Beer Brewing Tips

When you are brewing beer, there are many different methods. Sure, the process is basically the same. But depending on your brewing expertise, you might perform some steps differently than other brewers. That’s why there are so many different beers.

So, I’d like to give you some tricks of the trade that you can apply during different brews to see which ones work best for you. Adjust your brews each time so that you can get a different taste. You’ll soon find the method that works for you and perfect it each time you brew.

Crush Grain

When you buy your grain from a home brewing supply store or one of the many sites on the net, you might want to just add the grain as is to your brew. But, you’ll want to crush your grain just a little to let out the taste. You’re not trying to crush them entirely, just enough to bust open the husks.

This is not really a problem at the store, because most will crush them for you. All you have to do is ask. But if you buy from the net, it’s easy to do with a rolling pin. Place the extract on the counter and cover with a towel or see through plastic so that you can see when your extract has been crushed enough. You could just purchase a malt mill, but that shouldn’t come until you know you want to be a consummate beer brewer.

Water

Many brewers will tell you to purchase bottled water so that there are no parasites or small bugs that you can’t see from the tap. I would agree that for the best beer, you might want to look into doing that. But, I have boiled water for brews before. It’s just like being in the military and making mountain water into wonderful fresh water that properly hydrates.

Steeping

When you add your crushed grains to the water, there are many different ways you can do this mess free. I particularly like using cheesecloth and string. Weave the string through the edges of the cheesecloth and make yourself a type of teabag. Pour your extract into the cheesecloth, tighten the ends and drop in the water before turning up the heat. When you are ready to remove the extract after reaching 160 degrees, it’s easy to just pull it out of the water using the string. Let it sit after removing the extract for about 30 minutes.

By the way, allowing the heat to reach 160 degrees is a judgment call that can be adjusted. Try 150 and different temperatures until your brewing becomes a great fit for your taste. Also, allowing it to sit for 30 minutes is another adjustment point. You can find different cooling times that might work better.

Brewing Pots

Expert brewing enthusiasts might have shiny new looking pots or huge aged pots that they’ve been using for years. But, I love using the keg. Cut the top off of one of the old kegs you can find just about anywhere. It helps if you are a regular at a bar or know a bar owner. They might just give you one. It’s also unique. You just might be the only brewer in your circle of brewing friends who uses a keg.

There are many ways to skin a cat. When you are working with brewing beer, you’ll find that you might have different methods that you like. Go back and forth. Don’t be afraid to experiment. That’s how the best brews in the world were made in the first place.

Beer Brewing Techniques

Brewing has gone from the German Purity Law to a whole new line of everything included, even milk! That’s right…even milk.

The German Purity Law made a decree that beer was to be made with only water, malt, hops and yeast.  That’s the way beer has been made since, for the most part.

But, brewers of today have started getting creative. Cinnamon, pepper, rosemary and thyme are just a few of the spices brewers like to add for flavor.

Boils have become a science and fermentation can change from brew to brew. There is pizza beer, chile beer and just about anything that you can imagine.  Beer has been mixed with champagne and now there is even a highly intoxicating 25% alcohol beer. You won’t find that at your local liquor store.

Going back to what I said about Bilk, the beer with milk. It’s in Japan and they use milk that farmers would otherwise discard. It has a fruity flavor.

So, you can’t really mess up when it comes to beer. You just have to get in there and start exploring. Find your taste and chase it! That’s what I always say.

Learn more about brewing techniques at The Learning Center!