I made a trip to the Eternal City recently, in search of art and culture, good food, and of course beer. I was aware of a couple of venues from talking to ICB colleagues beforehand, but apart from that I was travelling more in hope than expectation.

Brewing beer at home can be done using one of three methods, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Whether kit brewing, extract brewing or all grain brewing suits you best, depends on how much you are willing to put into the process, what you are willing to spend on equipment and what kind of results you are looking for.

I have arranged these methods in order of ascending complexity, but please note that even the most complex methods are not rocket science. People have been brewing beer for thousands of years and for most of that time it was mainly brewed by ordinary people in their own homes, with very basic equipment.