Creating a wort starter guarantees that your yeast will go to work right away.  No more delayed fermentation starts.  It also helps having a healthy starter in high gravity batches.

Things you will need

• Beer yeast – dried or liquid
• Dried malt extract
• Erlenmeyer flask
• Stir plate and stir bar
• One Step Sanitizer
• Stopper and airlock
• Ice

When dealing directly with yeast you must keep everything sanitary.  Everything must be surgery grade clean.  Prepare a bucket of sanitizer or a container large enough to soak your Erlenmeyer flask, stir bar, airlock, and stopper. 

Once everything is clean fill the flask with 2 cups of water and begin heating the flask on the stove.  Once the water is boiling, add 1/4 cup malt extract while off the stove.  Stir well until the malt is dissolved.  Boil the solution for another 3 minutes and remove from the heat.  You will need to quickly cool the solution.  Prepare a bath of ice to rapidly cool the wort.  The faster the wort gets cooled, the less the chance of infection.  Place an airlock and stopper onto the flask and place the flask into the ice.  Let it sit long enough to cool down to room temperature.  Now it is time to pitch the yeast and stirbar.  Carefully pour the yeast into the flask and add the sanitized stir bar.  Quickly replace the stopper and airlock.  Next place the flask on the stir plate and turn to medium.  Let the plate run until it is time to pitch the yeast.  You should notice a change in color of the wort.  After 24 hours the yeast has increased in volume and should be ready to put into your latest batch. 

One of the easiest ways you can add your own touch to a beer is to grow your own hops.  Hops can be grown just about anywhere, on a fence, a trellis, or even up a wall.  First you must locate a source of rhizomes.  A rhizome is a root cutting off of a female hop plant.  I like to get my hops from Northern Brewer.  It is best to pre-order a month or two before spring.  After some experimentation, you will find that some strains grow bigger and quicker than others.  My personal favorite is cascade because it is high yielding in the North Carolina heat. 

Once your hops have arrived, it is time to plant them.  Use Lowes frost date chart to make sure the last frost has passed.  If the date has not passed you can refrigerate the hops until it is time to plant.  Just make sure they are in a sealed bag with a slight bit of moisture. 

Planning of where your hops will be planted is important.  You want them to get a good bit of direct sunlight.  You also will have to think about what you want them to grow upon.  If you are planning for the hops to grow up an object make sure you plant on the sunniest side of it.  Dig a hole large enough for the rhizome.  Next look closely at the rhizome.  You should see some small buds or white specks coming out of the rhizome.  The rhizome should be planted horizontally with these buds facing up.  Fill the bottom of the hole with a good potting soil.  The rhizome only needs to be planted about 1-2 inches below the top of the soil.  Cover the rhizome with potting soil and give the plant a good watering. 

When the plant grows to about a foot tall, it is time to start thinking about training the plant to climb.  If you are trying to get the plant to climb a fence or structure wait until it gets longer and is able to cling onto something.  You will have to check on it every couple days to make sure it is growing where you want.  If there isn’t anything close by the hops to grow on; stakes can be placed into the ground and twine attached.  I like to use hemp twine because it holds up well and the hops clings to it nicely.  Just simply run twine from the stake in the ground near the rhizome to a nearby tree, house, etc. 

Towards the middle of the summer you should have some hop buds appearing.  It will take some practice and experimenting to tell exactly when the hops are ready to harvest.  Most people crush the hops and give them a good smell.  You should also notice a yellow powder within the hop.  If they look and smell like the hops you would buy from your homebrew store, then it is probably time to harvest.