I made my first homebrew a few years ago when beer tax went up yet again − brewing our own seemed like a sensible austerity strategy at the time. Now that Hilde has also discovered craft ale it has become an even greater economic incentive.
Initially I used Peter Ale kits, a logical first step as we had been drinking their beer regularly. We saved the characteristic oval bottles − designed based a Dutch jenever bottle found on at their site − for a number of months. And then we experimented with our first homebrew of Golden Ale. At about £20 this is not for the cheapest, but for 40 pints it’s still a considerable saving. And the result was a lovely light and refreshing ale.
Over last years experimented with many different kits and styles, bought from the Brewstore on South Clark Street. There have been very few disappointments, although we St. Peters homebrew kits remain a favorite, especially their Golden Ale, Best Bitter, IPA and Cream Stout.  And more recently, we’re very enthusiastic about  Ritchies Festival Ales − Razor Back IPA and Endeavor.
As I’ve grown more confident I’ve started experimenting by adding coco nibs to porters, dried elderflower blossom, and using Burton salts to give a stronger mineral flavours to the beer. Heavier Belgian Triples worked well, although some of the first batch exploded whilst on holiday. I also tried making homebrew ciders and ginger beers, but for some reason these have been less successful.
Better than Brewdog
Recently we heard that some of Marc’s students placed some of my beers on Untappd, a beer tasting social-media platform for discerned beer lovers.  I’m quite proud that one beer was nicknamed ‘Better than Brewdog’ !
