If you want to get in on the growing craze of brewing beer in your home, you have plenty of ways to get started nowadays. Brewing your own beer can be a fun way to experiment and discover a new hobby. If you want your first batch to turn out well, though, you should be careful about how you get started. You should be aware of these mistakes that new home brewers want to avoid to ensure you get a successful product in the end.
Relying on Tap Water
It’s easy to think that tap water would be the simplest way to start out. Many home brewers do this, but it isn’t the ideal way to start. Think about how many dissolved minerals and other chemicals are in your tap water. All those extra things will end up changing your beer’s final taste in ways that you can’t predict. For the best results, try to use natural spring water or water that’s been through a reverse osmosis filter.
Using Stale Ingredients
When you’re first starting out, it’s understandable that you might want to get some cheap ingredients so that you don’t accidentally waste your money if something goes wrong. Cheaper ingredients to make the wort often aren’t as fresh as you want them to be. Fresh grains, fresh hops, and especially fresh and healthy yeast are the key components of any good beer.
Not Monitoring Fermentation Temperatures
There’s a very common brewing myth among amateurs that fermentation works best if you just place the fermenter in a chilly room in your house like a basement or cellar. While this might work at first, the temperature of your beer changes as it ferments, which could cause it to leave that ideal temperature zone and ruin your fermentation. Keep a close eye on your fermenter as the process happens so that you can correct the temperature quickly if the need arises.
Neglecting Proper Sanitation
New beer brewers often mistakenly do not take the time to properly clean and sanitize all their equipment between different batches. Even a small amount of leftover beerstone or yeast can completely change the makeup of your next batch. Though it might add extra time to your brewing process, never neglect a good cleaning and thorough sanitation practices.
If you can avoid these first-timer mistakes, you’re sure to go on and make some incredible beers that you can be proud of. Don’t be discouraged by failure either, everyone had to start somewhere!
