Make Better Beer Than You Can Buy (And Have Lots of Fun Doing It)
Beer making should be fun. In fact, Charlie Papazian, the patron saint of homebrewing to many of us, tells us that the one thing that can ruin your beer is worry. So, if all this looks daunting, remember what Charlie says, "Relax, have a homebrew."
How do you make good beer at home? You need to dissolve malt sugars in water, boil them for about an hour and add hops for bitterness, flavor and aroma. You cool the liquid until it is safe to add yeast. Ferment about a week, transfer to another vessel to clarify for about another week. Add priming sugar, bottle, allow to carbonate. Refrigerate a couple of weeks, and it is ready to drink. That's the short version. Now, wasn't that easy?
Let's go back and fill in a few details and explain a bit why you do what you do when you brew. Below, I describe brewing a two-stage 5-gallon batch of beer from a "kit" of ingredients that includes some actual grain. This article is rather more challenging than the other article mentioned above, but it is still well within the capabilities of a dedicated first-time homebrewer. These steps will produce a final result that will be as good as or better than any beer you have ever purchased. (Modestly stated, don't you think?)
- Pick a recipe. I suggest a beer style that uses an ale yeast. Ale yeasts ferment at room temperature. The other type of beer yeast, lager yeast, ferments at low temperatures, somewhere in the 48 Fahrenheit range. Pick a clone recipe of your favorite microbrew. I recommend a partial mash kit from your local homebrew supply, or order online. A partial mash kit contains some cracked whole malted grain. It will give your beer better character and body. All of us could use some better character and better bodies. Get a muslin bag for your grain when you get your kit....
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Author: Charles Clendenen