All About Making Beer

Bloatarian Brewing League

Introduction
★ Why Beer?
★ What is Beer?
★ The Ingredients
★ The Process
★ Homebrewing
★ A Brew Day
★ Resources

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 Why Beer?
★ Historically, beer guaranteed a safe supply of drinking water.

★ In modern times, beer is the “great social lubricant.”

★ In recent times, craft beers are brewed and enjoyed for their
complexity and variety.

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 What is Beer?
Beer is an alcoholic beverage made from malted grains, hops, yeast, and water.

The grain is usually barley or wheat, but sometimes corn and rice are used as well.

Fruit, herbs, and spices may also be used for special styles.

In the distant past, the terms "beer" and "ale" meant different things. "Ale" was originally
made without using hops, while "beer" did use hops. Since virtually all commercial products
now use hops, the term "beer" now encompasses two broad categories: ales and lagers.

The BJCP recognizes over 80 distinct styles of beer. Common examples include Pale Ale,
Stout, Pilsener, Bock, Hefeweizen, etc.

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 Ingredients

Four main ingredients in all beer

Water
Malt
Hops
Yeast

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 Water
(Beer is over 95% water!)

Mineral content affects brewing chemistry:

★ Pilsen – Mineral Free – Crisp Light Pilseners
★ Munich – Carbonates – Dark Lagers
★ Dublin – High Carbonates – Stouts
★ Burton-on-Trent – Calcium+Carbonates – India Pale Ales

Homebrewing
★ GCWW – Excellent brewing water, but need to de-chlorinate
★ Well water – Get water analysis
★ Bottled water – If all else fails, buy “Drinking Water”

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 Malt
Malt is germinated grain, then kiln dried
★Germination creates enzymes
★Seedlings use enzymes to convert starch into sugar
★Kiln drying halts conversion until brewer uses grain

Malt can be made from:

★Barley
★Wheat
★Rye
★Sorghum (gluten-free)

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Different Types of Malt

Different kiln treatments produce types of malts

Base/Pale Malt
Crystal Malt (Caramel Flavor and Color)
Chocolate Malt (Porter and Brown Ale)
Roasted Malt (Stout)
Smoked Malt (Strong Scotch Ale)
Acidulated Malt (Berliner Weisse)

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 Hops
(Humulus Lupulus)

Hops are a flowering bine. The female species produces hop

clusters. (A bine climbs with hairs, a vine climbs with tendrils)

Over 70 varieties of hops!

Why put hops in beer?

Preservative
Bittering
Flavor
Aroma

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 Yeast
Yeast is a fungus
Consumes various types of sugars
Produces alcohol, carbon dioxide, and “other” compounds.

“Other” compounds depends on yeast strain

Fruity, dark fruits, plum, currant (esters)
Banana, clove, pepper (phenols)
Sour, horse blanket, barnyard (funk)

Two major classifications of yeast

Ale Yeast – Top fermenting – Warm Temps (65-75)
Lager Yeast – Bottom fermenting – Cool Temps (45-60)

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The Brewing Process

Malt (Convert grain to malt)

Mash (Convert starch to sugar)
Sparge (Rinse sugar from malt)
Boil (Cook and sterilize)
Ferment (Convert sugar to alcohol
Package (keg or bottle)
Enjoy

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 Mashing & Sparging
(converting starch to sugar)

Malts and adjuncts are ground into a grist to expose starch.

Water (145-160 degrees) and grist are combined in the mash tun.
Enzymes (leftover from germination) are re-activated by the water.
After 60-90 minutes all starch has been converted to sugar.
Hot water (170 degrees) is filtered through mash (sparging)
Sugar water (wort) is drawn off into the boil kettle.

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 Boiling
The boil kettle is filled with wort from the mash tun.

Boiling kills bacteria and “cooks” the wort adding flavors

and aiding chemical reactions.

Hops are added throughout the boil:

60-90 minutes – Provides bitterness
20-30 minutes – Provides flavor
~5 minutes – Provides aroma

After 60-90 minutes, heat is removed and the wort is

whirlpooled to allow solids to settle.

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 Fermentation

The boiled wort is transferred from the kettle

through a chiller (65-75 degrees) and into
the fermenter.

Yeast is pitched into the fermenter.

The wort is fermented into beer for 1-4 weeks

at ~70 degrees for ales
at ~55 degrees for lagers

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Conditioning & Serving

After fermentation, beer is transferred to brite tanks

for conditioning or serving.
Lagers are cold conditioned for 6-12 weeks.
Light ales are conditioned for 1-3 weeks.
Strong ales are conditioned for 3+ months.
After conditioning, beer is kegged, bottled, or served
from serving tanks.

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 Care & Enjoyment of Beer
Beer is food, it has a shelf life
Serve beer at the appropriate temperature
Serve beer in an appropriate glass
Keep beer out of sunlight (skunked)
Don’t put milk or other acidic beverages (cola) in your beer glass

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 Homebrewing

Kentucky and Ohio: 200 gallons/year for 2 or more adults in household

100 gallons/year if only 1 adult in household
Selling Homebrew is NEVER legal
Sampling of by judges at a competition is legal
Sampling outside the home or gifting is fuzzy
Step 1: Learn from a friend or join a club!

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All Grain -vs- Extract
All Grain (advanced) Extract (beginner)
Grind grains N/A
Mash grains N/A
Sparge grains N/A
Boil Boil
Chill Chill
Pitch Yeast Pitch Yeast
Cleanup Cleanup
(6 hr. brew day) (3 hr. brew day)

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 Equipment
★ Kettle (10 qt min for extract, 8-15 gallon for all grain)
★ Mash tun (all grain ONLY, cooler with false bottom)
★ Large spoon
★ Hydrometer
★ Fermenter with stopper and airlock
★ Bottling bucket
★ Racking cane and tubing
★ Cleanser and Sanitizer
★ Bottle capper and bottle filler
★ Bottles and bottle caps

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 Sanitation
(the MOST important part)

Everything BEFORE the boil kettle must be clean.

Everything AFTER the boil kettle must be clean AND sanitized!

Step 1: Clean thoroughly. Dirt/gunk/goo cannot be sanitized, no matter how long you try.
Use unscented dish detergent, Oxi-Clean, B-Brite, or PBW.
Step 2: Mix fresh sanitizer (follow instructions). Use unscented bleach, One-Step, Iodophor, or Star-San.
Step 3: Soak equipment for required length of time (follow instructions).
Step 4: Rinse equipment (ONLY if required by instructions)

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Pre-Brew Day Routine
Buy ingredients
★For your first brew, keep it
simple and stick with an extract
kit

Verify all equipment is clean

★A quick wash of equipment day
before brew doesn’t hurt

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Pre-Brew Day Recipe
Blonde Ale
5 gallons

OG 1.051 FG 1.013 IBU 26 60 minute boil

6 lbs extra light LME (Light Malt Extract)

0.5 lbs Crystal 10L (10L means 10 Lovibond which is a color)
0.5 oz Northern Brewer @ 9%AA (60 min)
0.5 oz Mt. Hood @ 6.5%AA (15 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)
1 pack Safale US-05 (dry yeast)

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 Brew Day!
(specialty grains)

Steep the specialty grains

★Heat 2 gallons of water to 150F
★Place Crystal 10L in a muslin bag
★Add grain bag to the water
★Let sit for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
★Pull bag and let drain completely

DO NOT let water get above 170F!

DO NOT squeeze the grain bag!

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 Brew Day!
(the boil)

Boiling the extract

★ Bring water to a boil and remove from heat
★ Add malt extract to the water
★ Stir until well dissolved
★ Turn heat back on and bring wort up to a boil

Avoid Boil Over!

★ NEVER cover the boil kettle
★ Spray foam with cold water to knock down
★ Turn down heat when wort is about to boil

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 Brew Day!
(hops!)

The time next to a hop amount is the “time in boil”

60 minutes (all of boil) –> bittering
15 minutes (last 15 mins) –> flavor
5 minutes (last 5 mins) –> aroma

Once boil is achieved add Northern Brewer hops and start 60 minute timer
Add Mt. Hood hops with 15 minutes left on timer
Add 1tsp Irish Moss with 15 minutes left on timer
Hop additions can trigger boil over, watch your pot!

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 Brew Day!
(yeast)

While wort is boiling…

Add ½ cup warm water to sanitized cup
Add yeast and stir with sanitized spoon
Let yeast re-hydrate for duration of the boil
(have a couple packs of dry yeast for backup)
Follow the instructions

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 Brew Day!
(let’s chill)

Chilling wort quickly causes proteins to fallout

Chilling wort quickly reduces the risk of contamination
Immediately place pot in sink full of ice water
Occasionally stir wort with sanitized spoon
Chill wort to 70-75 degrees / check using sanitized thermometer
Chilling will take around 10 to 15 minutes
Chilled Wort + Yeast = Beer!
Chilled Wort + Cough/Sneeze/DirtySpoon = YECH!

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 Brew Day!
(sanitize)

While wort is chilling…

Add sanitizing solution to your fermenter
Close the lid
Shake fermenter to coat with solution
The drying action is what creates a sanitized environment
DO NOT RINSE unless sanitizing product instructs a rinse!

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 Brew Day!
(finishing up)

Dump sanitizer from fermenter

Pour cooled wort into sanitized fermenter
Top off fermenter with water to 5 gallon mark
Pitch yeast into fermenter
Vigorously aerate wort (shake!)
Put airlock on fermenter
Clean ALL your equipment
Toast to your yeast with a beer!

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 Post Brew Day
(fermentation)

Store fermenter in a cool place (60°F to 70°F)

Keep fermenter out of direct light
Lag time – 12 to 24 hours until visible activity
Kraüsen – visibly foamy = active fermentation
Typically 1-3 weeks for complete fermentation
Check with sanitized equipment and hydrometer
Conditioning – yeast cleaning up fermentation by-products
Can transfer the beer to secondary fermenter for further contidioning

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 Post Brew Day
(bottling)

Sanitize bottling bucket, racking cane, tubing, bottle filler, clean beer bottles, and bottle caps.
Boil 5 oz of corn sugar in 1 cup water for 10 minutes and pour into bottling bucket
Rack beer from fermenter into bottling bucket
Lightly stir to mix priming sugar in with beer
Attach tubing and bottler filler to spigot
Fill and cap each bottle
Clean all equipment
Store beer for at least two weeks to carbonate
RDWHAHB!

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 Resources
Recommended Books:

“How to Brew” by John Palmer

“Brewing Classic Styles” by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer

“The Complete Joy of Homebrewing” by Charlie Papazian

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Homebrewing Supplies
Local Homebrew Supply Stores
★ Listermann’s (Norwood) – www.listermann.com
★ Paradise Brewing (East) – www.paradisebrewingsupplies.com
★ Table Top Brewing (West) – www.tabletopbrewing.com
★ Party Source (NKY) – www.thepartysource.com
★ Jungle Jim’s (Fairfield) – www.junglejims.com

Online Homebrew Retailers

★ Northern Brewer – www.northernbrewer.com
★ More Beer – www.morebeer.com
★ Midwest Supplies – www.midwestsupplies.com
★ Williams Brewing – www.williamsbrewing.com

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 Bloatarian Brewing League

Original and Greatest Homebrewing Club in the Greater Cincinnati Area.

Homebrewing Great Beer Since 1987!

Meeting Every 3rd Friday of the Month

www.bloatarian.com
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