Just so you have somewhat of an understanding, let me give you a basic run down of how this is all supposed to work...
1) First you have to bring your water to about 160 degrees. Typically, a five gallon batch will yield about 2 cases of beer. Since we only have access to an electric stove, we will most likely be dealing in smaller batches (probably 2-3 gallons)
2) Once you've hit 160 degrees, this is where you would add your grains. The grains usually have to be milled before they are added to your hot water. This process is called "mashing in" and takes place in a "mash tun". In our case, the mash tun will be cast by one of those sports coolers that's usually filled with a neon-colored sports drink and on a good day is emptied onto a football coach's head.
Anywho, next it's time to sparge
3) Sparging is the process of extracting sugars from your grains. For this process you may want to use a second bucket that has been outfitted with a "false bottom" mechanism in it, which is basically a hose that also acts like a strainer. Fill the bucket with the false bottom with a few inches of water, then add your grain/water mixture to it (basically from bucket 1 to bucket 2). Once you have added the mash to your bucket with the false bottom/strainer thingy it in it (thingy being a highly technical term), you run the water through that bucket (since it has a spout) and put that mixture back on the stove. You may have to do this process a few times to make sure you've gotten everything you can out of your grains (basically extracting all the available sugars). The water with the extracted sugars in it is called wort.
4) Boiling...
Bring the wort mixture to a boil. Here is where you may want to add any extracts. In my small experience, I have only used liquid extracts to make beer. This stuff is what adds a lot of color and sugars (and sugar turns into alcohol, and how can that be bad?) to your beer. If you haven't had the pleasure of dealing with liquid malt extract, let me give you a small insight. Picture oozing caramel...now take that, and make it beer flavored. Sound like the best thing ever? That's because it just might be....but I digress...
So right as we're coming to a boil, you want to add your extract, if you are using it. Especially if its the liquid (you can also use dried extracts), you want to be sure to add this sticky stuff to your mixture BEFORE you are at a rolling boil, because if you add it while your wort is too hot, then the liquid extract could sink to the bottom and burn, and nobody wants that.
5) After you come to a boil, this is where you start adding hops. Beers vary by ingredients, this we know, but there are also an infinite combination of hop types, how much, and how often to add them to your beer.
6) Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation. This can be an often overlooked step in the brewing process. Although I find that some of my favorite bars violate about 800 health code violations in a given day, in order to brew good beer, sanitation is crucial. Everything from the buckets, to your hands, to the scissors you may use to open the yeast packet must be sanitized. If not, you could infect your beer and your labor of love will be a big waste. And that would be sad =(
7) Take the hot liquid, which has the grains, extract and hops (plus any other speciality ingredients you may decide to use) in it, and put it in a [sanitized] bucket. You now need to bring the liquid down to about 80 degrees before you add the yeast, otherwise you'll kill it. In order to do this, a device known as a wort chiller, which basically looks like a big ol' crazy straw you had a kid, but its made out of copper, can be hooked up to a hose (or in our case, the kitchen/bathroom sink) can be used. The water runs through the copper tubing, and the coil is submerged in your bucket (you sanitized your wort chiller first through right?) Once the liquid has cooled, add your yeast, seal her up and put her away for 2 weeks.
8) 2 weeks later, open her up and add some corn sugar to your liquid. This helps in the formation of CO2 (bubbles!). From here, put the almost-beer in your favorite drinking receptacle and wait some more (about another 2 weeks)
I didn't say this was a quick process...you're almost there, because step 9 is...
9) DRINK UP!
No comments:
Post a Comment