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New Home Brewer FAQ
10/20/2011 7:32:40 PM
Q: What does homebrewing consist of?
A: Basically, just combining sugars, hops, and yeast.
The sugars, which mostly come from malted grain (malt), provide the food for the yeast.
The hops, which are boiled with the sugar water (wort), give the beer bitterness, which balances out the sweetness of the sugars. Hops also add aroma and taste, plus act as an anti-bacterial (infections are BAD).
The yeast eats the sugars, then emits alcohol, CO2, and various flavors and smells.
Brewing can be fairly simple or massively complex, but the basics stay the same.
Q: What steps are there to the brewing process?
A: First, you need the malt. You either need to go through the All Grain process (see below), or you use ready made malt. Ready made malt comes in two forms: Dry Malt Extract (DME), or Liquid Malt Extract (LME).
The malt is added to boiling water. Hops are added at various times during the boil, which lasts about an hour.
The boiled malt/hops mixture (wort) is cooled and placed in a container for fermentation. Yeast is added. You wait for a few weeks.
The beer (it is beer now) is placed in bottles or kegs, and is carbonated. This takes a few more weeks (generally).
Drink up!
Q: What does "All Grain" mean?
A: All Grain consists of getting your malt from malted grain, instead of using malt extract. Crushed, malted grain (usually barley or wheat) is mixed with hot water, and allowed to sit for about an hour. The water is drained, more hot water is added, then drained. You wind up with malt water (wort) just like if you had used malt extract.
There is more to the process (temperature control is vital, for instance). All grain is cheaper than using extract, plus you have more control of the process and results.
Q: What equipment do I need to start homebrewing?
http://www.howtobrew.com/equipment.html
A: Airlock - Several styles are available. They are filled with water to prevent contamination from the outside atmosphere.
Boiling Pot - Must be able to comfortably hold a minimum of 3 gallons; bigger is better. Use quality pots made of stainless steel, aluminum, or ceramic-coated steel. A 5 gallon home canning pot (those black, speckled ones) is the least expensive and a good choice for getting started.
Bottles - You will need (48) recappable 12 oz bottles for a typical 5 gallon batch. Alternatively, (30) of the larger 22 oz bottles may be used to reduce capping time. Twist-offs do not re-cap well and are more prone to breaking. Used champagne bottles are ideal if you can find them.
Bottle Capper - Two styles are available: hand cappers and bench cappers. Bench cappers are more versatile and are needed for the champagne bottles, but are more expensive.
Bottle Caps - Either standard or oxygen absorbing crown caps are available.
Bottle Brush - A long handled nylon bristle brush is necessary for the first, hard-core cleaning of used bottles.
Fermenter - The 6 gallon food-grade plastic pail is recommended for beginners. These are very easy to work with. Glass carboys are also available, in 3, 5, and 6.5 gallon sizes. The carboy is shown with a blowoff hose which ends in a bucket of water.
Pyrex(tm) Measuring Cup - The quart-size or larger measuring cup will quickly become one of your most invaluable tools for brewing. The heat resistant glass ones are best because they can be used to measure boiling water and are easily sanitized.
Siphon - Available in several configurations, usually consisting of clear plastic tubing with a racking cane and optional bottle filler.
Racking Cane - Rigid plastic tube with sediment stand-off used to leave the trub behind when siphoning.
Bottle Filler - Rigid plastic (or metal) tube often with a spring loaded valve at the tip for filling bottles.
Stirring Paddle - Food grade plastic paddle (or spoon) for stirring the wort during boiling.
Thermometer- Obtain a thermometer that can be safely immersed in the wort and has a range of at least 40°F to 180°F. The floating dairy thermometers work very well. Dial thermometers read quickly and are inexpensive.
Bottling Bucket - A 6 gallon food-grade plastic pail with attached spigot and fill-tube. The finished beer is racked into this for priming prior to bottling. Racking into the bottling bucket allows clearer beer with less sediment in the bottle. The spigot is used instead of the bottle filler, allowing greater control of the fill level and no hassles with a siphon during bottling.
Hydrometer - A hydrometer measures the relative specific gravity between pure water and water with sugar dissolved in it by how high it floats when immersed. The hydrometer is used to gauge the fermentation progress by measuring one aspect of it, attenuation. Hydrometers are necessary when making beer from scratch (all-grain brewing) or when designing recipes. The first-time brewer using known quantities of extracts usually does not need one, but it can be a useful tool.
Q: What does "kegging" consist of?
A: Kegging uses stainless steel soda kegs instead of bottles to hold the beer. A typical 5 gallon batch will fill about 50 bottles...or one keg.
If you keg your beer, you will need a source of CO2, and a way to tap the keg.
The CO2 source can be a CO2 bottle with regulator, a paintball bottle, or small CO2 cartridges.
The tap can be a plastic "picnic tap" (you may have seen these at keg parties), or metal mounted taps, like you see in bars.
Q: What are some good homebrewing information sources?
A: http://www.howtobrew.com/ The website covers brewing really well, but buy the book. There is more info in the book and it is well worth the money.
This is a work in progress. Feel free to add more.
A: Basically, just combining sugars, hops, and yeast.
The sugars, which mostly come from malted grain (malt), provide the food for the yeast.
The hops, which are boiled with the sugar water (wort), give the beer bitterness, which balances out the sweetness of the sugars. Hops also add aroma and taste, plus act as an anti-bacterial (infections are BAD).
The yeast eats the sugars, then emits alcohol, CO2, and various flavors and smells.
Brewing can be fairly simple or massively complex, but the basics stay the same.
Q: What steps are there to the brewing process?
A: First, you need the malt. You either need to go through the All Grain process (see below), or you use ready made malt. Ready made malt comes in two forms: Dry Malt Extract (DME), or Liquid Malt Extract (LME).
The malt is added to boiling water. Hops are added at various times during the boil, which lasts about an hour.
The boiled malt/hops mixture (wort) is cooled and placed in a container for fermentation. Yeast is added. You wait for a few weeks.
The beer (it is beer now) is placed in bottles or kegs, and is carbonated. This takes a few more weeks (generally).
Drink up!
Q: What does "All Grain" mean?
A: All Grain consists of getting your malt from malted grain, instead of using malt extract. Crushed, malted grain (usually barley or wheat) is mixed with hot water, and allowed to sit for about an hour. The water is drained, more hot water is added, then drained. You wind up with malt water (wort) just like if you had used malt extract.
There is more to the process (temperature control is vital, for instance). All grain is cheaper than using extract, plus you have more control of the process and results.
Q: What equipment do I need to start homebrewing?
http://www.howtobrew.com/equipment.html
A: Airlock - Several styles are available. They are filled with water to prevent contamination from the outside atmosphere.
Boiling Pot - Must be able to comfortably hold a minimum of 3 gallons; bigger is better. Use quality pots made of stainless steel, aluminum, or ceramic-coated steel. A 5 gallon home canning pot (those black, speckled ones) is the least expensive and a good choice for getting started.
Bottles - You will need (48) recappable 12 oz bottles for a typical 5 gallon batch. Alternatively, (30) of the larger 22 oz bottles may be used to reduce capping time. Twist-offs do not re-cap well and are more prone to breaking. Used champagne bottles are ideal if you can find them.
Bottle Capper - Two styles are available: hand cappers and bench cappers. Bench cappers are more versatile and are needed for the champagne bottles, but are more expensive.
Bottle Caps - Either standard or oxygen absorbing crown caps are available.
Bottle Brush - A long handled nylon bristle brush is necessary for the first, hard-core cleaning of used bottles.
Fermenter - The 6 gallon food-grade plastic pail is recommended for beginners. These are very easy to work with. Glass carboys are also available, in 3, 5, and 6.5 gallon sizes. The carboy is shown with a blowoff hose which ends in a bucket of water.
Pyrex(tm) Measuring Cup - The quart-size or larger measuring cup will quickly become one of your most invaluable tools for brewing. The heat resistant glass ones are best because they can be used to measure boiling water and are easily sanitized.
Siphon - Available in several configurations, usually consisting of clear plastic tubing with a racking cane and optional bottle filler.
Racking Cane - Rigid plastic tube with sediment stand-off used to leave the trub behind when siphoning.
Bottle Filler - Rigid plastic (or metal) tube often with a spring loaded valve at the tip for filling bottles.
Stirring Paddle - Food grade plastic paddle (or spoon) for stirring the wort during boiling.
Thermometer- Obtain a thermometer that can be safely immersed in the wort and has a range of at least 40°F to 180°F. The floating dairy thermometers work very well. Dial thermometers read quickly and are inexpensive.
Bottling Bucket - A 6 gallon food-grade plastic pail with attached spigot and fill-tube. The finished beer is racked into this for priming prior to bottling. Racking into the bottling bucket allows clearer beer with less sediment in the bottle. The spigot is used instead of the bottle filler, allowing greater control of the fill level and no hassles with a siphon during bottling.
Hydrometer - A hydrometer measures the relative specific gravity between pure water and water with sugar dissolved in it by how high it floats when immersed. The hydrometer is used to gauge the fermentation progress by measuring one aspect of it, attenuation. Hydrometers are necessary when making beer from scratch (all-grain brewing) or when designing recipes. The first-time brewer using known quantities of extracts usually does not need one, but it can be a useful tool.
Q: What does "kegging" consist of?
A: Kegging uses stainless steel soda kegs instead of bottles to hold the beer. A typical 5 gallon batch will fill about 50 bottles...or one keg.
If you keg your beer, you will need a source of CO2, and a way to tap the keg.
The CO2 source can be a CO2 bottle with regulator, a paintball bottle, or small CO2 cartridges.
The tap can be a plastic "picnic tap" (you may have seen these at keg parties), or metal mounted taps, like you see in bars.
Q: What are some good homebrewing information sources?
A: http://www.howtobrew.com/ The website covers brewing really well, but buy the book. There is more info in the book and it is well worth the money.
This is a work in progress. Feel free to add more.
10/20/2011 7:52:37 PM
Can I save money making my own beer?
No. Just like reloading. You will spend much more, but what you get in the end will be much more worthwhile.
No. Just like reloading. You will spend much more, but what you get in the end will be much more worthwhile.
10/20/2011 8:28:40 PM
Originally Posted By wildearp:
Can I save money making my own beer?
No. Just like reloading. You will spend much more, but what you get in the end will be much more worthwhile.
Can I save money making my own beer?
No. Just like reloading. You will spend much more, but what you get in the end will be much more worthwhile.
Meh, I don't subscribe to that. If you brew AG craft type beers and buy everything in bulk, it's cheaper. You may drink much more because of that though.
10/21/2011 9:49:42 AM
I'm not much of a beer drinker. If I wanted to try making things like mead and apfelwein, what equipment would I need?
10/21/2011 11:37:12 AM
Originally Posted By Bubbles:
I'm not much of a beer drinker. If I wanted to try making things like mead and apfelwein, what equipment would I need?
I'm not much of a beer drinker. If I wanted to try making things like mead and apfelwein, what equipment would I need?
Fermenter (glass or plastic jug, 1-5 gallons) and an airlock. Then a way to sanitize. Then ingredients. EasTexan's thread (here) has plenty of pictures showing what you'll need and some other things that make it easier.
10/21/2011 11:51:59 PM
Thanks for this I have a friend who just started doing this and I want to learn more
10/26/2011 8:54:07 PM
I was just about to ask what is needed, seems like this is tack worthy.
10/27/2011 8:58:13 PM
Originally Posted By Waldo:
Meh, I don't subscribe to that. If you brew AG craft type beers and buy everything in bulk, it's cheaper. You may drink much more because of that though.
Originally Posted By wildearp:
Can I save money making my own beer?
No. Just like reloading. You will spend much more, but what you get in the end will be much more worthwhile.
Can I save money making my own beer?
No. Just like reloading. You will spend much more, but what you get in the end will be much more worthwhile.
Meh, I don't subscribe to that. If you brew AG craft type beers and buy everything in bulk, it's cheaper. You may drink much more because of that though.
Let's face it - beer is a luxury and you're wasting money on it no matter what.
If you brew your own, you waste slightly less money per unit. It's still impossible to make up a unit loss through volume.
Don't think of it as saving money, and don't think of it as wasting money, either.
Think of it as telling the government where they can shove their excise.
10/27/2011 9:09:17 PM
To add if it's not been mentioned yet, kegging is really easy...For those of you starting out, go with kegging sooner than later. You'll enjoy the hobby more.....
