Home Brewing: An Overview

For a glossary of terms used in this article click here

I like beer. From American Lagers to German Wheat, beer is a passion of mine. So, it was only natural that, at some point, I would learn how to make it.

I was not ready for what was in store.

Beer brewing isn't just a hobby, it's a way of life. It has been with humanity for thousands of years, as medicine and even as payment. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Egyptian laborers were paid in beer, most of which likely contained tetracycline, a modern antibiotic not discovered (or re-discovered I should say), until 1948. It is a complex and arduous process, exacting and unforgiving. It is also rewarding and fun, peaceful and relaxing to those who have learned to enjoy the process whereby nature gives us it's most appetizing fruits.

This post is a general overview of the topic and is also an attempt to gauge interest in, what would eventually become, a comprehensive guide to home brewing alcohol. The steps listed in this guide are not meant to be all inclusive and should not be used as a basis for attempting to brew beer. Future articles will deal with specifics regarding recipes, step-by-step instructions and the like.

The Brew-Master: You

All-Grain

or

Extract

The first thing you need to decide is what kind of brewer do you want to be? All-grain or extract? This is an important distinction and determines, at least in part, the equipment and ingredients used to make your beer.

Extract brewing is, without a doubt, far simpler and less expensive than all-grain brewing. This just means that an extract brewer uses pre-made syrup extracts from grain to boil into wort, the sweet water extraction that is fermented into alcohol. These syrups can be purchased at any local brew shop or online. Here is an example.

An all-grain brewer, on the other hand, extracts these sugars him/herself, through a process called mashing and sparging. This method requires a mash tun, basically a cooler converted to hold heated water and grains to a specified temp, with a means of draining the water from the grains. A mash tun can either be purchased ready made (like this one, or built from scratch. In my opinion it is far cheaper to build your own (which I will cover in a future post) than it is to buy a pre-made one, but that is your choice.

What it means in practical terms is additional equipment (which can be expensive) and several hours added to the brew day process but, in my opinion is worth all the extra effort and expense. It allows for a greater control over the taste and composition of the final product.

Now that you've gotten a simplified look at the two types of brewing out there, lets look a bit at the gear you will need.

1. What You Need

Beer brewing, like nearly all other hobbies, is expensive, at least to initially get set up. You need mash tuns and siphon hoses, hydrometers and large stainless steel kettles, plus the means of bringing said kettle to a vigorous boil for an extended period of time. You will need thermometers, carboys and air-locks, pop-top bottles, caps and a capper. And this is just the hardware.
For ingredients you will need malted extracts or cracked/crushed malted grains as well as specialty grains to add flavors as well as hops to add the bitterness. You will also need yeasts and yeast starters, crucial ingredients without which no fermentation is possible.

Money can be saved by either buying ready made kits, that, while somewhat expensive, reduce the time needed to get started or by building DIY components where possible. Below is a list of links to various equipment kits and examples of the pieces of equipment that usually have to be bought separate from the kits as well.

Note: Whenever possible, you should try to utilize your local home brew supply center, if one exists. I realize that this isn't always possible, so I've included links to various items online.

This small batch extract brewing kit can be purchased here

A basic all-grain brewing equipment kitlike this one can be found here (This does not include a brew kettle)

A more expensive, but more comprehensive brewing kit can be seen here (again, no brew kettle)

An example of “professional” brew kettle is here

A less expensive, though not as efficient, brew kettle can be seen here

One other piece of equipment needed is called a wort chiller. Usually, this is NOT part of a kit and is needed by both extract and all grain brewers. These, like the mash tun, can either be purchased pre-made like this or built at home using parts from the local hardware store.

Ingredient kits abound by themselves and are, relatively speaking, a minor part of the cost of any brew setup.
Extract kits can be seen here

All-grain kits can be seen [here](https://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/recipe-kits/all-grain-kits

2. Brew Day

Brew day can be a stressful day or it can be relaxing. It all depends on you. In short this is the general process.
For Extract brewing:
Empty the cans of extract into a 10 gallon kettle of water. Bring wort to a vigorous boil for 45-90 mins.
Add hops
use wort chiller to bring temp of wort to 70 degrees (room temp)
siphon wort to fermentation jar/jug/canister and add yeast.
Place air-lock on fermentation container. Place in dry dark place for 2-4 weeks.
Siphon into bottles and cap at the end of this period.

Sounds simple right? Lets take a look at the all-grain side of things:

a mashtun cooler

using a 10 gallon mash tun, calculate the amount of strike water (initial water) needed to mash the amount of grain you have for your recipe. This is done by using a brew calculator like this one. There are also tons of brewing apps in the Google Play Store. For now lets use the online one I linked.

As you can see, for a 5 gallon batch of beer, you will need 3.3 gallons of mash(strike) water at roughly 164 degrees. You will also need 5.34 gallons of sparge water. This is water that is added to the mash tun as the strike water is drained off. This basically “rinses” the grains in the mash tun, allowing you to grab as much of the converted sugar content as possible.

So, place grains in the mash tun and put the strike water in at the temp noted above. You will then seal the mash tun for about 1 hour. At the end of this time, take another temp reading. The temp in the center of the mash water and the outer edge shouldn't be too different. If it's more than a degree or two off, stir the wort lightly to even the temp out.
Drain the strike water slowly, adding water of roughly the same temp either at the same rate of flow out (continuous sparging), or in larger amounts just before the grain bed is exposed (batch sparging).

Note: If batch sparging, take care to disturb the grain bed as little as possible, to avoid releasing tanins that can produce off flavors.

Either way, you should be left with about 7 gallons of wort. At this point, the rest of the steps are identical to extract brewing.

As you can see, all-grain brewing adds a lot to the process. Again, I say it's worth it for the control over the final product that all-grain gives you, but this is a personal choice. Anyone interested in brewing beer should make up their own mind regarding which methods are right for you. Beer brewing is as much art as science and while there are rules, there is room to maneuver within them.

Brewing beer can be expensive, at least to get setup initially. Brewing beer can also be immensely rewarding and provide Christmas presents for every drinking member of your circle (at least that's been my use for it). It will also provide hours of personal enjoyment in the discovery and acquisition of new skills. This skill, I am certain, will be in high demand if the zombie apocalypse ever occurs.
Stay tuned for the next installment in this series: Equipment: The Full Deal
Peace