How to brew beer at home (DIY)
How to brew beer at home (DIY)
How to brew beer at home (DIY)
Who would not like to brew his own beer. Actually making beer isn't that hard or even expensive and you can do it at home. Brewing may first seem like complicated process, but with right knowledge it's one of the best hobbies I know! And who know, maybe one day you'll hit great recipe that will be enjoyed worldwide and you'll one big brewery with your name on it... :)
Beer
One of the oldest (if not the oldest, dating back 9500 BC) alcoholic beverage and most popular after water and tea. Moderate consumption give a lot of positive long term effects like: lowers risk of diabetes, reduces number of silent infarcts, increases coronary blood flow, improves bone mineral density, reduces risk of arthritis, reduces risk of developing kidney stones and many more, but the most important one, it tastes great. Also varieties are numerous so you can try out new beer every day (including yours).
Equipment
Equipment for brewing beer isn't expensive, maybe you have everything at home, even if you don't, expenses for whole equipment can be low as $20. Also you can order beer brewing kit with starting prices under $100.
Just to get you into what you need, here is the list:
1. Pot for brewing some stainless steel pot, at least 5 gallons
2. Plastic pail with lid you'll use this as container for beer while fermenting (can be also from glass)
3. Funnel, strainer and siphon hose for tranfering beer between brewpot and fermenter container and from fermenter to bottles.
4. Thermometer and hydrometer for checking beer for different stages of fermenting
5. Airlock and stoper while fermenting it allows carbon dioxide to exit and blocks oxygen to enter fermenter.
6. Bottles for storing finished beer
Not that complicated and expensive... :)
Ingredients
Ingredients are also non expensive for a starter. Brewing around 10 gallons (40 litres) of beer can cost you low as $25, that's quarter per beer. Remember this when you're buying 6-pack or ordering a beer in your local bar. :)
This are the ingredients:
Water This is what of beer is mostly composed :)
Starch source most common is malted grain (you can buy it as Malt extract)
Specialty grains
Hops the flower of hop wine, it gives beer bitterness and aroma
Yeast type of fungus that converts sugar in malt to alcohol and carbon dioxide
Sugar dextrose or glucose, but this ingredient is optional
Other clarifying agents and other like licorice, teas, etc. to add special aromas to beer
You can find great recipes HERE!
Brewing
When we have everything prepared it's time to brew your own beer. This is complicated as making a soup.
First you have to sanitize all of your equipment, this is the most important step. First we have to steep grains in "large tea bag" for 20-30 minutes on around 150 degrees F. After removing bag with grains we add malt extract and bring everything to boil and we stir the best we can so that malt wont burn at the bottom of the pot (at this point we add hops in different intervals to add aroma ).
After the liquid is boiled (now called wort) we need to cool it down quickly as possible to little higher than room temperature, ice is a great help.
When the wort is cooled down we need to transfer it to fermenter and before fermenting starts this is the only time splashing of the wort is allowed because yeast needs oxygen, once fermentation starts we'll need to block exposure to oxygen. With a strainer we remove all the hops and add water and yeast to the wort. After all that we have to lock it and put into dark area with room temperature and within 24-48 hours it should start bubbling
After a week your beer is almost ready (when bubbling almost stops), you only have to bottle it, store it for week or two and it's ready for cooling down and enjoying.
Beer brewing can be a real art, there are great books and other materials (like recipes, tips, hints...), with in depth step-by-step tutorials for both beginners and experts. CHECK THAT HERE!
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