David, thank you for your channel & all you do to teach & share. I have followed your channel since we started homebrewing in 2022. In 2023 we entered a local homebrew competition for feedback (friends done want to hurt your feelings). I can honestly tell you we've been in 3 competitions & placed in top ten in each. One in top 3 & won one. I owe you a major thanks for your content & amazing knowledge. From your biggest fan in Polo, Mo USA THANK YOU!!!
Hello David, regarding your questions, brewing beer in the Netherlands has been legal since 1992. What I missed in these two videos is the change from hydrometer to refractometer to an automatic measurement system one can use today. For 2024, what strikes me is that due to the development in brewing and fermentation, home brewing could more and more compete with the Big Brewing companies, making better, more tasteful beer than these Big Bros. Thanks for your videos, and let's keep them coming!
Great, many thanks for sharing your thoughts. In regards to the refractometer, any idea on when this transition took place? This is where I struggled. Also, it seems to me that most homebrewers still just use a hydrometer during fermentation and relatively few use a refractometer during the brew.
Thanks for the video. I've been brewing since 2001. I thought you might have focused less on equipment and done more about the ingredient changes, different processes (ex: brew in a bag, no chill, hopping during fermentation, etc) as well as how the hobby has ebbed and flowed in recent years with the pandemic and the greater availability of craft beer. Some of us do love the hobby and plan on continuing as long as we are able. :) Cheers.
I covered what I could research and find out about and then had to pick the highlights of what I deemed to be the most interesting. Not everything was possible to find dates for or find much information about. Many thanks for your thoughts 🍻🍻🍻
1978 thank you, President Carter. I guess it is worth mentioning about home brewing being in a decline, and some of the companies like Morebeer or Pinter are offering super easy flash brewing, extract brewing to help new beginner home brewers and make it easy for brewers that are very busy and just want to produced a beer with minimal time investment
Hi Robert, thanks for your thoughts. On a world wide basis I do not believe that homebrewing is in decline. In some countries smaller stores have died due to many using internet stores more but thats a different thing. Kit brewing has been popular since the the 1960s in many countries,which I did mention, the pinter simply offers a version of this with a vessel. I have a Pinter but cannot say ive bern impressed, so I didnt cover it on this channel. Flash brewing is new for 2024 and I have some of these kits coming currently for a proposed video. I did not include 2024 in these videos, I just went up to 2023. 🍻🍻🍻
Thanks for the nice review, for my part the big "game changer" was the introduction of the liquid yeast before this my beers were no so good and I as almost stopped homebrewing. Bur a friend was testing a beer in US made with "liquid yeast" that was very nice.
There’s so much that you could have included, but I know you worked hard to keep the length of the video to a minimum. But it begs the question… perhaps this could turn into a mini series of sorts with episodes focused on specific aspects of brewing history? For example, you touched on a couple of base malts and malting processes, but perhaps it would be interesting to learn more about specialty malts and their use for homebrewers as we began to tap into brewing wider varieties of styles? Or the development of hops and the genetic strains that have been adapted to provide a tremendous variety of flavors, aromas and more, up to the invent of cryo hops, which I believe will become a game changer for homebrewers in 2025 and beyond. And similar with yeast and countless other additions we use. I know I am always wanting to learn more about the ingredients we use, including water of course! And having some historical understanding of how homebrewing has changed over time, especially in the last couple of decades because of our access to so much variety in the ingredients of beer, I think would make for a fascinating series of videos! Thanks for sharing your research! I enjoyed these two videos a lot.
Many thanks for your thoughts. Its not really a case of minimising, its more a case of priority to keep the length engaging. Some of the history is not such a game changer for homebrewers either. In terms of learning more about speciality grains I have already created videos that cover much of this on my channel along with videos about hops, yeast and so on.
If I am not mistaken it was legalised in 1982 in Germany. Jean Pütz wanted to show how to brew beer in his science/hobby TV show "Hobbythek". To be able do so legally he talked to the right persons in the ministry of finance and a couple of weeks later we were able to brew up to 200 liters legally!
I would suggest the RAPT ecosystem is likely the single biggest change. The unified and automated control and visbility it provides is epic and we have barely seen the start of the possibilities. For similar reasons I would also list Brewfather as it has made recipe generation far far more accessible to new brewers whilst helping to usher in the new world of digital brewing.
Yes good point, I did mention the extra capabilities of GEN 4 Brewzillas but not RAPT directly. Brewing software was something I was considering to mention but as you can appreciate I also have to be careful on time.
The introduction of acid-based sanitisers was a huge deal imho. When I began brewing the common ‘sanitiser’ was sodium metabisulphite. Then people started to realise that was not really adequate and started to use dairy industry products like iodophor. I read an article in Zymurgy in early ‘90s which compared all the options for sanitation and concluded household bleach was the most effective, unless one was dealing stainless steel. I was already using bleach because I’d read Charlie Papazian’s books. I used bleach for quite a while, except for my corny kegs. I used to buy some powdered product for those but I have forgotten what it was. Eventually I concluded that very hot water was all I needed for the corny kegs. I lived in a house with dangerously hot water. Sometime in the ‘00s the LHBS sold me phosphoric acid based sanitiser and told me I didn’t need to rinse it. I was skeptical for a while but here we are, washing equipment in sodium percarbonate and sanitising with phosphoric acid and ignoring the surfactant.
Good points David for sure. I had to make some choices for these videos to avoid them being too long, so could only include what I saw as the highlights.
I did the same. I used boiling water with pressure in my kegs for years. The hot water created pressure in a closed environment. I never had an issue with this method at that time
Making beer at home became popular during WWII in Australia as supply was restricted. Lets remember, most Australian heritage at that time was either British or European. Most learned from the older folks, often using adjuncts. Methods were contrived and perfected. That is; perfected as to making drinkable/good enough for beers for consumption at home. The influx of Europeans following the war improved homebrew processes, including the use of ingredients, this came particularly from the Germans. While homebrew continued in Australia it was not popular until the government placed a tax on alcohol in the early 70s. The same Labour government that purported to support the working class put a tax on the working mans drink! Aussies have always been innovative, particularly when it comes to being froogle. BITB in the late 70s/early 80s became a way to simplifying the equipment needed to produce all grain beers. Today; I tend to use Kegland products for two reasons: I find they are generally good products AND they are Australian..... Cheers to all
I’ve noticed you left out company’s like claw hammer and blickmen engineering/anvil brewing. They have become house hold names as well. Homebrewing become legal in my country in 1978 I believe
Its not like I decided to leave any company out as such, its more a case of finding out where they fit into the history and what can be said about that and in what year. Here I focussed on what I deemed to be of the most importance and of the most interest to homebrewers across the world. Also, some brands are not as well know outside of the country they are based in. Clawhammer for example do not trade outside of the US, so they are not well known world wide.
I recall a few of my friends using Coca-Cola pinlock kegs in the early 80s although, these were not particularly common. I have been using second hand Cornelius ballock kegs since 1991. They were not cheap at that time but clearly worth it. My son still uses those same original kegs. The seals have been replaced a few times though.
David, thank you for your channel & all you do to teach & share. I have followed your channel since we started homebrewing in 2022. In 2023 we entered a local homebrew competition for feedback (friends done want to hurt your feelings). I can honestly tell you we've been in 3 competitions & placed in top ten in each. One in top 3 & won one. I owe you a major thanks for your content & amazing knowledge. From your biggest fan in Polo, Mo USA THANK YOU!!!
Thank you, very much appreciated 🍻🍻🍻 Congratulations on your success 🍻🍻🍻
Another brilliant video thank you :)
Cheers Paul, much appreciated 🍻🍻🍻
Hello David, regarding your questions, brewing beer in the Netherlands has been legal since 1992. What I missed in these two videos is the change from hydrometer to refractometer to an automatic measurement system one can use today. For 2024, what strikes me is that due to the development in brewing and fermentation, home brewing could more and more compete with the Big Brewing companies, making better, more tasteful beer than these Big Bros. Thanks for your videos, and let's keep them coming!
Great, many thanks for sharing your thoughts. In regards to the refractometer, any idea on when this transition took place? This is where I struggled. Also, it seems to me that most homebrewers still just use a hydrometer during fermentation and relatively few use a refractometer during the brew.
A really interesting series, thank you. Gadgets like Easy Dens have been gamechangers, though at a price!
Great to hear Jane and yes very true 🍻🍻🍻
Nicely done, thank you. Not necessarily 2024, but I think the kveik yeast storm warrants a mention. And “pseudo-lager” 😇
Thank you. Yes I was considering it, however its not super mainstream and I had to be careful on time.
1978 here, that is when I started
🍻🍻🍻
Great and really interesting series.
Thank you, very much appreciated 🍻🍻🍻
Thanks for the video. I've been brewing since 2001. I thought you might have focused less on equipment and done more about the ingredient changes, different processes (ex: brew in a bag, no chill, hopping during fermentation, etc) as well as how the hobby has ebbed and flowed in recent years with the pandemic and the greater availability of craft beer. Some of us do love the hobby and plan on continuing as long as we are able. :) Cheers.
I covered what I could research and find out about and then had to pick the highlights of what I deemed to be the most interesting. Not everything was possible to find dates for or find much information about. Many thanks for your thoughts 🍻🍻🍻
1978 thank you, President Carter. I guess it is worth mentioning about home brewing being in a decline, and some of the companies like Morebeer or Pinter are offering super easy flash brewing, extract brewing to help new beginner home brewers and make it easy for brewers that are very busy and just want to produced a beer with minimal time investment
Hi Robert, thanks for your thoughts. On a world wide basis I do not believe that homebrewing is in decline. In some countries smaller stores have died due to many using internet stores more but thats a different thing. Kit brewing has been popular since the the 1960s in many countries,which I did mention, the pinter simply offers a version of this with a vessel.
I have a Pinter but cannot say ive bern impressed, so I didnt cover it on this channel. Flash brewing is new for 2024 and I have some of these kits coming currently for a proposed video. I did not include 2024 in these videos, I just went up to 2023. 🍻🍻🍻
Thanks for the nice review, for my part the big "game changer" was the introduction of the liquid yeast before this my beers were no so good and I as almost stopped homebrewing. Bur a friend was testing a beer in US made with "liquid yeast" that was very nice.
Thank you. Yes good point, this should of been mentioned! 🍻🍻🍻
There’s so much that you could have included, but I know you worked hard to keep the length of the video to a minimum.
But it begs the question… perhaps this could turn into a mini series of sorts with episodes focused on specific aspects of brewing history? For example, you touched on a couple of base malts and malting processes, but perhaps it would be interesting to learn more about specialty malts and their use for homebrewers as we began to tap into brewing wider varieties of styles?
Or the development of hops and the genetic strains that have been adapted to provide a tremendous variety of flavors, aromas and more, up to the invent of cryo hops, which I believe will become a game changer for homebrewers in 2025 and beyond.
And similar with yeast and countless other additions we use.
I know I am always wanting to learn more about the ingredients we use, including water of course! And having some historical understanding of how homebrewing has changed over time, especially in the last couple of decades because of our access to so much variety in the ingredients of beer, I think would make for a fascinating series of videos!
Thanks for sharing your research! I enjoyed these two videos a lot.
Many thanks for your thoughts. Its not really a case of minimising, its more a case of priority to keep the length engaging. Some of the history is not such a game changer for homebrewers either. In terms of learning more about speciality grains I have already created videos that cover much of this on my channel along with videos about hops, yeast and so on.
If I am not mistaken it was legalised in 1982 in Germany. Jean Pütz wanted to show how to brew beer in his science/hobby TV show "Hobbythek". To be able do so legally he talked to the right persons in the ministry of finance and a couple of weeks later we were able to brew up to 200 liters legally!
Very interesting, many thanks for sharing this 🍻🍻🍻
I would suggest the RAPT ecosystem is likely the single biggest change. The unified and automated control and visbility it provides is epic and we have barely seen the start of the possibilities. For similar reasons I would also list Brewfather as it has made recipe generation far far more accessible to new brewers whilst helping to usher in the new world of digital brewing.
Yes good point, I did mention the extra capabilities of GEN 4 Brewzillas but not RAPT directly. Brewing software was something I was considering to mention but as you can appreciate I also have to be careful on time.
The introduction of acid-based sanitisers was a huge deal imho. When I began brewing the common ‘sanitiser’ was sodium metabisulphite. Then people started to realise that was not really adequate and started to use dairy industry products like iodophor. I read an article in Zymurgy in early ‘90s which compared all the options for sanitation and concluded household bleach was the most effective, unless one was dealing stainless steel. I was already using bleach because I’d read Charlie Papazian’s books. I used bleach for quite a while, except for my corny kegs. I used to buy some powdered product for those but I have forgotten what it was. Eventually I concluded that very hot water was all I needed for the corny kegs. I lived in a house with dangerously hot water.
Sometime in the ‘00s the LHBS sold me phosphoric acid based sanitiser and told me I didn’t need to rinse it. I was skeptical for a while but here we are, washing equipment in sodium percarbonate and sanitising with phosphoric acid and ignoring the surfactant.
Good points David for sure. I had to make some choices for these videos to avoid them being too long, so could only include what I saw as the highlights.
I did the same. I used boiling water with pressure in my kegs for years. The hot water created pressure in a closed environment. I never had an issue with this method at that time
@graeme02 🍻🍻🍻
Making beer at home became popular during WWII in Australia as supply was restricted.
Lets remember, most Australian heritage at that time was either British or European. Most learned from the older folks, often using adjuncts. Methods were contrived and perfected.
That is; perfected as to making drinkable/good enough for beers for consumption at home.
The influx of Europeans following the war improved homebrew processes, including the use of ingredients, this came particularly from the Germans.
While homebrew continued in Australia it was not popular until the government placed a tax on alcohol in the early 70s. The same Labour government that purported to support the working class put a tax on the working mans drink!
Aussies have always been innovative, particularly when it comes to being froogle. BITB in the late 70s/early 80s became a way to simplifying the equipment needed to produce all grain beers.
Today; I tend to use Kegland products for two reasons: I find they are generally good products AND they are Australian..... Cheers to all
Great, many thanks for the information there, much appreciated 🍻🍻🍻
I started brewing in 1974, in the province of Quebec.
Great, thanks for sharing Denis 🍻🍻🍻
What about WilliamsWarn from NZ ? I had a Brewmaster for many years and it was superb at creating commercial grade beer under pressure.
I dont know much about these, they didnt make it to Europe that I am aware of.
I’ve noticed you left out company’s like claw hammer and blickmen engineering/anvil brewing. They have become house hold names as well. Homebrewing become legal in my country in 1978 I believe
Its not like I decided to leave any company out as such, its more a case of finding out where they fit into the history and what can be said about that and in what year. Here I focussed on what I deemed to be of the most importance and of the most interest to homebrewers across the world. Also, some brands are not as well know outside of the country they are based in. Clawhammer for example do not trade outside of the US, so they are not well known world wide.
I was using ball lock kegs in the mid-90’s. It wasn’t especially uncommon. In fact I thought I’d been a bit slow to get onto it.
Sure. But when these got sold off this was when the explosion happened. They were far less common before that point.
I recall a few of my friends using Coca-Cola pinlock kegs in the early 80s although, these were not particularly common.
I have been using second hand Cornelius ballock kegs since 1991. They were not cheap at that time but clearly worth it. My son still uses those same original kegs. The seals have been replaced a few times though.
@graeme02 Great, very interesting, many thanks for sharing 🍻🍻🍻
1970-1980 for nz, but officially in 1996. The digital side would be interesting, brewfather and others, for example.
Ok, interesting. Yes, I did think to add this in but time was also a concern.
2012 in Hungary. 1000 L/year/household
Great, thank you for the information, much appreciated 🍻🍻🍻
It was always legal in Canada.
Sounds like my kind of nation 🍻🍻🍻
1978 in the USA with caveats of a few states . Now all states ares legal.
Thanks for the clarification there Curt. This did not come up in my research.