Sussman Brews with an Amateur’s Gusto

By DEBBIE ALEXANDER Special to the Palisadian-Post Dean Sussman probably has over 99 bottles of beer brewing in his garage at any given time. He takes them down and passes them around, but only after bottling his homemade brews. Sussman, an attorney who has lived in the Riviera with his family for almost eight years, fell into the world of home brewing quite by accident. “A group of us pitched in and gave my friend, Chris, a home beer brewing system as a gift.” Sussman recollects.’ Chris said to me, why don’t we do it together and keep it at your house. That was five years ago and his system is still in my garage. I ended up with a free birthday present even though it was not my birthday.” Sussman freely admits that Chris hardly ever joins him in this endeavor. “I usually brew alone.” Ironically, it took quite a while for brewing beer at home to become legal in the United States. When Prohibition was repealed with the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, a clerical error omitted the word “beer’. Yet, citizens continued to do it anyway. President Carter officially lifted that federal restriction in 1979, allowing this hobby to flourish. So Sussman is not unusual. Home brewing is quite popular. A Google search turned up over two million entries, while eBay had close to 100 items for sale. On the Internet, there are many home brew forums, recipe exchanges and suppliers. Sussman is almost embarrassed by how simple his system is. “Really, all it takes to home brew is a few large plastic buckets and tubes,” he explains, standing in his garage pointing out the low-tech quality to his set-up.’ Sparkletts home delivery water jugs come in handy and I have also cobbled together a few pots and pans.” High-tech systems do exist, but Sussman is not interested in “techno geeking out.” At the Culver City Home Brewing Supply Co., a starter set is $59.95, while the deluxe checks in at $129.95. Sussman usually buys his ingredients there because “I like to support the local guys.” The basic principle for homemade beer is that sugar gets converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast through fermentation. “The yeast eats the sugar,” he says. “Then, as it metabolizes, the mixture becomes alcohol and carbon dioxide.” It’s the same process that any big commercial brewery like Budweiser or Coors use as well as imported brands like Heineken and Corona. Essentially, the recipes and the techniques are the main difference between brands of beers. Sussman loves creating beer because he “can fiddle around with all the ingredients. The experimentation is the best part of the hobby. If you make a bad batch, who cares? It is for personal consumption and you might be out about $50 for ingredients.” He has created such signature flavors as Paradise Porter, Annie’s Steam and Chiara’s Cream Ale — named for his wife. However, she prefers his peach flavored beer. “I like to name my beers after my pets and friends,” he says. Sussman feels he moves through five different stages to create a batch of beer. He estimates his active work time is 8 to 9 hours. First, he buys his ingredients. “I find it is good karma to drink beer when I am making beer.” Second, he begins the primary fermentation where he “boils the beer on the stove. I flip on the TV and keep an eye on it,” he says. “It is like making soup.” He then transfers that mixture into a huge plastic bucket. He seals it up so no micro-organisms get in. He places an airlock on that container, which releases the carbon dioxide. It needs to escape, so there is not an explosion in his garage. He lets it cure on average for about a month. After that, he transfers the liquid into the large Sparkletts bottle for more fermentation, again with an airlock. He tends to let his beers go completely flat. Then, comes bottling time, when he adds extra sugar to put the carbon dioxide back into the beer to create the fizz. Some home brewers use a CO2 tank at this step. Sussman is very conscious of the environment and recycles bottles left over from beer club parties, or a competition. He loves to share his beer with friends and acquaintances. “It makes a wonderful hostess gift when we get invited to a party,” he says. Sussman has encyclopedic knowledge of the formulas for different types of beers and ales and is active in Pacific Gravity, the Westside home brewers club that has over 100 members and meets monthly. “We taste beers and talk beer geek stuff like how did you ferment a particular grain,” he shares. Sussman recently hosted his beer club’s annual summer party with more than 40 beers in competition and there was a hard liquor category as well. He estimates that close to 200 people came by that day. Everyone in the club pitches in not only with the libations, but also with the food. “It was great fun,” he remembers. “They are a terrific bunch. My house was pretty trashed, but the next day many members came over and cleaned up. You would never know that I had a party here.”