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INFORMATION
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Homebrewing
Homebrewing
typically refers to the brewing of beer on a very small scale, as a hobby
for personal consumption or free distribution at social gatherings.
The Process
The homebrewing process can be broken down into the following steps:
1. Making
wort or must
2.
Fermentation
3. Clarification
4. Conditioning
5. Packaging (in bottles, kegs or casks)
6. Consumption.
Beer
Beer is first
called wort, which is made from hops and liquor extracted from crushed
grains or reconstituted malt extract. The wort may be made by a commercially
processed extract available in dry or liquid form or by mashing grains.
After brewing, once the yeast is added to the wort, it is now beer.
Liquor
Perhaps the
most important ingredient of beer is water, which, once purified by boiling,
is referred to as liquor.
Kits
No-boil Kits
such as the ones used by Mr. Beer, contain hopped liquid malt extract
that, when reconstituted with water, produces wort. They are the easiest
method available since the basic varieties typically don't require boiling
or other preparations. Generally, the quality of beer from these kits
is not on par with beer made from all-grain or malt extracts, but can
be a good start for someone who is overwhelmed by the process.
Extract brewing
Having mastered
no-boil kits, homebrewers can experiment with extract and grain kits or
with their own recipes by boiling water, malt extract and hops together
in a large kettle or boiler then cool the resulting wort before fermenting.
Extract brewing still saves considerable time against any mashed brewing
processes; an extract brew can be completed from start to finish in around
two and a half hours. As such it remains a popular home-brewing method.
Many homebrewers achieve excellent results with extract recipes. Boiling
a quality extract with hops can produce good facsimiles of many classic
brews. However, some brewing adjuncts, (other grains added to beer), need
to be converted by enzymatic reactions involved in mashing to be useful
in brewing; therefore some homebrewers use a method called partial mashing
Partial mash
The next
step up from extract brewing is to use a dietetically active malt extract
to convert starches from other beer adjuncts; such as flaked and torrified
barleys, flaked wheat and wheat flour into fermentable sugars. These extracts
are currently only available in the tinned form. Partial mashes are also
popular amongst extract brewers as they do not require any investment
in mashing equipment and add only a short time to the wort preparation
process.
Full mash
The most
advanced method is to manufacture extract from crushed grains by mashing
the grain in hot water. The bulk of the grains must contain a malted grain,
typically barley. Mashing requires an vessel known as a mash tun. This
method is typically known as full mash or all-grain brewing.
Quick cooling and isolation from the ambient atmosphere is needed to prevent
early bacterial contamination or oxidation of the wort. Often, cooling
is hastened by the use of thermal heat exchangers, informally, wort chillers,
which often consist of copper tubing immersed in the wort, through which
cold water flows. For larger volumes of wort, a counter-flow chiller can
be used, in which the hot wort flows through copper tubing which is jacketed
by a second tube (often garden hose) through which cold water is run in
the opposite direction from the wort's flow. A more primitive and ineffective
method is to immerse the pot in a sink full of ice water.
Fermentation
The wort
prepared for fermentation by cooling it down to pitching temperature,
typically near room temperature. Refer to yeast specifications for individual
pitching temperatures.
The cooled wort is poured into the primary fermenter in an aggressive
manner, so as to aerate the wort; sufficient oxygen is vital for the yeast's
growth stage. Advanced homebrewers may further oxygenate the wort by bubbling
filtered air or even pure oxygen through the cooled wort. The yeast is
then pitched (sprinkled or poured) into the wort. If a dried yeast is
used, some brewers rehydrate it first to reduce 'lag time', or the time
taken before the yeast starts working. Although more expensive than dry
yeasts, a number of liquid yeasts are also available, offering a range
of flavor characteristics that allow the brewer to more closely approximate
various beer styles.
Primary fermentation takes place in a large glass or plastic carboy or
food-grade plastic bucket, nearly always sealed, but traditionally can
be left open. When sealed, the fermenter is stoppered with the carbon
dioxide gas produced venting through a fermentation lock. During this
time, temperatures should be kept at optimum temperature for the fermentation
process. For ale this temperature is usually 65-75 degrees F / 18-24 degrees
C, and for lager it is usually much colder, around 50 degrees F / 10 degrees
C. A vigorous fermentation then takes place, usually starting within 12
hours and continuing over the next few days.
During this stage, the fermentable sugars (maltose, glucose, and sucrose)
in the wort are consumed by the yeast, while ethanol and CO2 are produced
as byproducts by the yeast. A layer of sediment, “the trub”, appears at
the bottom of the fermenter, composed of heavy fats, proteins and inactive
yeast. A sure sign that primary fermentation has finished is that the
head of foam, built by bubbling of CO2, falls.
Conditioning
Often, the
beer is then racked (siphoned) into another container, usually a carboy
or keg, for aging or secondary fermentation. Fermentation is actually
complete, so the term secondary fermentation actually refers to conditioning.
Racking is done to separate the batch from the afore-mentioned trub so
that it is not used as food, as this can give the beer an off-flavor.
Racking also helps separate the beer from sediment, making it less likely
to find its way into the finished product. During secondary fermentation
some chemical byproducts from the primary fermentation are digested, which
considerably improves the taste. Secondary fermentation can take from
2 to 4 weeks, sometimes longer, depending on the type of beer. Additionally,
lagers are aged at this point at near freezing temperatures for 1-6 months
depending on style. This cold aging serves to reduce sulfur compounds
produced by the bottom-fermenting yeast and to produce a cleaner tasting
final product with fewer esters. Some homebrewers will keep the batch
in the primary fermenter, called single stage fermentation, for the entire
process. The potential drawbacks include added sediment in the finished
product and a greater risk of off flavors. If fresh, viable yeast are
used, however, off flavors should not be a concern. The tradeoff is this
eliminates the need for a second container, reduces labor, and reduces
the likelihood of contaminating the batch with bacteria, or oxidizing
it, during transfer to the second container. This is a good beginner strategy,
especially for those not skilled with racking.
Once this secondary fermentation is finished, the beer is ready for carbonation.
There are two methods of carbonation. The first method does not require
much capital expenditure per batch but is more time consuming. About 3/4
cup of corn sugar (dextrose) or other fermentable sugar is added to the
beer, which is then transferred to bottles and then capped, or placed
in a keg. The fermentation of the priming sugar in the closed container
by left-over yeast suspended in the beer creates carbon dioxide which
then dissolves into the beer. This takes 1-2 weeks.
The second method involves pressurizing carbon dioxide into the beer into
a special type of keg - either a Cornelius keg, the kind used in restaurants
for soda storage, or a pressure barrel. Canisters of carbon dioxide, or
soda chargers, can be released into the pressure barrel directly. The
carbonation process then occurs almost instantaneously.
Using the first carbonation method, sediment will remain at the base of
the bottles after completion. At this point it is referred to as the dregs,
and an experienced homebrewer learns how to decant the beer, with minimal
contribution to the taste of the beer in the mug. Some wheat beers, however,
demand the sediment be rotated through the beer before it is served.
When using natural carbonation, the fermentation process restarts, although
in a much smaller scale. The yeast must ferment the sugar. Then, clean
up of the byproducts of fermentation is in the secondary phase.
Because the yeast population is much smaller, the process can take up
to and beyond two weeks beyond full carbonation. Once the bottle/keg conditioning
phase ends, the beer begins aging. Aging typically rounds out any rough
edges in the beer and can remedy many imperfections. Some beers such as
wheat beers are considered best with little to no aging, while bigger,
higher alcohol beers can benefit from age for years. During all stages
attention to sanitation is essential. All items that come in contact with
the wort or brew, must be soaked in a sanitizing solution and thoroughly
rinsed, or immersed in boiling water.
When using malt extract, additional steps can be taken to add different
flavors. Specialty grains are malted grains that do not require mashing.
They are commonly steeped to add flavor, body and color at the beginning
of brews. Sometimes hops are added at later stages for aroma and flavor,
or dry hopped, (added just after secondary fermentation). Malto-dextrin,
oak chips, and numerous other flavoring can also be experimented with.
There are several instruction books available. Some are more detailed
than others, but homebrewing can be as simple or as complicated as you
want it to be. The basic process does not require a great deal of technical
knowledge, and the results are very much under the control of the brewer.
Legality in the USA
Many homebrewing
related articles and books mistakenly claim that, in 1978, President Jimmy
Carter signed into law a bill explicitly allowing home beer and winemaking,
which was at the time illegal as a holdover from the prohibition of alcoholic
beverages (repealed in 1933). In fact, the U.S. Congress passed an Act
in 1978 exempting a certain amount of beer brewed for personal or family
use from taxation. President Carter signed the Act, which addressed other
issues as well. 26 USCS § 5051(a)(1) provides for the imposition and rate
of federal taxation on beer in the United States.
(a) Rate of tax. (1) In general. A tax is hereby imposed on all beer brewed
or produced, and removed for consumption or sale, within the United States,
or imported into the United States. 26 USCS § 5053(e) provides exemptions
from federal taxation for beer brewed for personal use. (e) Beer for personal
or family use. Subject to regulation prescribed by the Secretary, any
adult may, without payment of tax, produce beer for personal or family
use and not for sale. The aggregate amount of beer exempt from tax under
this subsection with respect to any household shall not exceed
(1) 200 gallons per calendar year if there are 2 or more adults in such
household, or
(2) 100 gallons per calendar year if there is only 1 adult in such household.
