Yankee Brew News Archive

Video Review: A Homebrewing Primer

Originally Published: 08/96

By: Gregg Glaser

Grass Roots Brewing

269 Plains Road, Haddam, CT 06438, 860-345-7566, UKDG88A@prodigy.com, 28 minutes, $18.00.

Grass Roots Brewing is a well made primer for someone considering homebrewing. This is definitely a beginner's tape, although there is a short section on all-grain brewing.

The personable on-screen hosts, husband and wife Gil and Ellen, lead the viewer through the basic equipment, materials and techniques of brewing, racking and bottling a batch of simple extract ale. Gil first visits the Sturbridge, Massachusetts, Summer Brew Fest, where brewers Gary Bogaff and Chris Lull of the Berkshire Brewing Company talk about some of the characteristics of craft brewed beer. Gil's next visit is to the Stella Brew homebrew shop of Charlton, Massachusetts, where the owner, Bruce, shows and discusses the basic ingredients and equipment needed to get started in homebrewing.

Back home in their kitchen, Gil and Ellen demonstrate and explain, step-by step, the procedures for simple homebrewing: boiling the wort, adding finishing hops, sanitation, transferring the wort to a primary fermenter, pitching yeast, taking specific gravity readings, transferring the beer to a secondary fermenter and bottling. Interspersed are on-screen instruction titles detailing each step.

There are two quick visits away from Gil and Ellen's kitchen. First, Ned La Fortune of the Wachusett Brewing Company briefly explains the differences between ales and lagers. Second, John Munro of Old Harbor Brewing Company talks about yeast.

Grass Roots Brewing is a truly New England production. The tape was produced by a northern Connecticut company, and that's the reason for the appearance of a Massachusetts homebrew supply shop, Massachusetts brewers and a visit to a Massachusetts beer festival. The information in the tape is correct and presented clearly, with a touch of humor. Grass Roots Brewing would make a good addition to a beginner's homebrew kit.