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IN RECENT YEARS, homebrewing has become an increasingly popular pursuit in Ireland.
Set up in 2011, the National Homebrew Club now boasts 400 active members attending their meet-ups and participating in their busy online forum.
They held their first full-day conference this year in April, with plans to continue it and expand next year.
“I was always interested in beer,” President of the Club, Thomas Carroll, explains. For him it started four years ago while at college, when by chance he came across a thread on boards.ie about the topic.
He bought a homebrew kit – “for the craic” – and made his first brew.
“The first brew wasn’t great,” he laughs, before adding: “I still drank it.”
Thomas cites the feeling of achievement behind brewing as one of the main motivating factors in keeping going after that first experience. “Holding your own beer in your hand, thinking ‘I made that.’”
Natasha Alves, a Brewer at St James’s Gate, mentions a similar feeling in her job at the plant. “A good day is really exciting and fun – a great sense of achievement to know that you’ve produced however many millions of pints at the end of your shift.”
Natasha works with beer on a much bigger scale and comes from a background in microbiology, whereas Thomas works from his apartment in Derry purely for fun. Despite this, similar themes arise when speaking to them both – overwhelmingly, there is a sense of satisfaction and genuine achievement involved in creating something from scratch through brewing.
Both see homebrewing as an outlet for creativity. Though she doesn’t brew at home at the moment due to lack of space, Natasha and her husband (also a Brewer in St James’s Gate) have plans to start a set-up in the future.
“Just to have our own little space,” she explains. “To do innovation.”
At home, you have the luxury of trying this flavour, putting this or that into the beer. Something that we do ourselves… It’s our own creation.
Consistency is key for the Brewers – ensuring that each pint is the same as the last batch and the batches brewed last year is really important for any beer’s reputation.
Achieving this in St Jame’s Gate is somewhat easy Natasha adds, saying that they have a huge amount of control over the processes at play. Homebrewers, on the other hand, would be lucky to manage to recreate the exact same beer twice due to all the variables in their workflow. As Natasha says:
Self-teaching yourself to make beer – it’s so valuable. You don’t have to go to college and study microbiology to go and brew beer, you can do it yourself.
Thomas agrees that brewing has more flexibility “when done as a hobby”. For those in the Club, finessing a recipe and honing a brew’s taste to enter it into the annual competition in February and March is “the highlight of the year”.
For the last few weeks, homebrewers across the country have been brewing their own Christmas ale that they hope would stand out in the season. All of the entries will be judged next week by an expert panel appointed by Smithwick’s and two amateur brewers will be will be invited to step through the historic St James’s Gate in Dublin and brew their own recipe in the site’s home of innovation: the pilot brewhouse.
On the brewing day, the homebrewer will discuss their recipe with the Brewer and together work out how they will be able to brew enough of it for 10 pubs to sample around Ireland.
When asked what it would mean for the average homebrewer to get the chance to brew their beer in St James’s Gate, Thomas said it would be a “once in a lifetime experience”.
With that in mind, we asked Natasha about the elements of St James’s Gate that our two winners might not have expected.
Don’t expect it to be the same as it is at home. One thing St James’s Gate are proud of is how environmentally friendly we are – you can’t just throw beer down the drain. You have to know what you’re doing will work before you do it. You can’t just throw it away and try again!
She also added that the first thing many people ask her when they find out she works as a Master Brewer is “Oh wow! So you taste beer every day!”
And does she?
“Well, yes,” she laughs. But the process isn’t exactly what you might imagine:
There’s a tasting session every morning. I wouldn’t go every day, but I try to get down at least once a week. You taste your stouts, ales and lagers. It’s only a small amount that you taste, not even a mouthful, more a sip – and there’s water and crackers to cleanse your palate.You don’t spit the beer out like you do with wine. When you swallow beer, the taste buds you have on the back of your tongue are really important too, particularly for bitterness and that, which you wouldn’t get with wine.
Coming from two totally different worlds of brewing, both Natasha and Thomas had one similar golden rule for all would-be brewers: hygiene and sanitisation. “It’s very easy to accidentally overlook one part of the cleaning procedure,” Thomas warned.
Another piece of advice the two brewers had in common related to embracing trial and error. Thomas says his second-ever brew didn’t work out – he was overly ambitious and added too many hops, making it too bitter. “It’s very easy to add too much. Be careful,” he says.
Natasha has a sanguine take on this tale, reflecting: “Yes, but that’s how you learn. You make your mistake – then you know why, and don’t do it again. Don’t be afraid to experiment.”
It seems that no matter where you’re brewing – from the working brewhouses and fermentation vessels at St James’s Gate to a set-up in your spare room –a passion for what you’re creating (and a keen eye for sanitising, of course) is all you truly need to get going.
If you would like further information about the Smithwick’s Challenge visit www.smithwickshomebrewchallenge.ie or to learn more about homebrewing and to pick up some tips visit www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie. Stay tuned over the coming weeks to see how our TheJournal.ie, The42.ie and DailyEdge.ie brews are coming along… Including opinions from Master Brewer Natasha and President of the National Homebrew Club Thomas on the flavours we picked.
Happy brewing!
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He’ll be praying he’ll get Judge Martin Nolan.
There was a petition that went around a few years ago to get rid of him, nothing came of it. The internet outrage towards him is nothing new.
Seen that a year or so ago and when I tried to sign it apparently it was thrown out. Makes me angry really that we pay him to be so incompetent. A real pity.
Lots of people seem to blame the government for just about everything that happens…what about personal responsibility and decency in people, is there a minister for that??
The government has partial blame for their inaction against the incompetence of judges, the lack of prison spaces that allows a revolving door system and not putting in place minimum sentences. This 18 yr old will no doubt have already racked up a ridiculous number of convictions.
Violent crime is allowed if your solicitor can mention to the judge you’ve hard a hard life or a hard year or even a hard few hours. Then it’s ok to stab shoot or just abuse someone.
Judge Nolan the biggest hearted man in the country
At least the suspect can be named this time because he’s legally an adult
Life in jail no excuses
If he’s charged he’ll be named.
Dublin is a lovely place unfortunately these kind of things happen to often. In general Dublin is still safe.
Dublin is an absolute kip,don’t delude yourself
Dublin is not the worst of them, not by a long shot!
bagdad is worse marginally
From Dublin don’t live there now but very sad about how unsafe and violent its become bloody gov’t needs to up its game. #love Dublin
It’s not like the tabloid media would have you believe and there are gangs roaming the streets. The 2 killings this weekend are one that was involved in criminality and the other an argument at a traveller halting site. Sick of the view that Dublin is unsafe, it is if you are up to no good but it’s rare for a member of the general public to be caught up in the violence
bullshit
It’s not unsafe at all Glenoir. It’s a city with nearly 1.5m inhabitants. It has the same problems as every other city but by and large it is very safe but if you want trouble you will find trouble. Last night’s incident involved a row between travellers. The other high profile murders of late have involved serious criminals. Traveller murders are rare so unless you are a serious criminal caught up in a gang feud you should have little to worry about.
What is happening in Dublin. It’s getting out of control!
It’s absolutely crazy. Dublin is getting a really bad reputation. The judges need to come down hard on these people. The 18 year old (if found guilty of murder) should get life in prison.
Am…..that’s the only sentence he can get if found guilty of murder.
Ah Pat, work with me here. A lifetime behind bars. These lads should not see the light of day again. He’ll probably get 15 years and out in 10 for ‘good behaviour’. He should be locked up for the rest of his days, simple as
Getting murder would be hard more likely it would be man slaughter and sure the poor lad has a hard life and jail would very hard for him so 5 years with 3 suspended.
It’s his culchur, don’t blame him!
Wtf is wrong with these people. Ireland is a country with opportunity. I understand if this happens in 3rd world countries.
Dublin City is at a life-or-death crossroads.
Please enlighten us….1.2 Million people in Dublin and 1 is stabbed!! Definitive life or death you idiot!
It’s because none of ye clowns ever leave Dublin in yere tracksuit wearing lifetime. Ye think all cities of 1.2 million in Europe are full of howerya junkies too.
Classy keyboard warrior post, “Dave”.
Dave i was in kildare once Arr ye slack jaw yokel.
I mean outside of Ireland you fool, Lay off the glue for a while.
Back to bed with you Dave, sleep off that hangover :-)
Dave we are not mind readers up in the big smoke..if you mean outside Ireland say outside Ireland Yarp .
Ah Dave ser didn’t most of them have their foreign trip away last Saturday
Must take a fertiliser sack full of Taaaythos and a bucket of Club Lemon to cure your Buckfast and barbiturate hangovers…..another savage shlap of Shudocrem couldn’t go amiss ‘aythur’!! ;~}
isin’t it about time for your daily injection of metadone through your big toe?
Still beats oral injections of tetra delta and golden maverick from some fat sweaty farmers arse with scour and high yields!! Back to the tall ships and sunny splendour of the capital here…..back to tall sh¡theaps and shlurry-puppies for yee!!
Stabbed to death? In English it’s called murder!
Two with no respect for the law or society shot and stabbed by people with no respect for the law or society.
That’s it. Sure haven’t they the two weeks booked for Benalmadena anyway, tis great and ya get the full irish for 3 euro 50.
Out late line dancing last night to Nathan Carter? We Dubs don’t go to Benalmadena. We go to Torramaleenas. It’s only tropickk!! Wrap me up like a wagon wheel.
What has become so sad in this country, is we hardly blink anymore when someone dies violently, gun crime is becoming too common.
# as has knife crime
God knows what the rest of the world must think of Dublin with nearly a shooting or a killing almost daily
Strange how you point that out, but fail to blame the ‘settled’ community for the growing number of murders this year.
have your say