Has anyone here brewed their own beer?

[Trucker Bob]

I'm thinking about brewing some beer in the next few years (after the hobbit house is up, after the fences are built, after the chicken coupe is done, after the barn is up), and we have some nice hops growing wild on the homestead.

I know you need malt, hops and water to brew beer... But after that, I get a little cloudy (not from the beer!!! I haven't brewed any yet!!!).

Barley I can get locally, hops are a hop, skip and a jump away... but when do you pick the hops? How do you turn Barley into malt? Is there a process to do this, or IS the barely the malt?

 

[Niele da Kine]

It's been a long time since any beer has been made, but if I remember correctly it starts with sprouting the barley until it is two or three inches tall. Then roast that until it is dark to very dark (I think this is where the malt comes from), then simmer all that in water. Cool it off, add yeast, hops and ??? Then it sets in a large container with an air lock to let out the bubbles for a bit - I forget how long. Then it gets strained and bottled and put the bottles somewhere if one breaks it won't make a mess.

 

[John_henry]

Don't delay! Start making your own beer today! It isn't difficult at all, and the results are far better than any commercial beer.

I started brewing myself a little over a year ago and haven't looked back since. I started by malting my own barley but if you can get malt to start with it will be easier. You can use pots and pans you probably already have to start, but it is worth purchasing/making a few bits of kit, mainly a mash tun. If you are going to give it a go check out the home brew books, forums etc, for specific help. I'm still a beginner myself, but I would recommend a good thermometer above anything else.

Malting is not difficult but, can be difficult and expensive/un-ecological depending on you oven/heating device. If you want a walk threw pm me, as it would be a bit long to post here. You basically sprout the barley until the roots (acrospire) are about 75 % x the size of the barley grain, then heat it. You have to be quite specific with the heating as if you go above 60 deg it damages the sugar that the malting produces, so you can't extract as much when you make the beer. You can heat it for varying times depending on the type of malt/beer you want, the longer, the darker, but don't go above 60deg. If you want a stout simply cook/roast some barley (not malted) until it's dark, a bit like a coffee bean and ad this to your malt.

The hops are ready when the seeds are no longer milky. The bit you want is the orange powdery stuff. You also want to dry these.

The bit of kit you would need to make/buy, is the aforementioned mash tun. I made mine out of an old cool box. Some old folks suggest simply using a barrel, but you can't control the temperature this way, and besides cool box's are pretty easy to come by.

I really can't recommend it enough. Let me know if you need any specific help.

 

[John_henry]

Forgot to mention: Don't use bread yeast, get some beer yeast or similar.

 

[~gd]

Don't delay! Start making your own beer today! It isn't difficult at all, and the results are far better than any commercial beer.

I started brewing myself a little over a year ago and haven't looked back since. I started by malting my own barley but if you can get malt to start with it will be easier. You can use pots and pans you probably already have to start, but it is worth purchasing/making a few bits of kit, mainly a mash tun. If you are going to give it a go check out the home brew books, forums etc, for specific help. I'm still a beginner myself, but I would recommend a good thermometer above anything else.

Malting is not difficult but, can be difficult and expensive/un-ecological depending on you oven/heating device. If you want a walk threw pm me, as it would be a bit long to post here. You basically sprout the barley until the roots (acrospire) are about 75 % x the size of the barley grain, then heat it. You have to be quite specific with the heating as if you go above 60 deg it damages the sugar that the malting produces, so you can't extract as much when you make the beer. You can heat it for varying times depending on the type of malt/beer you want, the longer, the darker, but don't go above 60deg. If you want a stout simply cook/roast some barley (not malted) until it's dark, a bit like a coffee bean and ad this to your malt.

The hops are ready when the seeds are no longer milky. The bit you want is the orange powdery stuff. You also want to dry these.

The bit of kit you would need to make/buy, is the aforementioned mash tun. I made mine out of an old cool box. Some old folks suggest simply using a barrel, but you can't control the temperature this way, and besides cool box's are pretty easy to come by.

I really can't recommend it enough. Let me know if you need any specific help.

READERS PLEASE NOTE JOHN IS uSING THE CENTIGRADE tEMPERATURE OF 60C not the 60F normally used in the USA. If you try to convert your barley to malt at that temperature it is just going to grow faster. the sprout uses the sugsr to grow and it will ruin both your yeild and the taste. Both the malt and the roasted barlry [if used] needs to be cracked but not powdered to allow the water to extract the sugar [and roast flavor] from the "spent grain" [can be used in bread and is wonderfull chicken feed since the protein is not extracted] a mash tun is a container [usually insulatted for temperature control while you 'seep' your grain. Temperature and time are both important because a series of enzimatic [sp wrong] reactions take place at defferent stages to convert the starch to sugar that can be fermented. The liquid is broungt to a boil and boiled far about an hour [takes a strong burner to do] the hops are added to the boil to extract their flavor. The liquid is cooled to a safe temperature before the yeast is added. Too hot and the yeast will be killed by the heat. Fermeration usually takes about a week for ales time varies with holding temperatures lagures [sp] are cool fermented and take longer. Google American Homebrewers association for much more information. Homebrew can be GREAT or YUCK depending on how it is brewed.~gd

 

[k15n1]

Start with a kit. That will get you started on the microbiology and glassware. Once you have a few batches under your belt, start extracting the sugar from malt. Then, when you're awesome, malt your own barley.

 

[~gd]

Start with a kit. That will get you started on the microbiology and glassware. Once you have a few batches under your belt, start extracting the sugar from malt. Then, when you're awesome, malt your own barley.

I have to agree! I have a blind spot on kits because I got ripped off the first [and last] time I tried one [many years ago] it wasn't until I found a mentor that I tried again. He was a start from strach type, grew his own barley and hops etc. If TSHTF happens it will be good to know how to do that but my best brews have been made by making my own kits so to speak. I buy Cans of malt extract, German Hops, and strains of different yeasts for different beers. BTW I keep my favorite strain alive the way other people save seeds because it is MY strain and is not exactly like any strain I can buy. Come to think of it it is pretty much the same operations as people that keep their sourdough starter alive for years.
So by all means starting with a kit is a good idea! ~gd

 

[John_henry]

If you start with a kit get a good quality one. You don't want to be put off brewing your first time because of a kit that would never be any good in the first place. I personally don't believe the move from a kit to all grain is that bigger leap, and the results are incomparable. if you want something really easy then just make a hop tea and ad some spirits.

 

[Trucker Bob]

thanks a lot for the advice guys!

think I may start brewing a bit this summer!

 

[k15n1]

Northernbrewer.com is my source for kits. Shipping is cheap and several of us have had luck with their kits.