Can I Really Brew Beer at Home?
Thinking of brewing your own beer at home but something always kept you from actually start brewing? It must be complicated, time consuming and I wouldn’t know where to start?
Put those negative thoughts away my friends, homebrewing can be as simple as buying a beer brewing kits available. Most kits come complete with everything you need to brew beer at home.
You should first understand the four key ingredients necessary in making beer: water, fermentable sugar, hops and yeast. Having a basic idea of what they do and how they interact with each other in brewing process will enhance the joy of this hobby. As you gain knowledge and experience, you can put your own twist to your homebrew to truly make it unique.
Water: The most important ingredient in beer. Water you use should be pure and taste good. If you plan on using tap water but it tastes like pool water, boil it before using to evaporate chlorine and other chemicals that may be in the water. You can also use bottled water or invest in water filtration system.
Fermented sugar: Sugar derived from malted grains. Malting barley and other grains from scratch is very complicated and time consuming process. Lucky for us, a can of malted extract or malt syrup is provided in the kit. This will practically eliminate something going wrong in brewing process.
Hops: Conical shaped flowers found on a hop vine. Hops make the bitter flavor that balances out the sweetness from fermented sugar. It also helps keep the head longer when poured into a glass and slows down spoilage.
Yeast: Specially cultivated yeast just for brewing beer. There are two basic categories of beer yeast, ale yeast and lager yeast. Ale yeast will actively ferment in warmer temperatures above 50F (10C). It’s known as top-fermenting yeast as it tend to hang around at top of the carboy (fermenting vessel) while fermenting. Lager yeast likes cooler temps below 55F (13C) all the way down to 32F(0C) and works its magic from the bottom, hence the bottom-fermenting yeast.
We’ve just touched on basic ingredients of home brewing. Just from this article, you already learned that you need top-fermenting yeast if you want to brew an ale and what temperature to keep for it to actively ferment.
Home brewing can be fun and you can’t beat the rewards of taking that first sip of beer that you made.
Author: Jim Shigeta
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty tariff