Thread: Beer and hard cider homebrewing

Keeping everything sterilised is super important, but to get the perfect flavour you need a constant and unvaried fermentation temperature. Hops are also important. Being in Oslo you might be able to grow your own if you have space. Otherwise there are loads of great dried ones on the market. Enjoy!!!!

I have made a few batches of homebrew in my time. A great pastime. Here are a few recommendations:
1. Sanitize.
2. Maybe try a few of the malt extract kits. They're easier to deal with, in my opinion, than grains and hops, and you can get pretty much any type of beer you want in the kits also.
3. Sanitize.
4. Personally, I'd go bigger. A 5-6 gallon carboy for initial fermentation, followed by a 5-6 gallon bucket with spigot for secondary fermentation and bottling. One gallon of beer might last you and your friends (who will definitely want to sample) about a half hour. 6 gallons makes about two cases of bottled beer. With luck, that will last you at least an hour.
5. Sanitize.
6. Make sure you and your buddies rinse the bottles out and save them for the next batch. By recycling, you'll have more money to spend on ingredients for more beer.
7. Sanitize.
8. Once you've got the process down, try your hand at making mead. Truly great stuff! And even simpler to make.
9. Sanitize.
10. If your buddies want to drink, have them chip in also. If more than one person bears the financial burden, things are easier on all. Also, encourage them to search for different types of beer they might want to try so you won't run out of ideas. Have them do taste tests on what you make so you can learn from your mistakes, improve your recipes, and come up with new ones.
11. Remember to keep everything sanitized well. Nobody likes funny tasting beer. Okay...maybe some do. But those guys will drink anything.

The book The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian is a great guide, has plenty of recipes for both beer and mead, and will really get you going.

Oh, and 12. More water does not equal more beer...it just equals watered down beer. Your homebrew should compare more with, for instance, Hefeweizen than with Aquafina.

13. Sanitize.