Homebrewing 1A

Homebrewing 1A

I have received several requests for a column about Homebrewing, but at a beginner’s level. My previous column was for experienced brewers and not for the novice. If you have ever thought about brewing, you might be inspired to give it a shot. After all, it is inexpensive and you likely have most of the needed equipment around the house.

This is meant to be a quick introduction and not a complete guide to every facet of the hobby. For a in depth explanation, discussion and guide, please refer to John Palmers excellent on line book available at http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

This guide is meant for the novice looking for an easy to follow, low dollar investment that will still produce a decent brew. Long time brewers will no doubt feel I should have improved the brew with additional steps or equipment, I disagree. Much of a novices concern is in the initial cost to get involved, I believe a low buck, low tech solution is perfect for the aspiring homebrewer.

What you are making

Beer has been brewed nearly as long as there has been civilization. The earliest recipe dates from Mesopotamia in 4000 BC. It was not however until the 1700s that Beer as we brew it today came into being. We will take advantage of modern methods and have most of the hard work done for us.

Typically, homebrewed beer contains only a few ingredients.

• Malt - is Barley that has been dried and the outer hull removed. It is milled, much like Coffee, and is to beer what grapes are to wine.
• Hops - are a bittering agent. It gives Beer the bite that makes you come back for more. A member of the Cannabis family, the flower is the seasonings of beer.
• Yeast - is a single celled organism that consumes sugars and leaves in its wake, Carbon Dioxide and, thankfully, Alcohol.
• Water - the higher quality the better. 95% of Beer is water; its quality is key.

Malted barley

Brewing beer starts with steeping or “mashing” barley that has been “malted” or encouraged to start to sprout, then dried and milled roughly. The resulting “tea” of steeped grain is then boiled to release sugars and flavors. A popular shortcut is to purchase malt extract. This extract is essentially the same tea or liquor made in normal mashing, but boiled down and concentrated into a honey like liquid that can be the basis for some fine beer. It cuts down on time and trouble, both of which are key to an enjoyable homebrewing experience.

Getting startet

A trip to your local Home Brew Store should be your first stop. If you don’t have a local store, I highly recommend Northern Brewer and More Beer as good places to mail order from. Either way, feel free to ask questions. You will generally find most Homebrewers eager to help and can be a wealth of information.

Once there, you need to decide what you want to brew. The choices can be daunting. Shall I make a crisp Pilsner or a smooth Lager? Perhaps a hearty stout, or an ale perhaps? How about a fruit beer? Or a seasonal like Hefeweizen?

The choices are endless but I will make a few suggestions;

• Pilsners (Pilsner Urquell, Becks, St. Pauli Girl and *allegedly* Bud, Miller and Coors) are tough to make for beginners. They can be difficult to brew and are not very tasty without a lengthy cold rest. Save this one for your 6 month brew.
• Lagers (Sam Adams, Heinekin) have many of the same issues as Pilsners. Some varieties can be made at somewhat higher temperatures, but again, get some experience under your belt before trying these more unforgiving styles. Like Pilsners, they also require storage at low temperatures to be their best.
• Ales, Stouts, and flavored beers (Guiness, Sierra Nevada, Newcastle Brown) are always a good choice for the beginning brewer. Their more hearty styles help to make the most of the flavors available and tend to mask any minor problems in the brew. With their ability to ferment at normal room temperatures, they are much less fuss for the beginner.

I selected a Brown Ale kit, well, two actually since I am making a 10 gallon batch.

Mike rang up my purchase along with 12 pounds of Light Malt Extract. My bill for the 10 gallon batch was $42 bucks. Even the cheapest swill produced by the national mega-breweries is far more expensive.

Once home, I opened up the kit and beheld my booty. Your kit may of may not contain all of these ingredients.

Steeping Grains and Liquid Malt Extract

Plus a whole bag of goodies

The ingredients in the bag were

1. Hops, both boiling and aroma varieties.
2. Yeast. I personally prefer liquid but oh well.
3. Priming Sugar for bottling.
4. Cheesecloth bag for steeping grains.
5. Clarifiers for giving your brew that clean look.
6. “Kettle sugars” to increase Alcohol and body
7. Dextrin for mouth feel and body

That’s it for the software, now lets talk about hardware.

Equipment

In all my hobbies, few rival Homebrewing for the number of gadgets, goodies and oddball hardware that allege to make the brewing process easier and or quicker. Sometimes, that’s even true. That being said, brewing is as complicated as you wish to make it. I will endeavor to make this batch much the same way you will, avoiding the pitfalls of complication.

For hundreds of years, Brewers made do with little more than a big pot and a spoon. We will go a bit beyond that but will keep it simple. The first and most important piece of hardware is a B.A.G. or Big Ass Pot. For years I used this 7 gallon model my wife bought me for Christmas. This is the ideal size but any very large pot will do.

Plan on using the biggest pot you can possibly find. Stainless Steel or Enamel are preferred over Aluminum. Use what you feel is the best and biggest you can get. If you don’t have a big pot lying around, ask friends and family. Everyone has an Aunt who used to can vegetables. Let’s put her pot back to work!

Buy a fermenter.

• This is the single most expensive piece you need. Any supplier will have them for as little as $20 bucks. Spend the extra 3 dollars for the spigot in the bottom. You will never have to siphon your beer if you do. Along with a few other incidentals, you should be able to get started for well under 50 bucks. All of the hardware can be re-used for years to come.

• One indispensable piece is a bubbler or airlock, they come in many styles. Here are two common types.

Both are inexpensive and a must have item for a successful brew. Be sure you get the appropriately sized bung or stopper for your bubbler that matches your fermenter

• 6 Feet of 3/8" food grade plastic hose, available from most hardware stores.

Additionally some small items found around the house or from your supplier will be needed;

• Large Spoon, the longer the better
• Kitchen Thermometer, digital is quicker and more accurate
• Large Tea Kettle or 2 gallon pot for water
• Measuring Spoons
• Bottles, recycled from your normal beer consumption
• Packet of Sanitizer, available from your supplier.

Getting started

The liquid extract that came with our kit is great for body and a basic brew, but we are opting for some extra flavor by steeping the specialty grains that came in our kit.

Many brewers and kits will tell you to steep them on your stove top in a pot of water at 152 degrees for an hour. Personally, I am way too lazy to be bothered to keep an eye on a pot of water to such a precise degree. We are going to cheat and use a small drink cooler to do the work for us.

Start by cleaning the cooler out and rinsing very carefully to remove any soap residue. Once that’s done, fill it with the hottest tap water you have on hand. Fill it to the very brim, drop the lid and let it sit for 10 minutes

Meanwhile, have a pot of water on the stove set to boil.

Turn off the heat and empty your cooler, open your bag or bags of grain and place them into the cheesecloth bag. Pick up any stray grains and put them into the bag.

You should have something like this.

Add a half inch of cool tap water to your cooler and drop in your bag of grain. Ladle in the boiling water until it covers the grain bag completely by several inches. Using a common household thermometer, take the temperature of the grain bags center. Add boiling or cool water until the temperature of your grain ball and water is 156 degrees (or whatever temperature is called for in your instructions). Mix well between measurements

Ahhh, just right.

Close the lid on the cooler and crack a cold one. You are making beer.

Once you have rested from your exertions, you should start getting your kettle ready. Using the biggest pot you have, fill it with 5 gallons of the freshest, best quality water you can get. I am blessed with excellent tap water. Not everyone is. If you do have nasty tap water, I highly recommend spring water purchased on sale at any grocery store for a few dollars. The quality of your beer is directly tied to the quality of your water. Don’t be cheap.

I am making a double batch and am using huge 15 ½ gallon converted kegs. Boiling 11 gallons is a snap. If however, you are using a smaller pot and are unable to do a full 5 gallon boil, don’t worry, you will still make a fine brew. All the instructions will remain the same but for an additional step I will remind you of later on. If you are using a 3 ½ or 4 gallon pot just do the same thing as I am now. The Turkey Fryer setup I am using for heat can often be borrowed from a friend or relative if you don’t have one, otherwise a stovetop and a 3 ½ gallon pot may be better suited for your first brew.

A helpful hint; Put your liquid extract in a pot of very hot water and keep it next to the stove or burner you are using to heat your boil water. It will soften it up nicely and will make adding it to your boil later much easier later on.

Keep an eye on your pot of water and stop it before it starts to boil. Ideally, it will be 170 degrees or so. Determining how long your stove will heat your water may be helpful to know ahead of time.

After an hour has gone by, your steeped grains have given their all. By steeping in the hot water, starches have been converted to sugars and flavors have been released that we are going to use to make a tasty brew.

The color change in this case was quite dramatic.

The temperature in our pre-heated cooler has fallen by less than 3 degrees. Since we have spent our time drinking beer and not watching a pot of water, we are rested and ready to start adding our ingredients together.

Grab the end of the grain filled bag, carefully dip it in and out of your hot pot of water. Rinse it like a giant tea bag until it runs clear. .

These grains have given their all, they can be composted, fed to animals or birds or simply discarded

The bag or bags of malt extract you had warming in the pot are completely liquid by now, be sure the heat to your pot is off and slice a generous corner off of the bag of extract and let it flow into the pot, let it run out and as it gets to the end, gently twist and squeeze it as needed to get all of the malty goodness into your pot.

Success.

Pour the mash water from the cooler into the pot and using your longest spoon, stir for several minutes to completely incorporate the honey like extract. Failure to do so will almost always lead to scorched spots in the pot and accompanying scorched flavors. Once you are sure you have completely incorporated all the liquids, put the lid on the pot and fire up the heat to nuclear. Stir occasionally in a clockwise direction, unless you are one of my readers from Down Under, to avoid hot spots and to speed up boiling.

As the liquor gets close to boiling; it will create a fine layer of bubbles, from this point on, watch the pot like a hawk. Failure to reduce the heat immediately after the start of boiling will result in the horror that is a boil over. Due to the huge amount of sugars we have in our pot, the resulting syrupy mess is enough to ruin a stove. Be prepared, come with weapons.

In the fight against boil over, the lowly spray bottle is your friend

Fill it with water and have it in hand while watching the pot. Reduce heat and spray at the first sign of a boil over and it will knock it down as easy as a Don King fighter.

Hopping in.

As we discussed earlier, hops are the spice of beer. The boiling liquid you have just created (called wort) is very sweet. Go ahead and ladle out a coffee cup full and taste it. Simply adding yeast will, at this point, create beer as most of the world knew it until the practice of adding hops to counter balance the sweetness was widespread. I believe however, you would be very disappointed in such a brew so we will add hops to make the beer we all know and love.

Your kit probably came with 2 separate kinds of hops. They are called boiling hops and aroma hops. The boiling hops are meant to counteract the cloying sweetness of the wort while the aroma hops give beer the familiar “beer smell” we most often associate with beer.

Turn down the heat and toss in your boiling hops. Once you are sure you are not going to boil over, crank the heat back up to maintain a roiling boil.

Helpful hints

One problem new brewers have is remembering when to do certain steps. A big help in aiding a quality and stress free brew session is making a timeline. A typical recipe will call for the addition of hops, kettle sugars, clarifiers, adjuncts or other items. Do yourself a favor and starting from the beginning of the boil, write down the timeline for when you need to add the various pieces of your recipe.

In this example, the timeline for my 80 minute boil went like this.

• 10:30-Boil started
• 10:40-Boiling hops and kettle sugars added
• 11:40-Clarifiers and aroma hops added
• 11:50-End boil

Most recipes have their own hopping schedule. Yours will undoubtedly be different than mine. Some have several types of hops which need to be added at different steps. Such as right after the boil, 15 minutes before end of boil, at the end of boil and even adding additional hops in the fermented beer. Writing them all down ahead of time greatly reduces the chances of forgetting a step. I firmly believe this simple step has saved me a great deal of trouble over the years.

Crossing the Sanitary Line

Cleanliness is next to Drunkenness.

Up till now, you have been working with boiling liquids so sanitation has not been a big concern. Heck, I have had leaves, bugs and other things fall into my boiling wort with no ill effects whatsoever. From this point on however, everything that touches your brew needs to be sanitized. You have several options including Bleach, Acid, Oxygen or Iodine based. I prefer Iodine so that’s what we shall use here.

It can be purchased in several sizes and is relatively inexpensive. Us it liberally and if there is any question of contamination.

Follow the label directions for use.

I like to make a tub of sanitizer and keep all of my working tools in it when brewing.

Cooling down your brew

Now that we have boiled our beer and added our hops, we need to cool it down as quickly as possible. If you have more money than time, you can buy a immersion chiller. Basically a coil of copper tubing that cold water runs through that will chill a 5 gallon pot of boiling liquid down to a comfortable 75 degrees in as little as 20 minutes.

If however, you don’t have access to a chiller, you can always do it the old fashioned way and use ice and water.

Using an able assistant and being very VERY VERY careful, you can move the pot into a bathtub, sink or other large vessel that will contain your pot and circulate cold water and ice to cool down your wort. Be sure to have some water already in the vessel before placing the pot inside. It make take hours to get it down to 75 degrees so don’t rush it. Keep the lid on the pot at all times to prevent contamination. Using a sanitized spoon, you can help the process along by giving it a non-vigorous stir occasionally. Overly agitating the cooling wort should be avoided at all costs. Once the temperature has dropped to 76 degrees you can move on to the next step.

Place the cooled pot on a countertop and give it a vigorous stir (with a sterilized spoon) in the clockwise direction, to make a whirlpool effect. It will then need to rest for 20 minutes, use the time to prepare for the next steps.

• Proof your Yeast (if using dry yeast)
• Sanitize your fermenter
• Prepare your airlock
• Clear a space for your fermenter.

Pitching the yeast

Our kit came with "Nottingham" yeast. Presumably an ale yeast which the creator of the kit thought appropriate to the style and recipe and we shall not second guess him.

I poured a cup of the cooled wort to a sanitized container and added the packet of yeast. Like making bread, we are going to proof our yeast, allowing it to bloom before adding it to the whole batch.

The one on the left was just poured while the one on the right had been sitting for 15 minutes.

You are now ready to transfer the cooled wort into your fermenter. You will be using either a carboy or fermenting pail. I have a preference for glass, and own several 6 ½ gallon carboys used only for fermenting. However, pails work very well, are easier to carry and are nearly unbreakable. The built in valve is a Godsend. Since I have only glass, we will use them in this example.

Getting the cooled wort into your fermenter is an easy choice if you have a pail. Toss in the yeast into your sanitized Fermenter and using a sanitized measuring cup, the larger the better, dribble the cooled wort into it making as many bubbles and foam as you can while still maintaining a reasonable flow. This is the only step in the process when agitating the beer is a good thing.

Avoid transferring the nasty goop in the bottom of the pot into your pail. Put the lid on and you are ready for the next step.

Those using glass will need to siphon or funnel the cooled wort from the pot into the carboy, again, try to use the stream to produce as many bubbles and foam as you can. If using a siphon, pour in the yeast, start the stream and sit back and watch. It will take at least 10 minutes.

And you thought I forgot.

When we were discussing the size of pot you need to make your batch, I mentioned that if you were unable to do a 5 gallon boil, you should do as big a boil as you possibly could and I would tell you what to do later. This is that time.

Add spring water, available at any grocery store, until your fermenter is at 5 gallons or 80% of your total fermenter volume if it is under 6 ½ gallons. Most brew pails are a full 6 ½ gallons so you should have plenty of headroom if you choose to go that route. You can go slightly over 5 gallons of you are feeling adventurous and greedy.

Plugging the hole.

You have several options for sealing up your beer from the elements while still allowing Co2 to escape. And trust me; a LOT of Co2 is going to be produced.

Either of these airlocks will work well for your beer. Pouring in a small amount of cheap Vodka or Sanitizer will create a one-way valve allowing gas out and not allowing bacteria and other nasties in.

Personally, I just use rubber bungs, a piece of hose and a section of pipe and call it good. The bottle has sanitizer or cheap vodka in it. Be sure your bungs have a big enough hole to accommodate your hose. Use the biggest hose you can get away with.

Once your airlock is in place, place your fermenter in a cool dark place (between 68 and 72 degrees with the yeast in our kit, yours may differ). When in doubt, I find an unused tub in a spare bathroom to be ideal in case of “accidents” as well as an ideal, stable temperature. Protect your brew from light with towels or a blanket and go get some serious couch time after your hour of backbreaking labor. I strongly suggest drinking several beers in sacrifice to the Yeast Gods.

Patience

You have done all you can to produce a great beer. It is all in Mother Natures hands now. There is nothing to be done except keeping an eye on it occasionally to ensure it does not blow out your airlock and produce a nasty mess. You should get airlock activity within 24 hours and have vigorous activity for a week or so. A layer of crusty looking goop will cover the surface of your fermenter.

Don’t worry and have a beer, the yeast is doing its job.

There is nothing to be done,

Don’t screw with it, don’t mess with it, don’t open it. When airlock activity slows to one bubble per minute or so, it is decision time.

Secondary or not?

Most brew books will tell you that at this point, it is time to transfer your beer to another carboy or bucket to finish clearing the beer. Since you are just starting out, I believe it is a step we can do away with and still produce a quality brew.

As you gain experience and equipment, seriously consider adding another carboy or bucket to your inventory but for now, we will just let the beer rest for another week or more. There is no cut and dried time you need to leave your brew, it is ready when it is ready.

So is it Ready?

After 2 weeks, take a look at the brew. Virtually all airlock activity should have ended. Shine a flashlight through the side of your fermenter and peek into the hole your airlock is in or peer through your carboy and take a look. Has the “head” of yeast fallen away? Is the beer clear looking? Really clear looking? If it is still a little cloudy or you still see a solid layer of gunk floating on top, put the airlock back in and cover it back up. Depending on temperature, recipe, yeast and numerous other conditions, it may take up to 3 or 4 weeks for your beer to completely clear. Take your time.

If it is clean and clear, its time to bottle.

Put a cap on it.

By now, you should have on hand at least 2 ½ cases of clean 12 oz. bottles or the equivalent. I have never had good results using twist off bottles. As fate would have it, most good beer comes in non-twist off tops so it is a good excuse to spoil yourself. Rinse your bottles in hot water as you empty them until they are clean. Try to get brown bottles whenever possible. Be aware that if you have a full 5 gallons in the fermenter, it may go as many as 3 cases.

As an alternative, many brewers like to use flip top bottles. The need for a capper is eliminated and the cool factor is way up there.

The “pop” sound the bottle makes when it opens is nice too.

Start by gathering your equipment and supplies and get some sanitizer ready. You are going to need a racking cane if you using a carboy but will need only a piece of hose if you use a bucket.

But first, always remember;

Cleanliness is next to Drunkenness

Sanitize everything that will come in physical contact with the beer.

Tools of the trade

To bottle, all you need are clean empty bottles, caps and a capper. Cappers can be found at any brew store or online for about 15 bucks along with the caps you will need. Always buy more caps than you need.

Throw the caps into some sanitizer and start filling bottles with it as well. Contact time is 2 minutes minimum for Iodine based methods so be prepared. Always inspect your bottles before filling them with sanitizer. Put aside any that are not squeaky clean. If you are using a bucket, hook up your sanitized hose to the valve in the bottom, pour the sanitizer out of the bottle, insert the hose and turn the handle. Fill each bottle until it is 1 ½ inches from the top.

Sweeting the deal.

There was one last ingredient in our kit we have yet to use. The priming sugar. Rather than mess with mixing the sugar, adding it to the bottles or using an additional pot or bucket for bottling, I suggest you use Carbonation Drops.

Carbonation Drops are available from your supplier. They are inexpensive, easy to measure and darn near fool proof. Spend the 4 bucks, it is less trouble than sugar and actually brings a little additional flavor to the party. Follow the manufacturers instructions for use. In our case it was 4 drops per bottle

Cap your bottles and store in the same cool dark place you used to ferment your beer. Practice on a few empties until you get the hang of it.

Did I mention patience?

Don’t even bother tying a beer before 2 weeks have passed. It just isn’t worth it. Even better, wait for 3, you will be rewarded with a much better brew. Throw a few into the fridge and prepare to taste your first brew.

Pouring your brew.

Rather than go on with a long winded explanation on how to pour a brew, I have prepared this handy graphic for you that explains the process.

I often print them and attach them to the bottle when I give beer away to friends.

Letting your beer age to its potential is going to be difficult, but if you are patient, you will be flat out amazed how good your beer turns out. Unlike Wine, Beer is best served fresh. Beer will peak in flavor and quality between the ages of 6 weeks to 4 months. I sincerely doubt however, that you will ever have any of your first brew still around at 4 months, it will be long gone. Take a piece of advise from an long time brewer, start another batch as soon as your fermenter is empty and you will be rewarded with a seemingly endless stream of top quality craft brewed excellence.

I hope that you will be inspired to perfect your technique and refine your methods to produce better and better beers. This guide is meant as an introduction only and I would again refer you to Palmers excellent on line guide at http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html for an in-depth guide and reference. I do hope however that I have shown you that far from being overly complicated and expensive, you can, with a minimal investment, produce top quality beer at a fraction of the price of the cheapest swill available from your local mega-mart. Your circle of friends will suddenly expand and your waistline may grow, but through it all, you will have a secret smile, knowing your time and effort made it all possible.

I would like to thank my editors; Tom the Engineer, Decal, Concentric Circles, Doodad, Chris the number cruncher, IronKros and the many others who took the time to send suggestions and feedback.

As always.

Cheers,

knewshound

Homebrewing 101

I have been asked numerous times to write an article on the making of Beer. With that in mind, I will attempt to document my rewarding and fun hobby.

Beer has been brewed nearly as long as there has been civilization. The earliest recipe dates from Mesopotamia in 4000 BC. It was not however until the 1700s that Beer as we brew it today came into being. We will brew much as they did in the 1700’s, avoiding modern complications and devices in favor of flavor and body.

Since Pilsner style beer accounts for most sales in the US that is the style we will be brewing today. We will be following the German Beer Purity Law, the Rheinheitsgebot, first enacted in 1516. It states that Beer may only contain 4 ingredients; Malt, Hops, Yeast and Water.

That is GOOD beer contains only those four things. Most mass produced beer in the US, that is Coors, Bud and Miller families typically contain such things as Corn, Rice, Sugars, Stabilizers, Conditioners and who knows what else? Bud is “Beechwood Aged”, but do you know what that actually means? The “Beechwood Aging” aging consists of the brewer throwing in a hunk of wood in the bottom of the 30,000 gallon tank. Now I have never been a stickler for tradition but a hunk of wood?Let’s discuss the ingredients in a REAL beer.

• Malt - is Barley that has been dried and the outer hull removed. It is milled, much like Coffee, and is to beer what grapes are to wine.
• Hops - are a bittering agent. It gives Beer the bite that makes you come back for more. A member of the Cannabis family, the flower is the seasonings of beer
• Yeast - is a single celled organism that consumes sugars and leaves in its wake, Carbon Dioxide and, thankfully, Alcohol.
• Water - the higher quality the better. 95% of Beer is water; its quality cannot be stressed enough.

There are a few other odds and ends that are optional, but if properly prepared, these four ingredients will get you some decent brew. In the picture below, all of the essentials for a quality brew are shown. Going clockwise starting from the bottom Left;

Hops - Saaz in this case. Many of the Pilsner styles use this type exclusively, as will we. This is loose hops, with unmolested Buds. I prefer them to the pelletized types used by many Brewers.

Thermometer – I much prefer the digital type, I’m a High Tech kind of guy after all. But the resolution available on most analogs is poor at best and Mercury thermometers give me the willies, this is Beer after all. It will be used several times in the process, choose a good one.

Reading Material – You have to assume the next 5 hours are essentially wasted; you might as well be too. Crack a beer in celebration and find a way to kill some time. You will need it. Brewing is 1 hours work in 5 hours time.

Project for Wife – now don’t get me wrong, I love my wife. But there are times when a guy likes to be a guy. This is one of those times.

18 Lbs Milled 2 Row Malt – I bought it at the brew supply house and milled it myself. As I said before, Malt is to Beer what Grapes are to Wine. The 18 Lbs, with the very efficient extraction method we will be using will give us plenty of sugars for our yeast to eat and supply a rich body for the beer.

1 Lb German Pilsner Malt, 1 Lb Crystal Malt – a different type of malt than the 2 row, my fearless assistant Dave described the flavor a “the malted part of the malted milk balls you get at the movies”. A spot on observation I think. It adds complexity to the brew.

Yeast – We are using good Czech lager yeast. Yeah yeah, I know I said we were making Pilsner; deal with it. Pilsners need to be refrigerated for long periods and they take forever to make. I like to drink, so we will use lager yeast and be drinking beer in 2 weeks, not staring at a refrigerator for 3 months.

And that’s pretty much it. There is the matter of Pots, Burners, Utensils, and some of the goodies that make your life easier, but I am going to assume you have or can get the rest.

I always try to make brewing a social occasion so I invited Dave over to be my intrepid assistant for the day. Would you not agree he looks like a man who knows his beer?

The Brew Begins

As I said in the beginning, brewing takes time. There are some shortcuts and #1 is; start your water boiling first. I use pots that I made from old 15 gallon kegs. 10 gallons take awhile to boil. Start early. Occasional stirring will speed up the process if quickly re-covered. If you are blessed with excellent City Water, you need only run the hose for a few minutes to assure yourself of clean tasting water and fill your pot, otherwise, good spring water can be purchased at any grocery store. Put it on your burner, set the temperature to Nuclear and start getting the rest of your supplies together. Check your yeast. The ingredients may need to be at room temperature for several hours like ours are here. It would be an unpleasant surprise to find out too late that you need to pitch your yeast in a medium first or some other speed bump that ruins your batch. I *cough cough* speak from experience here.

A word about Sanitation.

I have a saying when I brew.

Cleanliness is next to Drunkenness.

Always sterilize your implements, tools and especially anything that will touch the beer after it has boiled. If in doubt, throw it in the sterilizer. I use an iodine based one available from any kitchen supply house.

Temperature, Taste and Grain

By now, you are nearing the end of your first beer and the water is nearing a boil. It is time to prepare for the next step; mashing. Mashing is “brewing” the malt, like coffee, for an extended period of time at a controlled temperature. It is essential that you keep your temperature at or near the optimal point, typically 153 to 159 degrees. In order to maintain this temperature for the longest period, I use a converted Ice Chest that was purpose built for mashing grains.

The less bleary eyed of you might have noticed that the white object in the bottom is in fact, a whiffle ball wrapped in cheese cloth. I managed to, ahem; misplace the bottom piece that is similar to the one in the lid that acts as a filter. Since necessity is the mother of invention, and I promising myself I couldn’t have a second beer until we were mashing in, I devised this quick fix that ended up being if anything, better than the actual one. I attached it to the outlet pipe with zip ties and it worked like a charm. The upper piece is a soldered copper pipe assembly that contains dozens of tiny cuts in the pipe that causes the water coming down to rain on the grains. It helps in a later stage as it keeps the amount of solids down which helps clarity.

My intrepid assistant Dave mixed the Crystal Malt in as I poured the larger bag of grain taking care to more or less equally distribute the two kinds. It filled the ice chest about 2/3 up so we had plenty of room. We are ready to mash.

We both got another beer and checked the water temp, it was just at the start of the boil, about 180 degrees, and I judged it perfect. I took a large measuring cup and poured it into a funnel built in to the top of the ice chest “striking” the grains with the hot water. For this we are just interested in getting in volume so I poured it in quickly. Once the water level reached the top of the grain bed, I measured the temperature and found it nearly perfect. I added more hot water then a bit of cold to get the temperature at 158 at the core of the grain bed and the water slightly covering the grains.

Fill your kettle back up, put the lid on and the heat up, grab a fresh beer and relax for a few; mashing is in progress.

Check your temperature from time to time but resist the urge to open the lid. The temperature will drop, and you may need to add hot water, but unless the temperature has fallen below 153, leave it alone

In order to keep tack of the brew and to make sure things happen on schedule, I like to use a white board. I write down the time I strike the mash and write down my times all the way to the boil. My Brother, the Mechanical Engineer encouraged me to try it and I swear by it now. It eliminates those awkward moments as you think back in a beer induced fog to remember what time you dropped the hops or started the mash.

Looks impressive as hell too.

Sparging

Ninety minutes have now passed since we started mashing, and our temperature is still looking good.

You gotta like a good ice chest.

I put an empty kettle under the Mashtun and guided a hose into the opening

Our pot should now be at a boil. In another pot, I mix some of that boiling water and cold water to get 3 or 4 gallons of 175 degree water. I pour some of that water into the mashtuns funnel with my measuring cup.

I open the valve on the mashtun, being careful not to lose any of our liquor as it pours out of the hose into the kettle. I refill the mashtun with the 170 degree water raising the temperature of the grains again. We are trying to raise the temperature without disturbing the grainbed in order to leave as many of the dissolved solids behind. With the use of the ice chest, our efficiency is outstanding. A few minutes of adding hot water at the same time as we let it out will soon have our hose running clear showing we have extracted all of the available sugars and we can stop rinsing the grain.
Our grains have given their all. They taste like Cream O Wheat now. No detectable sugars. This is going into the compost bin. Note the carboys full of sanitizer on the right.

The Boil Begins

With the assistance of my intrepid assistant Dave, we lifted the hot liquor onto the burner, turned it up high and added boiling water from the other pot to bring the volume in our kettle to about 11 ½ gallons. I left the lid on for a few but watched it like a hawk. Boil overs are bad, and I wanted to avoid one at all costs. Once the temperature started getting close to a boil I removed the lid. After 25 minutes or so, we were at a rolling boil; I turned the fire down slightly, and noted the time.

Grab another beer and relax, your next step isn’t for at least another hour. See what the wife is doing, check on the kids (if any) and relax for a few. After the strenuous activity so far, you may want to even consider two beers while waiting. You might want to use this time to clean up your mashtun, be careful however, the spent grains are hot. No sense in over exerting yourself however, you might want to play it safe and see what’s on TV instead.

Dropping the Hops

After 60 minutes at full boil, it is time to add the first of the hops. Read the instructions for your recipe, many require a shorter boil before the first drop. I measured out 4 ounces of the Saaz hops and dropped them into the pot. I added some Irish Moss (yes moss) to the pot at this time as well. The Irish Moss makes the solids coagulate, which will be a big help for us later on.

The wort needs to boil for another 30 minutes, during which time; you don’t have a lot to do. My suggestion; have another beer.

You can get a good idea of what the beer will taste like by now, give it a good sniff.

The final Drop

The wort has now boiled for a full hour; your last hop drop is at hand

I measure out ½ ounce of the hops and drop them in

The boil ends ten minutes after the last hop drop. I quickly note the time and start to get ready to cool down the pot. I use an immersion chiller, which is nothing more than a piece of copper pipe wound into a coil with hose fittings on each end. Once a garden hose is attached and the water running, it removes heat amazingly fast. I had presoaked it in the sanitizer and dropped it in the pot for a few minutes for good measure.

Ten Minutes after the last hop drop and the fire has been turned off, I attached the garden hose to the chiller and turned on the hose. The temperature starts to drop immediately. With an occasional stir, the temperature will drop to less than 100° in 15 minutes or so.

I ran the hose and monitored the water coming out. Once it started to get just warm rather than the near boiling, I use the thermometer (sterilized) to confirm the temp was less than 100 degrees. Using my largest spoon, I swirled the liquid making the most active whirlpool I could and put the lid on the kettle. The beer is ready to go in to the carboys now, once the sterilizer is emptied.

Everything that touches the beer from this point on needs to be sterilized; including you.

Remember what I said earlier?

Cleanliness is next to Drunkenness.

This is where it comes into play.

About this time, the new owner of a 56 Buick I sold a few months back stopped by so I took 5 minutes to check out his ride.

Once Betty the Buick left I poured out the sanitizer that the carboys had been soaking in, attached a short hose to the kettle valve and drained the now cool liquid into the large glass vessels.

Pitching the Yeast

Following the directions on the Yeast, I confirmed the temperature had dropped to a little over 85; I shook the yeast well and poured it into my carboys. I capped the carboys and shook them vigorously per the directions on the yeast bottle.

Brewing is complete; it is all up to Mother Nature now.

Troubles in Paradise

I put the carboys in the front room and wrapped them with towels to block out the light and insulate them but I was stunned to discover the next morning that fermentation had stopped. It was just too cold. Never fear, a quick shake and a space heater quickly got us up to our 75 degree minimum that the yeast required. I put a heating pad under them set on low and checked them throughout the day.

Within 20 minutes, fermentation had begun again in earnest and we were back on schedule.

Note the hoses running from the tops of the carboys to the water filled bottle; it is a rudimentary valve that allows the carbon dioxide to move out freely without the possibility of an overflow.

I wrapped up the carboys and left them alone, checking progress once a day.

Three Days Later

We are looking good; fermentation was robust and has now peaked. I will check back in a few days.

One week Later

Our sugars have given their all; fermentation has stopped as indicated by the lack of bubbles from our hoses and the thick layer of dead yeast in the carboys. I moved them carefully into the garage where it was quite cold to completely stop fermentation and let the beer settle.

Once again, I wrapped the carboys in towels and left them alone for a few days.

Racking out

After years of bottling, I bit the bullet and bought kegs. I found a great local guy on the Internet who sells them for less than 20 bucks apiece. With the time, effort and storage problems found in bottles, I was happy to bid them farewell.

Since our brew has settled nicely in the 45 degree weather, we are ready to rack out.

I put sanitizer into my kegs along with some hose and other stuff I might need in siphoning out the beer.

Siphon into your sanitized Kegs.

I start a siphon with the sterilized hoses and carefully drop it lower and lower into the beer, trying to get as much of the boozy goodness while avoiding the layer of dead yeast on the bottom. The yeast is not really a problem, it does not affect flavor but it is visually unappealing so we will avoid it if possible.

Note how I use a long spoon to guide the hose down, it is 2/3 into the carboy at this point.

A mere 15 minutes later, we are done. I hook up the CO2 and give the kegs a shake to make sure they are well sealed and it is into the kegerator for these guys.

These dead soldiers did their job well. I will clean them tomorrow in daylight.

Note the 1” layer of dead yeast on the bottom.

Carbonation

I was interested in getting these kegs carbonated quickly so I chose to force carbonate them. I set the pressure on the CO2 to 20 Lbs pressure and shook them several times a day. Naturally, I had to check daily for “quality”. It tasted better by the day and I was looking forward to Fridays unveiling.

The Pour

It seemed like the day would never arrive but, 2 weeks after we started; it’s Beer Time.

We had a little gathering and I had my panel of judges give their opinions.

Intrepid Assistant Dave pronounced it “inspiring” and compared it to St. Pauli Girl.

Brother Tom couldn’t decide if it was St. Pauli Girl or Becks, but either way, he drank copious quantities making the determination.

Mrs. Knewshound declared it to be “a good summer beer” and “a beer for people who don’t drink homebrew”.

Perfect.

As for me.

They ALL taste good. This one is no doubt a keeper and I will brew it again for the 4^th of July and other occasions where I brew not for myself, but for those who normally like Miller or some other MacroBrew. It is light and crisp, with a deep Saaz bite and a clean finish. It will be an excellent summer beer and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Mash here for the recipe if you would like to try it on your own and if you like I will send along the 150 word version of this article for those of you who enjoy brevity in place of wit as well as an Excel Spreadsheet with the layout for the white board for you to use on your own.

So for now, my brewing is done, I return my supplies back into their storage container and I look forward to 3 weeks time when I will again brew it up so that, when these kegs are empty, there will be a fresh batch to refill them.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I don’t often venture out of my usual commentary to write a fact based article like this but I have had a blast writing it. Many thanks to Quantim for his proofreading assistance and keeping me down to earth, my brother Tom for the tech support, Mrs. knewshound for being such a good sport and my able assistant Dave for his help.

Cheers,

hic

knewshound