Homebrewing Guest Blogger: I got a job okay?

Welcome to the third installment of my whenever-I-feel-like-posting column about brewing your own beer! Last week (month?) I clued you into the equipment you’d need to become a brewmaster and this week I’ll be piloting my truth plane and carpet knowledge-bombing your brain with the steps it takes to successfully make your first batch (war jokes aren’t in poor taste are they?)

You may need some additional items if your kitchen does not have them already. These items include (for a 1 gallon batch) a stockpot (about 6-10 qts.), 12 empty swing-top bottles (Grolsch bottles or similar, can be ordered online), a strainer, a funnel, a thermometer, honey, and a lot of ice. Once you have these items collected, you’re ready to get started.

Alright, this first step is the most important. I honestly cannot stress enough just how important this is and believe me, when I hear people say that, my brain immediately shuts off. In this case, however, it really does make or break your beer.

Take the sanitizer included with your Brooklyn Brew Shop kit (or the sanitizer you diligently purchased yourself), mix in the proper ratio (given on the package), fill a measuring cup and a spray bottle with the stuff, and sanitize everything. Sanitize the spatulas, funnel, strainer, pots, and your dog. Soak the item, let it sit for a minute, then wipe down with a paper towel (you’re going to go through a lot of paper towels, they’re the most sanitary). Also, keep your tools in the cup of sanitizer to ensure that they’re clean for use.

Once you’ve sterilized your neighborhood, measure the amount of water indicated in your recipe and heat in a pot until it reaches 160 °F. Mix the grain in the water until the temperature drops to 150 °F. This mixture is called the “mash” and should resemble oatmeal (but will not taste like it). Cook this mash for 60 minutes, checking the temperature periodically and applying/removing heat as necessary to stay within the 144-152 °F range. At the end of this 60 minutes “mash out” by heating to 170 °F while stirring constantly.

In a separate pot, heat 1 gallon of water to 170 °F. Set up a strainer over another pot (called a “lautering tun”) in your sanitized sink and pour the mash through the strainer, collecting all the grain in the process; this is called “lautering” (not Lautnering; stop watching Twilight). Take the gallon of water and slowly pour it over the grain, rinsing the sugars from the grain. Recycle this liquid through the grain one more time and you have yourself some good ol’ fashioned “wort”!

Take the wort and apply heat until it boils. Once the wort hits a low boil, add your hops at the prescribed times given in your recipe and stir constantly throughout. The boil lasts 60 minutes and is probably the hardest step. If your boil is too hot, you’ll lose fermentable sugars. If your boil is too low, you won’t get as much out of your hops. It takes practice, but you’ll get it brewmaster. At some point your wort will foam up (called the “hot break”). Simply lower the heat and keep stirring to avoid boil over.

Alright, once the boil is done you’re almost home. Fill your sink with ice, and lots of it. Take the pot off the burner at the end of 60 minutes and place it in the ice bath until it cools to 70 ° (this will take a while). Set up your strainer and funnel over your fermentation jug and pour your cooled wort through it to introduce oxygen. Take your prepared yeast and “pitch” it (toss it in the jug). Shake the jug aggressively and I mean aggressively; I usually set mine on the floor and shake it all over the place. Put your rubber stopper and airlock filled to the second fill line with sanitizer in the top of the jug and place in a cool dark place for two and a half weeks. Note: skip the part in the BBS directions where it talks about a blow off tube since blow off tubes usually just result in the loss of valuable yeast.

And you’re fermenting! It may have made your fiancé complain about the smell (but I’m not bitter) but you’re well on your way to completing your very first batch of homemade beer.

Next time I’ll be discussing bottling and some of these steps in more detail. As always, if you have any questions for me feel free to leave them in the comments section or send me an email at barker.ianjohn@gmail.com.

Cheers!