Pale Ale
Classic English Pale Ale 1.5 - 2.3
India Pale Ale 1.5 - 2.3
American Style Pale Ale 2.26 - 2.78
English & Scottish Strong Ale
English Old Ale / Strong Ale 1.5 - 2.3
Strong Scotch Ale 1.5 - 2.3
Brown Ale
English Brown Ale 1.5 - 2.3
English Mild Ale 1.3 - 2.0
American Brown Ale 1.5 - 2.5
Spring has sprung and its time to start brewing for summer.
One of the easiest and rewarding beers to make must be a Weiss Beer. I
always like to add some kind of fruit to my Weiss beers, this beer has
the zest of one orange added for a sweet and citrusy aroma (If orange is
not your thing you can simply omit the zest).
This beer is ready to drink as soon as its carbonated. It will peak at 1 to 2 months. Serve at 4oC
Miami Weiss (All Grain)
Batch Size: 20.0 L
Efficiency: 70.0%
Original Gravity: 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.013
Alcohol: 5.2%
Bitterness: 14.2
Boil duration: 90 minutes
Ingredients
2.54 kg Wheat Malt - added during mash
2.54 kg Pale Ale Malt - added during mash
50.0 g Hallertauer Hersbrucker (2.28%) - added during boil, boiled 90.0 m
Zest from one orange - added the last 10 minutes of the boil
1 Fermentis WB-06 Safbrew WB-06
5 ml Irish Moss
Heat 15.5 Liters of water to 73oC. Add water to (cold) mash tun. Add Grain and mix. Wait for mash temperature to settle at 66oC (you can add boiling water or some ice cubes to adjust the temperature if needed)
Mash for 60 minutes
Heat 23 Liters of water to 77oC. Sparge the grain and drain wort into your brew pot
Bring the wort to the boil and add the hops.Boil for 90 minutes
15 minutes before the end of the boil
- Put immersion chiller in your pot
- Add Irish moss
10 minutes before the end of the boil
-Add the grated zest of one orange
At the end of the boil cool down wort to 21oC and add to the fermenter. Pitch re hydrated yeast
Ideal fermentation temperature 19 - 23oC
Ferment for 2 weeks. Bottle with 180 g granulated sugar boiled in 200 ml water for 10 minutes & cooled.
1.5 kg Unhopped Wheat Liquid Malt Extract- added during boil, boiled 60.0 m
55.0 g Hallertauer Hersbrucker (2.28%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 m
Zest from one orange - added the last 10 minutes of the boil
1 x Fermentis WB-06 Safbrew WB-06
5 ml Irish Moss
Add crushed grain to a grain bag. Heat 6 L of water to 73 °C and
mash grains at 66°C for 90 minutes. (stir the grain in the grain bag
well)
Heat 6L of sparge water to 75°C
Remove grain bag from grain water and rinse with the heated sparge
water. Bring wort to the boil, remove pot from the stove and add Liquid
malt extract and hops. Boil wort for 60 minutes.
15 minutes before the end of the boil
-Add Irish moss
10 minutes before the end of the boil
-Add the grated zest of one orange
At the end of the boil remove pot from the stove and cool. Strain the
cooled wort into the primary fermenter and add top up the fermenter
obtain 20 L. When wort temperature is under to 21oC pitch your re hydrated yeast
Ideal fermentation temperature 19 - 23oC
Ferment for 2 weeks. Bottle with 180 g granulated sugar boiled in 200 ml water for 10 minutes & cooled.
So you've tried extract brewing and want to take your brewing to the
next step. This is where you can really start adding your own flair to
your beer by adding grain and hops.
What is partial mash brewing?
A partial mash is a brewing system where
a part of your wort (pre-fermented beer) is made from grain and
the other from extract (this can be liquid of dry malt extract)
The small amount of grain you add to your beer adds flavour and
colour while the malt extract makes up for the the rest of the
fermentable sugars needed.
What equipment do I need to make a partial mash beer?
Fermenter with a airlock and grommet
Spoon
Measuring jug
Thermometer 0 - 100°C
Pot 15 liters of bigger
Grain bag
Colander
Hydrometer
Partial mashes can be made using a) a mixture of base malts and specialty grains with malt extract or b) only extract and specialty grains.
What are base malts/grain?
Base malts are used to produce fermentable sugars for the yeast to
ferment and contain significant amounts of starch. These include Pale
Malts, Munich, Vienna and aromatic malts. To convert the starches into
sugars a process called mashing is used. Mashing refers to steeping the
crushed grain for a hour between 66 - 68 °C.
What are speciality malts/grain?
Speciality malts are used mainly for flavor and color. The malt has
been roasted to achieve different flavours and colours and most of
the starches have already been converted to sugar. These include
Crystal, Chocolate, Black, Caramunich, Carafa, Caraaroma, Carabelge,
Carafa, Carared, Biscuit malts etc. Since there are no starches to
convert these grains only need to be steeped them in water to leach out
the sugars and flavor
profiles.
What ingredients do I need to make a partial mash beer?
Selection of grains (crushed)
Liquid / dry malt extract
Hops
Yeast
Irish moss
Partial mashing with base malts and specialty grains
Step by step
Crush the grain (this can be done with a grain mill or cracked with a rolling pin) and put into a grain bag.
Heat 7.5 liters of water is (called strike water) in the pot to
76°C. Add the grain bag (the temperature should drop to 68 °C once the
grain is added).
Move the bag around & gently stir to make sure all the grain particles are in contact with the water.
Put the lid on the pot and leave the grain to mash for 60 minutes.
The temperature should be checked every 15 minutes to make sure it
stays within the 68 degree range (to maintain the temperature the pot
can be wrapped in a blanket or the pot reheated while stirring the wort
(take care to never heat the water to more than 77 °C).
Heat 7.5 liters of water in another pot to 78 °C (this is known as sparge water).
Lift the grain bag out of the pot and place in the colander. Rinse the bag with the sparge water.
Bring the entire mixture to a boil.
As the wort starts to boil, remove from the heat and add the
liquid malt extract, stir thoroughly to make sure all the malt
dissolves.
Return to the heat, add hops and and boil for 60 minutes.
Add aroma hops and irish moss is in the last 10 minutes of the boil.
Turn of the heat and place pot (with the lid on) in a sink or bath
filled with water and ice to bring the temperature down as quickly as
possible.
When the beer is cool enough, transfer to the fermenter (leave as much solids behind as possible).
Add more water until there is a total of 19 liters (depending on the recipe) in the fermenter.
Splash and aerate beer in fermenter to introduce yeast friendly oxygen.
When the beer temperature is between 18 and 23 degrees add your yeast.
Aerate your beer again by shaking up the fermenter or stirring vigorously with a sanitized spoon.
Fit airlock and fill with clean water.
Leave to ferment for 2 weeks.
Partial mashing with speciality grains
Step by step
Crush the grain (this can be done with a grain mill or cracked with a rolling pin) and put into a grain bag.
Fill the pot with 15 liters of cold water. Add the grain bag.
Move the bag around & gently stir to make sure all the grain particles are in contact with the water.
Place the pot on the stove / burner on high.
Let the grains steep in the brew pot until the water temperature reaches 77 °C.
Remove the grain bag from the pot, put in a colander and let the liquid drain back into the pot.
Remove pot from the heat and add the liquid malt extract, stir thoroughly to make sure all the malt dissolves.
Return to the heat, add hops and and boil for 60 minutes.
Add aroma hops and irish moss is in the last 10 minutes of the boil.
Turn of the heat and place pot (with the lid on) in a sink or bath
filled with water and ice to bring the temperature down as quickly as
possible.
Fill your fermenter with about 4 liters of water (depending on the recipe).
When the beer is cool enough, transfer to the fermenter (leave as much solids behind as possible).
Splash and aerate beer in fermenter to introduce yeast friendly oxygen.
When the beer temperature is between 18 and 23 degrees add your yeast.
Areate your beer again by shaking up the fermenter or stirring vigorously with a sanitized spoon.
Making
your own beer is one of the most rewarding things you will ever do.
Your first beer is the beginning of a journey, before you even finish
bottling your first beer you'll be dreaming of all the things you could
tweak, ingredients you could add etc. Beer is truly where art and
science meet.
Your
first brew can be daunting, but it doesn't need to be. There's a lot of
new terminology but nothing more complicated than baking a cake.
Beer is made from four basic ingredients
Malted Barley (a grain similar to wheat)
Yeast
Water
Hops (a green flower that adds bitterness to beer)
The brewing process works like this
Malted barley is soaked in hot water - this extracts the sugars needed for fermentation.
The barley is then strained from the solution and boiled (now called wort), hops is added to flavour the beer.
The
mixture is cooled and yeast added. - The yeast ferments the sugars
extracted from step #1 and creates CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) and alcohol.
After
two weeks of fermentation the beer is ready to bottle with a small
amount of additional sugar, which when fermented carbonates the beer in
the bottle.
Equipment
You will need the following equipment to make your first batch of beer: (most of this comes in our basic kits)
Sanitizer
The
main cause for batches of beer failing is contamination. Yeast are the
only microorganisms that should be growing in your beer. Common
unscented household bleach is the easiest way to sanitize all the
equipment that comes into contact with your beer (4 ml per litre).
Airlock
A
airlock prevents contamination from the outside into your beer. It
allows CO2 out of the fermenter but prevents any particles going into
your fermenter. The airlock is filled with water and attached to your
fermenter.
Pot/kettle
You will need to heat at least 2 litres of water to mix with your extract.
Fermenter
This
is the container your beer will ferment in. The fermenter should be
airtight and fitted with an airlock. Fermenters should also be made from
food grade plastic, and be able to hold at least 25 litres. Having a
tap is an advantage.
Measuring cup
You will need this to measure water.
Stirring spoon
A long handle spoon is ideal for stirring your wort.
Thermometer
Next
to sanitising, temperature control is one of the most important factors
to consider when making beer. If the wort mixture is too hot or too
cold the yeast will not ferment properly.
Hydrometer
A
hydrometer measures the difference in specific gravity between pure
water and water with dissolved sugars. (Essentially it's measuring how
heavy the liquid is). The hydrometer is used to measure the sugar
content of your beer. Hydrometers are useful for calculating the
percentage of alcohol in your beer and can also tell you if your beer
has finished fermenting. As your beer ferments, the yeast consumes the
sugar and the original worth gravity (OG) decreases towards a
anticipated final gravity (FG).
Capper and caps
On bottling day you will need a capper to seal your bottled beer. Hand cappers are the most economical cappers to use.
Bottling tube
This
tube makes bottling easy and connects to the tap of your fermenter. It
has a spring loaded valve that fills the bottle with beer when pushed
against the bottom of the bottle.
There are 3 basic ways to brew beer.
1) Brewing with a beer extract kit.
Malt
Extract is made from concentrated sugars extracted from malted barley -
a concentrated wort. Malt extract is available in a syrup (thick like
molasses) and called liquid malt extract or dried form known as Dry Malt
Extract.
Both
have a malty taste similar to Horlicks or Milo. The most basic extract
kit includes pre-hopped cans of extract (like Coopers). All that is
required is to dissolve the the extract in water, cool it down and add
yeast.
2) All grain brewing.
All
grain brewers work with a combination of crushed grains which are then
“mashed” to remove the sugars, hops are added, the entire mixture is
boiled, chilled rapidly, yeast is added and then the mixture is placed
in a fermenter.
3) Partial mash brewing.
A combination of the extract brewing and all grain brewing.
This
blog post will focus on extract brewing, the quickest and easiest
method. If you’ve never made beer before brewing with an extract is a
great way to start. It is easy, you do not need a lot of equipment, and
you will get to master the basics of brewing in no time - in fact many
home brewers continue with extract brewing forever.
Extract brewing in 10 easy steps.
As
mentioned earlier, liquid malt extract is a thick malty syrup made from
concentrated sugars extracted from malted barley. The simple guide
below makes use of a Cooper extract kit, which already contains hops.
Step 1.
Sanitise
your fermenter, spoon and airlock using a mixture or unscented
household bleach and water (4ml of bleach to a litre of water) – Rinse
with fresh water to get rid of any bleach.
Step 2.
Boil 2 litres of water on the stove.
Step 3.
Add
the contents of the malt extract tin to your fermenter and add your
boiled water, stir with the long handled spoon or mix by shaking your
closed fermentation tank.
Step 4.
Add another 17 litres of cold water to the fermenter, mixing the mixture while you add.
Step 5.
Check that the temperature of the 23 litre mixture is below 25 degrees Celsius. If not, let it cool.
Step 6.
Add the contents of the yeast packet (attached to you Coopers Kit)
Step 7.
Close
up your fermenter, secure the airlock and put it somewhere out of the
sun. Each kit has an optimal temperature that is should be fermented at,
try and find a room where it is closest to this temperature.
Step 8.
Your
kit should start bubbling overnight. Over the next few days (depending
on the kit) it will bubble away as the happy yeast convert the sugars to
alcohol.
Step 9.
When fermentation is complete, sanitise your bottles and crowns (bottle caps) – Rinse everything with fresh water.
Step 10.
Using
the bottling tube, fill your bottles with beer, add a Coopers carbonation
drop to each bottle (called “priming”) and seal with the bottle capper.
In about 2 weeks your very own bottles of beer will be carbonated and
ready to drink. Beer “ages” and “mellows' much like wine, so it will
probably taste even better after 6 weeks.
What Else?
There
are also unhopped extracts available for brewers who want to add their
own hops, this does mean that the extract needs to be boiled with water
in a large pot. Hops are added separately to add bitterness, hop
flavours and aroma. The last hop addition (aroma hops) can be in the pot
or added into the fermenter (also known as dry hopping).
You
can also add other fermentables such as dry malt extract brewing sugars
to your extract beer. These fermentables can add body and mouthfeel to
your beer or make it drier.
Terminology
Malted:
The malting process makes the barley seeds resources available to the
brewer. Barley is steeped in water until it has absorbed around 50% of
its own weight in water. The barley is drained and left to germinate.
After germination the barley is moved to a kiln and dried at low
temperatures to around 4% moisture. This type of malt is typically
referred to a base malt. The longer malts are kilned and roasted the
more their colours change (amber, brown, chocolate and black) and
flavours are created (these include toffee, molasses, biscuit flavours
etc)
Wort: The malt-sugar solution extracted from barley prior to fermentation
Immersion chiller: A coil of metal, usually copper, through which cold water flows. The coil itself is then immersed completely in hot wort
Hops:
The spice of beer. It contains compounds that give beer its bitterness
and balances the sweetness of beer. Hops also contain aromatic oils that
impart floral, citrus, pine and perfume like aromas to beer. The
bitterness of hops is measured in its Alpha acid content (the higher the
number the more bitter the hops)
Dry hopping: This method allow you to get hop aromas and flavours directly into beer without boiling the hops in wort.
