subject: Learn How To Home Brew Malt Extract Beer [print this page] Learn How To Home Brew Malt Extract Beer Learn How To Home Brew Malt Extract Beer
Brewing by using malt extract removes the need to create a mash.. When referring to beer brewing, mashing is the process of heating malted barley or various other brewing grains to a specified temperature range. The malted barley grains are then kept at a certain heat range for a set time period to cause the enzymes in the malted barley grains to break down the starch molecules in the malted barley into various sugars. The type of sugar generated is normally maltose. It is this sugar that ultimately yeast will consume and transform into alcohol and carbon dioxide, creating beer. After the grain has been mashed, what's left over is referred to as mash. Producing mash can be fairly complex due to the sizeable amounts of very hot water involved, and the intricate process of straining and draining out the sugary liquid from the spent grains. This style of home brewing is known as all grain brewing. I suggest that folks don't start with all-grain brewing and rather first become comfortable with malt extract brewing. Most home brew batches are 5 gallons, so if you are producing a mash, you will need a stock pot at least that big along with other equipment required to drain and rinse all of the grains. Extract brewing, however, is much simpler. There is no need for large pots and quantities of boiling liquid because you aren't making a mash. Hops are added at various intervals throughout the 60 minute boil to impart flavoring and smell to counterbalance the sweetness of the malt. Hops that are added near the finish of the boil are described as aroma hops as little bitterness is produced, but the hop smell is. For a number of beers such as holiday or other such herbal beers, spices and herbs are included near the finish of the boil .
When your boil is completed, you have what is known as wort. The result is the same whether you brewed all-grain or if you brewed by using malt extract syrup. This very hot liquid now has to be cooled down to seventy degrees or less as quickly as possible. Once the wort is cooled you add the yeast and simply wait for fermentation, which should get started within 12 hours. Depending on the beer style, inside of two weeks you will have a finished beer ready for bottling or kegging. Becoming a homebrewer is easy if you start with malt extract brewing!
