Make Your Own Green Beer for St. Patrick's Day

Attention home brewers and beer fans: Who wants a green brew (or two) on St. Patrick's Day? If you get started now, you can brew your own in time for the big day.

If you've brewed your own before, then you know that it's a labor of love, but the payoff comes from being able to do it yourself, control every step of the process, and make it as green as possible. You also know that the hardest part about the homebrew process is waiting for it to be done so you can drink it; the actual 'making' part takes just a few hours. If you haven't brewed before, welcome to the club! There are a few things you'll need to get started. Homebrew shops will sell you a handy kit that includes everything you need; while nice to have everything you might need, you probably don't need to go that route, if you don't want to -- you probably have half of what you need in your kitchen already. Instructables has a good list of what you need to get started.

Keep reading to learn how to make your own green beer!

Choosing beer-brewing ingredients

The variety is pretty much up to you, keeping in mind that certain types can take longer to brew; lager, for example, will take a bit longer than an ale, because lagers are designed to ferment at cooler temperatures, and, as such, it takes longer for the yeast to do it's job. If it's your first time, using a kit from your local homebrew supply store and following the recipe is the way to go; if you aren't awesomely pleased with the results, you can tweak it next time. If you've been 'round the homebrew block before, you can be a little more choosey about your ingredients, and that's where your green eye can go to work. Chat up your local supplier about organic and/or local ingredients (I can get locally-grown Cascade hops here in the Pacific Northwest, for example), or use an online shop like Seven Bridges Cooperative -- the "only certified organic homebrew retailer in the United States," according to their site -- to source organic ingredients. As they note, organic ingredients are a bit pricier than conventional, but still cheaper than buying organic beer at the store.

Learn more about the homebrewing process on the next page.

The homebrewing process

Each homebrewer has their own preferred method, but there are three generally applicable steps that most everybody does:

Boiling: This is the 'making' part, where you 'cook' some of your ingredients to make wort, which is essentially non-alcoholic, non-carbonated, very young beer; it sorta looks, smells, and tastes like beer, but it isn't really the same.

Primary fermentation: After cooling your wort (remember, it's been boiling) down to about room temperature, and transferring it to a (sterilized!) fermentation container, you pitch the yeast, and your beer begins to ferment. The yeast eats the sugar, giving off alcohol and carbon dioxide; the CO2 escapes through the airlock and the alcohol stays in your beer. After a week or so, this step is complete, and you can transfer your maturing beer to a new clean container for the next step.

Secondary fermentation: Depending on whom you ask, this step can be minimized or altogether skipped, though, like some things in life, beer only gets better with age, so you may find it worth it to do this for a week or two.

Learn the differences between kegging and bottling on the next page.

Kegging vs. bottling

Beginning brewers often bottle their beer; kegging is preferred by many more experienced brewers. The difference: Time and materials. Bottles require lots of individual attention -- each has to be sanitized before using -- and it adds a couple of weeks to the brewing process, since that's how you get bubbles into your beer: By adding brewers' sugar after secondary fermentation and then capping them, giving the yeast more food but trapping the CO2 as bubbles under each cap.

Kegging, on the other hand, is faster, requires less packaging and materials, and cuts up to two weeks off your homebrewing time. The caveat: It requires a kegging system, which is a more significant investment in your homebrewing lifestyle (and usually chosen by homebrewers who are pretty sure they're going to keep it up). That said, I think it's the only way to go if you're serious about making your own beer. It's also the only way to go if you're going to make beer in the next two weeks.

On the next page, learn five things to keep in mind when you're brewing your own beer.

Keep these things in mind

Experienced homebrewmasters already know this stuff, but let's review some of the finer points of homebrew:

Cleanliness is next to Godliness: This is non-negotiable. You have to make sure everything that touches your beer has been sterilized, as bacteria love beer as much as you do, and will hop into your brew at every opportunity, ruining your entire batch and leaving you awfully thirsty on St. Patrick's Day. There aren't really any shortcuts here: You must clean everything every time. Seven Bridges Cooperative has some cleaning tips to do so without bleach.

Good beer takes time: Though it's possible to brew in two weeks (or less), like a fine wine, beer only improves with age. It's up to you to find the right balance between patience and thirst, but you can't go wrong with a little extra waiting.

On the next page, learn why brewing your own beer is better for you and the environment.

The green case for homebrewing

This one's pretty simple: You make better, cheaper beer that's healthier for you and the planet. The Simple Dollar breaks down the cost savings, and Seven Bridges Cooperative has more details on the benefits of brewing organic.

Explore other green brewing practices on the next page.

Other green best brewing practices

There are a few other things to keep in mind as you green your homebrewing experience. As New Belgium Brewery pointed out in their lifecycle analysis of their brewing, refrigerating (and not brewing or transporting) their brews is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions, so no matter if you bottle or keg, think twice before committing lots of fridge real estate to your beer.

When considering your beer packaging options, also remember that kegs are greener than bottles when it comes to post-brewing, pre-drinking options.

So, whatever your persuasion, from IPA to stout, novice to homebrew pro, if you hop to it, you can have some tasty green beer by St. Patrick's Day this year. And, if you can't quite get it together to get it done in two weeks, don't fret. Every day is a good day for green homebrew.