Is Homebrewing Difficult?

Quick answer:  No!

I’d often thought about trying to brew beer over the years.  It just seemed cool.  Then I’d see these pictures of big stainless steel contraptions with hoses and dials everywhere and it looked very complicated and expensive.  Then I’d read about how you have to “sterilize” everything and basically need to work in a hospital operating room else you’ll ruin the beer or, even worse, you’ll have exploding glass bottles.  So add intimidation to the perceived expense and I was completely turned off from the idea.

Don’t get me wrong – sanitizing is probably the most important thing in homebrewing.  That’s sanitizing, not sterilizing.  And sanitizing your equipment isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.  There are great products now that make it even easier.

I forget where I read it, but the saying was along the lines of “If you can cook a box of Mac ‘n Cheese, you can brew beer.” and it’s true.  Especially in the case of extract brewing, it’s simply following a recipe, bringing liquid to a boil, and cleaning.  Lots of cleaning.

Getting back to the shiny, expensive equipment….  You don’t need a Dr. Evil level science laboratory.  Check out my list of bare bones equipment.  Of course, you can get very high-tech and fancy gear but it isn’t necessary.  I’m making delicious beer with a Walmart stock pot and plastic buckets, plus I’m not the world’s best cook.