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If you want it done right, you have to brew it yourself!
Brewing Up a Barrel of Taste
Home Brewers Build on an Ancient Tradition
Story by Ed Huyck©1998, Green Bay News-Chronicle.
Reprinted with permission.
ALLOUEZ -- On a cold, crisp autumn day, aromas can spread on the wind. From John Blohm's garage, it was the smell of malted barley that wafted in the air. Over a kerosene-fueled flame, Blohm and two friends, Dale Dean and Mike Conard, watched a mixture come to boil, their goal was to make home brewed beer. An Oktoberfest lager, to be exact. While the group kept tabs on temperature and time as the soon-to be beer gurgled, things were not exact. "It's not rocket science. It's not like the space shuttle is going to miss a launch if we're off by a minute," Blohm said.
Blohm and friends are part of the burgeoning world of home brewing, where beers are lovingly handcrafted, and just as lovingly consumed. Do-it-yourself brewing has seen an upswing in popularity in the last decade. The Green Bay Rackers--the club Blohm and the others belong to--has about 20 regular members, while the area sports plenty of other people who like to make their own beer.
Conard is a self-proclaimed "beer snob" who can't abide the water-downed taste of mass-market beer. Home brew has a wider range of tastes than commercial beers. If a brewer uses more hops, the result is a beer with a more bitter taste, said Conard, the Rackers' secretary, who spends his nonbrewing hours working as an emergency physician's assistant.
But while he likes the taste of a good beer, Conard's interest was first sparked by chemistry. While a student in the 1970s, he became interested in fermentation. That led him to brewing. There were barriers. "I've been home brewing since before it was legal," he said. That was in 1977. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, a clerical error legalized only homemade wine, not beer. Because of this, home brewers had to work underground, scrounging for equipment. "It was terrible beer. After it became legal (in 1978), there was better equipment and materials and the beer improved," Conard said.
At Life Tools Adventure Outfitters, 930 Waube Lane in Ashwaubenon, which sells home brewing equipment, home brewers make up about 15 percent of the business, said co-owner John Hermanson. "In the last five to 10 years, it has really taken off," Hermanson said. The brewing process can be as simple or complex as the brewer wants to make it.
Beer is an ancient drink, and that doesn't refer to the cans of Red, White and Blue that have been sitting in the back of your refrigerator for who knows how long. The first records of beer date back 6,000 years to Samaria, where the people worshipped Ninkasi, the goddess of beer. Archaeologists have unearthed tablets with beer recipes and vessels with chemical traces on them, Conard said. In ancient Egypt, beer was a drink for the aristocracy, while the commoners drank wine, he said.
For his Oktoberfest beer, Blohm started with a mash made of malt barley. Water was added to the mash and then the solution sat for a couple hours. Blohm then ran water through the mash to clean the sugars off. That liquid was then boiled over a steady flame, with barley and Irish moss (used to make the beer more clear) added. When the solution had boiled long enough, it was cooled. In this case, down to 70 degrees. Then the 10 gallons of proto-beer was put into a fermenter and yeast was added. The beer will be fermented for three weeks and then bottled or put into kegs. Since the Oktoberfest is a lager, Blohm will age the beer for three more weeks before he finally opens a bottle. Blohm is serious about the brewing process. He owns about $2,000 of equipment and has won national awards for his beer.
After bottling comes another bit of fun: naming the beers. Conard's creations run from a Bad-Ass Stout to a potent dark brew called The Detonator. "This beer blew the lid off a fermenter and went all over a friend's pink wool carpet," he said.
Brewers obsess on different things. Some want to have the latest equipment, others explore different recipes. But they all love to talk about beer. Bert Zelten, president of the Green Bay Rackers, has been brewing for seven years. He started after buying a kit for his father and enjoying the brew that was made.
Zelten enjoys making wheat beers, a German style that has more body and a sweeter flavor than traditional American pilsners. For Zelten, home brewing is all about "having fun and socializing. There is also the satisfaction of making something you can really enjoy."
Green Bay resident Marty Frey has been a home brewer for two years. Frey's introduction came through a friend who came over with some home brew. "It just tasted fantastic," he said. So Frey decided he wanted to home brew but procrastinated until his wife bought him a kit for Christmas. After one brew, Frey was hooked and invested in more equipment. "There isn't a lot of hard work. It takes one afternoon to brew and then a lot of waiting," Frey said.
Dale Dean of Green Bay has been brewing for seven years. Dean also got involved through a friend and then started at Life Tools. After that, he found the Rackers. While Blohm has more than $2,000 invested in his equipment, you can get into home brewing for as little as $200. Besides making a tastier beverage, home brewing is cheaper, costing a fraction of what is charged for similar microbrews or imports in stores or taverns, Dean said.
Favorite beers include traditional pilsners, ales and stouts. Mass-market American beers are pilsners, but they do use shortcuts, Dean said. Instead Of whole grain, the big companies add rice to the fermentation process. Rice helps the beer to ferment, but doesn't add to the body, which is why Budweiser, Pabst, and the rest are so light, Dean said.
For Conard, brewing is a fall and winter activity, with one variety made at a time. He also judges beers at competitions. The Green Bay Rackers gather every other month to brew together. The club's active members range from paper workers such as Blohm and Dean to engineers and Internal Revenue Service employees. The group even has its own Web site (see address below).
The Internet has aided the brewers because it allows them to share recipes and leads on equipment, Conard said. "It can be expensive to find the equipment on your own, but in a group, people have connections to get the things you want," he said. "I don't use (the Internet) that much, but for some people, brewing and the Net are life," he said.
For more information about the Green Bay Rackers home-brewing club call Mike Conard at 920-388-3747; e-mail him at mconard@itol.com; or write to Green Bay Rackers, 1021 Juneau, Kewaunee, WI 54216. The Rackers' Web site is www.rackers.org.