Brewer Skills

(1) Learn the basic elements of home brewing, including sanitization, ingredients, the primary ferment, racking, and bottling.

Home brewing kits can be an easy way to get started. The equipment is mostly reusable (barring ingredients, additives, and sanitizer).

(2) Brew a basic wine or hard cider. Take notes on your recipe and how the brew tastes at different stages of the process.

Your first attempt to brew will likely not be the best you’ve ever had—after all, you’re just starting out!

(3) Brew three additional wines or hard ciders using different types of ingredients. For instance, you can change the type of sugar, the ratio of water to fruit, the type of yeast, or even the amount or method of adding tannins to your brew.

If you feel confident about your first brew, you can start the brewing process for future wines and ciders before the first is finished and bottled. As you go, continue taking notes to see what changes yield certain results.

(4) Brew additional wines and/or hard ciders, employing each of the following techniques: a) adding additional fruit or spices, b) back-sweetening, and c) fortifying.

Once your brews mature, be careful! Unless you’re brewing many gallons at once, you can often drink what you make faster than it can be made. Try to pace yourself while still enjoying the fruits of your labor.

(5) Brew a basic beer or make a naturally carbonated soda.

Brewing beer requires more equipment and specialized knowledge than brewing wine or hard cider. Brewing soda uses more basic equipment, but requires brewing-quality swing-top bottles to ensure pressure safety.

You can also download the skills tracker as a printable .PDF here.

• Home Brewing Equipment
• Beginner's Guide to Wine Making
• Beginner's Guide to Hard Cider Making
• You can also chat with the staff at your local brewing supply store. They can often give concrete and specific tips and can recommend the right equipment and ingreditents for your projects.