Published 2007-03-29T00:00:00Z”/>

Shannon Lane

While some students spent spring break drinking beer, others took their love for beer to a different level – they brewed their own.

“There’s nothing like the sun coming out that makes everyone want to jump up and down and start brewing,” said Dawn Letner, owner of Chico Home Brew Shop.

The shop, at 1570 Nord Ave., offers everything a novice or professional might need for home brewing. A basic setup kit is $53.50, with a batch of ingredients starting at $17.

During break, Kevin Thompson and Brian Klatt walked into the shop to get some ingredients for their third beer-brewing batch together.

They said they wanted to brew a double Indian Pale Ale, the most difficult recipe they’ve attempted.

“We’ve got a pretty complicated hop schedule,” Thompson said.

The brewing involves boiling water and adding hops at different times to produce the right flavor, Klatt said.

It will take about six weeks for a 5-gallon beer batch to brew, Thompson said. The beer will have a strong hop flavor with an alcohol percentage around 9 percent.

“I’m hoping for 10 percent,” Klatt said.

For him, drinking beer involves more than just throwing one back.

“I really like drinking the beer and criticizing other beers,” Klatt said. “At some point when you keep criticizing other beers, you have to make your own.”

Thompson got into home brewing because he is interested in the industry. He hopes to own a brew pub, he said.

The two served their first beer batch, amber ale – which they dyed green – at their St. Patrick’s Day party.

They plan to continue to brew beer and look forward to what they can create.

“The best part is that you can take any recipe and change it a little bit,” Thompson said. “It’s all about experimentation.”

Senior Jonas Greminger also enjoys experimenting with different beer recipes. He began brewing in 2001 and has brewed more than 10 batches.

“I’ve worked out a lot of weird flavors that can happen with home brewing,” Greminger said.

One of his best beers was a strong ale, which had a “thick robust flavor,” he said.

“It really hid the alcoholic flavor well,” Greminger said.

Though the equipment can be expensive, the ingredients are generally cheaper than buying beer from a store.

But saving money doesn’t seem to be the reason to brew.

“I don’t see much reason to homebrew unless you like good beer and want to make it right,” he said.

Greminger is very picky about his beers and takes them to Chico Homebrew Club to be critiqued. The club welcomes newcomers and meets at 6 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.

This spring, Greminger will enter his favorite, a dry stout brew that has a hint of roasted coffee, in the Silver Dollar Fair Homebrew Competition.

Anyone who homebrews is encouraged to enter, but only qualified judges are able to critique.

“It’s not really a spectators’ event,” Letner said.

The winner receives a day of brewing in Sierra Nevada’s Research Pilot Brewery. Entries can be dropped off from Friday to April 17 at Chico Home Brew Shop. Final judging is on April 29 at the Sierra Nevada Brewery.

Shannon Lane can be reached at <a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>

–BEER’S FOUR MAIN INGREDIENTSMalted barley: The grain is smashed to convert starches to sugars.Yeast: This produces alcohol and carbon dioxide from the malt sugars.Hops: A flower that creates the beer’s distinct flavor.Water: If you can drink it, you can brew it. Some prefer sterile water because 98 percent of beer is water.THE BASICS OF BEER BREWINGThe first and most important step is to wash everything you will use.Boil about six gallons of water to make a five-gallon batch.If the recipe requires grains, use them first. Place them in a strainer, and let them steep for 15 to 20 minutes in brewing water.Rinse grains with more hot brewing water. Don’t add too much or the batch will boil over because sugars expand when heated.Add malt extract, dissolve and bring to a rolling boil. At this point, the beer is called wort.Add hops to the boiling wort. Recipes call for different amount of hops and times for when they are to be added. Boil for about one hour.Chill the wort to about 80 degrees and add yeast.Seal the wort in an airtight container.When the yeast settles to the bottom and the beer is clear, it’s time to add a dissolved priming sugar and bottle the beer.The beer needs to ferment for two weeks to carbonate. Age to desired taste.