Some basic knowledge items common to all methods of home brewing.

Quick Reference Tables

For the amateur brewer in a hurry, we present seven important ready-reckoner tables, covering attenuation, alcohol content, hydrometer correction and yeast pitching rates. All files are in PDF format. The tables were produced using the online…

A-Z of Beer and Brewing

As home brewing becomes ever more popular in Ireland we've had increasing numbers of requests for a glossary of brewing. Many of the more technical activities in brewing are described by terms we tend not to see elsewhere in ordinary life,…

Brewing: How do I Start?

Brewing beer at home can be done using one of three methods, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Whether kit brewing, extract brewing or all grain brewing suits you best,depends on how much you are willing to put into the process,…

Any idiot can brew

Brewing isn't hard. If you can cook you can brew, people just like to make it sound more complicated than it is. So in this spirit I decided to make the simplest brew possible with the least possible equipment. I got my friend Colum over whose…

Yeast Propagation

When I spend the extra few quid on liquid yeast I like to think I get a little more for my money and hope that I coax the best from the yeast during the propagation stage. There is much debate about the merits of various forms of yeast and what…

Wort Boiling

A solid rolling boil is essential in the brewing of good beer. It is energy intensive and potentially dangerous but a brewer skimps on boil time or intensity at his/her own peril. The boil must be vigorous and rapid, generally not longer than…

Note Taking. The importance of your brew book.

 Note taking is not really stressed by most brewing resources, if it is mentioned at all, but, in my opinion, it is one of the most important elements of the brewing process and can make the difference between producing good beers and…

Keep it simple. You don’t need a complicated recipe to make good beer.

Websites and books are full of recipes, extract and all-grain, telling you how to make a clone of your favourite beer. The ingredient lists is usually five or more different malts, two unmalted grains, three different hops and a special liquid…

Why Hops?

Beer has not always contained hops. Before the use of hops began in the 11th century, people mostly used a combination of herbs and spices known as gruit, to bitter their beer. There was no standard way of bittering your beer and everything…