Brotherhood of brewers find frothy good times

By Jomay Steen, Journal staff | Sunday, November 23, 2008

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When the last homebrew store in Rapid City closed nearly 13 years ago, beer-making hobbyists found each other by networking through a local club. Over the years, the Ale Riders Homebrew Club has successfully brewed hundreds of gallons of beer and garnered more than 70 members.

“Rather than us evaporating, we needed to become stronger and relied on each other more,” said Bob Cronin, founding member of Ale Riders.

The purpose of the club is to brew handcrafted beers using hops, yeast, malted barley and water to create a personal taste or finish. Club members hold several brew sessions throughout the year. They generally brew seven different kinds of beer for the club’s holiday party held annually in January.

“When drinking American beer, I always thought that it left something in the glass and that it was fairly tasteless,” Cronin said.

Cronin said a local homebrew store’s recipes, supplies and equipment piqued his curiosity and interest. “I thought I was ready to try home brewing,” he said.

There are two processes in brewing, according to Cronin. Extract brewing uses syrup; almost everyone starts out using this process. “You still get excellent results,” he said.

He added that while some brewers will never vary from extract brewing, others will want to learn more and delve into all-grain brewing.

“All-grain brewing is labor-intensive, but more satisfying because you have more control,” he said.

When brewing ale, the fermentation process takes two weeks at 65 degrees, meaning the ale can sit in a basement closet. When brewing a lager, the fermentation process will last six to eight weeks at 45 to 50 degrees, which may mean some time in the refrigerator.

During the process, you must be careful about light, as it will change the flavor of the beer. “That’s why most beer bottles are dark,” he said.

Cronin said a local homebrew store’s recipes, supplies and equipment piqued his curiosity and interest. “I thought I was ready to try home brewing,” he said.

There are two processes in brewing, according to Cronin. Extract brewing uses syrup; almost everyone starts out using this process. “You still get excellent results,” he said.

He added that while some brewers will never vary from extract brewing, others will want to learn more and delve into all-grain brewing.

“All-grain brewing is labor-intensive, but more satisfying because you have more control,” he said.

When brewing ale, the fermentation process takes two weeks at 65 degrees, meaning the ale can sit in a basement closet. When brewing a lager, the fermentation process will last six to eight weeks at 45 to 50 degrees, which may mean some time in the refrigerator.

During the process, you must be careful about light, as it will change the flavor of the beer. “That’s why most beer bottles are dark,” he said.

Cronin also noted that people can brew only 100 gallons of beer if there is one adult in a household or 200 gallons if there are two adults. “You can’t sell it,” he warned. The federal government will be at the door wanting taxes for the alcohol, he said.

Fermentation takes place in either glass bottles or stainless steel kegs. People generally will choose to bottle their beer; others will seal it in a stainless steel keg.

“We brew because we want an uncompromised, quality product,” Cronin said.

“It’s just a lot of fun,” he added.

Ten years ago, Robert Goulding of Rapid City contacted Cronin while up to his elbows in his initial handcrafted beer. Having learned the craft of brewing mead, Goulding moved on to beer.

“I called Bob when I was making my first beer. I had the jitters and I didn’t want to screw anything up,” he said.

Cronin was on the telephone with Goulding for 45 minutes, taking the novice through the crucial steps and all the difficult parts, which included bottling it.

“The beer was good,” Goulding recalls of his first brew. “I enjoyed the process. I wanted to make beer more to my liking than the available sludge sold as beer.”

He since has established a brew room and brew storage in the basement of his house. A book that he has kept from the beginning lists recipes for 50 different ales, lagers and mead, which makes up the majority of the recipes.

The main push to continue to brew was because of the taste, he said.

“It’s why we do it. It’s not that it’s cheaper. Some of my stuff is almost to die for,” he said.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.

If you go

What: Ale Riders Homebrew Club

When: 5 p.m. second Saturday of the month

Where: Dublin Square, 504 Mount Rushmore Road

For beer-brewing information, go to aleriders.com.