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Process Of Homebrewing
The typical batch of homebrew beer is five gallons, which is enough for about 2 cases, or 48 to 50 twelve ounce bottles of beer.The typical homebrewed beer is produced by boiling water, malt extract and hops together in a large kettle, cooling the resulting wort, and adding yeast for fermenting. Some experienced homebrewers brew without extract, instead using an all-grain recipe and a mashing process to extract the sugars from crushed malt barley.
In both cases, the wort is boiled for 15 min to an hour to help remove some impurities and infuse the character of the hops. The wort is then cooled down to a pitching temperature.
The cooled wort is poured into the primary fermenter in a manner that aerates the wort. Sufficient oxygen is necessary for the yeast's growth. The yeast is then put into the wort.
The primary fermentation will take place in a large food bucket or carboy. Sometimes it is left open but often stoppered with the carbon dioxide gas that's produced venting through a fermentation lock.
A couple of weeks later, it's beer, ready to be bottled and carbonated, which we will discuss in a later post.
The process of making beer takes a lot of time indeed, although you can take the necessary short cuts once you learn more about how the process works. If this is your first time brewing, you should always use common sense and know what you are doing.
One of the best things about making your own homebrews is the fact that you can experiment with ingredients and brew your own creations. You can brew almost anything, providing you have the right type of equipment - which can easily be found on the internet or in homebrew shops.
We'll talk more about all these topics in later posts, so check back often. Happy brewing, Alehounds!
