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  Colorado is home to some of the finest beers and breweries in the nation - and we're not just talking Coors.   In addition, our state hosts the fantastic Great American Beer Festival, the Colorado State Fair's "Foamfest" beer festival,  Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines and a slew of other events and competitions.  In addition to dozens of microbreweries brewpubs, Colorado is a hotbed of homebrewing. 

Do-it-yourself Beer

Think back.

Drift back through your memories and try to recall the first sandwich you ever made. A slice or two of bread and something to go between them – maybe cheese or peanut butter and jelly or ham and mustard. Think of the joy that came from eating that sandwich, no matter how weird or pedestrian the ingredients.

Simply stated, there lies the joy of home brewing. Making your own beer or wine offers you the chance to create something that is unique, a custom-built treat for your taste buds. Brewing can be an opportunity to never run out of your favorite brew or play mad scientist with every batch. It can be art, science, old-world tradition or next-century independence – sometimes all at once.

That's the beauty of it: there's no real wrong answer. There is almost no chance of poisoning yourself or your friends, no matter how inexperienced or inept you are. You don't have to please your spouse or your boss or the neighbors. If you like dark beer, make dark beer. If you like blueberries, make blueberry beer. If you like pine trees, make pine beer (yup, it's out there.) God knows, people have tried about anything you can think of.

Below are links to various online brewing resources.  This is hardly a comprehensive list, as there is an incredible amount of brewing information available online.

Educate Yourself

The Basics

Read "How to Brew" by John Palmer - FREE E-BOOK

Explore Beer with the American Homebrewer's Association

Allaboutbeer.com

Beertutor.com

Beereducation.com

The Beer Advocate's Beer 101

Brewing articles compiled by the Maltose Falcons Homebrew Club

Homebrew Digest - homebrew information be sure to see the Library

Further reading (scientific and specialized information)

Extensive yeast and microbiology information

Radical Brewing links

MIT Biology Courses  (opencourseware) - FREE

UC Davis - professional brewer's course

Join the Club

Foam on the Range  (Denver)

KROC Homebrew Club  (Broomfield)

Hop Barley and the Alers  (Boulder)

Black Canyon Homebrewers Association  (Montrose)

Colorado breweries

Beerme.com listings

Colorado Brewers' Guild

Support your local brewery

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