The Backyard Brewer

Fermenter King Junior on its First Brew Day As of the date that I've written this article, I've only been brewing for 11 months! So yeah, if your reading this anytime in the future i'm not an "expert" yet, whatever that means! But in my first 11 months I've now clocked up 23 beers of varying styles, sizes and methods, in fact i think I've already brewed every way possible except in a three vessel systems and in my toilet. Ok, so maybe the toilet thing was a bit too much but let's just say that I've had a world of experience in my first 23 brews. My first batch was an all grain brew using a 5L small batch kit I bought from a shop in Sydney. The brew day was clumsy and nerve wracking to say the least, but the beer i produced in that first bottle i cracked brought a literal tear to my eye. I wasn't going to win any awards, but it was a malty/hoppy flavor  bomb that blew away any fears i had that brewing at home couldn't produce  quality be

Sanitizer Spray Bottle Ready Sanitizing To start with sanitizing and cleaning are two different processes or steps in the beer bottling or packaging process that should not be confused. Cleaning is the process of removing dirt and particles from your bottle whereas sanitizing is the process of killing as many bacteria and fungus as possible after cleaning and before you start filling with your beer. It stands to reason then that you want to kill as many of these critters as possible in order to avoid getting an "infection" in your bottled or packaged beer. The danger of poor or no sanitation is a build up of too many bacteria or fungi in your bottles which will feed off your beer faster than the residual yeast (yeast is a fungi and wild yeast is a wild fungi!). This will result in off flavored beer at best and over carbonated beer and/or bottle bombs at worst, and If you've ever had a beer bottle rupture you'll know exactly how bad it is trying to clean up the

My Bottle Washing Station For almost all new home brewers, bottling your very own beer is one of the most rewarding parts of being a home brewer. Seeing all of your hard work become a finished, packaged product is incredible! But as you brew more and more one thing becomes evident, bottling beer is work, hard work! This is why so many people jump straight to kegs after only a few batches of beer, but bottling doesn't have to be a pain or even hard work! And in fact with some experience and preparation, bottling day can actually be quite easy, and almost therapeutic! There are a few tricks that will make bottle cleaning as painless as it can possibly be and will have you cleaning your bottles like a pro. Below I have outlined the keys things you need to get a handle on if you want to make your bottling process as easy and painless as possible. After all, you didn't get into home brewing to spend hours scrubbing and cleaning did you!  Preparation, Rinsing & Bot