If
you’re a news buff, you may have seen several news stories about home
brewing and home brew kits hit the news wires - both nationally and
internationally. Stories like the apartment fire in Colorado, or even
the “flat” in Wales” caught on fire by home brewing have raised several
eyebrows in the community.
Although
these headlines can be concerning and raise questions about the safety
of home brewing, they don’t show an accurate picture of the home brewing
process. Nor how safe home brewing actually can be.
Home Brewing Kits Don’t Start Fires
Although
these articles try to say that the home brew kits were to blame for the
fires, that’s not how home brew kits work. Home brew kits don’t start
fires. The Hardware Equipment Kit, or any recipe/ingredient kit for brewing beer, do not include
burner elements. The only elements home brewing kits include the buckets
and accessories needed to brew like thermometers and carboys. The
recipe kits include grains and other mixes in for the brew.
What’s Unsafe about Home Brewing?
If
anything is deemed “unsafe” by home brewing, it’s the heating elements
that brewers already have installed in their homes. Heating equipments
like stoves (gas or electric), propane burners, or even turkey friers
are often used to boil water and/or wort. Occasionally these heating
units will malfunction or fail. However, whether the heating elements
are being used for home brewing or for cooking chili - the brew kits are
safe. It’s the malfunctioning and failing heating elements that are to
blame for the house fires.
Staying Safe when Home Brewing
As
these headlines have reminded us, it’s always important to take
precautionary steps when home brewing. Here are a few safety tips we
recommend as you brew from home:
- Make sure your heating elements are working properly.
- When boiling water and/or wort, do not leave the pots unattended.
- Keep your home brewing equipment and grains out of reach from children.
- Make sure your brew pot is large enough to maintain the boiling wort within the brew pot.
