Joe Wiebe -- Homebrewing.

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Here's one of my homebrews. (photo courtesy Peter Wiebe.)

Homebrewing

I started brewing my own beer in 1992 (thanks for buying that first kit, Pete!). Since then, I have brewed 50 batches of beer, some of which have been glorious and some of which were undrinkable. It's a capricious art, especially in the difficult-to-control environment of one's home, but when it works, there's almost nothing that makes me prouder!

Here are some photos of my own brewing process, which is an amalgamation of different systems. I'm sure it's not the best way to do it, but it works for me.

This is the sparging process, which occurs after the wort is boiled. It's important to filter out the hops and grains from the brew kettle before beginning the fermentation process. I didn't do this the first time I brewed with hops added to the wort, and the result was a clog in the blow-off tube on my carboy, which led to the bung (cork) blowing off the top -- a very loud BANG and a BIG mess. No fun. Plus, I lost four or five litres of beer!

Check out the great spigot my friend Steve installed on my brew kettle. It makes this part of the job a lot easier for sure.


The yeast is hard at work fermenting the wort. You can see the blow-off house at the top of the carboy.	After primary fermentation, it's good to rack the beer off the trub (yeast and other guck leftover after the fermentation process).


After the beer has fermented and settled for a while, it's time to bottle.	I like to use bottles with Grolsch tops so I don't have to use caps. Plus, the 500ml size is ideal for drinking!

Here is a photo of the hops plant growing against the wall of my mother's house in Winnipeg. Look at those juicy buds!


This is the sparging process, which occurs after the wort is boiled. It's important to filter out the hops and grains from the brew kettle before beginning the fermentation process. I didn't do this the first time I brewed with hops added to the wort, and the result was a clog in the blow-off tube on my carboy, which led to the bung (cork) blowing off the top -- a very loud BANG and a BIG mess. No fun. Plus, I lost four or five litres of beer!		Check out the great spigot my friend Steve installed on my brew kettle. It makes this part of the job a lot easier for sure.