Hey Brewtech!

[Neuro]

You promised that you would give us advice on how to make good beer, without too much of hassle once this forum was up and running. You rejected the five step process as pretty much undrinkable, so give us the GOOD STUFF!


BURP! ;D (j/k)

[BrewTech]

How much money do you want to spend?

There are a lot of homebrew suppliers around the country (and the world)... and making beer can be nearly as easy as making a cake from a box.

MoreBeer! is a well known supplier, based in Northern California.

http://morebeer.com/category/personal-home-brewery-equipment-kits.html

I started with something similar to this:

http://morebeer.com/products/personal-home-brewery-kit-1-standard.html

My current homebrew system is based on this setup:

http://morebeer.com/products/b3200-10-gallon-grain-system.html

[Libertytree]

You promised that you would give us advice on how to make good beer, without too much of hassle once this forum was up and running. You rejected the five step process as pretty much undrinkable, so give us the GOOD STUFF!


BURP! ;D (j/k)

I'll add to this discussion but 1st I want to know what the "five step process" is.

[Neuro]

I'll add to this discussion but 1st I want to know what the "five step process" is.
It was posted on the thread you started about your home brewing set up. It was not with a kit but using just malt and hops, yeast and water, overall the time was supposed to take 2 weeks I think...

Brewtech, Is it not possible to just do it cheap, easy and good with these basic components, as I probably can't get those kits in Sweden?

[BrewTech]

It was posted on the thread you started about your home brewing set up. It was not with a kit but using just malt and hops, yeast and water, overall the time was supposed to take 2 weeks I think...

Brewtech, Is it not possible to just do it cheap, easy and good with these basic components, as I probably can't get those kits in Sweden?

I wasn't saying the ingredients were wrong; from what I remember the boiling stage was omitted from the process you described... that's what I had a problem with.

There are two brewing methods that homebrewers will use: extract and all-grain.

The only difference is the way the wort (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wort) is produced. Extract brewers will add, either in syrup or dry-powder form, a concentrated wort (sold in cans or bags) to boiling water, and this solution will be boiled for about an hour. This is the much easier way to make beer, and the way most homebrewers will start.

All-grain brewers will generate their own wort by adding crushed malted barley to a quantity of temperature-controlled water, and this is allowed to steep, or mash, for about an hour. Enzymes present in the malted grain convert starches to sugars that the yeast can consume (ferment) to make alcohol and CO2, as well as a multitude of flavor compounds that give beer its superior taste qualities.

After the wort generation process, beer making is exactly the same, regardless of method. The wort is boiled, hops are adding during the kettle boil to extract the bitterness, as well as flavor and aroma compounds. The wort is then cooled, as quickly as possible, to a temperature appropriate for fermentation. It is then put into the fermentation vessel, yeast is added (pitched) along with a little bit of oxygen, and the wort is allowed to ferment to produce beer. The yeast will use the carbon and nitrogen compounds in the wort to multiply (as this is really the only thing the yeast is interested in doing).

So to answer your question about a cheap & easy way to make beer, this is the way it is done. It can be done this way relatively cheaply, but this is the minimal process, using the ingredients you referred to. You can always design build your own system from scratch components, as it appears LT (and many other homebrewers) have done, based on the equipment setups that I linked to.

No, you can't make it in your bathtub! :p

I would bet you can find homebrewing supplies in Sweden.

Check this thread:
http://www.thelocal.se/discuss/index.php?showtopic=28484

The head brewer at the recently opened Barrel Harbor Brewing Co. in Vista, CA lived and brewed for many years in Sweden. He's one of the few brewers in this town that focuses on Euro lagers.

It's off to work for me...

Cheers!

[Libertytree]

It was posted on the thread you started about your home brewing set up. It was not with a kit but using just malt and hops, yeast and water, overall the time was supposed to take 2 weeks I think...

Brewtech, Is it not possible to just do it cheap, easy and good with these basic components, as I probably can't get those kits in Sweden?

I remember that now and I can't see it happening without boiling/cooking either.

As far as cheap goes I think I'm doing it as cheap as possible, especially the making of 20+ gals per batch. I can cut the cost down further if I switch from liquid malt syrup to grains but that's a learning curve for later.

[Neuro]

As far as I remember boiled water was poured over the malt. I guess boiling is done to remove contaminants (fungi or bacterias) that would otherwise compete with yeast for the nutrients, but as I understand it yeast in itself is a strong inhibitor of bacterial growth... Or is boiling done also to bring out flavours more from the malt? How important is it the boiled mesh is cooled down quickly? Another question I remember from that thread, re hops, you said that the hops was supposed to be added in the beginning with the boiling, but in the recipe it appeared as they added a hop extract or something later, is that possible too? Sorry for the questions I really don't want to be difficult or a pain in the ass, I just try to understand the chemistry of beer making... One of my motivations is to learn a simple method for making a reasonably tasting beer that can be done under primitive circumstances with some basic raw materials. Like in societal collapse scenario...

[Libertytree]

As far as I understand it the boiling is done to extract the max flavor, enzymes etc.. from the malt and the hops, the yeast in turn eats most of these by products and produces the alcohol. The addition of hops not only imparts flavor and bitterness but they are the driving anti-bacterial/fungal force in beer, the addition of hops in beer revolutionized beer making as it is also a preservative. Side note: Hops were deemed an invasive weed and outlawed in many places at one time. It's also a cousin of Cannibis :)

Your goals and mine are very similar. In a collapse scenario I reckon I'd be SOL unless I stored all the ingredients and switched to grains for larger, bulk storage. You can always grow your own hops and grains depending on your location, yeast is self propogating if stored correctly.

As to that 5 step deal...I'd forget about it, just my 2¢. You can make 5 gallon batches very easily and why not make something you really like if you can? I'm sure there's a recipe somewhere that tells you the process that was used when beer was 1st stumbled upon but it was very weak and didn't taste all that good either from what I've read.

I'm not an expert by any means but BT will be here to correct me if I mis-state something.

[BrewTech]

As far as I remember boiled water was poured over the malt. I guess boiling is done to remove contaminants (fungi or bacterias) that would otherwise compete with yeast for the nutrients, but as I understand it yeast in itself is a strong inhibitor of bacterial growth... Or is boiling done also to bring out flavours more from the malt? How important is it the boiled mesh is cooled down quickly? Another question I remember from that thread, re hops, you said that the hops was supposed to be added in the beginning with the boiling, but in the recipe it appeared as they added a hop extract or something later, is that possible too? Sorry for the questions I really don't want to be difficult or a pain in the ass, I just try to understand the chemistry of beer making... One of my motivations is to learn a simple method for making a reasonably tasting beer that can be done under primitive circumstances with some basic raw materials. Like in societal collapse scenario...

There are several reasons for boiling the wort:

1. Extract, isomerize and dissolve hop alpha-acids. These are the acids that contribute bitterness to beer. Also, these iso-alpha acids are antiseptic... one of the reasons why no pathogenic organisms will grow in beer.

2. Stop enzymatic activity from the mash. Most of the enzymes will have become deactivated during mashing and lautering... lautering being carried out at a higher temperature than mashing as this leads to lower viscosity of the wort and increased permeability of the grain bed.

3. Sterilize the wort (kill bacteria, fungi, and wild yeast). One of the reasons why beer is so wholesome, and lacks undesirable microorganisms is that they have been destroyed by boiling.

4. Clarify the wort by coagulating and precipitating undesired proteins and polyphenols (including tannins) in the hot break. A vigorous, rolling boil is necessary to drive the particles together to form and good hot break, so the material is easy to settle out.


5. Volatilization of unwanted materials (esters, ketones, etc) that originate in malt, as well as possible contaminants in brewing water. This volatilization is often a negative when it comes to hop aroma, however.

6. Promote the formation of melanoidins (color and flavor) and caramelize some of the wort sugars if applicable to the style being made.


7. Concentrating the wort through the evaporation of water. While this is not a primary reason for boiling, if you are interested in making a more concentrated wort, this is one way of doing it.

The boiled wort should be cooled down as quickly as possible, and the yeast pitched ASAP after that to avoid microbial contamination. Also, the hop alpha acids will continue to isomerize at temperatures over 190 degress, so the beer is getting more bitter the longer it stays hot.

Re: hop additions...

The longer hops are boiled, the more the alpha acids contained in the hops will be converted to iso-alpha acids, and the more bitter the beer will be.... to a point. A boil of 60-90 minutes will generally convert as much as possible... longer boils result in diminishing returns as far as efficiency goes. But, see the above comment.

As far as primitive ways to make beer? Well, you could crumble some loaves of half- baked bread made from malted barley and stick them in a clay jar outside for a week or two... apparently that how it was done in Jolly Old Egypt!