Home brewing

[Boerseun]

So, I finally took the next step and brewed my first beer a few weeks ago.

Having procrastenated over this particular issue for years now, I've decided to quit my procrastinating and do it!

In any case, to begin with, I got my grubby paws on all the kit needed for a Pale Ale. Got me a 50 liter food-grade container, with an air lock, the required brewing yeast, brewing sugar, hops and malt, bottler, bottles, spigot, pipes, spoons, thermometer, hydrometer, and away I went!

There's a few pitfalls in home brewing, and living on a farm, hygiene was chief amongst them. All the kit had to be sterilized thoroughly prior to use. A bit of a schlepp, really, seeing as you can't use any abrasives on the containers, mixing spoons, airlock, basically anything the beer will come into contact with. Abrasives will make tiny scratches, perfect breeding ground for bacteria! The only effective method of cleaning your equipment prior to brewing is to let everything stand in household bleach for around an hour, and then to rinse everything with boiling water to get the bleach smell out.

Worked a charm.

So, on the first day, I boiled up the wort, mixed it properly with a very long plastic spoon in the fermentation vat (have to use plastic - wooden spoons are ideal locations for harbouring bacteria which will infect your beer!), measured the specific gravity (Original Gravity - OG) with my hydrometer and then pitched the yeast. The yeast is also very important, you can't simply use any old yeast - apparently the specific yeast strain has a very profound influence on taste, and the "farming" of specific tasty brewers' yeasts is an industry in itself. But be that as it may, I got some yeast from a portugeuse friend of mine, who's been into home brewing for quite a while.

So, I pitched my yeast, sealed the container, and let it stand in a cool place. Temperature also plays a significant role in taste, seeing as the alpha acids imparted on the brew by the hops binds at different rates at different temperatures. According to my info, best results are attained when you keep your brew between 21-27 degrees C, with best results achieved at the lower rung of the scale. My brew stood for two weeks at almost 24C, varying less than one degree throughout.

On the second day, the brew started bubbling furiously through the vapour lock, and calmed down on the fourth day. By the sixth day, there was no bubbling at all anymore. To give the alpha acids enough time to do its magic, I left the whole shebang for 14 days, and then I bottled...

Bottling is another dangerous job, not dangerous because of all the glass lying around, but dangerous in that between brewing and drinking, this will be the only time your brew comes in contact with air. And oxygen is not only poisonous to yeast and will kill the cute little buggers, but because it's also the only time between brewing and gulping that bacteria can come into your brew. And nothing says "You've just wasted an enourmous amount of time" like an infected bottle of beer - which you'll only find out right at the end of the process.

But in any case, adding an accurately measured amount of brewing sugar to each 750ml bottle for the secondary fermentation and carbonation process, I bottled around 45 litres of beer on Sunday. Using my hydrometer, and taking the Specific Gravity (Final Gravity) again, using a formula ((OG-FG)/7.62 + 0.5), it turns out that my beer has an expected alcohol content of around 5.5-6%. According to the recipe, the beer will be drinkable after two weeks, but only comes to perfection after around three months... That being the case, I've dedicated four bottles as "checking points" to keep an eye on my brew's progress. The first one to be opened next Sunday, and then another one three weeks after that, and another three weeks after that. Just to check on the consistency, yeast sedimentation, carbonation, etc., you see.

But now my next mission is to brew from scratch. The malt in this brew was an extract that is supplied by brewing shops, meaning that I still haven't gotten around to actually "brewing", if you catch my drift. I'm now on the hunt for viable barley which I can malt myself, to the desired degree for the beer I have in mind. Also, I'm hunting for proper hops - not the pellets they sell you at the Health Food Store. Then, for the final act, I'm going to cultivate my own yeast - I'll have to find a nice strain, first.

I reckon if you start off with a bushel of grain, a handful of hops, your own yeast, a tankful of sweet mountain water from the spring on your land, and enough time, and you end up with a pitcher full of liquid gold, well then, yes, you could call yourself a brewer. None of this extract crap - any monkey can do it!

So - any other home brewers out there? Experiences? Recipes? Fav's? Pitfalls to watch out for? Brewed from scratch? Recommendations? Share them!

[Boerseun]

Forgot to mention, the lid on the brew vat must seal tight - the only vent for the carbon dioxide from the fermentation process to escape must be through the vapour lock.

Reason for this is that once fermentation has stopped, air can come into the vat. That will obviously create the opportunity for bacteria to enter and spoil your brew. Whilst fermentation is going on, so much carbon dioxide is produced by the yeast that the pressure inside the vat is considerably higher than outside - creating a one-way gasflow outwards.

That being the case, on the very first day I realised that I didn't have a proper seal! Fermentation was just starting, so I didn't want to open the lid and risk infection. So what's a brewer to do? Yup - DUCT TAPE! My first batch was brewed with all the kit required, and duct tape. Whoot!

I guess anything will do, really, as long as you get the sucker sealed!

[alexander]

But now my next mission is to brew from scratch. The malt in this brew was an extract that is supplied by brewing shops, meaning that I still haven't gotten around to actually "brewing", if you catch my drift. I'm now on the hunt for viable barley which I can malt myself, to the desired degree for the beer I have in mind. Also, I'm hunting for proper hops - not the pellets they sell you at the Health Food Store. Then, for the final act, I'm going to cultivate my own yeast - I'll have to find a nice strain, first.

You need to visit a brewing store, they sell everything there. As a matter of fact, i was just talking about this with a friend of mine on saturday, he brews his own beer (from scratch, as a matter of fact he brewed all his beer for his wedding, had some crazy ones, chocolate mocha royal stout, raspberry ale, some other interesting combinations), basically if you find a brewing store, you can literaly order hops, barley, etc, to your specification (and those have libraries of yeast, hundreds of varieties, in fact most brewing companies have their own special variety or mix of yeast varieties for their brewing processes, that's what makes beers so different) they will mix some ingredients for you and get them properly packaged, exactly weighted, etc, to your exact specifications, or you can just order stuff by weight, but it seems better if you have a recipie in the making, and you order already precise amounts of everything, and since they actually know all this stuff, you can most likely ask them for advise to make your brewing experience better

BTW, how much did all of this cost you? bottles are probably the most expensive item on your list, no?

[Boerseun]

Originally Posted by alexander

You need to visit a brewing store, they sell everything there.

You lucky bastards in the States have all the fun!

In South Africa, home brewing is a bit suppressed by SABMiller, who've cornered the beer retail market with more than 99.9% market share. They don't want people to brew at home, 'cause that's gonna hurt their profits.

Idiots.

I got my stuff from friends and aqaintances who've got connections with a cousin who's a friend of a guy who's sister works in the industry, if you catch my drift.

No, actually, I assembled most of my kit from stuff I bought at the local hardware store, and info from the net. The hardest thing to find was the hops, until I read on a homebrew site that you get different hops varieties in pellet form from health stores.

But a quick trip to the brewing shop is not gonna happen in my neck of the woods. There are, however, vast hops plantations in the Western Cape province, and seeing as I'm planning a trip there soon, I'll just stock up! Hops has an amazingly long shelf life, and if you freeze it in air-barrier plastic bags, you should be good for a few years. You use very little of the stuff at a time.

The malt is a different storey, though - but, practise makes perfect, I guess!

BTW, how much did all of this cost you? bottles are probably the most expensive item on your list, no?

Bottles might be expensive, but I simply bought a few cases of 750ml glass bottles in the naturally full state from the local liquor store! I had quite a while to empty them...

The whole kit, including the bottle capper and caps, mixing equipment, food grade plastic containers, hydrometer, vapour locks etc. set me back in the region of around R900, or slightly more than US$100. But it can be used over and over, so I guess initially you shouldn't break your head over cost - go for quality from the word go!

[alexander]

Come on now, B, we all live in the age where anything and everything can be ordered online, brewing supplies are no different

Welcome to Beer-Wine.com - dunno if they ship internationally
www.beer-winemaking.com - that store in North Hampton, Mass, you can order online, dunno once again if they ship internationally
these guys may help: Cooperage Wine and Beer Making Supplies

but yeah, google for it, i am sure you can even get beer supplies on ebay... hops, barley, yeast whatever...

[Boerseun]

Originally Posted by alexander

Come on now, B, we all live in the age where anything and everything can be ordered online, brewing supplies are no different

Yeah, well... livin' in da third world makes it an issue, mon...

First off, it'll cost me an arm and a leg - I'm buying in Mickey Mouse currency on a website selling in dollars, remember!
Second, I've no guarantee that the stuff will actually make it to me! Any bulky thing in the post office is a prime target for snatching by postal workers who are in need of large, bulky things.

So, no - I'm no big fan of online shopping, third-world style...

(I might give it a go when I'm thirsty enough, however )

[Loricybin]

my sister-in-law has been brewing for years, i got a bottle of 6 year old blackberry mead that made me melt on my birthday last year.

a strawberry wine they recently brewed has inspired me to take a crack at winemaking and beer brewing.

there's a brewing supply store a few blocks from me,
i'm picking up a couple used carboys for 10 bucks each, a plastic primary, air lock, syphon, and hydrometer.

anyone experienced with winemaking?
i have this urge to experiment with substituting maple syrup for honey in a mead type recipe.

[Boerseun]

Originally Posted by Loricybin

there's a brewing supply store a few blocks from me,

Lucky bastard...

I've now made a Pale Ale, which turned out at 6.7% - a bit heavy for me, a Pilsener at 4.5% - more my style, and a Lager at 4.7%. The Lager turned out awesome, I'm gonna get me some more of that there liquid gold...

Only problem with the homebrew beer is that its incredibly nourishing. Fatteningly so.

I've prolly picked up 5kgs on homebrew alone.

[Loricybin]

Originally Posted by Boerseun

Lucky bastard...

I've now made a Pale Ale, which turned out at 6.7% - a bit heavy for me, a Pilsener at 4.5% - more my style, and a Lager at 4.7%. The Lager turned out awesome, I'm gonna get me some more of that there liquid gold...

Only problem with the homebrew beer is that its incredibly nourishing. Fatteningly so.

I've prolly picked up 5kgs on homebrew alone.

i'm excited to start brewing.
my preferred project would be beer,
but from what i've gathered winemaking will be an easier place to start.
then again, you started out with beer, isn't that right?

it must be such a nice feeling to sit back and enjoy what you've worked on with patience and love.

cheers,
Loren.

[Boerseun]

Yeah - I started with beer.

I've also heard that winebrewing is easier, but I simply don't have a taste for it. I don't drink wine at all - I use lots of it to cook with, though. Makes an awesome substitute in any recipe that needs vinegar.

No, really - beer brewing is easy as cheese, if you do everything possible to disinfect and sterilize all your equipment.

I've made around 130/140 litres of beer now, and I've only had five or six infected bottles. I guess either I didn't clean those particular bottles well enough, or airborne bacteria got into them at bottling time. I haven't had an infected batch yet (touch wood).

And yes - the drinking part is very, very satisfying... you have to be careful when pouring, though - homebrew causes a yeast sediment in the bottom of the bottles from the secondary fermentation process. Some people apparently like it, the "cloudy beer" afficionados. Each to his own, I guess - but I like my beer crisp and clear. So, I pour my 750ml into two glasses (around 330ml each) and chuck the last bit out with the yeast.

Fun all around!