A couple of years ago, my brother and I went to a festival of historical reenactment of the early Middle Ages. Spectators here were offered not only to look at the epic sword battles, but also to try the products of bygone eras. There was also beer. As the girl behind the counter claimed – homemade.
Tried. Liked. It was then that for the first time the idea came to my mind to try to make beer myself, but, as usual, in the everyday bustle, the thought quickly disappeared from my head.
This story was sent by our subscriber Alex.
How did the idea come about
I remember that day my brother and I were watching a movie about the Vikings. Bearded warriors, it turns out, were very fond of arranging feasts after their long sea voyages. And what! The beer flowed like a river, and the crackling of the fire in the fireplace drowned out the thunderous roar: “Sköl!”. This is like our “Well, we will!”.
To watch a movie, or rather, a series, we took a whole case of beer. Simple, shop. Around the fifth bottle or the second series, I became interested in how, in fact, beer was brewed in ancient times.
Or even not so… Is it possible now to make beer at home and feel like a Viking for a couple of hours? Memories of the festival of historical reconstruction came flooding back with renewed vigor…
Interesting fact! Some historians believe that the Vikings spent up to 60% of their harvest on beer.
A shot from the festival that inspired us.
My brother also liked the idea, especially since another feast was unfolding on the screen. The only thing left was to find that person who knows how to brew beer. Found it among my friends.
Ingredients
The very next weekend we agreed to meet and try to make beer. We took over the financial side of the matter and provided the premises. A friend agreed to instruct us.
On the evening before the weekend, we met and went shopping at the nearest store. Luckily it wasn’t that far to go. So, to make wheat beer, we needed:
- 4 kg of wheat malt – 53 rubles. for 1 kg.
- 2 kg Pilsner malt – 40 rubles / kg.
- 35 gr. Perle hop — 230 rubles for 100 gr.
- A pack of Safale WB-06 brewer’s yeast — 318 rubles.
- A pack of dextrose – 125 rubles.
In the process of cooking.
Note! Instead of dextrose, glucose can be used.
That’s basically it. This was the end of our meeting, because it was not possible to find half of these ingredients in a regular store. I had to improvise and order online. I really wanted to try homemade beer. Fortunately, at least the delivery came quickly enough and in a week we were ready to try ourselves as brewers.
Preparation
Here’s a little overlay. It turned out that we did not have the necessary equipment either. The same friend who made beer and moonshine at home for more than a year helped out, and during this time he managed to buy the necessary things.
Okay, for the rental of equipment, we made a promise to share the finished product with a friend. What can you do to feel like a Viking for a couple of hours.
So, we came to shake hands and started making beer:
- First I had to mix the malt and grind it.
- They took a boiler with a false bottom and poured 20 liters of water into it.
- Warm it up to 45°C.
- They poured malt.
- Cooked, observing the temperature pauses. There were many. Decided to write it down so I don’t forget:
- After the end of the fourth pause, a friend suggested doing an iodine test. Since it was not noticeable that he wanted to poison us, we decided to agree. He dropped some iodine into the wort. The liquid did not change its color, and we moved on to the next pause. The comrade, seeing the bewilderment on our faces, explained that if the iodine turned blue, it would be necessary to boil the beer a little more at the same temperature.
- The wort was poured into a separate container.
- Rinse the mash with 10 liters of warm water.
- The malt was removed from the cauldron.
- Pour the wort back.
- They continued to boil.
- Half an hour after the liquid boiled, we poured hops into the container.
- An hour later, the boiler was cooled with a chiller to 20°C.
- Throw in yeast.
If anyone does not know, the chiller looks something like this.
Note! If a chiller is not available, an ice bath can be used for cooling. It is only important to carefully monitor the temperature.
Then it remained only to leave the beer to ferment in a dark, cool place. A friend said that he would come to us in a week. After 7 days, we were ready to drink beer, but no such luck.
The beer was indeed bottled from the cauldron, but instead of a Viking feast, we had to fiddle with dextrose, adding 10 gr. for every liter of liquid. This, they say, is necessary for carbonization.
The beer was left for another 10 days.
Result
After the allotted time, we again called a friend, with the firm intention this time to try our own beer. A friend apparently understood the seriousness of our plans and said that we would not have to wait any longer. The beer is ready.
The result is obvious.
We perked up and pulled out carefully crafted wooden mugs to match, so to speak, the era that inspired this adventure. By the way, we bought mugs in a souvenir shop.
The beer turned out to be a light golden color with a hint of bitterness in the taste. After opening the bottles, a pleasant smell of malt hung in the air.
In general, for a long time we drank beer of our own production and remembered the Vikings with a kind word. Have you tried homemade beer or brewed it? Can you tell me your impressions?
Dear readers, remember that alcohol abuse harms your body. Take care of yourself!