 "Photo:")
"I enjoy drinking good beer, but that's hard to find in this town," said Ben Ronck, Class of 2003.
Ronck's solution to finding good beer was to make his own.
"I had a friend named Matt Tintch, who is from New Jersey. Up there, there are lots of good flavors you can't find down here," Ronck said. "So Matt suggested I start brewing my own. I started doing this back in 2002, and one day I'd like to brew beer for a living."
The type of beer Ronck and his friends brew at home is defined as craft beer. Craft beer is an all-malt (or nearly all-malt) beer that allows for many different flavors. Craft beer is becoming more popular by the year. In 2005, over 7 million barrels were produced, generating $4.3 billion for the craft beer industry, according to the Brewer's Association.
Although craft beer makes up a very small percentage of the overall U.S. beer market, it should be noted that most is microbrewed by small breweries or home brewers, according to the Brewer's Association.
Ronck said beyond the numerous flavors one can produce, home brewing beer is a reward in itself.
"Making your own beer offers the same gratification as cooking your own meal," Ronck said. "The spice of your own labor always makes it better."
Three different primary ingredients can be used to brew beer, Ronck said. Craft beer can either be brewed using an all-malt mixture, a partial malt mixture or an all-grain mixture. All-grain is the most difficult and all-malt the least, but the difference in the ingredients is how many steps in the brewing process have been taken before one starts to brew at home. Most home brewers use the partial-malt ingredients, he said.
There are four ingredients in beer - malted barley, water, yeast and hops, Ronck said.
"The ingredients used go back to the 1516 German Purity Laws, which state that only three ingredients can be used to make beer - barley, water and hops," Ronck said.
Although yeast was not included in the purity laws, it is used today for several purposes. Once the unfermented beer product has been brewed, yeast is used to convert sugar to energy. Yeast is also used to convert the sugar in the beer into carbon dioxide, which draws oxygen out of the beer, preventing bacteria from growing and living in the beer. Most importantly, yeast converts the sugar into alcohol, Ronck said.
Two main types of beer can be brewed - ale and lager - Ronck said, and the difference is how each ferments. Ale ferments at room temperature, while lager ferments at cellar temperature, about 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ronck said he primarily brews ale, but within this category, the flavor possibilities seem endless.
"I brewed everything from Northwest Red (a light, Irish red beer) to chocolate spiced Christmas stout (a very dark beer)," he said.
Ronck said of all the countless batches he has brewed, the best he ever concocted was orange wit, a white-wheat style beer with an orange tint.
Ronck said that what makes home-brewed beer good is the variety of flavors. Bud Light, Coors and all the rest essentially taste the same, but craft beer has more flavor, he said.
"Beyond flavor though, (beer) is wide open. Some are sweet, some are bitter; some are dark, some are light," he said. "Beer is really amazing once you start to study it."
Ronck said he learned a lot about the flavors and versatility of craft beer from Garrat Tolliver's 'Beer Lover's Bible,' which says, "beer is more versatile than wine, and one can produce far more flavors with beer."
Ronck passed his knowledge and love for home brewing on to friend Andy York in 2004, who said craft beer is the way to go, because most domestic beer is pilsner brewed and it's all essentially the same beer.
"Drinking Bud Light all the time would be like eating pepperoni pizza everyday," said York, Class of 2003. "Brewing your own allows you to get flavors you sometimes can't even buy in the U.S."
York said he'd tried brewing beer before but that it never came out right.
"I tried using one of those Mr. Beer kits you get at department stores, but it just wasn't good," York said. "But then my father-in-law and brother-in-law, who both used to brew beer, gave me their equipment. Ben knew how to brew, and I had the equipment, so I gave it a shot."
York said the best flavor he's brewed was actually his first. The beer was a cream porter, a very dark beer similar to the color of Guinness, but with a much better flavor.
What makes beer good beer, York said, is the balance of maltiness and hops, but agrees with Ronck that flavor is the key.
"My favorite thing about brewing beer at home is what you can try. One of my favorites is Rauchbier, a beer brewed in Bamberg, Germany," York said. "Rauchbier uses malt that has been smoked over beach wood, giving it a smoky flavor, but the cool thing about brewing beer like this is that the only other way to try it is to go to another country."
While York likes to brew beer for the opportunity to spend time with friends and just going through the process, they both agreed on the most rewarding aspect of home brewing.
"You get to drink it," they said.
Be the first to comment on this article!