About Us
Kal Wallner in his first Electric Brewery circa 2009
Brewing an experimental recipe in the new brewing room circa 2013
Features / Publications
- The BlabberMalt Show (Feb 20, 2024, YouTube video 'The BlabberMalt Show: episode 48')
- Rob (from the Internet) (Oct 7, 2022, YouTube video 'S03E05 - The Electric Brewery')
- Associated Press story featured by ABC News, Washington Post, LA Times, Denver Post, San Francisco Gate, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Daily Herald, and Toronto Star to name a few. (Sep 19, 2017, 'Living room, dining room, kitchen ... brew room?')
- The American Homebrewers Association (Oct 27, 2016, 'How to Estimate Power Requirements for Your Electric Brewery')
- Electronic House (Sep 27, 2016, 'Cheers to an All-In-One Basement Brewery and Home Theater')
- Houzz (Jul 4, 2016, 'Room of the Day: Cheers to a Home Basement Brewery for Craft Beers')
- Trulia (Nov 18, 2015, 'Create A Personal Tap Room With These 7 Home-Brew Hacks')
- Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine (Aug-Sep 2015, 'Electric All-In-One Brewing Systems')
- CityHome 2014 magazine (2014 / 2015 GREAT SPACE: Lounge + Bar + Brewery + Spa = One Fabulous Basement)
- theCHIVE (Nov 2014, 'If your basement looks like this, congratulations, you win')
- Ottawa magazine (Oct 2014, 'How-to: Blow $50K in beer & wine')
- Prime Living magazine (Jul-Aug 2014 Food & Wine issue, 'The Gentlemen's Room / Man Cave')
- Huffington Post (Feb 2014, 'The 19 Coolest Things To Do With A Basement')
- Ottawa Citizen (Nov 21, 2013, Homes section, 'Basement beauties')
- Brew Your Own magazine (Nov 2013, 'Ultimate Brewing Man Cave')
- Electronic Products (Mar 2012, 'Fundamentals of building an electric home brewery')
- Brew Your Own magazine (Nov 2012, 'Tips from the pros' column, article on electric brewing)
- The New York Times (Jun 23, 2011, page D1, 'Need a Six-Pack? Hit the Basement')
- Brew Your Own magazine (May-Jun 2011, 'Homebrew Drool systems')
- The American Homebrewers Association (May 2011, 'Pimp my System: The Electric Brewery')
- The Brewing Network Sunday Session radio show (Apr 3, 2011, 'The Electric Brewery')
Brewing Background
We've been brewing since the late 1980s, first with the limited selection of malt extract kits available at the time, then later with 100% wort kits that required no boiling at all. We stuck with the no-boil kits for some time as they produced excellent beer (as long as you ignored the instructions). Bored with the limited styles available in kit form, in the fall of 2008 we decided to spread our wings and graduate to an all-grain setup where we could be 100% in control of the final product.
Our all-grain brewery had to meet the following criteria:
- 100% electric for indoor brewing
- Safe, easy, and enjoyable to use
- Not limit the brewer in any way
- Provide extremely repeatable and consistent results
- Use industrial quality parts that last (all stainless steel, limit the use of plastics)
- Use standard off the shelf parts to ensure long term serviceability (limit the use of special / proprietary parts)
After failing to find a commercially available setup that met these criteria, we decided to design and build our own from the ground up over a 12 month period between 2008 and 2009. This build was documented in our Building Your Brewery and Using Your Brewery articles to allow others to follow in our footsteps.
Like many first time all-grain brewers the inaugural batch was a hoppy American IPA, brewed on August 21, 2009. It turned out perfectly.
Brewing for us is not about saving money, it's about the art or craft of making beer and being able to call it our own. This is one of the few things in life where we can point to something and proudly say "we made that".
We've never run into any issues or problems with our Electric Brewery setup. We've never had a stuck sparge, missed a target gravity, had over / under temperature issues, or had clogged valves or pump priming issues. This setup just works. This allows us to focus our attention on recipe creation instead of worrying if the equipment will work correctly. Because of this we really look forward to the days when we brew. Isn't a hobby supposed to be enjoyable, after all?
Professional Background
We hold a degree in electrical engineering and spent 7 years designing plant floor process control systems used by operators at a manufacturing assembly plant. One of the systems was featured on the cover of the March / April 1999 issue of Manufacturing Automation magazine.
As a kid growing up, we used to stick bare wires and other things into electrical sockets when parents weren't looking. (Seriously).
We've also had a deep love for movies and home theater since the early 1980s and have been the editor of CurtPalme.com Home Theater since 2006. We've written many home theater guides including the popular Grayscale & Color Calibration for Dummies (a free guide that helps you get the absolute best picture out of any TV or projector).
In 2015 we were asked to join the editorial review board of Brew Your Own magazine. It's a volunteer position where we spend time reviewing articles for technical accuracy.
Promoting The Electric Brewery
Would you like to help promote The Electric Brewery? Feel free to use either of the logos below on your website.
Transparent logo with white border (.PNG format):
HTML code:
<a href="http://www.theelectricbrewery.com"><img src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2400/0975/files/logo_no_background_no_sig_389_Shopify.png?10927205228939741308" alt="TheElectricBrewery.com ... A step by step guide to building and using your own brewery, with tons of recipes!" /></a>
Logo with solid white background (.JPG format):
HTML code:
<a href="http://www.theelectricbrewery.com"><img src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2400/0975/files/logo_TheElectricBrewery_alone.jpg?10927205228939741308" alt="TheElectricBrewery.com ...A step by step guide to building your own brewery" /></a>
