How To Brew All Grain Beer?

How do you brew with all grains?

The Basic Process – In all-grain brewing, crushed malted grains are soaked in hot water, typically in a range of 145-158°F, for 1 hour to extract the grain’s sugars. This process is known as mashing. The fermentable sugary liquid, called wort, is drained (lautered) to the boil kettle, leaving the spent grains behind.

How long does it take to all-grain brew?

The All-Grain Brewing Process – For our simple all-grain brewing process, we’ll only be using a single-infusion mash. A single-infusion mash only requires holding your mash at temperatures from 148 to 158 F for around one hour. This is the easier all-grain process.

What is the cheapest way to start all-grain brewing?

Brew In A Bag (BIAB) – Brew In A Bag is the easiest and most inexpensive way to transition to partial mash or all grain brewing – all you need is a good brewing kettle and a grain bag, A propane burner is preferred to a conventional stovetop, but not necessary.

Can you do all-grain brew in a bag?

You can make the transition slowly and without emptying your wallet on a bunch equipment that you’ve never used before. These instructions will go through the ‘Brew-in-a-Bag’ method of all grain brewing which requires only 3 upgrades in equipment: a bigger pot, a bigger steeping bag and a wort chiller.

What temperature do you boil all-grain brewing?

Mashing – This is the process where the brewer converts the starch in the grain to fermentable sugars through activation of enzymes by heat and pH. There are many enzymes at work during the mash, but for simplicity I will only talk about the two main enzymes, alpha amylase and beta amylase.

The most basic thing you should know about enzymes is that they are active within a relatively wide range of temperatures and pH, but work best within a small range. The amylases work together during the mash, but depending on the temperature used, the brewer can favor one or the other. Alpha amylase works best at a temperature range of 154–167 °F (67–75 °C) and beta amylase works best between 130–150 °F (54–65 °C).

The first step in preparing for the mash is to mill (crush) the grain so the husk breaks open, giving the water access to the grain starches and enzymes. Hot water (also called hot liquor) is added to the mashing vessel, called a mash tun, so that when mixed with the grain it is at a temperature that appropriately activates the enzymes.

• Next the crushed grain is added and mixed such that there are no clumps of grain.
• Following this, the mash is allowed to rest for around one hour in order to give the enzymes enough time to break apart the starches.
• A single infusion mash is the most common method used in homebrewing and is when one temperature is employed between 145 and 162 °F (62 to 72 °C), activating both enzymes to varying degrees.

The lower end of this temperature favors activation of beta amylase, which produces smaller maltose molecules. These are very easy for yeast to consume and therefore produce wort that is highly fermentable with less body. A temperature towards the higher end of this range will favor alpha amylase.

• This enzyme leaves the sugars larger and harder for the yeast to consume and thus, produces wort with more body and less fermentability.
• As the brewer, it is your decision to figure out whether your beer would benefit from wort with more fermentability, more body or somewhere in between.
• Other mashing techniques include step mashes where the temperature is increased and held at temperatures over the course of the mash in order to sequentially activate various enzymes in their optimal target range.

German brewers and those homebrewers interested in replicating their barley-based beverages might also employ a single or multi-step decoction mash. This process entails removing a portion of the mash and boiling it in a separate vessel, then returning it to the main mash.

It is believed that this process, called decoction mashing adds a distinctive malt flavor that cannot be replicated in any other way. I suggest that after you get a handle on the mashing process and you really want to maximize the potential of your mash that you invest in a water report for your specific region.

This will tell you what ions are available for your mash and which are lacking and might need supplementation. This report may be available online or through brewing buddies that have sent a sample out for analysis. The efficiency of the mash is very dependent on calcium as well as other ions, but this is more of an advanced topic.

• Following the mash rest, lautering begins.
• Lautering is the process following the mash where the liquid (wort) and the solid (grain husks) are separated and the liquid wort transferred into the kettle.
• The temperature of the mash makes it ideal for lautering as hot water is able to extract more sugar and also decreases the viscosity so that it can be lautered more easily.

When using a high adjunct or wheat proportion make sure to add around 0.5–1 lbs. (0.22–0.45 kg) of rice hulls to the mash to aid in lautering as high levels of protein in certain adjuncts, or grains that are huskless, can make lautering more difficult.

The first 20% of the lauter will be very cloudy and more than likely contain grain husks. This should be slowly added back to the mash with minimal disturbance of the grains. As the grain bed sets, it acts like a filter to remove the proteins and husks present in the first runnings. The collection and return of wort back to the mash tun is called the vorlauf (see photo at the top of this page).

I use a 1-gallon (3.8-L) glass jug to collect liquid until it is free of grain husks and is mostly clear. Usually for a 5-gallon (19-L) batch this will be around 2 to 3 gallons (7.5 to 11 L). Be aware that the lautering process should be relatively slow to stop channels from forming within your mash.

Slow lautering will allow for better extraction of the fermentable sugars during the next step, the sparge. Sparging is the last step specific to all-grain brewing and consists of adding water to the mash in order to rinse the remaining sugars from the grains. This step, like lautering, should occur slowly so that channels do not form in the grain bed.

There are numerous methods of handling the sparge such as batch sparge, fly sparge, and no sparge techniques. If you’re interested in learning more, there is a wealth of information on the Internet to help you decide which is best for you. Most brewers will sparge until they reach a specific wort volume, but if you are unsure how long to sparge make sure you stop when the gravity of the run off is no lower than 1.010 to 1.008.

Can you steep grains too long?

Follow @BeerSmith Steeped grains enhance the flavor and color of home brewed beer. Award winning extract beers all use some kind of steeped grains. Steeped grains add body, color, and fresh flavor to your homebrewed beer. In our earlier series on beginner brewing, we covered the basic process for making extract beer at home. This week we’ll take a look at brewing extract beer with steeped grains. Steeped grains add authentic flavor, body and color to your beer. Steeping grains is a remarkably simple method. The grains are added to 1.5 or 2 gallons of plain water before the extracts are added. Heat the water to between 150 and 170 degrees F, and then add the grains. The grains should be crushed to expose the sugars within the grain. It is usually best to put the grains in a grain bag to make them easy to remove, however you can remove the grains by running the hot mixture through a strainer if necessary. The grain bag will float at the top of the mixture. Leave it in and attempt to hold a constant temperature for 20-30 minutes. If you leave it in too long or steep at temperatures above 170F you will extract excessive tannins which will result in a dry astringent flavor in the finished beer. Steeped grains will not add many fermentables to your beer (i.e. your original gravity will not increase much). Steeping grains, unlike mashing, does not convert the complex starches in the sugar into fermentable sugars, so only a small percentage of the steeped grain (< 10%) will ferment. However, since unfermentable proteins are added by steeping, the body of the beer will be increased. Whenever possible, use freshly ground grains as crushed grains will slowly oxidize over time. If you leave your crushed grain exposed to air for more than a few weeks you may add off flavors to your beer. Storing your crushed grains in an airtight package in a refrigerator or freezer will help them to last longer, as hot temperature and moisture spoils the crushed grain more quickly. Specialty grains are usually used for steeping. Caramel malt is often used to add body and color. Darker malts such as chocolate and black patent are also commonly used primarily for flavor and color. Other popular additions include carafoam and carapils for body and roasted barley for a deep coffee flavor. Not all grains are appropriate for steeping however. Pale malt, for example, adds very little flavor and should be mashed. Flaked and torrified ingredients such as flaked barley, wheats, munich malt and oats also need to be mashed. To get a complete list of grains that may be mashed, visit our grain listing, Grains marked as "Must mash" should, in general, be mashed and not steeped. Steeping these "must mash" ingredients will rarely produce the desired flavor or body and in some cases may generate off-flavors. In order to properly use these ingredients, you need to switch to a partial mash or all-grain brewing method that will mash the ingredients to take full advantage of them. To add freshness and complexity to your extract beer, try steeping some freshly crushed grains in your next batch of all extract beer. Thanks again for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog, If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing for regular email or RSS delivery.

How much water do I need for all-grain brewing?

Mash thickness can vary based on the recipe, the equipment and brewing methods used. The typical home brewer will be using a range of 1-1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. Don’t stress mash thickness at this time, find a ratio that will work for your equipment. The average ratio is 1.25qts/pound.

How long does it take to boil all grain beer?

A vigorous boil is a vital step in the brewing process. Jester Goldman explains what goes on during the boil and offers guidelines on how long the boil should be. Old School beer kits consisted of a can of malt extract syrup with a pack of dry yeast under the plastic lid.

• The directions were simple: stir the contents of the can in with 4.5 gallons (17 liters) of water, add a couple of pounds of sugar, then add the yeast, and wait.
• Having tasted some of those brews, I’m amazed that people stayed with the hobby.
• Aside from being too dependent on simple sugars for fermentation, these beers skipped out on a vital step in the brewing process: a vigorous boil.

Later, Charlie Papazian’s The Complete Joy of Homebrewing would address both of these issues for a new generation of homebrewers. In particular, he recommended boiling the wort for at least 45 minutes. Today, a 60-minute boil has become the accepted practice, but you’ll come across recipes that range from 30 minutes to 2 hours (e.g., this recipe for a Russian imperial stout ).

How long does grain last homebrew?

Malt and Malt Extract – Malt and malt extract are prone to oxidation and temperature-related damage, so they’re best stored in a cool, dry place, and in airtight containers if possible. In practice, I keep dried malt extract in an airtight jar in my freezer, but everything else is sealed in plastic bins and kept in a corner of my brew room.

• Packaged malt extract will keep for up to 2 years, but bulk purchases that have been exposed to air are best used within 2–3 months.
• Pre-ground malt will last about 2 months as well.
• Unmilled grain is a little more complicated.
• Light-colored diastatic malts such as 2-row or Pilsner malt will stay fresh for 6–12 months, while specialty grains will last for 12–18 months.

More heavily kilned malts, such as roasted barley or chocolate malt, can last even longer. Old malt extract can break down chemically and sometimes pick up mold. Either of these things will affect the flavor of your beer. Old grain can have similar problems, along with enzyme breakdown, which means your mash efficiency can suffer, too.

What is the perfect brew time?

How Long Should I Brew?

Tea Type	Boiling Temperature	Steeping Time
Most black tea	100 Degrees	3–5 Minutes
Green tea	80 Degrees	2–3 Minutes
White/yellow tea	80 Degrees	2–3 Minutes
Fruit & herbal infusions	100 Degrees	3–5 Minutes

How do you crush grain for homebrew?

Rolling Pin Method – Now, don’t laugh. This is a totally legit way to crush your grains. All you need is a rolling pin and a plastic bag. So, first measure out the amount of grains you need and place them in the bag. Then, using the rolling pin, crush the grains by rolling it back and forth over the bag. Now, you might need to adjust the pressure that you apply and the number of times you roll to get the rough crush size that you want. And you can see here, it’s done pretty well.

It’s a little bit inconsistent. There are some kernels not crushed still, perhaps with a bit more application, I could have ground this up a bit better. Now, to be sure, if you’re brewing a five-gallon batch of all-grain, this method is well, it’s a little long-winded. But if you’re looking to crush a few ounces of grain for an extract brew day, this might be all you need.

So, useful in a pinch with a small amount of grain.

Is a grain mill worth it homebrew?

Benefits of Milling Your Own Grain –

1. Control Crush: Milling your own grain gives you control over the crush of your grain. That’s a big factor in efficiency. Many homebrew shops tend to under-mill grain to protect against stuck mashes. I’ve seen pre-milled grain wildly-undermilled. See this review for a side by side example.
2. Fine Tune Your Process, Improve Repeatability: A mill allows you to fine tune for your equipment and process. You know what the crush is going to be since you set it.
3. Save Money: A mill allows you to save money by buying whole bags of grain at a discount.
4. Fresher, Better Tasting Beer: The shelf life of unmilled grain is longer than pre-milled grain. Freshly milled grain = better tasting beer.

Store Milled Grain (left) vs crushing my own grain using optimal using “optimal” setting (right) on a certain mill. See: Hands On Review: Captain Crush, Adjustable Three Roller Grain Mill for more details

Why do you steep grains when brewing?

Steeping vs. Mini-Mash (Partial Mash) – Steeping is the process of soaking crushed specialty grains in hot water to extract color and some flavor compounds from the grain. Steeping is the logical first step into brewing with grain. It’s simple. It opens up new depth of flavor and color to be plumbed.

You’ll notice that many extract kits take advantage of steeping, sending small amounts of specialty grain with the kit. This is better than using only extract, but it is still limiting. Not all grains are suited to steeping. That’s where the mini-mash comes in, and if you haven’t already caught on partial mash and mini-mash are two names for the same process.

All grains can be put into a mash, not all grains can be steeped. Some grains have enzymes that must be activated and put to work to make the sugars in the grain available. A mini-mash is soaking grains in hot water at a particular temperature range to activate these enzymes, which in turn drive the conversion of grain starches into usable sugars.

Does home brewing save money?

Low-budget Starter kit – Craft A Brew Hefeweizen Refill Recipe Kit – 1 Gallon – Ingredients for Home Brewing Beer

HEFEWEIZEN BREW – A great wheat beer to enjoy year round. Our Hefeweizen has a silky smooth mouth feel with tastes of citrus,.BEER RECIPE KIT – Fill your fermenter with a Craft a Brew Beer Recipe Kit. With Tettnang hops and Wheat dry malt extract, this.HOME BREW INGREDIENTS – Every refill Beer Recipe Kit includes the same quality ingredients used by breweries: sanitizer,.

Last update on 2023-07-25 | *Contains Affiliate links | *Images sourced from from Amazon Here is an example of a normal low-budget starter kit. This kit crafts 1 gallon of beer for 18 USD. The good thing about these types of kits is that they contain all the ingredients you need.

• However, in the long run, they won’t save you much money if any at all, granted the small size.
• After startup, you can make beer for half the price of what they charge in stores.
• Some sites state that homebrewed beer costs half as much as store-bought beer.
• This is very true, but you have to remember since there normally is quite a few costs in the startup process as well as the upkeep of equipment.

What they mean here is that you can procure ingredients for a price that in the end ends up being half price per bottle or lower compared to cheap store-bought beer. TIP: The bigger batches you choose to make at a time, the more time and money you will save.

Can you sparge with brew in a bag?

Where BIAB Shines with Big Beers – You can sparge with BIAB, but most of us do no-sparge brewing. No-sparge brewing makes for better and more flavorful wort since it is not watered down by sparge water. Essentially, you are sticking with the absolute best wort your malted grain has to offer.

1. Traditional English parti-gyle brewing used no sparge brewing for specialty big beers and then made smaller table beers with the second runnings.
2. That is why BIAB is perfect for most big flavorful beers (and makes for a pretty good parti-gyle platform too),
3. For big beers, like a barleywine, no-sparge brewing provides the rich, malty and flavorful wort you want for a beer that can cellar for years.

I am still drinking the first barleywine I made in 2012 (in fact, I am drinking one as I write this) and it gets better every year. I re-brewed the recipe in January and the batch is currently aging. Right after you brew it, the hop bitterness smacks you in the face followed by a hefty malt backbone.

• As a young beer, it can be unbalanced.
• The hops fade over time as malt flavors and aromas morph into something more interesting and unique.
• After four years of cellaring, the beer has hints of raisin and caramelized sugar with elements of creme brulee and sherry in the aroma.
• I use a lot of dextrin and caramunich malt since the large amount of sugar thins the body.

Here’s the recipe

Does all-grain beer taste better than extract?

Exract taste vs. all grain I have moved my brewing mostly into the all-grain approach vs. extract. When comparing the taste profile of the extracts to the all grain batches, I have noted that for the extracts, I always end up with a “molasses” kind of flavor and aftertaste, where in the all-grain I get a cleaner truer overall taste profile.

• Does anyone get this as well? If yes, why? Thanks for your help.
• Instant coffee will always be inferior to freshly ground and brewed beans.
• I don’t agree with Maine home Brewer.
• Excellent award winning beers can be made with extract.
• I’ve coached a few new Brewers through extract brewing.
• They have all made excellent beers before mo ubg to allgrain,

Two secrets: Always use fresh liquid extract. If you can’t get fresh liquid extract use dme. Never use amber or dark extracts. Always use the lightest color extract you can get. Get dark color, roast and caramel flavors from steeped grains (crystal, chocolate, black patent, etc).

1. As always fermentation temperature is key.
2. In my experience the poor flavors come from old or canned (or old canned) lme.
3. Fresh bulklme from a lhbs that sells a lot can make ggreat beer.
4. It’s a matter of perception.
5. Some people either don’t taste or don’t mind the subtle tang that extracts leave behind.

I can taste it every time. I’m not saying that all extract brews are terrible. Using steeped grains and good hops a good beer can be made using extracts. I just can’t get past that mineral-like aftertaste. I agree from random taster to taster. However, when people win gold medals at major competitions using extract, I can’t agree that it is a fundamental flaw of ALL extract.

• I agree that poor quality extract will make a poor quality beer that has that twang.
• I brewed extract for 4 years before switching.
• I mostlyused ccanned amber extract because Iddidn’tkknow better.
• My lhbs goes through a 50 gallon drum of pale extract every day or two.
• There were 40 people in there yesterday.

So, it is extremely fresh. Freshness plays a key role. Also note that moonlight brewery brews entirely with extract on a professional scale. Extract Brewers as a general rule are newer and more likely to have less evolved fermentation and sanitation practices.

1. I think that contributes to the flavor rep that extract gets.
2. The last guy I taught bought a fridge and a temperature controllerfor his very first beer.
3. Other than a couple recipe issues (he didn’t use the recipe I recommended from bcs), the beer was quite good.
4. No twang, that’s for sure.
5. My lhbs goes through a 50 gallon drum of pale extract every day or two.

There were 40 people in there yesterday. So, it is extremely fresh. Freshness plays a key role. My experience in tasting at competitions as well as homebrew clubs is that freshness can make the difference in having that extract tang. This is especially true in lagers and lighter beers like a mild or blonde ale.

I agree that technique is key in avoiding that classic extract twang all too often associated with extract brews. Granted going all grain or even partial mash does give your brew greater malt complexity you just can’t quite get with extract alone. Experience plays a big part in the quality of your brew.

Many all grain brewers started with extract kits and moved to all grain from there, bringing with them the experience of having endured a batch or two with that twang – myself included – before they improved their technique. My first two brews were extract kits and not having had the experience to know fermentation temperatures were so critical; they both had that classic twang., and I know in both cases the ingredients were fresh.

1. Not too long after those first two batches (and one chest freezer and Johnson controller later) I had 6 or 7 more batches with no such twang, and they were made from extract and steeped grains or partial mashes, one of which was a pale ale that took gold at a regional competition.
2. Most of what you will taste in your brew is a culmination of quality ingredients and the effort you put into brewing it, and with some practice you will gain experience and your brews will just keep getting better and better, no matter what the brewing method.

I can brew all grain, but most of the time I brew with LME because it’s more convenient and the results are tasty. LME having an inferior taste is a myth that might have been true many years ago. I’ve only used LME from Morebeer. Maybe the can of Breiss at the lhbs isn’t as good.

What is the difference between all-grain and BIAB?

How is BIAB different from extract homebrewing? – You’re using 100% malt to create your wort, which allows you many new combinations of flavors and fermentation control by adjusting mash temperatures during the BIAB mash process. How is BIAB different from three-vessel all-grain homebrewing? In a typical all-grain setup, you have three vessels: a mash tun (holds the mash), a hot liquor tank (holds the sparge water) and a boil kettle (collects and boils the wort).

• In a BIAB setup, all three processes happen in a single vessel.
• The lack of a sparge step (which can take an hour or more) also reduces the overall time of a brew day.
• Essentially, BIAB takes all-grain brewing, which includes mashing grains and running off wort, and treats the grist (total amount of malt) like steeping grains by fitting them all into one large bag instead of separate vessels.

Think: all-grain brewing meets a giant tea bag.

Should I boil wort 60 or 90 minutes?

Control for DMS – DMS (dimethyl sulfide) is a chemical that produces off flavors and aromas in beer. Primarily DMS is detected on the palate as cooked corn or cabbage. That’s the bad news. The good news is that DMS is easy to avoid by boiling your wort.

• Caused by the heating of a chemical that naturally occurs in malt, SMM (S-methyl methionine), DMS is highly volatile, meaning it is easily expelled through the action of boiling so long as you DO NOT COVER YOUR POT,
• Another thing to note is that Pilsner-type malts contain eight times the SMM as other more modified malts such as pale malt.

So any beer with a large portion of Pilsner malt (pilsner, saison, cream ale, weizen, etc.) should be boiled at least 60 minutes. If achieving a rigorous boil is difficult or chilling rapidly (within 30-40 minutes) is difficult, employ a 90-minute boil to drive off as much DMS as possible.

Also, if you tend to worry a lot, or have had DMS issues in the past with pilsner malt, boil for 90 minutes to be safe. Pale ale malts like US-2row, Maris Otter, California Select etc. are more modified (kilned longer) than Pilsner and only need to be boiled 45 minutes to drive off DMS. If darker malts, like Munich or Vienna, or dark specialty grains are used, even shorter boiling times can be used.

How short? Few have dared to find out, but below is a recipe for “30 minute American Brown Ale” that proves a 30-minute boil can be done successfully without the flaw of DMS.

What temperature should brewing be Celsius?

The brew temperature is widely considered a key parameter affecting the final quality of coffee, with a temperature near 93 °C often described as optimal. In particular, drip brewers that do not achieve a minimum brew temperature of 92 °C within a prescribed time period fail their certification.

How much water do I need for all-grain brewing?

Mash thickness can vary based on the recipe, the equipment and brewing methods used. The typical home brewer will be using a range of 1-1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. Don’t stress mash thickness at this time, find a ratio that will work for your equipment. The average ratio is 1.25qts/pound.

How much grain malt is needed to make 5 gallons of beer?

How to Brew Beer Using All Grain Method (with Pictures)

1 Choose the grains. Beer by definition has to contain at least 60% malted barley which is the base malt for all the world’s beers. Other types of grains can be added (oats, rye, wheat, etc.). These are called adjuncts and should only make up to 30% of your grain bill. Malted barley is made by partially germinating the barley in warm water, then drying/cooking it before the seed splits. The barley is processed in different ways to get different characteristics. Typically you want around 8-15 lbs (4-7 Kg) base malt per 5 gallons (18.9 L) (21 L), depending on the type of beer you’re brewing.2-row British pale malt is great to start off with. Add 1-2 lbs (0.5-1 Kg) of specialty grains (crystal, caramel, etc.) to get some good flavor. Lighter crystals are good to add sweetness. Toasted malts will create more of a malty body.Taste the grain as you formulate the recipe. This is a great indicator on the quality of the grain. 2 Mill the grain. The grain needs to be cracked open to gain access to the starches and enzymes inside. The home brew shop should have a mill to use if not one can be purchased or constructed. Usually these are two rollers about,045″ apart that the grain is fed into. Advertisement 3 Make the mash tun. The grain contains mostly starch that needs to be converted to sugar so that the yeast will have something to ferment. The enzymes in the grain are going to do this and they do it well. The mash tun will hold the grain at 68 °C (154 °F) for 1-2 hours. The mash tun can be made in different ways but a 6 gallon (22 L) bucket with a false bottom (a mesh at the bottom for drainage) will be the cheapest. A good recommendation for a cheap better quality mash tun would be converting a cooler.10 gallon (40 L) round Igloo or Gatorade coolers work the best. False bottoms are sold for cheap and easy to install, or make your own. To make your own, get a 12″ toilet water line with stainless braiding on it and cut the ends off. Remove the stainless braid. Crimp one end closed with pliers and attach the other end to a 3/8″ flex copper piece with a hose clamp. Use a drilled rubber stopper where the hole is near the bottom of the cooler to prevent leaking. A valve or vinyl hose clamp can be used to control the flow of your hot liquor after the mash. 4 Start mashing. For every 1 pound (0.5 Kg) of grain heat 1 US-quart (950 ml) (1/4 gallon, 1 L) of water to 170 degrees (76ºC). Pour the 170 degree (76ºC) water along with the grains stirring as you go. You want to uniformly add the grain along with the water so it doesn’t get too hot or form clumps. The temperature should be anywhere from 148-158 degrees (64-70ºC). If it is somewhere in the middle you’re golden. The beta amylase enzymes are active toward the 145 degree (63ºC) end, which make fermentable sugars, making a dry beer. The alpha amylase enzymes are active toward the 160 degree (71ºC) end, making unfermentable sugars, making a sweet beer. The balance -mash temperature – is up to the brewer and the type of beer you’re making. Insulate the mash tun by wrapping it up in a blanket or sleeping bag or jackets (not necessary with a cooler mash tun). While you are mashing, start heating up 2 US quarts (2,000 ml) (1/2 gallon, 2 L) of water per pound (0.5 Kg). 5 Test the wort. After about an hour the conversion from starch to sugar will be complete. You can test this with iodine. Put a small amount of wort on a white surface (like a plate) and add a drop of iodine. If it turns black starches still exist and it needs to sit longer. NOTE: Discard the wort with the iodine do not put it back in the wort. If it doesn’t change color at all the conversion is complete. Start draining off the wort from the grain bed SLOWLY. 6 Perform the sparging. Sparging is the process of rinsing the hot liquid off of the grain bed. The best no nonsense method is to do it in 2 steps. When the hot liquid is done draining, add half the sparge water at 180-190 degrees (80-90ºC) and let it sit 20 minutes. Drain. Then do it again. You want around 6 1/2 gallons (25 L) of hot liquid in the end. This is the beer wort. The most efficient way to sparge is called continuous sparging. With this method you control a slow run off of your hot liquid while adding 170 degree water to the top of the grain bed at the same rate. Take the first couple quarts of hot liquid and pour back on to the grain bed to filter out husks which cause off flavors when boiled. Continue sparging until your pre-boil volume is reached -usually about 6 gallons (23L) for a 60 minute boil 5 gallon (21L) batch. 7 Boil the wort. Bring the temperature up to boiling. 8 Add the hops. Hops are a green flower from a hop vine. They add bitterness to the beer which provides a balance against the sweetness of the sugars. Hops also add aroma and flavor. There are many different varieties. Fuggle, East Kent Golding, and Cascade are good varieties you can’t go wrong with. The higher the alpha acid percentage and time boiled, the more bitter it will be.4-5% is about average and 10-12% is high. There are calculations to figure out the IBU’s (International Bitterness Units) to get a more exact bittering estimate.10-20 IBU is low to average bitterness (think light lager) 40 is moderately high (think pale ale) and 50-60+ is very bitter (think IPA). Some IPA recipes boast over 100 IBUs. The longer the hop boils the more bitterness will be extracted. 9 Meanwhile, get the fermentors. The cheapest fermentor is a 6 gallon (22.7 L) bucket with an airlock on the top. An airlock is a device that only lets air out and not in. They should be cleaned of any crud from the previous ferment and sanitized with Iodophor solution (check your local homebrew shop) or a bleach solution, two tablespoons per 5 gallons (18.9 L) of COLD water. DO NOT SCRUB PLASTIC FERMENTERS! Microscopic scratches in plastic harbor wild yeast and bacteria that will destroy your beer! Let this sit for 20 minutes then rinse with clean filtered water twice. This sanitizing step is best done while the wort is boiling, otherwise its an hour spent waiting not getting anything else accomplished. 10 Boil. Boil the wort for at least 1 hour at a rolling boil. The more vigorous a boil the better. Once the wort is boiling add the flavoring hops.1 oz of pellets is good to start with. Make sure to stir wort while it is getting up to temperature. While the wort is boiling make sure the fermenters are clean and ready.10-15 minutes before the end of the hour add the flavoring hops usually about 1/2 oz (15g).5 minutes from the end add the aroma hops 1/2 oz (15g). Aroma hops can also be added to the wort BEFORE boiling, when you transfer the beer wort from the mash tun to the kettle (this is called First Wort Hopping). This allows the aromas to nestle their way into the beer at an early stage. They will not boil off like a lot of the aromas do when added to the boil 5-10 mins before the boil ends. 11 Chill the wort. You can purchase a wort chiller but it is unnecessary if you have boiled less than 3 gallons (11.4 L). The chiller will cool the wort down to 70-75 (20-24ºC) so you can pitch the yeast. Without a chiller you can still get good results by placing the wort boiling pot into an ice bath, either in a large sink, or the bathtub. It is imperative to chill the boiling wort down to below 80 degrees as fast as possible. Beer is the most susceptible to infection at, or around, 140 degrees. It is very important to go from 212 to 70 degrees as fast as possible. 12 Fill the fermentor. Pour the finished wort through a strainer to remove the hops into the fermentation bucket. If needed, add only pure clean water to top the fermenter off at a little over 5 gallons (18.9 L). Seal it up and shake the heck out of it to incorporate much-needed oxygen into the wort. This is safe to do now that the wort is chilled and very important since it provides the initial oxygen for aerobic yeast reproduction. When the wort is 70-75 degrees (20-24ºC) pitch the yeast. Using a filter is not necessary if a whirlpool is used. A whirlpool is simply when you stir the wort hard and let it spin in the boil kettle for 10 minutes right at flame out (don’t worry, the wort is still around 195 degrees, but still keep the lid on while it’s spinning to avoid contamination). This process uses centrifugal force to separate solids from the wort just like a centrifuge in a chemistry lab. If the wort is drained off from the side of the pot, no hops or trub will be poured into the fermenter. 13 Choose the yeast. If using a liquid yeast, a starter is recommended for healthier pitching rates, although not necessary. If using dry yeast, rehydrate with warm water before pitching. 14 Transfer to a clean secondary. After 1-2 weeks of primary fermentation transfer to a clean and sanitized secondary to clear the beer up and let it condition. Use a sanitized siphon to get the beer from the primary to the secondary. The beer will have most of the alcohol in it already so it will be more resistant to nasties in the air. Tips: Avoid sucking on the siphon and getting mouth germs into the beer. Definitely avoid splashing at this stage, since alcohol is easily oxidized and will make the beer funky. If you can pump some CO2 gas (paintball cartridge size will do) into and fill the secondary beforehand you are an ace and will have the best beer transfer possible. Be careful, but realize you aren’t getting ready to do surgery or anything. 15 Bottle or keg the beer. Kegging much easier than bottling. It costs more money, but in the end it saves you a lot of time. Soda kegs are used with a CO2 tank to pressurize. Clean and sanitize the keg. Fill it with CO2 gas to provide a protective blanket (CO2 is heavier than Oxygen and sinks, thus preventing the alcohol present from oxidizing) and gently siphon the beer in. Seal the lid and chill it in your fridge down to at least 40 degrees. (this is not necessary to chill it but the colder it is the more gas will dissolve into it). Hook it up to the tank to pressurize to 20 psi. It will take about 1 hour of rolling the keg around under pressure (while purging off excess pressure that builds up) to get the CO2 in the beer if you want to drink it right away. Otherwise, let it sit for a couple days at 30 psi. If bottling is your method of choice, soak bottles in PBW or your preferred cleanser for a few hours to remove organics and make peeling off labels easier. Rinse well, then soak in Iodaphor or your preferred sanitizer for at least 5 minutes. Do not rinse. Place bottles on sanitary dishwasher rack or bottle tree to drip dry. Siphon your beer from the secondary carboy to a bottling bucket along with a pre-boiled sugar water solution (1/3 to 1/2 cup of cane sugar to prime depending on your desired level of carbonation). Cap each bottle with sanitized caps (boiling works fine) and let sit at room temperature for at least 2 weeks, more if you have the patience. 16 Serve. Lower the pressure to 12 – 15 psi by purging off some gas from the gas inlet. The easiest way to serve is using a cold plate in a cooler. No fridge and it is portable. Run the lines through the cold plate and throw some ice on it. Then run a line with a tap out of the cooler. It is still very important to keep a cold keg cold. Never let your beer warm up unnecessarily. 17 Drink your creation. Notice how fresh your beer is. Notice how much better your fresh beer is compared with even top micro brews in your area. If not, try again. You’ll get there. Advertisement

: How to Brew Beer Using All Grain Method (with Pictures)