Do It! Brew It Yourself!

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PHOTO: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
You may not achieve beer like this on the first try, but brew it yourself a few times and you will.

They say that hard work never hurt anybody, but you can bet that unnecessary labor bothers a lot of folks … including me. In fact, it was my personal “energy conservation program” that caused me to discover the painless beer-brewing method.

To tell the truth, though, my “new” procedure is as old as prohibition, when “brew it yourself” beer was a popular do-it-yourself pastime. And, while this easy-to-make beer might not earn accolades from a connoisseur, I like it very much. As do my friends.

The Ingredients

Beermakin’ can–like most anything else–be complicated if you want it to be. But the bare-bones brewing procedure is really quite simple. All you have to do is mix one package of baker’s yeast, one can (or less) of hop-flavored malt extract, and a few pounds of sugar into five gallons of water. Then, just put the liquid in a large jug that’s equipped with an air lock, wait about a week, bottle it, wait another week (actually six weeks to three months would be better, but who’s that patient?), and enjoy!

Many beer recipes recommend brewer’s yeast or vintner’s yeast and argue that baker’s yeast imparts its own flavor to the beverage. However, I don’t find the flavor of baker’s yeast disagreeable, and–having used the other types–I still see no good reason to pay any more for my yeast than I have to. Besides, baker’s yeast is available at most grocery stores, and a three-pack of one of the common brands (which sells for around 33¢) will produce 15 gallons of beer! (You can, of course, use whatever yeast you want. Just don’t be misled by “experts” who say that baker’s yeast will produce a poor beer, ’cause it just ain’t so!)

  • Published on Mar 1, 1979
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