Contents
Brewing beer from concentrate is the easiest way to feel like a real brewer at home. Also, this approach will minimize errors and more likely to get a more or less high-quality product at the output.
15 most expensive beers in the world
Tips before starting
Add hops
While most beer concentrates are already hopped, there are a growing number of brewers who find the hop bitterness and aroma not as strong as they would like.
Hops can be selected based on your preferences and added during the boil or already in the fermentation process. Boiling hops will enhance the hop bitterness and flavor of the beer. And the addition of hops during fermentation will maximize the flavor of the beer.
More malt
Malt extract is obtained from malt of various varieties. But it is also useful to additionally soak the ground grain in water before adding the concentrate. Depending on the chosen malt, you can add the necessary notes to the taste and aroma (chocolate, smoked products, coffee), as well as change the color of the beer.
It is enough to soak the malt for 30 minutes at a temperature of 65-72 degrees. It is most convenient to do this in a special bag, and if it is not available, then you should strain the resulting wort after soaking it.
sugar games
Many malt extract manufacturers require a certain amount of sugar to be added to the wort. As a rule, this is done in order to save money, but it does not always have a good effect on the taste of beer.
It makes sense to add more malt extract instead of sugar, which will make the taste of the drink richer and fuller. You can also add honey, jam or confiture. This will create a beer with a unique and inimitable taste.
The simplest and most inexpensive substitute for sugar is dextrose. In fact, this is the same sugar, but due to the fact that it does not contain impurities, but only fermentable sugars, it has less negative impact on taste. It is worth noting that in the preparation of some types of beer, the addition of sugar or dextrose, on the contrary, is welcomed, and therefore it is always necessary to take into account what we want to get in the end.
Replace yeast
Most often, standard ale yeasts for all varieties are included with malt extract. They are not bad, but when used, all beers, regardless of brand, will be similar to each other.
And even if Lager is written on the jar with the extract, then in fact it will be ale, since the yeast is ale. Also, for different ales, it is better to use different yeasts that are most suitable for the selected variety. Many people miss this moment, but in vain. Yeast is almost the main ingredient that has a very important effect on the taste and aroma of beer.
Today’s range allows you to get specialty yeast for wheat beers, for various ales, for dark varieties, for lagers and even for cider.
Don’t be afraid to experiment
Try saturating your beer with juniper buds, chestnuts, prunes, dates, coffee, mugwort berries and fruits, spices and seasonings, it’s all real and works for beer.
Of course, you will have failures, but this is normal, the reward will cover all the failures at once!
Classic beer recipe from concentrate
You will need a barrel (30 l), a water seal, a siphon for pouring alcohol into containers, a hydrometer if you want to measure the strength. Methyl alcohol is also suitable for disinfection. Instead of lollipops, you can use regular sugar, fructose or dextrose. This will reduce the final cost, but the product will ferment more.
Ingredients
Concentrate – 1 bank
Beer sugar – 1 kg
Carbonation lollipops – 1 pack
Wort – 2 tablespoons
Water – 23 L
Yeast – attached to the extract
Method of preparation
Sterilize the barrel by any method available.
Pour sugar, pour water, mix. Add the concentrate pre-filled with hot water to the liquid. Stir.
Top up with remaining water.
Rehydrate your yeast. Heat two hundred ml of water so that it is lukewarm (30 ° C), fill the jar with it. Pour out the yeast. Add two tablespoons of must.
After ten minutes, a head of foam will appear. Add the mixture to the barrel. Stir.
Install a water seal on the lid. After a few hours, bubbles will appear in it, which means fermentation will start.
Leave the container in a warm place for a week, maybe a couple of days longer.
Moving on to carbonation
Disinfect utensils to spill.
Pour the lollipops into a dish for convenience. It will take 3 pieces per liter.
Connect a siphon to the beer container. Pour the drink through it into containers.
Distribute the candies.
Pour beer into the container so that there is a little space for gases, otherwise you risk losing beer and container after. Usually this is the entire part from the beginning of the narrowing of the neck to the lid of the container.
Leave alone and warm for a week. Then move to storage.
The drink will acquire a complex taste and aroma after a month, but you can try earlier.
Recipe without ready-made concentrate, we do everything ourselves
Suitable for beginners, because it does not require the purchase of additional utensils. You will need a saucepan (6 l), plastic bottles, a water seal. The malt can be asked to grind at the purchase store. It is inexpensive.
Ingredients
Crushed barley malt – 1,3 kg
Dry hops – 12 g
Brewer’s yeast – according to the instructions for 5 liters of wort
Water – 10 L
Sugar – 10 teaspoons
Method of preparation
Heat three liters of liquid in a saucepan to 67°C.
While stirring constantly, carefully add the malt. Turn off the gas. The temperature should drop by 5°C.
A few minutes before the next step, bring another liter to a boil in a kettle.
Remove the container from the heat, wrap in a blanket and leave for forty minutes.
Return to the stove, raise the temperature to 73°C using the kettle. Don’t forget to stir. If this is not enough, turn on the fire.
Remove from stove. Wrap up for half an hour. Put it back, stirring continuously. The temperature should reach 78 °C. Hold for five minutes.
Remove and wrap in a blanket for the same amount.
During the temperature pause, heat the kettle with another 3 liters to 78 °C.
Take a stainless steel pan, put a colander in it. Transfer the crushed malt from the liquid there. Return the wort drained from the colander to the main container.
Scoop the future beer with a mug and pour it into the middle of the colander over the territory of the pellet. Filter it like this a couple of times. The less must left, the more attention to the middle.
Place a colander over the original pot. Drain the kettle evenly.
Mix the contents of both containers. The flowing wort there. Cook on the stove for twenty minutes.
Add six grams of hops for flavor.
Boil gauze in a separate bowl for a few minutes.
Close the pot with a lid, put it in the sink to reduce the temperature under the tap to 50 ° C. Pour into a container through gauze. Close the lid.
Plug the hole in the sink to cool the bottle down to 25°C in water. This will take about ten minutes. The thermometer is important to disinfect.
Shake the bottle. Add yeast. You may not mix. Attach a water seal to the lid.
Leave alone for a period of ten to twelve days.
Pour the drink into disinfected bottles, not reaching 2-3 cm from the neck. Add 10 teaspoons of sugar. Close the covers.
Store at room temperature. After 5 days, refrigerate for a month.
Relevance: 26.04.2020
Tags: Beer, Cider, Ale, Beer recipes