How to make homemade beer at home

Many believe that in order to make high-quality beer at home it is necessary to buy a mini-brewery, but this statement is erroneous. By and large, expensive equipment is imposed on people directly by manufacturers, this is a marketing ploy, nothing more. Along with the equipment, the sales manager is happy to “sniff” your ready-made concentrate for dilution and fermentation. To avoid this, consider the important aspects and the classic recipe for making beer.

Homebrew Beer

To make beer at home, you first need to familiarize yourself with the main ingredients that you will need. Each of the components has its own characteristics and must meet certain requirements.

Malt
Ideally, a good quality product does not sink in water, emits a pleasant aroma, has a sweetish taste and a whipped shape. When cut, the inside of high-quality malt is whitish, not brown or red.

To be able to use the product as the main component of beer, it must first be soaked and grown at a temperature of 14 to 27 degrees, and then removed and dried.

The last point is the most important, the color of the future frothy drink depends on proper malt drying. If you want to get a beer of dark shade, dry the malt in the oven, slightly frying it. If the goal is to make light-colored beer, dry the malt in a natural way.

After drying, it is necessary to grind the product in a convenient way before the formation of grain (not dust). All of these actions will take you from 4 to 6 days.

Water
For the preparation of beer is used only pure water from the artesian well. The main advantage of the purchased water is considered to be careful processing and passing the bacteriological control. If you can not buy it, pre-filter the liquid and let it stand for two days.Water should not have a strange taste, smell, and even more color.

Hop
From the correct choice depends on the density and taste of the future of beer. Carefully consider the raw materials, prefer cones of yellow-green or red shades, which have yellow-beige dust under the scales. It is important to know that the bumps should not be dirty green or brown.

Yeast
Everything is much simpler here. For the preparation of foam beer used live brewer's yeast. If you can not get a beer, buy the usual.

Sugar
The product serves for the natural saturation of beer with carbon dioxide. Brown (cane) sugar is preferred. For an accurate calculation of the amount, you need to be guided by proportions: 9 grams per 1 liter of beer. sugar sand.

Beer brewing technology at home

We present you a classic recipe, thanks to him you can get both dark and light beer at the exit. As mentioned above, it all depends on the technique of drying malt.

Ingredients Required:

• hop cones - 50 gr.
• clear water - 27 l.
• barley malt - 3.5 kg.
• live brewer's yeast - 30 gr.
• sugar - 210 gr.

Required tools:

1. Dark plastic bottles for bottling the finished product.
2. 7-8 meters gauze. Enameled pan for 27-30 liters for boiling wort.
3. Capacity for the fermentation of the composition with a tight-fitting lid (preferably with a water seal).
4. Thermometer for precise temperature control. Rubber or silicone hose with a diameter of 1-1.5 cm for bottling the drink.
5. A bath filled with cold water and ice cubes is necessary to thoroughly cool the wort.
6. White capacity and iodine to determine the presence of starch. Hydrometer, as well as a wooden spatula with a long handle for mixing the composition.

Stage number 1. Sterilization tools
The important point of making beer at home is complete sterility. Otherwise, you will not get a beer, but a brew. Wash the tools in advance, dab them in hot water, wipe dry and dry until the moisture evaporates. The thermometer should not be doused with boiling water, wipe it with a wet sponge.

Stage number 2. Cooking Wort
As mentioned earlier, prepare the wort for further work with it (soaking, growing, drying, grinding).Pour 24 liters of clean water into the pan (leave 3 liters), bring the mixture to a boil, stick to a temperature of 80 degrees.

To prevent sticking of the wort, make a bag of gauze measuring 1 * 1 meter (fold it into 3 layers). After that, move the malt in a bag and immerse it in a pot of boiling water. Cover the container with a lid, reduce heat, cook for 1.5 hours, constantly monitor the temperature, it should be between 62 and 73 degrees.

Important!
If you want to get a stronger drink, stick to the mode of 62 degrees, but if the goal is to make beer with an intense aftertaste, keep the temperature at 71-72 degrees. The best option is boiling wort with indicators of 65-66 degrees. In this case, the beer will get 4% of the fortress with a rather rich and moderate flavor.

Stage number 3. Starch Check
After 1.5 hours it is necessary to check the wort for the presence of starch, or rather, for its absence. For these purposes, take a white saucer, scoop 20 ml. Wort and pour into container.

After that add 2 drops of iodine solution and evaluate the result. If the color of the composition has changed to blue, increase the cooking time by another quarter of an hour.If the shade remains the same, there is no starch, so proceed to the next step.

Add heat and bring the temperature of the wort to 80 degrees. Boil the mixture in this mode for about 5 minutes, then remove the bag with the composition.

Pour the remaining 3 liters of filtered water into a separate saucepan and bring it to a boil at a temperature of 80 degrees. Next, rinse the bag of malt in this water and pour the liquid into the first pan.

Stage number 4. Mixing wort with hops
Bring the wort to a boil, more precisely, before the first bubbles appear. Next, add exactly 17 grams. hop cones, boil the composition for half an hour, then add another 15 grams. hops. Continue boiling for 45 minutes, then add the remaining bumps. Boil the mixture on medium heat for about 20 minutes, the total complexity should take at least 95 minutes.

Stage number 5. Cooling composition
At this stage there is a risk of bactericidal tumors in the composition of the drink, so follow the instructions strictly, do not hesitate.

Carefully take the pot and transfer it to the bathroom, put it in ice water and cool to a temperature of 25 degrees.This step will take about 20-25 minutes, constantly check the temperature with a thermometer.

Once you have reached the desired mode, prepare a second tank, which is intended for fermentation. Fold the gauze over it in 5 layers, then carefully pour the wort for the first time. In order for the composition to be saturated with oxygen, it is necessary to repeat the transfusion 3 more times from the first tank to the second and back.

Stage number 6. Fermentation process
Before mixing the yeast with the wort, dilute them with warm boiled water and leave for a quarter of an hour to activate (the exact exposure time is indicated in the instructions). At the end of time, pour them into the wort and mix well with a wooden spatula.

In order to accurately observe the temperature regime, which is so important for the preparation of homemade beer, it is necessary to get acquainted with the type of yeast in advance.

If the label indicates that the yeast is top fermented, they are added to the wort with a temperature of 19 to 23 degrees.

As for the yeast of the lower fermentation, they must be added to the wort at a temperature of 7-15 degrees.

After mixing the wort with yeast, cover the container with a lid and take it to a dark room.Leave for 1.5 weeks, while it is necessary to constantly maintain the temperature at which the yeast is working. After 10 days, the yeast transitions from the active to the passive phase, by which time the beer will become light.

To determine the readiness of the drink, use a hydrometer. Remove indicators in 2 stages, in which the second is carried out after 12 hours after the first. If the difference in samples is insignificant (hundredths), feel free to proceed with further manipulations. In cases where the indicators vary considerably, prolong the fermentation process for another 2 days.

Stage number 7. Spill and carbonation
This stage assumes saturation of the drink with carbon dioxide; this must be done for the appearance of foam and the corresponding taste sensations.

Sterilize the bottles that will be bottled, dry them and add granulated sugar at the rate of 9 gr. on 1 liter of composition. Due to sugar, easy fermentation will begin, as a result of which the beer will be saturated with carbon dioxide.

Place the hose in the pan so that it does not touch the bottom, walls and surface of the drink. Hold the phone straight in the middle.Place the other end of the hose in the bottle and fill it back 2 cm from the neck.

At the end of the filling, tightly close the lids and place in a dark place for 3 weeks. It is important that the room / closet is constantly maintained at a temperature of 21-23 degrees. At the same time the last two weeks you need to shake the drink daily. When the carbonation comes to an end, move the bottles to the refrigerator or cellar.

The process is completed, but you can improve the taste, if you leave the beer for another 3 weeks in a cold place. In the end, thanks to your efforts, the output will be 23 liters of high-quality, and most importantly, real beer with a strength of 4–4.5%.

Store the product in the cellar or in the refrigerator for no longer than 8 months unopened. As soon as you open the bottle, the shelf life will be reduced to 2 days. If the bottles are transparent, it is worth wrapping them in dark bags.

The recipe for homemade beer without malt

To prepare you will need: pure filtered water - 11 l., molasses - 0.55 l., live brewer's yeast - 150 ml., hops - 50 ml.

1. Pour 11 liters of water into an enamel pan, boil for 10 minutes, then add to the stream. Reduce heat and simmer until the characteristic aroma of molasses disappears.
2. Sew a small bag of gauze, place the hops there and send it to the water, stewing on medium heat for a quarter of an hour. Turn off the stove, take out the hop cones, wait until the mixture is completely cooled.
3. Strain the composition through cheesecloth, slowly pour in the yeast, while stirring.
4. Bottled, but do not clog them. Wait a while until foam appears in the neck area.
5. Next, remove the foam, close the bottle caps, send the beer in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.

Juniper Beer

To prepare you will need: live brewer's yeast - 100 gr., juniper berries - 800 gr., pure water - 8 l., liquid honey - 180 gr.

1. Pour water into an enamel pot, cover with a lid and boil for 15 minutes. At the end of the term, add juniper, cook for another 45 minutes over medium heat.
2. Several times strain the composition through 4 layers of gauze, cool the mixture to room temperature.
3. Pour in liquid honey, mix well with a wooden spoon, add brewer's yeast. Stir and tightly close the lid. Put the drink in a dark closet to ferment.
4. After raising the yeast, mix the composition, pour into bottles and immediately close the lids. Insist about 7-10 days in a dark cold place.

Making homemade beer is not difficult if you take care of the availability of the necessary components and tools. Do not neglect the preparatory stage, it sets the direction for further brewing. Carefully sterilize containers and be sure to observe the temperature regime. Dry the malt naturally or fry in the oven to get the beer of the desired shade.

Video: cooking real grain beer at home