I learned to brew beer from Griz at SF Brewcraft, at 17th and Clement in San Francisco. Griz runs a class every Monday night at Brewcraft. He hands out beer and tells the kind of stories you’d expect from a old, overweight hippy who probably wears overalls in his sleep. In between stories, he’ll tell you how to brew beer.

I like Griz’s style. He is knowledgeable, but not “anal.” He likes to keep it simple. I can live with that.

His kit is a good deal. You get a food grade 5 gallon bucket and a glass carboy plus the assortment of accessories you’ll need. You can buy it cheaper piece by piece elsewhere, but you’ll save maybe $20 tops, and it won’t be worth the effort if you have a job. The one thing I won’t buy is empty bottles. It only costs twice as much to buy bottles with beer in them, and then you get to drink your way to success! Honestly, while you are waiting for your beer to brew (it takes usually 3-6 weeks, though a Belgian beer can take 2-3 months), you can keep drinking those 12 packs. One beer a day, with a friend, and you’ll have enough bottles for a 3 week batch. Takes an hour and a half to clean and delabel them. If you collect them after you drink your homebrew, the process is faster, since the label removal is the most time consuming part. For removing labels, soak the bottles in warm soapy water, and then scrape them off with a razor or an abrasive sponge.

Ingredients cost about $20-$30 per batch usually. Belgian beer costs about $45. Each five gallon batch makes about 45 beers.

Check out Griz’s website at: sfbrewcraft.com

Credit for inspiring my beer brewing adventures goes to a large copper tank in Ben’s kitchen and to the Rabbit’s Foot Meadery in Sunnyvale. The copper tank looked like something you might brew beer in (but actually is not fit for it). I happened to go to the meadery at about the same time as we were staring at this tank, and the owners were kind enough to give me a tour and explain that making beer is pretty easy.

Lots of people want to brew too, so it turns into a great social acitivity. Ben and I have chronicled the brewing process with videos, which I will try to post here.