Homebrewing has been going on forever, but the modern arc of its U.S. history really begins in 1978 when President Jimmy Carter, my hero, signed in an act that exempted a certain amount of beer from taxation, leaving it up to the states to decide the legality. Most states, including Virginia, have since made it legal to homebrew for personal or family consumption. There's an upper limit of something like 100 or 200 gallons per year. So, if you plan to make that much, best consult the law books and possibly a doctor. In addition, the law states that you may only give away up to 72 ounces (one six-pack) per person (of legal age) per year. That is, unless they help you brew it, in which case it's also theirs.
While it may seem strange to consider, neither I nor O'Keefe knew the legality of persons under 21 years of age assisting with homebrewing. Before fermentation occurs, the beer mixture - called the wort - contains absolutely no alcohol. In fact, the process bears more resemblance to cooking than chemistry. Likewise, the Virginia Tech judicial code has nothing concrete to say about homebrewing. Nevertheless, you should probably ask your RA before using a dorm kitchen to brew beer. And, once that fermentation is under way or completed, there is no question that it is illegal for persons under the age of 21 to possess it.
So with homebrewing explicitly legal, a beer revolution occurred in America. The market had been typically dominated by huge brewers and their light lager style including most of the classics such as PBR, "Beast," Bud, Miller and so on.
"Over the past 25 years, there's been a build-up of beers not traditionally available," O'Keefe said. He suggested that, with the advent of homebrewing and microbrewing, beer drinkers would try something new and flavorful, enjoy it and seek out new, different beers. A demand was created.
Blacksburg has a love/hate relationship with microbreweries. Of particular fame is the New River Valley Pale Ale, created in the 1990s by a Virginia Tech grad student named Kenny Lefkowitz. Unfortunately, NRVPA's distributor Old Dominion was recently acquired by Coastal Brewing Company, in which Anheuser Busch has a 49 percent stake. Sadly, they decided to discontinue NRVPA. I'm tempted to buy stock and protest.
However, two microbreweries are coming, and soon. Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill, planning to offer seven local brews, is scheduled to open this fall as part of the new development on South Main Street. Somewhat farther away in Roanoke, the Blacksburg Brewing Co. is on the verge of reopening after a several year hiatus. O'Keefe said that BBC's brewer, John Bryce, just got back from Berlin, where he attended a prestigious course in beer making. And, as anyone who knows anything about beer at all, Germany is the beer capital of the universe.
Of course, if you really like beer, why not try your hand at making your own?
The start-up costs are minimal. You'll want to buy a good beginner's book; O'Keefe suggested, "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing" by Charlie Papazian. For equipment, you'll need a couple of buckets, a kettle big enough to boil several gallons (I use a five-gallon pot that I got for $10 from Big Lots), and a bottle capper. You'll also need a really good sanitizer. This bottle-conditioned route should cost no more than $80 for start-up equipment; however, if you get into the hobby, you may find yourself wanting to buy tubing, various pumps and so on.
There are two routes that homebrewers typically take for finishing their beer; the first is called bottle-conditioned beer in which the final product is placed in a bottle with live yeast and some extra sugar. The bottles are set aside for a week or more during which the live yeast eats the sugar and the oxygen in the water to create carbon dioxide, effectively carbonating the beer. The second route utilizes "cornelius kegs," the name given to five-gallon soda kegs, and a CO2 canister to forcefully carbonate the beer. O'Keefe estimated that a kegging setup would cost around $300, though it is a route that the majority of experienced brewers eventually use.
There are really only four ingredients in beer. The first is water. O' Keefe said that Blacksburg tap water is "moderately soft," which is pretty good for most beers. A Pilsner requires extra soft water, so you'd want to create a mixture of distilled water and tap water, while a Pale Ale requires a little bit more salt. And, since Blacksburg water authority uses chloramines in the water, you'll definitely want to boil the tap water.
The second ingredient is hops, which is a plant that adds aroma and bitterness to the beer.
A beer that is especially aromatic or bitter is called a "hoppy" beer. Only female hops are used, which I found particularly ironic given that "hoppy" beer is typically associated with masculinity.
We're actually in a hops crisis — that's the phrase all the brewing Web sites use — right now due to a bad crop in Europe and farmers switching over to corn because of the biofuel push. You may even see the price of beers rising as a result.
The third ingredient is malt, which is grain that's gone through a special malting process. In the old days, malting involved several weeks of pushing the grain across the floor, but these days we use robots. Well, machines anyway. The malt provides the sugars that yeast needs to convert water into ethanol.
The last ingredient is yeast, which are single-celled organisms that create the alcohol.
Basically you starve the poor yeast of oxygen until they're forced into anaerobic metabolism. A brutal process, no doubt, but now, instead of using the phrase, "you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs" you can alternatively say, "you can't make a beer without starving a couple million yeast."
Sometimes people add various strange ingredients. O'Keefe said that the strangest ingredient he's come across is chili pepper, imbuing the beer with a hot, spicy flavor. One of the coolest aspects of homebrewing is the ability to customize your beer to your tastes. My own favorite involved the addition of coffee.
These ingredients may seem rather exotic, but they're not. Eats, located down South Main Street, offers everything you need to brew beer. O'Keefe also suggested Northern Brewer and Midwest Brewing Supplies, which can be found on the Internet.
Once you get all the ingredients together, you'll want to get the process going, but that's where this article ends and your own brewing journey begins.
"It's a lot of fun. Get friends and do it as a joint adventure. There's so many things you can tweak and change. And I've got beers from the brewing science and technology class that are as good as anything you can buy for a third or less of the price," O'Keefe said. "Homebrewing is fun."
You might be interested in... o'keef, beer, homebrewing
