‘It’s Just Beer…Right? Uncovering the Excitement of Home Brewing.’
Ah beer! The refreshing drink that has been celebrated and consumed for centuries, from ancient civilizations to modern day hangouts; it’s a timeless beverage. Beer is beloved for its complex flavour profiles and alcoholic kick, these attributes however, don’t come without a hefty price tag. This is where the incredible hobby of home-brewing comes in.
For the budding home brewer, you’re in for a treat. Home brewing beer can seem intimidating, but once you get started it’s a phenomenal creative outlet, a way to learn valuable skills, and most importantly have lots of fun. Being able to proudly look upon and sample a beer you’ve crafted with your very own hands is a unique experience that not many get to take part in.
That being said, before you get stuck in, it’s important to understand the basics of beer, so you have an appreciation for why you’re doing what you’re doing. Let’s start with an insight into one of the main ingredients; hops!
Hops are a chief component of beer – without them, beer would just be sweet, flavourless liquid. Hops are the flowering part of a perennial climbing vine known as a hop plant. The hop plant is native to Europe and Southwest Asia, but also grows in other parts of the world including Australia, New Zealand, and North America.
The hop plant produces flowers known as beer cones or hop bines, which offer a remarkable source of flavour and aroma to beer. This has become increasingly popular in the craft beer movement, with modern-day flavours ranging from mango, pineapple, and passionfruit to pine and citrus.
When the hop plants are ready to harvest, they must be dried to become useable in beer. This drying process encourages a unique flavour to the final beer. Hop cones brewed into beer can provide extra bitterness, complexity and depth, as well as enhancing the aroma.
Hops also have preservative qualities which is why they have been used in beer for centuries. Hops act as a natural preservative and help to prolong the shelf-life of beer. Without hops, beer would not stay drinkable as long.
With a basic understanding of hops, let’s move onto another beer terminology fundamental; malts. Malts are also central in beer production and therefore, to home brewing.
Malts are grain that has been partially germinated and dried. During the mashing process (which we’ll get to soon), the grain is crushed, cracked, or milled to create input to the mash. Common grains used in beers today are barley, wheat, oats, rice, and rye.
The mashing process encourages starches to transform into fermentable sugar, with the resulting liquid called ‘wort’. The wort is then boiled with hops, cooled and transferred to a fermenter., adding yeast to create what we know and love as beer.
So now we’ve uncovered the basics of hops and malts, let’s look into getting behind the scenes of home-brewing and actually get the show on the road.
The process of home-brewing beer is relatively straightforward. You can source home-brew kits from your local brewing store, which are great for beginner brewers as they supply all the necessary ingredients in proportion. Homebrew kits can be tailored to different styles of beer and range from very basic recipes to more advanced recipes for experimenters.
If you don’t want to source a kit and would prefer to go it alone, the fundamentals of home-brewing are as follows;
-Sanitising tools and equipment
The first step in any home-brewing process is to make sure that any and all equipment is correctly sanitised. All surfaces, cans and containers must be cleaned, rinsed, and sanitised with a specific sanitising solution before you begin.
Sanitising all your supplies is fundamental to successful brewing and creates a beer free of bacteria and wild yeasts. It also helps to reduce the risk of off-flavours and can help to get a cleaner tasting beer.
-Mashing the grains
Once your supplies and equipment are ready to go, the next step is to begin the mashing process. Mashing is the process in which grain-starch is converted into fermentable sugars.
The process usually involves taking your grains and steeping them in a specific temperature of water for an allotted amount of time. This allows complex and inherently difficult to ferment starches to become more accessible to the yeast.
-Boil the wort
Once you’ve mashed the grain, the next step is to boil the wort. The purpose of a boil is to increase the solubility of certain components of the beer, such as hops, whilst reducing the water content of the liquid. This step also helps to sanitise the wort.
At this stage, hops can be introduced to the wort and boiled with it, creating a unique aroma and flavour to the beer. The length of the boil and when in the boil the hops are added will influence the final flavour of the beer, as they lend bitterness, flavour and complexity.
-Ferment the beer
Once you have boiled the wort, the next step is to cool it. This is typically done by ‘immersion’, using a cold running water or ice bath to cool the contents quickly, however, the best method will depend on the size of your batch of beer.
After the wort has cooled, it can then be transferred to a fermenter and yeast can be added. Once the fermentation process if complete, the beer can be bottled or kegged for safe storage.
By now you should have an understanding of how to home-brew! It may seem a little daunting at first but if you take the steps one-by-one and follow directions carefully, you’ll soon be able to proudly present your homemade beer to friends, family, or even yourself.
Home-brewing is an interesting and fun way to learn the fundamentals of beer, create something unique and memorable, and have a good time. Once you get going the possibilities with home-brewing are limitless; you can explore different varieties of hops and grains to create deliciously unique tasting beer. Some brewers even have the opportunity to experiment with different flavors and ingredients; such as herbs, fruits, spices, and even coffee.
And when all’s said and done, don’t forget; it’s just beer…right? So relax, be creative, take your time, and enjoy the process. Happy brewing!