It’s Time You Learned How to Make Beer

Like it or not, believe it or not, summer's end is nearing. The good news is that now is the perfect time to start homebrewing.

Here's how to get started the right way… This Saturday, August 25, The Cellar Homebrew Shop in Oshkosh begins a new round of how-to-brew classes at its store at 465 North Washburn Street. The first class starts at 11 a.m. and, as always, admission is free.

The August 25th class will cover the basics of extract brewing. That class will be followed with a session on all-grain brewing on September 15. You'd be best off hitting both of them. From those two classes, you'll take away the skills you need to make great beer at home for years to come.

The Backstory
The Cellar has been offering brewing classes here since the store moved to Oshkosh from Fond du Lac in 2016. For the past couple of years, classes have been taught by Oshkosh area homebrewer Tim Pfeister. He has over 10 years of homebrewing experience behind him. “I've been addicted to it for at least a decade,” Pfeister says. And he’s been teaching others how to brew for nearly as long.

Tim Pfeister

“I was excited when David (Koepke, owner of The Cellar) asked me to do a teaching gig at The Cellar with no political ties to clubs, just focusing on the building of community through the sharing of passion and knowledge,” Pfeister says.

You hear that word passion a lot among homebrewers. This is a hobby that tends to consume people. For Pfeister, that sharing of passion works both ways. “I love the involvement,” he says. “I get students of varying levels, all full of questions. Their excitement to learn fans my own flames. It's cyclical that way.”

It even inspired him to return to his roots and do some extract-based brewing again. “I bought a kettle and returned to my stove top for a while,” Pfeister says. “It allowed me to take a decade's worth of experience and apply it to extract brewing, which I could then share the results with my classes, proving that you can actually make very good extract brew with correct practices.”

It’s about more than just beer. Pfeister views The Cellar classes as an alternative for people looking to learn and become part of a homebrewing community that isn’t tied to the agenda of an organized homebrewing club.

“I want to stress that our number one priority is community,” he says. “This is where I feel that we differentiate a little from the clubs. Not that what they do isn't good, but politics and bureaucracy tend to get in the way. The Oshkosh club, unfortunately, is a little obsessed with festivals which, in my opinion, is off-putting to fledgling homebrewers and tends to rob time from education; which I feel clubs should really focus on. We are trying something a little different, that's all.”

In the end, though, it always comes back to the beer. And for a beer lover, there’s nothing like the satisfaction that comes from drinking a good beer that you created. It’s what recently sent Pfeister chasing after his vision of the perfect IPA, and in the process “Eliminate my dependence on shelf-bought product for good, hoppy brew.”

Pfeister has been methodically constructing his recipe for what he’s calling STANK IPA. “In fact, It took me nearly four years to make an IPA I was happy with,” he says. “I now have a house recipe that is better than just about anything you can buy off the shelf at Festival. We now consume more homebrew around the house than commercial beer.”

That’s a place most homebrewers would like to be in. Getting started the right way will get you there that much quicker. To keep up with the upcoming classes at The Cellar follow the store's Facebook page or contact The Cellar via its website.