The Type of Beer I'm Going to Brew

Hello everyone, Fontes here. Let me first start out by apologizing for the long wait for this post. I've been really busy with work and school, but now I'm back in action. For those of you who are unaware, I am going to be brewing my own beer in the coming weeks. Two weeks ago I purchased a brewing equipment kit from a local brewing supply store. After researching the process of brewing I have decided to brew a version of Samuel Adams Boston Ale.

Why am I going to brew a beer that has already been brewed before you may ask? There are multiple reasons why I chose to brew this beer. First, after researching different types of beer, I found that Ales are more forgiving during the brewing process. Educated home breweres suggest that a new homebrewer start out brewing Ales, since they are very straightfoward to brew and not as complex. Another reason for my choice of an Ale is because Samuel Adam's founder Jim Koch offers a step by step video of how to brew this version of Boston Ale. As a new brewer, I can already tell that this video is going to be very helpful to me when I start to brew. And lastly, I really like Samuel Adams Boston Ale! I really enjoy the caramel and spicy notes that I taste when I drink this beer, and I hope to recreate that with my home brewed version of this beer. Don't just take my word for it, other people really enjoy Boston Ale as well.

The exact type of ale that I am going to brew is called a stock ale or an Old Ale. These types of ales are very traditional English style beers. They are typically at or above five percent alcohol by volume.  This ale uses English Ale style hops.  Here are some of the ingredients that I am going to be using for this beer during the brewing process.

The specific types of hops that are required for the brewing process are East Kent Goldings and East Kent Fuggles. During a process known as dry hopping I will use a different type of hops according Jim Koch's instructional video. This type of hops is called hallertau. I am also going to be using malt extract. The type of malt extract that is required for this version of Boston Ale is amber and light malt extract.

So the process is coming along everyone. I have my brewing equipment, I know the type of beer I am going to brew, and I have the knoweldge of how to brew the beer. Now the next step is to purchase these ingredients and start the brewing process. I hope by next weekend I will have the ingredients so I can start to brew. Hopefully if all goes well my beer will look and taste similar to Boston Ale.

Cheers Everyone!! 

My First Brewing Kit

Hey everyone, Fontes here. So I did it...I finally bought a brewing kit!! At 12:30 p.m. this afternoon I purchased my very own brewing kit. At this time I only have the equipment to brew, but in the next few weeks I will purchase the actual ingredients to brew. As I mentioned in last weeks post, I was looking at two local shops in the state of Rhode Island that specialize in brew supplies. After conducting some research on the internet, I found that Basement Brew Haus was the better of the two shops. For those of you reading this blog that are located in or around the Rhode Island area and are interested in going to this store, it is located at 116 Calverley Street in Providence, Rhode Island. 

When I entered the store, I noticed that there was one type of complete brewing kit available for sale. It was a True Brew brewing kit. The manufactuer of this particular kit is Crosby & Baker Ltd. In addition to making beer kits, the company also produces and sells various other items for brewing, including, hops, yeast, and malt extracts. I was familiar with the True Brew brewing kits since I have seen them on various websites. From the comments that I read about them, I was confident that it was a quality product. The total cost of the purchase came to a little over $82. I was very happy with this price since it was cheaper than most websites that I looked at and since I bought it from a local shop I did not have to pay any shipping costs.

As of this moment, I hope to start brewing within the next two weeks. Before I start brewing I want to become familiar with the equipment and the brewing process. The lady who sold me the beer kit at Basement Brew Haus suggested that I purchase a book called The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. If anyone has any comments about this book please let me know.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my two favorite types of beer are porters and stouts. For my first home brewed beer I am still not sure what I am going to brew. Obviously, I am thinking about brewing a porter or a stout, but I am also giving thought to an IPA. Whatever beer I brew I am sure it will be fun and a learning experience. Maybe not after my first brew, but sooner or later I plan on entering a batch of my home brewed beer into the Samuel Adams Longshot Contest.

I can't wait to start brewing my own beer. If anyone reading this has brewed their own beer before and you have some tips and tricks, please leave a comment. And if you haven't brewed your own beer yet, what are you waiting for!?!? You know you want to do it, so get out there, get a kit and start brewing!

Cheers Everyone!!

Brewing My Own Beer

Hello everyone, Fontes here again. It's about 9:37 p.m. EST and I just got home from work. While I was at work I was thinking about this blog. I was thinking about how I give my opinion on different styles of craft beer. I talk about what the brewer does right and in my opinion what they could have improved on. I often find myself saying outloud "Well I can brew a better beer than this." So I've decided since I talk the talk, I might as well walk the walk. So it's official, in the upcoming weeks I will be preparing myself to brew my own beer. Now when I say to myself that I can brew a better beer than many of these microbreweries, I am just being sarcastic. I have never tried to brew beer before so I know that the odds of my home brewed beer being as good as some of these microbreweries is very minimal...but I'm still gonna try!!

I first became seriously interested in brewing my own beer when I discovered a blog called A Tale of Two Brewers. The blog is essentially about two friends who one day decided to brew their own beer. They document their successes and failures. I remember the first time I read this blog. I became very excited at the possibility of myself one day brewing my own beer. Then the question arose of: Where am I going to purchase a brewing kit?

There are two answers to that question. One is to buy a beer kit at local distributor and the second is to purchase a beer kit from an online distributor. As far as I can tell, there are two places in the state of Rhode Island that specialize in selling alcoholic brew kits. For those of you reading this blog who are from Rhode Island, these are the two local distributors who sell alcoholic brew kits, just in case you are also interested in one day brewing your own beer. The first is called Brew Horizons located at 601 Washington Street in Coventry, Rhode Island. The second local distributor is called Basement Brew Haus located at 116 Calverley Street in Providence, Rhode Island. 

As of this moment, I have been to neither of these home brewery supply stores. However, from the reviews that I have read from online articles, it seems as though Basement Brew Haus is the better of the two. From what I've read in the reviews, Basement Brew Haus seems to have a better selection of products, better service, and cheaper prices. The following are the reviews of each home brewery supply store. The first is Beer Horizon's Review and the second is Basement Brew Haus Review.  

For those of you not in the Rhode Island area who are thinking about brewing your own beer, I would first suggest checking out any local distributor in your area. A website called Beer Info offers a list of home brew shops listed by state. This website is how I found out about Beer Horizons and Basement Brew Haus. However, if you would like to purchase a home brew kit from an online distributor, then there are many options to take. After searching the Internet, it seems as though a website called Mr. Beer has plenty of supplies to get a novice brewer started. 

So here it goes everyone. In the upcoming weeks I am going to take the first few steps in the process of brewing my own beer. Will I make mistakes?...Probably. We I learn alot in the process?...Yup. Will I have alot of fun throughout the whole process?...Definitely! So wish me luck everyone...Cheers!!