Everything You Need to Brew Beer at Home
Beer brewing is a challenging and delicate process. People that excel at beer brewing invest a lot of time and energy into it. You need to get the right ingredients, use quality equipment and use a special recipe if you want to create craft beer that’ll be your pride and something you would gladly share with other people. Beer brewing may not be the easiest thing you’ve done but it’s a great activity to dedicate to.
Get Brewing Ingredients
Basically, everything you need to make beer is malt, hops, yeast and water. The process has four stages and the first one is the preparation of the malt which is also known as malting. The malt needs to be processed and cleaned before you start brewing. Then you need to soak the malt in water and let it sit like that for two days before you dry it out and mash it. That way all the carbohydrates and sugars will be released. The sugars are important for the fermentation of beer which happens to be the final stage. Now, if you want your beer to have a unique and special taste, you can add liquid malt extract of your choosing to the mix.
The malt extract will provide your beer with an amazing flavour and aroma and give it a superior body and mouth-feel. That’s something you can’t quite achieve on your own and it’s important if your goal is to create a beer that makes an impression. You can order brewing ingredients online and include them in the process guilt-free.
After you’re done with the mashing you need to boil the liquid. During the boiling, you should add the hops since they give the beer a specific flavour and increase the bitterness. Once the boiling is over you should let the wort cool down before you add the yeast and let the beer ferment. How long the beer ferments depends on how strong you want to make the beer.
Then again, if you don’t want to go through all that trouble to make delicious beer you can get powdered brewing ingredients. Usually, one bag of beer brewing supplies makes for 23l of beer give or take. All you need to do is combine the home brew supplies with water and let them ferment. After a few days, you’ll have a beer with a light and crisp taste and aromas of your choosing. You can make beer with tropical aromas or beer with subtle herbal notes. If you’re a beginner, the beer brewing supplies are probably the best choice for you. You’ll create your first homemade craft beer with ease.
Acquire the Necessary Equipment
Aside from the ingredients, you’re also going to need proper brewing equipment. Start with acquiring a brew kettle. You’re going to need the kettle to boil the wort or mix the water with the brewing ingredients. Kettles are usually made of stainless steel and are quite large. You should pick a good quality kettle if you want it to last for years and note that it is always better to have a kettle with big capacity than risk the wort boiling over and your efforts going in vain if the kettle is small.
You’re also going to need a brewing burner. Yes, you can always use an electric stove to heat up the wort and bring it to boil but the process will be slower and less efficient. The brewing burners are specially made for the occasion and it is better if you invest in a burner and use it long after, than test your luck with a stove.
The fermenter is another must-have. After the wort is done boiling it needs to ferment in something and the fermenter is ideal for that. Fermentation is crucial in brewing because through this process the sugars in the wort transform into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Again, it is important that the fermenter is made from materials that are durable and easy to clean like stainless steel or glass.
If you want to cool the wort faster after the boiling is done you should get a wort chiller as well. Instead of wasting time waiting for the wort to chill on its own, you’ll be able to fast forward the process and make beer faster.
And last but not least, you’re going to need a bottle filler, clean bottles and a bottle capper. Once your beer is ready you need to bottle it and then proceed to enjoy the amazing drink you just made.
And Cleaning Supplies
As I mentioned before, beer brewing is a very delicate process. That means that the equipment you use needs to be sparkly clean otherwise you’ll end up with a spoilt beer that’s basically undrinkable. Everything that gets in touch with the beer during the brewing process needs to be properly cleaned and sanitized. That means that despite getting rid of the visible stains you also need to get rid of the microorganism and bacteria that aren’t visible to the naked eye but can spoil the beer afterwards. You need to deep clean beer bottles as well as the rest of the equipment.
Cleaning and sanitizing are two processes that you shouldn’t mix up. When you clean something you remove dirt and stains but when you sanitize you remove 99% of the contaminants. Both cleaning and sanitizing are important when beer brewing is in question.
There are a couple of ways you can do the cleaning and sanitizing. You can use special brewing cleaning supplies or use bleach and water. It’s not recommended for the cleaning to be done with regular soaps because, in the end, the equipment won’t be as clean as it is supposed to be. Also, if you go for the bleach, make sure the solution of bleach and water isn’t very strong, and rinse everything thoroughly to remove the residue.
Cleaning supplies for brewing are the best option because they clean everything to perfection without leaving traces behind. You can rest assured everything is clean before you start brewing and bottling.
