Making My First Batch of Homebrew: Brewer's Best PSA IPA

Today was a big day for me. After writing about beer for 30 years, I finally brewed my first batch of homebrew.

I'm not exactly sure why it took so long. My excuse when people used to ask was that I would start homebrewing once I had tried all of the great beer made by commercial brewers. Back in 1980, when there were under 50 brewing companies in the U.S., I figured that day would happen sooner than later. Then the craft beer revolution happened and there are now more than 1,600 brewers in the U.S.

So why now? Well the good folks at LD Carlson Co. are helping to raise awareness about prostate cancer with the release of the Brewer's Best PSA IPA homebrewing ingredient kit. They are donating $3 from every kit sold to the Pints for Prostates campaign and many of the homebrew shops selling the kit are matching the donation. A number of online homebrew supply companies are selling the kit for around $40.

I got to brew today with my son-in-law Mike Wirth and my future son-in-law Jake Koneman, which made it a fun project. They have both brewed before, so they helped keep me out of trouble. The Brewer's Best kit had easy to follow instructions and the ingredients were all simple to use. The brewing process was fun and the aromas were quite appetizing.

The kit features Palisade, Simcoe and Amarillo hops (PSA) and should produce an ale between 45-55 IBU, which will be pretty tasty. I cannot wait for the bottling process in about two weeks.