Perth Voice Interactive

RESEARCHING beer sounds like a dream job: one which, according to my wife, I undertake every evening with vigour.

ECU lecturer Nevil Alexander is living the dream and is taking on the heady task of researching the rise in popularity of sophisticated home-brewing.

He says the days of men in sweaty blue singlets concocting nasty but cheap home-made piss in their wives’ laundry basins are all but gone.

“I work as the chief steward at the Perth Royal Beer Show and over the past five years I have seen a dramatic surge in the quality and sophistication in the amateur section,” says the man who has been home-brewing more than 40 years.

“We are now seeing everything from European style pilsners, to hoppy-style American beers and even the odd Belgian number. People are now spending up to $1500 on home-brewing equipment and really going for it.”

Mr Alexander says several factors contribute to the craft’s growing popularity and sophistication.

“People are generally becoming more educated about beer and realising that different beers taste better in certain seasons and go with certain types of food,” he says. “It has become trendy with young men and brewing has a big social element to it as well.

“I would like beer to attain the level of sophistication and respect that wine has.

“The research will hopefully establish why there has been an upturn in sophisticated home-brewing and how much it has grown.”

An epiphenomenon of the home-brewing explosion has been the rise in the number of “brew-on” premises, such as Billabong in Myaree which, for a fee, provides the equipment and agrees to nurture your batch after you’ve set its wheels in motion.

“It’s a good compromise for people who are busy and don’t have the time to commit to the full brewing cycle,” says Alexander, a former associate judge at the Australian beer awards who set up ECU’s Degrees brewery. He plans to complete his “research” by the end of the year.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK