It turns out that, in its simplest terms, beer qualifies for the organic definition when all the ingredients used in the beer brewing recipes have been grown in acceptable “green” fashion. Generally, this means that the hops, barley, and everything else in the recipes have not been exposed to fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, or herbicides. Proponents of this beer brewing method claim that organic beverages taste better than their larger non-organic competitors.

Not surprisingly, most organic growers are very small, with less than 100 acres under cultivation. They also tend to sell their product within a geographically small area, to local microbreweries specializing in offering organic products. This limited production and distribution prevent any meaningful economies of scale with, in turn, will mean that these offerings will be priced higher, in some cases substantially so, than the more familiar competitors.

On the plus side, these patronizing these local microbreweries have other positive effects for the environment. These include consuming a locally produced product which reduce the negative effects of wide area distribution. Further benefits include glass bottles and cardboard containers that are more readily recyclable than aluminum cans.

There is another way to go organic without paying the higher prices and that is to explore brewing your own beer. There are a number of smaller home beer brewing suppliers who offer organic ingredients for the consumer market. Jumping into home brewing gives you the ability to brew a beverage specifically for your own taste, allows the reuse of glass bottles which reduce waste, and is very inexpensive to get started.

If “going green’ is important but you don’t want to give up your favorite beverage, take heart; It is now possible to enjoy excellent beer without unduly harming the environment.

And why shouldn’t we? Even Plato celebrated a drinking game in his book Symposium which was written around 385 BC. In it, he describes a game where a bowl filled with wine is passed among the participants. Each person drank the wine, slapped the bowl, and passed it along to the next person. It sounds very simple but don’t all drinking game rules sound simple before you start?

“Kottabus” is another drinking game played the Greeks 2,500 years ago. The game was played by throwing the wine lees (the sediment at the bottom of the barrel) at a target. The player was required to speak the name of his beloved as be tossed the lees. This game was something like the “she loves me, she loves me not” variety with flower petals today.

The Chinese also developed drinking games of their own that involved dice, riddles and a silver canister. The players would place written instructions into the canister that described which player had to drink as well as a specific amount. These games also had “officials” who were responsible for maintaining order and were able to call penalties which, of course, included more drinking.

Today many of these games have been transformed into the various past times found at your local tavern such as billiards, darts, pool, and ski-ball. These establishments are carrying on a centuries old tradition that traces its roots back to both the cradles of both western and Asian civilizations.

What is the most fun about learning to brew your own beer is there are so many different kinds to choose from. It is really hard to get tired of beer when you have so much to choose from. While beer is brewed virtually everywhere in the world the traditional beer brewing regions are Europe, the United Kingdom, North American, and Australia. As you might imagine these different regions all produce very different tasting beers.

Despite these regional differences, beer is categorized into just two main types generally based on the temperature of the brewing process. The temperature differences effect how the yeast behaves during brewing. Beers brewed at lower temperatures use slow acting yeast are classified as “lagers”. Beers brewed at higher temperatures use much faster acting yeast are classified as “ales”. Because of the regional differences, ales are broken down into more sub classifications such as “pale ale”, “brown ale”, and “stout”.

Let’s take a brief look at both main types.

Ales are typically brewed with “top-fermenting yeasts” and, as I noted above, are brewed at higher temperatures. The usual temperature range for fermentation is between 60 and 75 degrees F. In this temperature range the top-fermenting yeast produces a large amount of “esters” (critical for the formation of alcohol) as well as other aromas and flavors. The result of this manner of brewing is a beer that is sweeter and more full bodied than lagers.

On the other hand, lagers are the most widely consumed beers in the world. The word lager comes from a German word meaning “to store”. This is probably because early brewers stored their beer in cellars and caves during the hot summers. In doing so, these brewers noted that their beers continued to ferment during the time in storage which produced a light, dry, and clear beer.

The lager brewing process uses “bottom-fermenting yeast” and usually involves a two step fermentation process. The primary, or first, fermentation takes place between 45 and 55 degrees F. and is followed by another, or secondary, fermentation at 32 to 40 degrees F. This secondary fermentation lasts much longer and is known as “lagering”. It is during the secondary phase that the lager clears and mellows.

These two types of beers also have very distinctive colors. Most of today’s beers, as measured by sales, are pale amber lagers with a very light color and a lot of carbonation. All of our most favorite US brands, Budweiser, Miller, and Coors are of this type.

Dark beers are most often brewed with a portion of darker malt in the mix to produce the darker color, although other ingredients, such a caramel, can be used as well. The darkest beers, the stouts, use very dark or roasted malts, or in some cases unmalted barley.

The alcoholic content of beer comes from the breakdown of the sugars produced during fermentation. The amount of sugars in the wort and the type of yeast used to ferment the wort are the basic factors that decide the amount of alcohol present in the beer. Occasionally additional fermentable sugars are added to the mix specifically to increase the alcohol contents. Alcohol is a byproduct of the yeast metabolism and is toxic (to the yeast). Typically, brewing yeast cannot survive alcohol concentrations above 12% by volume.

Today’s pale lagers generally have between 4% and 6% alcohol by volume with the most typical ABV being 5%.

If you are fairly new to home beer making, I am sure that one of your biggest challenges is waiting long enough for the fermentation process to complete before you take that first taste of the new batch. Believe me, we have all had the same challenge!

But what I want to talk about here is not the agonizing wait for the batch to be ready but, instead, the way you taste the beer when it is ready. These tips are what me and my friends have come up with over time and they work for us. But feel free to modify them to suit your particular needs.

Don’t eat right before you taste: The goal here is to taste the beer you just made and not dinner!

If you smoke, put it out: Smoking will interfere with the way you taste your new beer. Even having smoke in the air will change how you taste the batch.

Pour the beer into a clear glass: This does a few things; One, it allows the beer to form a head. Two, it lets you see the color and clarity, and three, it will help you fully appreciate the aroma of the new batch.

The first taste: Take in just enough to cover your tongue. Different recipes will feel heavier or lighter depending on the ingredients you used. Hold the beer in your mouth for a bit before swallowing to allow your taste buds to experience the full flavor of all the ingredients you add to the brew.

So there it is. You have experienced your first taste from the batch. Hopefully it has the color, body, aroma and taste that you imagined. If you have kept careful records during your brewing process you will be able to recreate these results anytime you wish.

If something didn’t come out quite the way you wanted, or if you have an idea on how to improve your batch next time, these same records will give you the information you need to “tweak” the recipe the next time around. Taking that first taste of a new batch is, for me, one of the best parts about home brewing beer as a hobby. I’m quite sure it will be yours as well.