Hop Vine: Homebrewing Introduction

Silas Whitley | Crumbs

This week is designated to explain the jargon used in homebrewing and introduce my recipe formatting. The recipe this week is a simple light hybrid beer — similar to common light beers, but better.

Recipes are provided for both all-grain brewers and those who use malt extract. All grain methods require more equipment and time to brew than those with malt extract, which skips the mashing steps explained below.

For all grain brewing, a mash tun is needed. A tun is basically a container to hold lots of grain and water, and insulated to maintain temperatures. Tuns can be made out of things like coolers. Different designs can be found online.

Mashing — or holding a grain and water mixture at a certain temperature — generally occurs anywhere between 145 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit, but for this recipe, aim for 149 degrees Fahrenheit. To get to this temperature, heat 1.33 quarts of water per pound to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the desired mash temperature. Mix the water with the recipe grain in a mash tun and let it sit for an hour. Crush the grain before mashing. This can be done at the store where grain is purchased.

After an hour, drain the liquid from the grain and collect it in a large (eight or more gallon) pot, being careful not to get grain in the removed liquid. Different methods to prevent this can be found online, but can be as simple as using a strainer. The liquid is called sweet wort.

Sparging — or rinsing — is done in a variety of ways. Some of the methods require more equipment, which will not be described here. The other methods are just as viable. The method I like to use is a one-time rinse of the grain. Do this by pouring the sparge water, at 170 degrees Fahrenheit, into the mash tun and mixing with the grain. Do this after draining the mash. Let the new mixture rest for 10 to 15 minutes and repeat the draining process into the same pot.

Steeping is the process of bringing grains and water to 160 degrees Fahrenheit and holding the temperature for 30 minutes. Grain can be put in nylon bags to make removal easy, or can be strained out after steeping.

All grain recipes will be in terms of pounds for a five-gallon recipe, but will also include the proportion of grain for those that brew smaller or larger batches.

This light beer will use Saaz and Hallertau hops:

Ingredients:

• 9 lbs pilsner malt or pale ale malt (90 percent)
• 1 lb Vienna malt (10 percent)

Directions:

1. Mash at 149 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 minutes with 3.5 gallons of water at 159 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Sparge with four gallons of water at 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Boil wort for 60 minutes
4. Add one ounce of hops (Hallertau) with 60 minutes of the boil remaining
5. Add 1/2 ounce of hops (Saaz) with 30 minutes of the boil remaining
6. Add one teaspoon of Irish moss with 10 minutes remaining of the boil (this will clarify the beer)
7. Add 1/2 ounce of hops (Saaz) with five minutes of the boil remaining

Extract brewing still requires grain, but much less and no mash tun. Here are the ingredients and steps for an extract recipe:

Ingredients

• 5 lbs extra light dried malt extract (DME) or the lightest DME you can find
• 3 lbs Vienna malt

Directions:

1. Steep the crushed Vienna malt in three gallons of water
2. Remove the grain and boil the three gallons for 60 minutes
3. Follow boiling and hop additions for the all grain method above
4. Add 2 1/2 gallons of cold water after boil to help cool

When the boil is done, cool the wort as fast as possible. A large sink of ice water is pretty efficient. Be careful not to introduce anything unsanitary to the wort. When the wort is cooler than 80 degrees Fahrenheit, transfer it to a fermenting vessel. Use six-gallon glass carboys to be classy. Sprinkle a packet of ale yeast in the fermenter. Let ferment for seven days then decant off of the sediment into another sanitized fermenter for a week.

If bottling, mix 3/4 cup of corn sugar in a cup of water and boil for a minute. Do not use table sugar, it will over-carbonate the beer. Mix into the finished beer before bottling. Empty bottles, caps and other bottling equipment is needed and can be found at a brewing supply store.

For more information about the jargon or science behind the brewing process, please contact me at the address below.

Silas Whitley can be reached at [email protected]