Not Just for Pros: How to Brew Lager Beer at Home

Amongst life’s simplest of pleasures, only a handful are as enjoyable as the taste of a supremely crafted beer served at the ideal temperature. And if indeed you are the kind of person who finds such a simple pleasure appealing, then you can humbly take pride in knowing that you’re not alone. Nor have you ever been, or are you ever likely to be!

Humanity’s harmonious history with hops goes back several thousand years but today’s finely fermented lagers are a far cry more flavourful than the cellar-cooled creations that preceded them. The process, however, needed to produce a tasty, full-bodied beer hasn’t changed for millennia and the benefits of homebrewing are even larger than the swig you’ll take from the first pale ale you make with your own hands.

If you fancy a great tasting beer but you’re still hesitant to give homebrewing a try, here are a few simple facts to think about that should motivate you to take that first step.

Ordinary people can make extraordinary beer.

If you’re concerned about your homemade brew not tasting as good as what you’d get from Woolworths or your local craft brewer, then think again. With a starter lager beer brewing kit consisting of a fermenter, hydrometer, sanitizers and recipes, even a first-time brewer can produce a beverage that’ll rival the big brands.

Any recipe kit you select will come with all the malts, yeast and hops – and instructions – needed to brew up to 21 litres of smooth, perfectly textured beer. The only ingredient you supply is water; and you’ll quickly realize that the sky’s the limit when it comes to creating your own one-of-a-kind bit of golden goodness.

In fact, it’s the yearning to make that “extraordinary beer”, the beer that no one’s ever made in the whole history of beer making, that inspires so many home brewers to take up this fun and meaningful hobby at home. And every so often, someone makes a craft beer breakthrough that becomes a commercial success.

Sure, there are processes that have to be followed – cleanliness really is king, temperatures do have to be controlled, and yeast refuses to be rushed but if you’ve got patience and can follow a recipe, you’re already halfway there to making a beer you’ll be proud to tell family and friends that you brewed.

Home brewing isn’t budget breaking.

Regardless of how it may seem, you don’t need a cellar full of tanks and equipment, or even a cellar at all, to do your own brewing. In fact, with just the basic lager starter kit, you’ll immediately begin producing beer that costs less than a third of what the equivalent volume of beer would cost at the supermarket, and the equipment belongs to you.

And of course, if you realize you enjoy the process, you always have the option to add more equipment to your set-up. Sometimes hobbies do become more than just hobbies; but it doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow, nor does it have to mean making a huge investment after you get there. When you’re ready to scale up your production, your equipment supplier’s going to have everything you need to take your homebrewing to the next level.

You’ll learn to love paying less for the privilege of having more.

It’s inevitable: after you’ve purchased the equipment, you’re going to use it, and you’re going to want to share your newfound mastery of malt over and over again. And that’s okay because you’ll have reached the point where you only need to purchase recipe kits to keep your brew-wheels turning.

Let’s be honest: beer’s expensive and shopping’s time consuming; and if for the price of just one Bavarian or Australian pilsner kit, you can leisurely yield three times more brew at home than if you’d have taken multiple trips to the store to buy it yourself, then homebrewing makes perfect sense. That’s three times the quantity, which tastes better and costs less. What’s not to love?

The transition from beer consumer to beer connoisseur is a good one.

If developing a fondness for paying less for beer would seem inevitable, then it’s pretty much unavoidable that you’re gradually going to start looking at beer differently. Suddenly, that imported top-shelf stout that you’ve spent so much on for so long won’t taste quite so “top-shelf” anymore… and with good reason, too.

It won’t matter if it was store bought, tap-drawn or you made it yourself: everything about beer that you see and its immediate environment is going to fall under scrutiny – from its taste and aroma, to the temperature of the room and shape of the glass it’s served in. It’s not a bad thing, though: it’s going to reflect a burgeoning admiration for the work that goes into creating a great tasting beer with specialized lager brewing equipment, or, what prevents a beer from having a great taste.

And yes, there is that “other” benefit, as well. The ingredients used in beer making are indeed known sources of antioxidants so you can confidently assert that your commitment to better taste (in moderation) is also a commitment to better health.

You can give gifts that no one else can.

Whether it’s for a holiday, a birthday, or just to tell someone you appreciate them, nothing’s more personal or heartfelt than a homemade gift; and after you’ve begun to brew your own lager, the joy of giving a gift that you’ve nurtured since its conception is going to take on a whole new meaning.

Whatever the occasion, it won’t go unnoticed that you thought it was worthwhile enough to contribute something so personal towards it – and you’ll never forget the looks on people’s faces when they taste what you’ve cooked up. Not only is it a gift that only you could have given, but there’s an excellent chance that you’ve even saved a decent bit of coin by doing so, as well. The proposition doesn’t get much better than that.

You can give yourself the gift that’s priceless.

It’s likely that it won’t be until sometime after you’ve had a chance to share a bottle of your best brewed beverage that it’ll hit you: that feeling of pride that only comes from knowing you’ve created something unique to any other conceivable thing of its kind in the world.

Homebrewing truly is unlike any other pastime that you’re ever likely to undertake; and all it takes to get started is setting up your own lager beer brewing kit, and you’ll be introduced to one of the world’s oldest traditions. One that you’ll quickly find that the lessons learned from along the way can be applied to much more than just beer making.

There’s no denying the senses of camaraderie and fraternity, or the friendships that’ll be forged or strengthened by starting to brew at home. But at the end of the day, it’s a profoundly personal and liberating pursuit whose reward can’t be measured. If you hadn’t given it the proper consideration it deserved sooner, why not make today the day to get in touch with a supplier who can help get you started on your homebrewing adventure.