Homebrewing is something I have been wanting to get into for quite a while. I believe one of the attractions to Durango was the fact that there are four known public breweries within a mile of each other pretty much.

Through this page I hope to share a my own documented learning process with other beer geeks out there.

In the picture above you will notice my boil set up. 20lb propane cylinder attached though a regulator and into the Bayou Classic banjo burner. I opted for this style of burner so when I am ready to upgrade my equipment that will be one less upgrade I have to make. Then of course I have a stainless pot for making my wort. After checking for propane leaks using a spray bottle of soapy water this badboy is ready to be lit for the first time.

After using a little star san on my boiling pot I brought the right amount of water for the recipe up to temperature as I steeped the grains in a muslin bag. Kinda like making a big pot of tea and the grains-a-steepin’ smell pretty terrific.

Here I am making wort by boiling the water with the steeped grains running back and forth trying to figure out which hops go in what order.

This is the phase that smells start coming into play. The different aromas can be mesmerizing! Also at which point I learned you should have already had your hops in order. Hops go in the pot at certain time intervals throughout the boil. I knew this by written word only, but didn’t take into consideration when game planning my first batch. A note I made for future planning purposes.

First hops introduction into boil. Start stirring! High chance of boil-over.

Here is where you have to really start paying attention to your process. I made the mistake in a later batch of homebrew that ended up in a nice boil-over. I didn’t have a spray bottle with water handy or I didn’t start stirring immediately after introducing the first series of hop pellets. The aromas are definitely going to get more complex in your backyard or kitchen at this point.

Adding another round of hops to the boil. Starting to get soupy.

Rolling boil going and all hop additions have been made. The smells and sounds are simple symphonic.

Okay so I left out a few steps but after the wort has boiled its appropriate length, you chill, then put in carboy, pitch the yeast and then bung and bubble.