Home Brew

format: DVD

Program Length: 79 min

Program Description:
It's hard to beat a good homebrew for taste! Making a beer is a hobby with many advantages too - it is inexpensive, easy and you don't have to wait long to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Homebrew is a program about the art and science of beer-making for the home brewer. The host is Charlie Papazian, author of "The Complete Joy of Home brewing." As founder of the American Homebrewers' Association, it's a hobby he takes seriously, devoting most of his time to teaching this ancient art through seminars and through his magazine Zymurgy.

Charlie introduces the viewer to the basics of beer making using an ale kit typical of those found in any homebrewer's supply store. He discusses equipment, basic ingredients and the stages of beer making. From there Charlie moves into making a beer from malt extract with some grains that he grinds himself and explains ingredients, recipes and technique in greater detail, including the importance of and the different varieties of yeast, various malts and their differences, yeast, the role of hops in flavoring a beer, sanitation, fermentation, racking and bottling.

Light-hearted and entertaining, this program also touches on the history of beer making and also introduces the viewer to some keen, inspirational home brewers and professionals who discuss their trials and successes. We see how professionals do it in an on-premises brewery and a micro-brewery and meet a number of home brewers who discuss their trials and successes of beer making. Throughout the program, Charlie Papazian offers advice and tips for making a great home brew.