Central Oregon a growing haven for home brewers

Have you ever thought about getting into home brewing? Central Oregon is the place to do it.

Tom Brohamer the President of the Central Oregon Homebrewers Club says it’s easy and fairly inexpensive.

“I started out doing five gallon batches on my stove top,” Brohamer said recently.

It’s a hobby he’s been working on for nearly a decade, and it’s led to a pretty elaborate system.

“This is not just getting into home brewing,” Brohamer said, pointing to his contraption — I mean, system. “I mean, this is overkill. Don’t be put off by seeing this going, ‘Wow, okay, I can’t do it.'”

The home brewing culture on the High Desert has exploded over the last several years. From last year to this, the Central Oregon Homebrewers Club nearly doubled to 92 members.

There are even classes at Central Oregon Community College designed to help home brewers get their feet wet.

“It’s really one of the fastest-growing hobbies,” Professor Tom Koester said. “It’s a hands-on experience — we talk about it, and then we do it. And then at the end, we bottle the beer, and everybody goes home with a six pack of home brew that they brewed.”

If you want to get started, you can buy a home brew kit for around $100.

Brohamer also has one other thing he recommends: joining a club. That’s where he says people can learn to avoid any headache or disasters.

“There is just so much knowledge, and people willing to share that knowledge in a home brew club,” he said.

For more information on the Central Oregon Home Brewers Club CLICK HERE