British Brewer

Recreating the perfect British Pint

Archive for the 'Techniques' Category

26 November
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Getting Started Pt 3 – Brewing Day

Before we begin with brewing day (and I am actually writing this while I am brewing a batch of British Best Bitter), I wanted to share 3 basic rules I have come to live by with homebrew.

1) CLEANLINESS – It is important to use clean equipment throughout the brewing process from the boil to the fermentation to the bottling or kegging. I find some books and suppliers go a little over the top asking you to essentially nuke everything with strong chemicals and detergents. In my experience dish soap and REALLY hot water work just fine. Clean all the equipment and keep in a cool dry place.

2) TEMPERATURE – Always follow the recipe with regards to temperature. Too hot can cause yeast not to ferment and other bacterias to grow (bad), too cold and the yeast sleeps (very bad). Too hot and the sugars will not get extracted from the malt or other unwanted enzymes will get extracted also. You will need a room where the temperature is relatively constant around 65-70F in order to ferment and condition ale. Some ales and lagers require a cold fermentation or conditioning phase so a fridge with a thermostat may also be required for these recipes.

3) PATIENCE – Don’t rush the process, fermentation takes time, conditioning takes time. Follow the recommended durations specified in a recipe until a bottle is opened. The beer will taste amazing if you do. I have seen some brewers suck down cloudy unsettled beer, its disturbing (you know who you are).

Brewing Day Equipment

Brewing Day Equipment

Additional Requirements – a stove capable of holding a 5 gallon kettle, a large measuring jug, a large clean wooden or plastic spoon, a patient loving wife, and kids that don’t mind the wonderful aromas of boiling beer wort.

WARNING not everyone will share the passion for the wonderful aromas boiling malt and hops will bring to your household. If you do not have a stove or have been banished to the garden shed you will also require an outdoor stove and full bottle of propane.

Time – You will need at least 2 hours to complete the following steps. Pictures included in this post were taken today (11/25) while I brewed my Best Bitter on my 3G iPhone.

Step 1: Preparing the yeast – If you are using dried yeast it is a good idea to give the yeast a little head-start by getting it frisky and reproducing. Simply dissolve a small amount of sugar or DME in some warm tap water (approx 70F) and add the dried yeast. Do this before you start the brew so the yeast has at least 1 1/2 hours to work its magic. If you are using liquid yeast from White Labs or Wyeast just follow the instructions on the label.

Step 2: Steeping the specialty grains – As we discussed in the prior post specialty malt provides the colour and flavour (with some sugars) for our ale. I find it helpful to order the grains pre-crushed as I do not have a milling machine. If you have purchased uncrushed grain and do not have a milling machine, transfer grains into a ziploc and crush with a rolling pin until all the grains have opened.

Now in a separate pot (not the brew kettle and make sure you have a lid) heat up 1 1/2 gallons of water to 165 F and remove from the heat. Transfer the crushed specialty grains into a steeping bag (if you have one) tie a knot in the end, and place into the pot of water. If you do not have a bag just pour the grains directly into the 165F water. Cover the pot and steep for 20mins. Remember temperature is important. Too hot or too cold could lead to bad flavours and/or cloudy beer.

Once the 20mins are up remove the grains and dispose of them by either removing the bag or straining through a sieve or colander. Transfer the infused liquid into your boiling kettle along with an additional 1 1/2 gallons of water, cover the kettle, and turn the kettle heat to high.

NOTE If you used the straining method to steep the specialty grains try leaving the grains in the strainer and filtering the 1 1/2 gallons of additional water through the grains to extract more of the colour a flavour still present in the grains. If you do this you will need to heat the water to 165 F before you begin to strain.

Specialty Grains and a Steeping Sock

Place Specialty Grains in the Steeping Sock

Heat a pot 1 1/2 gallons of water

Heat a pot 1 1/2 gallons of water

Heat steeping water to 165 F before adding grains

Heat steeping water to 165 F before adding grains

Remove from heat add grains and cover for 20 mins

Remove from heat add grains and cover for 20 mins

Remove grains and pour liquid into the brewing kettle

Remove grains and pour liquid into the brewing kettle

Cover kettle and turn heat to high

Cover kettle and turn heat to high

Step 3: Adding the base malt and bittering hopes – Once the liquid (called wort) has reached boiling point remove from the heat (be careful the wort does not boil over it makes a mess and tries the patience of patient wife leading to banishment to garden) and wait for the foam (known as the hot break) to subside. Now add in your malt extract, stirring the wort well to dissolve the malt. Replace the kettle back on the heat and bring back to a boil. The base malt is responsible for the bulk of the sugar content in your brew. The more malt the more alcohol.

Once the wort reaches boil add the bittering hops. These hops need the full boil time to extract their alpha acids giving the beer its bitter taste. The higher the alpha, and/or the longer they cook, and/or the larger the quantity will all cause a more bitter beer. Beer bitterness is measured in IBU’s (International Bitterness Units), the higher the value the more bitter the beer. Now set the timer to 60 mins keeping the wort on a high simmer.

Malt Extract and Bittering Hops

Malt Extract and Bittering Hops

Remove boiling wort from heat and add malt extract

Remove boiling wort from heat and add malt extract

Put back on heat, bring to boil then add hops. Set timer for 60 mins

Put back on heat, bring to boil then add hops

Set timer for 60mins, we are off

Set timer for 60mins, we are off

Step 4: Brew additions – It is not uncommon for recipes to require additional ingredients to be added during the boil. These are typically additional malt, hops or sugars. Hops added in the latter half of a brew are called flavour hops. The beta acids impart aroma and some flavour as some of the alpha acids are also extracted. The longer the hops have to boil the more bitter flavor is extracted. Flavour hop additions tend to be added between 30-45 mins into a boil. Hops added at the end of a boil only extract the beta acids giving a beer a strong fruity aroma. These hops are called aroma hops. Aroma hops are typically added with under 5 minutes to go or once the 60 min boil has completed.

Other additions include Irish Moss. Irish moss is a natural way to help clarify the beer during fermentation. Irish moss is typically added 30 mins into the boil.

Adding 1 tsp Irish Moss at the 30min mark

Adding 1 tsp Irish Moss at the 30min mark

Adding Flavour Hops at 45mins

Adding Flavour Hops at 45mins

Step 5: Cooling and aerating the wort – Once the 60 mins are up and all the ingredients have been added it is essential to cool the wort down as quickly as possible to ensure no bad bacterias get a chance to grow. I have access to a large farm sink in which I place the brew kettle and fill with ice cold water from the tap cooling the sides of the kettle. I find 2 sinkfuls gets the temperature down to ~110F.

Next I add ice cold water to the wort to bring the kettle to a total of 5 gallons of liquid. This brings the temperate down between 75-80F, perfect for transferring to the carboy for fermentation. During this step stir the wort well, this will efficiently aerate the liquid and create an oxygen rich environment enabling the yeast to grow healthy cells.

For those without a sink or who work with larger brew volumes, homebrew equipment suppliers provide wort chillers. These are typically a coil of copper tubing that fits inside a kettle with hose attachments at each end to affix a hose. Cold water is continuously cycled through the coil cooling the wort very quickly.

Cooling wort in a sink full for ice cold water whilst stirring to mix in the oxygen

Cooling wort in a sink full for ice cold water whilst stirring to mix in the oxygen

Getting the temperature down to 75F by topping up kettle to 5 gal with cold water

Getting the temperature down to 75F by topping up kettle to 5 gal with cold water

Step 6: Pitching the yeast (almost there) – With the wort sufficient cooled its time to measure the Specific Gravity of the wort using a hydrometer. The Specific Gravity measures the density of sugar in the wort and the density of the water. The Original Gravity (OG) reading gives us the amount of sugar present in the wort prior to the fermentation stage. At the end of the fermentation process the Final Gravity (FG) reading is taken to calculate how much sugar remains. Most hydrometers also provide an Alcohol By Volume (ABV) scale. So by subtracting the FG reading from the OG gives us the final ABV of your brew. E.g if the OG reading = 1050 we have an initial ABV of 6.5%. Then at the end of fermentation we get a FG =1012 and a final ABV of 1.5%. Simply subtract 1.5% from 6.5% to get a pint of ale with an ABV of 5%, a fine session brew.

To measure the OG simply transfer a sample of the wort into a test jar (I use a clean turkey baster) and insert the hydrometer. Mark the value in a notebook and pour back the wort into the kettle. Once you have completed this task pour the yeast into the kettle and give a little stir.

Time to measure the Specific Gravity

Time to measure the Specific Gravity

The OG reading is 1042, almost perfect for a Best Bitter

The OG reading is 1042, almost perfect for a Best Bitter

Now lets pitch the yeast (some Wyeast London ESB in this case)

Now lets pitch the yeast (some Wyeast London ESB in this case)

Step 7: Transferring the wort into the Carboy – You will need a pair of strong arms and funnel. Too keep the wife happy I place a towel on the floor under the clean carboy (not the hand towel, it will get you in lots of trouble, an old rag should do the job). Place a wide funnel in the top of the carboy and carefully poor the contents of the kettle into the funnel. I sometimes ask either my 8 or 6 year old to hold the funnel steady typically with the sounds of “this beer is stinky daddy, stinky”.

Once transferred fill an airlock to the line with water, put the airlock in a bung, and secure the bung into the top of the carboy. Now move the carboy to a room with a constant temperature between 65-75F so the yeast can make babies and eat all the sugary goodness in the malt. This will produce alcohol and creating a wonderful marriage of flavours. It also creates CO2 which you can see popping out of the airlock during the fermentation. I use the basement.

Carboy reading on towl with funnel

Carboy ready on towel with funnel

5 gal of wort transfered (no spillage)

5 gal of wort transferred (no spillage)

Attached the airlock and bung...

Attached the airlock and bung...

...and off to the 65-70F basement it goes for 5-7 days

...and off to the 65-70F basement it goes for 5-7 days

Step 8: Cleanup – It keeps the wife happy and all your equipment clean and bacteria free. Happy wife is by far the most important of the two.

Have fun, next post we will walk through an actual recipe and we can check back in with our fermenting ale to check on progress.

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20 November
11Comments

Getting Started Pt 1 – Equipment

With my interest piqued and support from my adorable wife I decided to give home brewing a crack.  This was over 15 months ago now and I have learned a lot during this time.  I would characterize myself as a beginner still, working through all the basic styles, trying out various techniques such as dry hopping, brew additions, different boil times, and playing around with the various ingredients.  Brewing is a journeyman profession you never stop learning.

Before you can get started with home brewing some basic equipment is required:

Brew Kettle

Brew Kettle

The brew kettle: Required to boil your ingredients.  They come in various sizes, I have found the 5 gallon works for me.  Useful for boiling lobster also.

Glass Carboy

Glass Carboy

A Carboy.  They come in all shapes and sizes and are made in both glass and food grade plastic. I prefer the glass, they last forever assuming you don’t drop them of course.  A carboy is used to ferment your brew.  You will also need a good supply of bungs and airlocks to allow the CO2 to escape and the outside air from getting in.

Brewers Bucket (with spigot)

Brewers Bucket (with spigot)

A Brewers Bucket.  This is one of the most useful pieces of equipment you can own.  I use the bucket primarily for bottling but they can be used as a cheaper alternative to a carboy (above). I highly recommend getting a bucket with a spigot pre-installed. No other bottling equipment is required if you do. All you have to do is position the bottle under the spigot, turn on the tap to fill, turn off when you are done.

Beer Bottle

Beer Bottle

Beer Bottles.  You need something to put the ale in to condition and serve.  We will get to kegging in a much later post as it does require some additional expertise.  Bottling beer is clean, efficient and cheap.  You can either buy them online or reuse the bottles from your local beer store. Either way you will need a good supply of caps and a bottle capper.

The above list is enough to get started.  I would also recommend purchasing a bottle and carboy cleaning brush, some good quality siphon tubing, a large funnel, and a hydrometer (to figure the alcohol  content of your brew). Most good brewing suppliers provide a good starter kits to make getting up and running as smooth as possible.  I bought mine from OakBarrel and NorthernBrewer has as good range of kits also.  Most starter kits do not include a kettle so don’t forget to order one.  You should be able to get everything you need to get started for ~$150 or less.

So get online and order away. Next time we will review a brewers basic ingredients before launching into our first recipe.

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18 November
2Comments

Why Brew?

Why brew? I started for 2 reasons.  One because college buddy Chris Penner and I brewed at college and I seem to remember it tasting pretty good.  But my memory of these times in none too clear and there are some VERY good reasons for that.  So maybe I just want to see if we were any good or if it was all in my head.  I do remember brewing a couple of ales back home in good old New Malden, but was that just beginners luck?  My tastes have matured over the years so will I still like the beer today? Only one way to find out.

Second reason is the money.  Like so many people in this current economy we are having a tough time. I have been out of work for most of this year and am actively seeking employment.  So budgets have been slashed and we are always looking for ways to save money.  So I made a spreadsheet, for those that know me this will come as no surprise, I have spreadsheets for almost everything.  I figured out the ROI on the equipment I would need to buy, including ingredients, and figured that after 6 batches of 5 gallons I would pay back the money I spent.  We will get into the equipment in my next post.

So how cheap is it?  For a batch of Best Bitter, a solid session brew of medium strength and taste, the cost of a simple extract based recipe is ~$32.  If you aren’t lucky enough to live near a good homebrew supply store you would need to add shipping also. I use Northern Brewer for almost everything these days and their fixed shipping price of $7.99 per order works well for me as I tend to order over 20lbs of ingredients at a time.  So this adds up to $40 for 5 gallons of high quality ale.

Using $40 as a benchmark lets see what the savings work out to. In theory a typical homebrew batch of 5 gallons yields 40 pints of ale. In reality once you have racked the ale a couple of times to remove the sediment you tend to have about 35 pints or approx 560 fl oz.

So what is 560 fl oz of premium Best Bitter worth to me (Best Bitter is a form of English Pale Ale)?  My favorite London Best Bitter is Fullers London Pride.  I can buy a 6 pack of 12 fl oz London Pride at Blanchards for ~$12 or $2 per 12 fl oz bottle. Multiply this up to 560 fl oz (~46 bottles of Pride) and you get a price tag of $92, over 56% savings.  You will find the pricing works out for the lower end ales which tend to require less ingredients = less money.  If you can remove shipping from the equation then high quality ale really can be enjoyed on a budget.

So I hear “homebrew really isn’t as good as the real-thing?”, “what about the choice?”. I can honestly tell you that homebrew is the real thing, it does taste better, you have infinite variety thanks to sites like Hopeville, and you can even clone your very favorite beers and compare just how different they are.

The only real issues come when you run out and have to go to the store and pay double for a weaker brew (and don’t forget the sales tax).  Another issue is time, you cannot just run down the road a buy a six pack whenever you feel like an ale, you need to plan ahead. Patience is definitely required to make great ale, something we will discuss next time.

So what are we waiting for, next post we will get into the basic equipment required and cover the basic ground rules of the road. Time for a draft pint pulled fresh from my own tap 🙂


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