Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Some Actual Facts about Home brewing

You can make great beer in your Kitchen: 

The beer doesn't know where it is being brewed.  There is no magic in propane burners, there is no extra flavor gained by using Submersible heating elements.

Beer is really pretty simple.  Your goal is to ferment the maltose (and other sugars) that come from your grains and extract in such a way that you produce something delicious to drink.  Or at least interesting to drink. 

You can do that in your kitchen.   For too long new home brewers have used partial boil of extract kits to get started in home brewing.   The single greatest change you can make to improve your brewing is... temperature controlled fermentation.  (got you there didn't I?) But coming in at a close second is switching to full volume boils.   "But I don't have a large enough pot?  But, I don't have a turkey fryer... but but but"  Take your excuses and shove them in your... closet.   Go buy another 4 or 5 gallon pot.   They're $22 at Walmart.   You spent more than that on your ingredients.  

Split your extract batches in 1/2.   3 gallons in one pot, 3 gallons in another pot.  Believe me the extract doesn't know it is in two pots.  Split everything right down the middle.  The extract, the hops, the adjuncts... all of it.  You will see an immediate improvement in your beer.  It will be cleaner, less melanoidal flavors.  (twang)  Your hops will actually bitter the way you want them to bitter the beer.   With two pots, partial mash full volume boils become very possible.  And that is when you will really start making excellent (competition worthy) beers.   I defy anyone to drink a well made full volume boil partial mash and tell me it isn't awesome. 

Oh one more thing,  You do not need to do 60 or 90 minute boils for most of your beers.  You only need to boil long enough to meet your hop schedule.   More to come later.   Of course for a DIPA you may need to boil for a full 90 Minutes.  But for a cream ale? or a raspberry wheat?  What are you thinking?   And Please don't talk to me about DMS when you aren't using 6 row or Pilsner Malt. More to come later. 

1 comment:

  1. Yes, your kitchen stove can boil 2 pots with 3 gallons of water in each pot. I've been doing it for years, at many different "homes" and apartments, condos, duplexes, etc... It can be done.

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