Introduction to Homebrew. Presentation by Brendan Murphy

Transcription

1 Introduction to Homebrew Presentation by Brendan Murphy

2 Introduction to Homebrew Presentation by Brendan Murphy Aims: To Introduce participant to brewing and offer advice, tools and support to allow them to confidently take up the hobby of brewing beer at home Objectives By the end of this workshop, participants will have a basic understanding of brewing at home and will have the information and confidence to start brewing successfully

3 Course content History & background Health benefits with sensible drinking Whats involved in making beer? (Ingredients & hands-on taste / smell) Why Kits get us off to a great start ( costs, convenience, simplicity) The equipment required for Kit-brewing Some Big mistakes made by beginner homebrewers sanitation Be obsessive with Brewing from Kit from start to finish

4 History & background to beer First discovered 8000 Years ago in the Middle-east Has always been an important part of society For millenia beer has been produced with the most basic equipment We are not sure which came first; beer or bread Beer is / can be a 100% natural product

5 Health benefits with sensible drinking Its social, its a hobby, its rewarding, its fun! A source of numerous important nutrients Can help relax and reduce stress ( moderation) Nutrient dense (Vitamins & Minerals & More) Saves you lots of money to spend on other positive things.

6 Whats involved in making beer? Buy basic equipment (DEMO) Choose beer style and purchase kit (DEMO) Find a kitchen for 2 hours Spend 2 hours with some friends optional Follow everything you learn and follow notes

7 Why Kits get us off to a great start ( costs, convenience, simplicity) Everything you need in one kit (demo kit) The manufacturer kindly done all the science They are RELIABLE when you follow rules Its hard to go wrong if you have good tuition / support You need a very small investment (~100 euros)

8 The equipment required for Kit-brewing at home Access to a normal kitchen for 2 hours Sanitised food-grade bucket with lid Silicone or pvc hose, saucepan, kettle, stainless stirrer Brown glass bottles or PET (Coopers screwtop) Glucose, syringe, sanitiser, or bent spoon Decent spray bottle and Starsan (10 euros/year supply) Hydrometer and trial jar

9 Beer ingredients Malt: The maltster takes raw barley from the farmer. The first process is soaking and germinating the grain Once germinated the sprouted barley is kilned in the oven The temperature and moisture content determines the flavour and colour

10 Beer ingredients Hops: Hops are flowers / cones that grow on a vine Their flavour ranges from fruity, citrussy, earthy, spicy and floral The hops also add the bitterness to beer that balances the sweetness, without them beer would be sickly sweet Hops are packed with nutritients not limited to antioxidants, preservatives, vitamins, minerals and mild sedatives

11 Beer ingredients Yeast: Yeast are single cell organisms that can reproduce itself. It feeds on sugar and numerous other componants of the liquid malt (wort, pronounced wert) The variety of yeast determines the beer flavour The yeast continues to work on other things when sugar runs out. Commercial filtered beer contains no yeast versus real ale or wheatbeer Yeast is a valuable source of vitamins and minerals

12 Equipment demo

13 Fermenting bucket

14 15 litre fermenting bucket from Chippy

15 Oxy action from lidl or Aldi WARNING, USE RUBBER GLOVES. 1 Scoop per pint hot waterwill efectively clean / sanitise. Leave solution for longer than 5 minutes will dissolve most grime and embedded dirt. Use soft sponge on your equipment

16 Instant spray sanitiser & bottle is vital We recomend the Irish version above, otherwise Starsan from HB shop

17 Stainless stirrer & Bottle brush

18 Silicone or pvc hose Silicone can be boiled to sterilise, PVC not!

19 Bottle capper & Caps

20 Hydrometer close up

21 Hydrometer and trial jar

22 Some Big mistakes made by beginner homebrewers Not focusing on sanitation of EVERYTHING that touches the beer Not starting with professional Spray sanitiser (10 euros lasts a year) Not following proper protocol relating to temperature Continuously opening the lid before it is finished fermenting Exposing your beer to air and the environment

23 Be obsessive with sanitation Leave everything covered unless absolutely necessary Have hand sanitiser available and use it Have your spare bucket filled with STARSAN or COMBAT Keep kettle on the boil all the way through Remember 1 bacteria or wild yeast may be a million tomorrow

24 Cleaning & Sanitising Prepare a clean, tidy kitchen Prepare your fermenter buckets, lids and other bits by cleaning thoroughly and sanitising. Then KEEP LID ON Sanitise you water tap with spray sanitiser Fill fermenting bin with a few pints of cold water then add a few pints of boiling water. Put kettle on again immediatly Spray sanitise the whole malt kit tin and open with a tin opener that has been boiling in water ( or soaked in oxy action)

25 Mixing the Wort (malt Liquid!) Prepare your malt kit by soaking in hot water to soften Pour the softened malt from the sanitised tin with your sanitised hands into the sanitised fermenting bucket With your sanitised stirrer device and sanitised hands and arms (no woolly jumpers or fleecy tops) mix the contents vigorously to dissolve the warm mixture thoroughly keeping lid over the bucket as much as possible Top up with enough water to make 23 litres ( normal homebrew kit) Put lid back on

26 Checks before adding the yeast! You now have the liquid (called Wort) that the yeast can feed on. Feel the temperature of the bucket. It should be tepid or just a hint of warmt on your hands. This is fine. If it feels warm or hot to touch the bucket the yeast CANNOT be added. You will kill the yeast and destroy your beer. If beer is slightly cool to barely warm you can add yeast 15c-25c See next page for adding yeast instructions

27 Adding the yeast to the Wort You now can add the yeast (video) Sanitise hands, sanitise yeast packet, sanitise scissors Open lid of the fermenter enough to add the yeast to the wort. If you stirred well as per previous instructions there will be some foam on top of the wort. Cut the sanitised yeast packet with the sanitised scissors using your sanitised hands and sprinkle the yeast onto the foam. Close the lid and keep at normal sittingroom temperature

28 Leave it alone!!!! The most important thing now is to keep your brew away from sunlight and keep temperature steady in a normal room temperature (NOT HOTPRESS) Your beer will start fermenting within 24 hours if you followed the advice sofar. Most beers will take a week then few bubbles and no foam will exist. Keep fermenter covered for at least a week and check with your hydrometer. Reading will normally be below 1012 after a week. You can now move on to bottling following instructions in next section

29 Great Krausen ( Foam) The next Day!

30 Still very active after 50 hours

31 V Very little activity After 5-7 Days! But check with hydrometer to be sure This applies to normal homebrews. Very strong beers take longer

32 You should also use hydrometer to check final reading Is below 10 and steady for two days in a row It is safe to bottle now Next up: The bottling process

33 About bottling beer Our aim is to transfer the newly fermented beer to bottles, with some yeast remaining. The beer will be quite clear but there will still be millions of yeast cells in suspension. We then 'prime' the bottles with household sugar or glucose, the yeast feed on sugar and create Co2 gas in the sealed bottle creating a bubbly beer. Warning, if u fail to adhere to instructions you risk creating 'bottle bombs'. NEVER BOTTLE YOUR BEER UNTIL ITS PROPER TIME. This is normally when very little activity is showing on the fermenting bucket or when gravity shows less than 10 on the hydrometer. DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH SUGAR

34 More tips about bottling beer This is a time when you should be careful not to aerate / oxidise your beer

35 Bottling preparation procedure Prepare spotlessly clean bottles and sanitise by submerging in Starsan or similar acid sanitiser Prepare caps if using coopers bottles or crown-cap beer bottles Prepare your clean flip-top bottles by submerging bottle and fliptop together Prepare your priming sugar and spoon or 'glucose drops' Prepare and sanitise your siphon hose

36 Be obsessive with sanitation when bottling Leave everything covered unless absolutely necessary Have hand sanitiser available and use it Have your spare bucket filled with STARSAN or COMBAT Keep kettle on the boil all the way through Remember 1 bacteria or wild yeast may be a million tomorrow

37 Proper procedure for bottling An assistant is useful on bottling day and brewdays generally Prepare clean and sanitised bottles siphon hose and bottle caps Align bottles for continuous filling Fill to within an inch of the top of bottle 'Prime' 500ml bottles with a level t-spoon sugar or ONE Coopers carbonation drop. Beer may foam a little; cap bottles swiftly on foaming, if foaming occurs Wash bottles thoroughly, dry and label them.

38 Proper procedure for conditioning (maturing) Once bottled, leave beer in a place that is neither very warm or very cold 18-25c. Ideally a sittingroom temp. DO NOT PUT IN HOTPRESS like people did in the 70's and 80's! You will ruin all your clothes when the bottles burst A week at room temperature is generally enough. Your beer will clear in another few days if you transfer to a cool place. Ideally not too cold as this may cause aa 'chill haze', which wont affect the flavour but a nice clear beer looks nice when you can see the bubles and the colour Your beer is absolutely drinkable now but will mature with a few more weeks Lagers take longer and should be stored newr freezing point

39 Trivia: Proper conditioning of your beer A beer needs to go through two main conditioning phases which usually takes 2 weeks for ale and 2 months for lager. Beer is constantly changing especially in the early weeks. Once bottled and primed with sugar, yeast will feed on the sugar creating gas bubbles inside the sealed bottles, this is the carbonation phase. Once fermentable sugar is consumed the yeast can 'eat' other substances found in beer, these include, diacetyl ( butterscotch flavours), acetylaldehyde ( green apple flavours) and many other flavours that may be undesirable in a good beer. If a beer has a slight 'green apple' flavour and aroma it is called 'green beer'. Give it time and it will dissapear and allow you to notice malty, fruity, biscuity, caramelly and spicy flavours that have develloped with age.

40 Finally, enjoy the 'fruits' of your labour I sure hope you enjoyed this presentation Slainte Cheers Prost