ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180110
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Marketplace
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL
Your family, tired of trying to buy presents for someone who's impossible to shop for, has issued an ultimatum: Find a hobby before Christmas or run the risk of finding more socks and underwear under the tree.
Have you considered beer?
Not drinking it - they're gonna say that doesn't count as a real hobby - but making it. It even has a semi-scientific name: zymurgy, the art and science of fermentation.
Although brewpubs - bars that sell beer brewed on premises - and microbreweries - small operations that produce only a few thousand barrels each year - require considerable investments (not to mention licensing), brewing your own beer at home is relatively inexpensive and simple, say those who have done it.
Kenny Lefkowitz, homebrew manager for Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, has been bottling his own for 10 years or so. The store's homebrew business has been growing rapidly as people have become fed up with spending a fortune on good beer, he said. After you pay off the initial equipment investment, homebrewed beer is relatively inexpensive: If you figure you spend $20 on supplies, that translates to 31 cents a bottle - compared to almost 60 cents a bottle for Bud.
And then there's the taste. You aren't going to become the next Sam Adams overnight, but after a while you will be able to control the flavor and aroma of your creations.
"A lot of people have realized how much better it can be when they make it," said Barry Corswandt, owner of Sumdat Farm Market in downtown Roanoke, who has been selling homebrew supplies for a few months.
You can buy all your ingredients and equipment separately, but many stores also sell starter kits. A kit, which will run you around $40, typically includes a 6-gallon plastic fermentation bucket with a lid, an airlock with a rubber stopper, plastic tubing, a hand-held bottle capper, bottle caps, bottle brush or washer and instructions. Some also include ingredients for a 5-gallon batch.
Even if you buy a kit, you'll still have to spring for a 3- to 6-gallon non-aluminum brewing kettle (these aren't cheap - good ones cost $25 to $100 - so shop around) and bottles (you can scavenge, save or buy these). Once you've brewed up a few batches of beer using the prepackaged ingredients included in most kits, you'll probably want to start experimenting with fresh grains and hops. Expect to spend another $10 to $20 on these.
Preparing a batch of beer takes just a few hours. The maturation time depends on the kind of ale you brew, but generally you'll have to let it sit for about a month before you can drink it, Lefkowitz said.
Unless you're planning to open a full-scale brewery in your basement, you don't need to worry about running afoul of the law. Federal regulations allow each adult in a household to brew 100 gallons of beer annually. Just don't try to sell it.
The American Homebrewers Association, a nonprofit organization for home brewers, says its average member has brewed for four years, has a household income of $68,000 and is college educated. The median age is 40. Most homebrewers are still men, but women are beginning to catch up.
There are plenty of resources available for new brewers.
"We have a lot of books, and we always recommend people start with a book," Corswandt said. "They can kind of determine where they want to go from there."
You also can subscribe to homebrewing magazines, which include the AHA's Zymurgy and Brew Your Own, from Niche Publications Inc. Niche also publishes BrewPub, for people in the brewpub industry.
The folks at Vintage Cellar are starting up a homebrew club. They met for the first time Tuesday night. So far, they've recruited abound 15 members from the New River and Roanoke valleys. If you're interested in joining, call Kenny Lefkowitz at (800)672-9463.
For more information about brewing your own beer, you also can check out a number of sites on the Internet, including A Strange Brew, at http://brewzone.com/, and Vintage Cellar's site, http://www.nrv.net/vcellar .
Homebrew glossary
Brew kettle: Enamel-coated or stainless-steel pot that holds at least 3 gallons. Don't use aluminum, which will affect the flavor.
Corn sugar: Used to prime your bottled beer, giving it carbonation.
Fermentation lock (also called an airlock): Keeps your beer from being exposed to outside air while letting carbon dioxide escape from your fermenter.
Hops: Flowers with a bitter flavor that balance the sweet flavor of the malt. Hops are usually in the form of compressed pellets.
Malt extract syrup: Made from barley, contains natural sugar. Brewing yeast eats the sugar and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Fermenter: Usually a white plastic bucket with a lid. It should hold at least 6 gallons.
Wort: What beer is called before it is fermented.
Source: American Homebrewers Association
LENGTH: Medium: 92 linesby CNB