There Will Be Brew

The Diy-suds Movement Is Upon Us. Here's Your Beer-making Buy-and-do List.

It's no secret that a cold beer isn’t exactly a kale smoothie when it comes to your waistline and overall well-being. But the truth is, your beer could be a lot healthier—especially if you’re the type who glugs mass produced swill. In fact, most big beers contain not only alcohol but also high fructose corn syrup, chemical additives like propylene glycol, and GMO ingredients like corn and dextrose. The fact is, you can make better-quality brew—glass-bottled and chemical-free—by taking a little time to make it yourself. And you needn’t be a wealthy hobbyist to pull it of. Right now, thanks to DIY “kits” offered by top craft brewers, all-new suds-making gadgets, and the rise of newfangled “beermaker” machines, there’s never been a better time to create your own game-day cold one. Here’s how.

PREPARE FOR THE BARLEY!

From start to finish, it’s going to take about three weeks for you to brew up and sample that first refreshing, homemade beer. But the first order of business is to understand the process and the hardware you’ll need.

THE BASIC BREWING PROCESS BREAKS DOWN INTO FOUR STEPS:

1) Barley and malt extract are boiled in water along with a blend of hops for flavor; the result is a soupy proto beer called wort.

2) The mixture is then chilled to room temperature and strained into a fermenting vessel.