid to try it with a chocolate stout or other dark beer. Being creative is one of the great rewards of cooking with homebrew beer.
Makes: 12 servings
Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Alaskan Stout (or any homebrewed stout)
• 1/2 tsp. crushed coriander
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
Mix together ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. As soon as it starts to bubble, turn down heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes, skimming off any foam that appears. Allow to cool before serving. Serve over ice cream or cake.
Do you have any favorite recipes that involve cooking with homebrew beer? Share in the comments below!
——————————————————————————————————–
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He is a graduate of the Oskar Blues Brew School in Brevard, NC, and founder of the Local Beer Blog.

Wassail is a warm alcoholic drink mixed with spices and made with either wine, beer, cider, brandy, or a combination of more than one. It’s traditionally enjoyed during the week of Christmas, accompanying carolers as they go from house to house wishing good tidings. There’s also a lesser-known forms of wassailing, that of going to the orchards to bless the tress in hopes for a bountiful season.
You may be familiar with the carol “The Wassail Song”:

Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wand’ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year.

The word “wassail” likely predates the Christmastime association. It’s derived from the old English “waes hail” – a toast to good health – and is found in literature dating back to the eighth-century.
Whether you’re wassailing from house to house, blessing the apple trees, or just spending time with family this holiday, consider making some wassail with your own homebrew. The wassail recipe below calls for sherry or Madeira wine to be combined with brandy. I’ve adapted it to use a combination of homebrewed beer and wine, leaving the brandy optional if you want that extra punch.
Wassail Recipe (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)
Makes 22 six-ounce servings
Core and bake:

• 12 all-purpose apples

Combine and boil for 5 minutes:

• 4 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground mace
• 6 whole cloves
• 6 allspice berries
• 1 cinnamon stick

Meanwhile, beat in a large bowl until stiff but not dry:

• 12 egg whites

Beat in another large bowl until light in color:

• 12 egg yolks

Fold the whites into yolks. Strain the sugar and spice mixture into the eggs, combining thoroughly, but gently. Bring nearly to a boil in a large pot:

• 6-7 twelve-oz. bottles of homebrewed ale (I would shoot for something malt-forward, like a porter or a Scotch ale)
• 2 cups of sherry or Madeira wine
• up to 2 cups brandy (optional)

Gradually add the beer/wine mixture to the spices and eggs, whisking vigorously with each addition. Add the brandy towards the end. Just before serving, with the mixture foaming, add the baked apples. Serve in warm mugs, placing a piece of baked apple in each one.
If I remember correctly from last Christmas, this wassail recipe certainly does the trick! Do you have a favorite holiday drink tradition?
————————————————————————————————
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

So much of the appreciation of beer comes from its relationship with food. Among the many gastronomical combinations, few offer such a perfect marriage as the pairing of beer and cheese.
Beer and cheese actually have a lot in common. Both are crafted by skilled artisans, utilizing mysterious processes to transform raw materials into something greater than the sum of its parts. In both cases, the creativity of the brewer and the cheesemaker can result in a unique and delicious product.
As with homebrewing, don’t let anyone tell that there is one right or wrong way to do a pairing of beer and cheese. Let your tastes and personal preferences guide you as you seek to match them. That said, here are some pointers:

1. Match like with like
   Often times, a subtle, mild beer will go well with a lighter cheese. Neither overwhelms the other. Hefeweizen and chevre is a great light on light combination. Similarly, big, hoppy IPAs often match well with funky blue cheeses. The bitterness of the beer helps balance out the strong, pungent flavors of the blue. Also look for specific flavor elements in both the beer and cheese that can exist in harmony.
2. Find contrast
   Like a conversation, a paired beer and cheese can agree or disagree. Sometimes, a contrast in flavors yields an interesting combination. Try a big, malty Scotch Ale with a light farmhouse cheese.
3. Go from light to heavy  
   When it’s time to progress through the tasting, start with the lightest beers and cheeses first. This helps maintain your palate for the more aggressive flavors later on.
4. Taste the beer first
   When you’re ready to taste a pairing of beer and cheese, start with the beer. Identify its characteristics, including aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel. Then try the cheese. What are its characteristics? Is it soft and mild, or hard and aggressive? Finally, try the beer again to see how the beer and cheese interact. Does the combination enhance any flavors? Does it mask any flavors? How does the beer cut through the texture of the cheese?

A pairing of beer and cheese that is exceptional can bring about what I like to call food nirvana. Try some of these combinations to see if you can find the perfect match:

• Brie with Black Lager
• Chevre and Hefeweizen
• Mild cheddar with a Nut Brown Ale
• Gorgonzola with an Imperial IPA
• Gruyere and Bock
• Gouda and Stout

Want to go the extra mile? Pair a homemade beer with cheese made with beer. Now we’re talking! Do you have any tips for pairing beer and cheese? We’d love to hear yours!
——————————————————————————————————–
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.

Over on the E. C. Kraus Wine Blog, Ed has been sharing some of the key winemaking terms used by professional and hobbyist winemakers.
A great deal of jargon also surrounds the world of brewing. To help you talk like a brewer and improve your craft, here are some of the brewing and beer terms you should add to your playbook:

• IBUs – IBUs stand for international bittering units, which measure the amount of alpha-acids (the part of the hop that contributed bitterness) that are isomerized during the boil and absorbed into the beer. IBUs range from the single digits for light lagers, lambics, and wheat beers and up to 100 or higher for Imperial IPAs and barley wines. Check out this IBU range chart for bitterness ranges for different beer styles.
• Krausen – Krausen is just a German word that refers to the foamy layer of yeast and protein that sits on the top of wort at the height of fermentation. The peak is sometimes referred to as “high krausen”. (You may hear reference to a practice called “krausening”. It’s an interesting technique, but neither practical nor necessary for the average homebrewer.)
• Phenol – Phenol is an aromatic byproduct of the fermentation process, produced by yeast. Depending on the style, phenol may or may not be desirable. For example, German weizens are expected to have a certain level of spicy, clove-like phenols. In other beers, undesirable phenols may be produced by excessive fermentation temperatures. This is one of the reasons why controlling fermentation temperature is so important.
• Hot Break – The “hot break” is the point in the boil where proteins coagulate and start to foam on top of the boiling wort. This is normal. Too much hot break and the wort can boil over, creating a big mess and an even bigger headache. If it looks like you’re about to have a boil-over, you can remove the pot from the heat source or quickly add a dose of cold water.
• Cold Break – The cold break happens during the cooling of the wort, prior to pitching the yeast. Chilling the wort rapidly ensures helps proteins settle out of suspension, which helps avoid haze when the beer is ready to serve. Immersion wort chillers are one of the best ways for homebrewers to chill wort quickly.
• Adjuncts – Adjuncts are sugar sources other than barley malt that increase gravity or affect flavor in some way. Some adjuncts are used for head stability. Examples include wheat, various sugars, and more.

Are there any homebrewing terms you’d like to learn more about? Leave a comment below!
————————————————————————————————–
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

When we left off in Part One of this “History of Homebrewing” series, Prohibition outlawed the making of beer at home. Still, families didn’t give up on their desire for beer, and the breweries did their best to survive through the dry spell by producing non-alcoholic “near beers” and, not so discreetly, products that could be used for beer making. Red Top and other companies offered malt barley syrup for home “cooking.” Prohibition did little to stop homebrewing: it’s estimated that Americans brewed over 700 million gallons of homemade beer in 1929!
When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, winemaking was legalized, but not homebrewing. It wasn’t until 1978 that Jimmy Carter signed into law a bill that legalized homebrewing, but by this time America’s breweries had grown, consolidated, and drastically reduced the variety of beer in the US, resulting in the dismal beer landscape that existed from Prohibition to the 1970s. It was up to the few remaining homebrewers to resurrect lost beer styles and build interest in “craft” beer.
By the time Jimmy Carter officially legalized homebrewing in 1978, Charlie Papazian had picked up the hobby. In 1978, he and Charlie Matzen founded the American Homebrewers Association and published the very first issue of Zymurgy magazine.
During these early stages of the modern brewing renaissance, there were a number of resources published that allowed homebrewers to learn about brewing and beer styles. Papazian published the Complete Joy of Homebrewing in 1984. Several of the early brewing books are still popular today.
Even with the growing enthusiasm for homebrewing, not every state permitted it. It wasn’t until this year (2013) that Alabama and Mississippi became the 49th and 50th states in the US to legalize homebrewing!
Some of the success of homebrewing must be attributed to the homebrewers who were determined to make a living from their passion. If it weren’t for the likes of Jim Koch, Ken Grossman, and Sam Calagione, homebrewing probably wouldn’t have the following that it does today.
Just check out these stats from the American Homebrewers Association!
2012 Homebrewing Stats

• There are more than 1,000,000 homebrewers in the United States.
• There are more than 37,000 American Homebrewers Association members.
• Nearly 1,500 homebrew clubs exist in the United States.
• 300+ homebrew competitions are scheduled to be held in the United States.
• 1,802 attendees at the 2012 AHA National Homebrewers Conference.
• 7,823 entries were judged in the 2012 AHA National Homebrew Competition.

So, if you’ve read this far, you’re probably a homebrewer, part of a long tradition of American brewing. Why do you brew? Why do you love it?
—————————————————————————————————-
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.
—–
Resources: Homebrewers Association: History of Homebrewing,