Jim Wearne - Basic homebrewing

Jim Wearne

Home brewing can be very satisfying and rewarding. Like most worthwhile occupations, it involves the investment of your time and resources. What makes it worthwhile?

If I may, Id like to start with a little philosophy.

I feel that it is good for the spirit to master what I call a primitive skill. By mastering a primitive skill, I mean to become proficient in an art, a craft, or other endeavor that was done in pre-technological times, and was essential for the survival or enrichment of humanity.

There are many such primitive skills. Baking bread from natural ingredients. Sailing. Organic gardening. Weaving. Needlework. Log cabin building. Wilderness camping. Mountain climbing. Skiing. Bow hunting. Orienteering. Knitting. Candle making. The list goes on and on. These ancient disciplines can provide a sense of balance for out otherwise busy, technology-filled dats.

As a science fiction fan, I might put it like this:

When the pioneers land on planet Q the leaders of the mission will call on the others, one at a time, to state what special skill or gift they can bring to the tribe.

I could look them in the eye and say: I am a brewer, and be confident of a respected place in the society.

As a brewer you enter a guild that goes back beyond the ancient Egyptians into pre-history. You enter the domain of shamans and priests, a realm that is awe-inspiring and mystical, that is touched by magic and powered by life itself; brewing is a part of what it means to be civilized humans.

Welcome to the guild.

This book is not intended to be the ultimate or only resource you will ever want for home brewing. By following the steps outlined in this section and detailed in the following sections, you should be able to produce your first two cases of beer. The equipment you purchase in the process may be all the gear you will ever need. This section is intended to give a general understanding of what is involved in brewing beer at home. Please read it thoroughly before moving on to the recipe and procedures.

Many books and magazine articles have been written with beer recipes and alternative techniques for brewing. I hope that you experiment with many of these. You may eventually settle down to one or two favorite recipes, as I have. But there are endless opportunities for experimentation, which can be very rewarding and tasty.

Basic Homebrewing Equipment

The first thing to do is to obtain the necessary supplies and equipment. Some pieces of equipment are standard cooking utensils; some are specialized brewing gear. Look for brewing equipment and ingredients at specialty homebrewing suppliers. Thanks to an increasing interest in homebrewing, such suppliers exist in all parts of the country. My main supplier is primarily a shop for people who make their own wine. They have added brewers supplies and are an excellent source. You can also try restaurant supply houses, hardware stores, natural food shops, mail order, or any of the reference books listed in the back of this bulletin.

Once you have everything you need, look at the calendar.

Homebrewing usually takes three sessions, separated by several days or weeks. The first session is spent cooking and starting the first fermentation. This can take several hours start-to-finish. Your equipment for this stage will include a large cooking pot, a large stainless steel spoon, and the primary fermenter. Your principal supplies will be water, malt concentrate, hops, yeast, and water-conditioning minerals. You will cook the hops, malt concentrate, and 1 gallon of water in the pot. This mixture will be gently poured into the primary fermenter a special kind of plastic bucket into which you have already poured 4 gallons of water. You will add to this the prepared yeast and seal the fermenter. The mixture at this point is referred to as wort. A fermentation period of a day or two follows, during which you do almost nothing at all.

Following the first fermentation, a second fermentation is started, which involves siphoning. If you dont know how to siphon, learn and practice a bit with water rather than wort. During the first fermentation, the yeast has eaten most of the sugar in the wort and produced alcohol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide has been allowed to escape. The alcohol is now part of the wort. At this point, the wort is transferred from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter. The best vessel for this second fermentation is called a carboy and is essentially a huge bottle.

You will siphon the wort from the primary fermenter into the carboy, being careful to leave behind the sediment that has built up in the primary fermenter. This sediment is a natural by-product of fermentation, and is tasteless and harmless. Its presence, however, will make the beer appear cloudy, so the less of it you have, the better. Once the wort is in the carboy, the secondary fermentation has begun.

The second fermentation may take several weeks. During this time, once again, you do nothing at all. In fact, it is important at this point to leave well enough alone and let the yeast finish its work. When bubbles have just about stopped rising to the top of the carboy, you will siphon the wort back into the cleaned primary fermenter and begin bottling.

The third session is for bottling. Bottling is definitely the most work, and can get a bit tedious. A helper or at least a radio to listen to will help. You will siphon the beer, with the addition of a small amount of sugar to help with the carbonation, into prepared bottles. Cap the bottles immediately. Do not use twist-off cap bottles.

After the beer is bottled, let it be for a while. In the bottle, the remaining yeast will use the small amount of sugar added during bottling to create more carbon dioxide. Since this gas cannot escape, it remains in solution until the bottle cap is removed. This, of course, is what makes the beer bubble. After six weeks in the bottle, its time to taste. The taste and character will improve even more after several additional weeks, but the first tasting will let you know how well you have brewed.

Now, that you have an overview, lets get started!

This section will specify and describe the hardware and ingredients you will need to get started. The equipment will last through many batches of beer, and very little will ever have to be replaced, given care and proper cleaning. The supplies (the ingredients, bottle caps, etc.) are specified in quantities that should last through your first batch of two cases.

Get all of your equipment, supplies and ingredients together before starting. Once the process gets rolling, it takes on a schedule of its own and cant be put on pause while a missing ingredient is found or piece of equipment is ordered.

Likely you already have most of the items described below.

Stockpot. A 12- to 20-quart stockpot. This should not be made of aluminum. Stainless steel is recommended.

Spoon. A large stainless steel spoon with a handle at least a foot long.

Funnel. A kitchen funnel. The nozzle should fit inside the neck of a beer bottle.

Measuring Equipment. A 1-cup measure and standard teaspoon and tablespoon measuring spoons.

Mason Jar. A 1-quart mason jar.