I know we just finished a series on business lessons from defensive driving, but I'm assuming you're all adults and are responsible people.  That being said, this post is about beer.

To be more specific, brewing your own.

The resources cited below are from past visits and click by's on Life Hacker, The Simple Dollar and GenX Finance. You're certainly free to do your own research, since these are just starter lessons and simple tools for the brewing process.

Brewtarget Helps You Create and Manage Your Homebrew Recipes (Lifehacker) - " Windows/Mac/Linux: Brewtarget is a free, open-source application designed to help home-brew enthusiasts create and organize their beer recipes."

I have to admit, when I saw this on Lifehacker I laughed like a loon. Then it hit me.

What a brilliant idea.

When people fall in love with the process of creating, they would look for stuff to make the process more orderly and easier, whether it's minimalist desktop hacks, or tiny programs to help you monitor the brewing process.

And when you're crafty (in both senses of the word) you'd do so with an eye towards keeping costs down, which is where Trent's post "A Walkthrough and Cost Breakdown of Brewing Your Own Beer" (with pictures) comes in.

Jeremy also puts his two cents in on his posts, introducing how his system works (he can brew 5 batches --25 gallons -- of beer at a time) with his equipment, with pictures and videos of the process, ending with lessons on bottling.

If beer isn't quite to your taste, why not try making root beer at home? Whatever your preference, share your experiences in the comments!