intro-to-homebrewing
Introduction to homebrewing
FAQ
Q) How strong can you make your beer?
Q) Can you make good beer at home?
Q) Is is cheap to make your own beer?
Q) How long does it take to make beer?
Q) What kind of beers can you make?
Brewing ingredients
Malt (fermentables)
- Malted barley
- Wheat
- Oats
- Rye
- Sugars
Provides the sugar that turns into alcohol
Hops
- 100s of types
Gives bitterness and flavor
Yeast
- Lager
- Ale
Turns the sugars into alcohol
Water
Uhm yeah.. it's water (but water chemistry can matter)
The brewing process
Crushing the malt
Mashing
Crushed malt is put into 60-70C water.
This converts starches into sugar.
-> results in wort
Boiling
The wort is boiled with hops.
Cooling
The the boiling wort is cooled so the yeast can be added.
Fermenting
You don't make beer, you make wort, yeast makes beer
Yeast is added to the wort to turn the sugars into alcohol
Bottling
The beer is bottled / kegged.
Drinking
Running out of beer :(
Homebrewing
Kit brewing
- "Just add water" (and the supplied yeast)
- Not everybody considers this brewing
- Mediocre beer, very easy to do
- Minimal need for equipment
- Very little work
Kit brewing - steps
- Crushing malt
- Mashing
- Boiling
- Cooling
- Fermenting
- Bottling
- Drinking
Extract brewing
- Skips the mash - uses malt extract instead
- Can use some grains for color/taste (steeping)
- Can make most beer, quite easy
- Average need for equipment
- A bit more expensive ingredients than all grain
- Some amount of work
Extract brewing - steps
- Crushing malt
- Mashing
- Boiling
- Cooling
- Fermenting
- Drinking
All grain brewing
- "The whole thing"
- More equipment needed
- Can make any beer
- Most variables to play with
- Uses the cheapest ingredients
- Largest amount of work
All grain brewing - steps
- Crushing malt
- Mashing
- Boiling
- Cooling
- Fermenting
- Drinking
Equipment
Basics
- Scales
- Hydrometer
- Thermometer (~1C accuracy)
- Cleaner / Sanitizer
- Siphon (or spigot)
- Bottle capper
- Some hoses for transferring the beer (or the siphon)
Fermenter
- Traditional plastic thingie the most common
- A second one to use as a bottling bucket
- Airlock
Brew Kettle
(For extract and all grain)
- A 10l - 15l one can get you started
- A larger one with valve recommended for > 10l batches
Cooling equipment
(For extract and all grain)
- A 10l - 15l kettle can be cooled in a cold water bath
- Plate chillers
- Immersion chillers
- (No chill methods)
Mash tun
(for traditional all grain)
- Can buy ready products
- Converted coolers
- BIAB uses the Brew kettle for mashing
Malt mill
(For all grain)
- Unless you buy pre-groud malt
Bottles
- You have to drink beer to make beer!
- Friends are a good resource
- Recommend 0,5l bottles (except for strong beers)
About sanitizing
After cooling the wort, anything that touches it must be cleaned/sanitized.
Wort is a great growth medium, bacteria and wild yeasts will gladly grow in it given a chance.
Sanitize
- Fermenting bucket
- Anything you mix the wort with
- Whatever you take samples with
- Bottling bucket
- Transfer hoses
- Bottles
- Everything else that touches the wort/beer
Brew day
0 min
Boil water
5 min
Measure grains
(a very mild beer)
25 min
Crush grains
25 min
Crushed grains
45 min
Check temperature
45 min
Mashbag
45 min
Prevent burning
45 min
Mashbag in kettle
45 min
Mash
1 h 45 min
Drain (+ rinse) grains
1 h 50 min
Measure hops
1 h 50 min
Bag hops
2 h 30 min
Add hops to boiling wort
3 h
Sanitize fermenter + equipment
3 h 30 min
Cool wort
3 h 40 min
Rehydrate yeast
3 h 40 min
Refractometer
3 h 40 min
Check gravity (OG)
3 h 55 min
Add yeast, and ferment
Fermentation
Basics
- ~2 weeks
- Beer not ready when bubbles stop
- Mild beers less time, strong beers more time
- Secondary fermenter not recommended
- Full brewbuckets need a blowoff
Temperature control
- A stable temperature recommended
- Ales ~18C, Lagers ~10C
- Cool rooms
- Swamp coolers
- Modified fridges
- "Engineering solutions"
Passively cooled
Actively heated
Bottling
- Measure FG, check that it's stable
- Wash / disinfect bottles + bucket
- Rack to bottling bucket (leave trub behind)
- Prime beer or bottles
- Bottle
- Cap
- Keep ~1-2 weeks in room temperature
- Keep for X weeks/months in cool depending on beer
Drinking
(AKA - The fun part)
- Refrigirate bottle upright for 24h
- Do not shake up bottle, yeast on the bottom
- Open bottle
- Pour carefully
- Leave yeast in the bottle
- Rinse bottle
- Enjoy
- Repeat
Information sources
- Jon Palmer How to brew
- Reddit homebrewing
- Brulosophy
- Internet in general
Where to buy?
Online
Offline
- Viinimaailma, Myyrmanni