Ben Evert.com » Beer Making

How To Grow Your Own Ingredients To Make Your Own Beer

ben — Tue, 25 May 2010 11:12:00 +0000

By Graham Williams

There are two main beer-making ingredients that you can grow. Both hops and barley can be grown at home if you want.

Hops are known by the scientific name humulus. It is commonly referred to as hops vines, however the term vine is misleading. The hops plant is actually a bine plant. These plants use stiff stems with hairs to aid in climbing. They will wrap themselves around something in a clockwise fashion to grow. They grow very quickly, growing from 20cm to 50cm per week during peak growth periods.

Hops are perennial plants and are most commonly grown in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They are rather easy to grow and can be grown indoors or out. Hops are susceptible to certain types of insects, so caution needs to be taken to prevent insect infestation. Hops flower during summer and the flower seedpod is the actual hops. These can be picked after the seed is formed, usually in August. The hops are then air-dried for several days at which time they are ready for use.

Barley is another main ingredient in beer. Barley is a grain, commonly grown throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It is grown as a major cereal food as well as for animal feed. There are several types of barley. Each type has a different protein and enzyme content and therefore produces different styles of beer. High protein barley is used to produce malt beer. Two-row barley is used in traditional English style ales. Six-row barley is used primarily in lager beer. Four-row barley is not suitable for use in brewing.

It takes a lot of room to produce barley and it cannot be grown well indoors as it needs quite a tall space. Unless you have a large field, you may not be able to grow your own barley. Picking and husking barley can be a tedious process.

While growing your own ingredients for beer can be rewarding and economical, unless you have the time and the space you may want to leave the growing of hops or barley to others.

Graham Williams is the owner of http://www.gw-ebooks.com this site is full of books that are about hobbies such as Brewing your own beer, Camping, Bird watching, Beekeeping. While your there don't forget to sign up to my newsletter and you will receive monthly discounts in any new book that is added each month you can visit my site here http://www.gw-ebooks.com

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Beer Broiled Brats

ben — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:01:00 +0000

Ingredients

2 bottles of Octoberfest or Vienna Style Lager

8 fresh bratwurst

1 large onion

8 hotdog rolls

Instructions

1. cut a large onion into 1" to 2" pieces. put onions, bratwurst into pot and pour inbeer. boil for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

2. take onions and bratwurst out and grill bratwurst for an additional 5 minutes

3. place bratwurst, onions and all condiments in a roll and enjoy

Inspired By: Family Oven

Photo by: mooshee85

Schwartzpils

ben — Mon, 03 May 2010 22:46:00 +0000

Ingredients

* 9.5 lbs. (4.3 kg) Weyermann Pilsner malt
* 5.5 oz. (155 g) Weyermann SINAMAR® malt color extract
* 6 AAU Tettnanger hops (60 min)
* (1.5 oz./43 g of 4% alpha acids)
* 2.5 AAU Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops (15 min)
* (0.5 oz./14 g of 5% alpha acids)
* 1 oz. (28 g) Tettnanger hops (0 min)
* Wyeast 2042 (Danish Lager) or White Labs WLP850 (Copenhagen Lager) yeast
* (3.5 qts./~3.5 L yeast starter)

Step by Step

Step mash with a 20 minute rest at 122 °F (50 °C), a 30 minute rest at 148 °F (64 °C), a 30 minute rest at 162 °F (72 °C) and mash out to 169 °F (76 °C). Boil for 2 hours, adding hops at times specified in ingredient list. Add liquid malt color with 15 minutes remaining in boil. Ferment at 50 °F (10 °C) followed by a diacetyl rest at 55 °F (13 °C) for 3 days.

Extract with grains option:

Replace Pilsner malt with 5.66 lbs. (2.6 kg) of Weyermann Bavarian Pilsner liquid malt extract and 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) Pilsner malt. Steep Pilsner malt for 45 minutes at 148 °F (64 °C) in 0.75 gallons (2.8 L) water. Add water to “grain tea” to make 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of wort. Boil 60 minutes, adding malt extract with 15 minutes left in boil.

Source: Brew Your Own

Photo by: gimpbully

Sanitation in the Home Brewery

ben — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:24:00 +0000

By HomeBrewing.com Staff

The most frustrating aspect of home brewing is when a batch goes bad. The only way to improve your chances of avoiding this depressing situation is to maintain the highest degree of sanitation in your home brewery as is possible. There are also some other pitfalls of the modern age that require a closer look, and some basic tools that will give you the best chances of fighting bacterial infestations, vinegar cultures, and rogue yeasts in your home brew.

One factor often overlooked when cleaning and sanitizing home brew set-ups is that of the water used. Tap water in modern cities is sometimes good, sometimes terrible. It is wise to do some research and find out how your city water rates when analyzed for bacteria, harmful chemicals, and heavy metals. The quality of water used in making beer has a very strong connection with the quality of the finished product. But how to deal with it?

Read more: Homebrewing.com

Grilled Cherry Wheat Vegetables

ben — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:05:00 +0000

3 zucchini sliced
3 yellow squash sliced
1 large carrot parboiled and sliced
1 roasted red pepper sliced
2 tsp oregano

Marinade

1/2 cup samuel adams cherry wheat
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. place all ingredients in food processor but reserve the oil
2. drizzle all olive oil until marinade has a thickened consistency
3. place all vegetables in shallow pan, cover with the mainade in the refrigerator for about an hour
4. grill all vegetables for three to four minutes on both sides
5. dizzle some of the remaining marinade on top

Source: Family Oven

Cherry Wheat Beer Recipe

Simple Amber Vienna Lager Recipe

ben — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:10:00 +0000

Photo by: Terwilliger911

6.3 lb unhopped Amber malt extract (Nortwestern, LaGrange shop)
2.0 oz hop pellets (Nugget,11.1% alpha, 20 min)
1.0 oz hop pellets - flavor (Willamette, 4.0% alpha, 10 min)
1.0 oz hop pellets - aroma (Willamette, 4.0% alpha, 2 min);
Wyeast #2112 (California lager)

Procedure:

Starter: Wyeast (lager, 2 days before, only original starter)
Boil water and cool with a chiller (~3 gallon), move chiller up & down to aretate.
Add malt extract exept hop pellets and yeast and bring to boil.
Add hop pellets, heat to boiling, watch for the foam, stir for 20 min.
Last 10 min. boil with flavor hops.
Last 2 min. boil with aroma hops.
Mix the wort with water in the fermenter, check temperature to be 60-70 F, use chiller if needed, move chiller up & down to aretate.
Mix yeast starter with wort, cover with the lid, insert air lock, wait for fermentation to start.
Move the fermenter to the ~50 F place (garage) for fermentation.

Source: Eric's Beer Page

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Beer Braised Pork Chops

ben — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:04:00 +0000

* 1 bottle sam adams boston lager
* 2 cups ketchup
* 2 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
* 8 pork chopps

Instructions

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees f
2. in a medium bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and beer. mix well and pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish. place the pork chops over this mixture in the dish
3. bake, uncovered at 350 degrees f for 1 hour
4. note: place foil over pork chops if they start to brown too quickly

Source: Family Oven

Sam Adams beer recipe

Bohemian Pilsner

ben — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:47:00 +0000

Photo by: pawelbak

Ingredients for 6 1/2 Gallons

Malts

9 lb. 2-Row German Pilsner Malt
1 1/2 lb. 10°L Munich Malt
1/2 lb. 18°L Durst Crystal Malt
1/2 lb. DWC Cara-Pils

Hops

3/4 oz. Nugget (Homegrown whole cone, 11% 60 min.)
1 oz. Saaz (Loose Leaf, 3.1%, 60 min.)
1 oz. Saaz (Loose Leaf, 3.1%, 30 min.)
1 oz. Saaz (Loose Leaf, 3.1%, 10 min.)
1 oz. Saaz (Loose Leaf, 3.1%, Dry Hop)

Yeast

Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Pilsner
Water

3 gallons Los Angeles tap water. Use this for mashing.
6 gallons distilled water. Use for sparge and final make-up.
Lower pH to 5.5 with a few drops of 10% phosphoric acid.

Procedure

This is a double decoction procedure.
Mix 1 1/2 lb of the Pilsner malt with all of the specialty grains. Mash-in with 5 Qt of tap water at 174°F. Target temp 157°F for 15 minutes.
Heat on high heat until boiling. Stir continuously. Reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes.
While the first mash is heating, heat 10 Qt tap water to 131°:F. Mash-in the remaining Pilsner malt. Target temp 122°F for 30 minute protein rest.
Combine both mashes together for 1 hr starch conversion. Decoct 2 qt & heat to boiling to keep temp ~153°F.
Scoop out 7 Qt and heat to boiling. Stir continuously. Reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes.
Combine both mashes again for mash-out. Target temperature 170°F.
Sparge with about 16 Qt distilled water at 170°F.
Skim hot break prior to first hop addition.
Chill wort rapidly after boil.
Pitch yeast at 71°F. Put in fridge at 50°F until fermentation begins.
Reduce temp to 45°F for 22 days.
Rack to secondary and dry hop at 45°F for 22 days.
Raise temp to 60°F for 2 days for diacetyl rest.
Prime with 180 grams priming sugar. Hold at 60°F for 1 day. Then cool at 2°F per day until at 35°F for 2 months.

O.G. 1.050
F.G. 1.013

Source: Pico Brewery

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German Pilsner

ben — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:06:46 +0000

Photo by: http://weblog.ch/

Grains:

4 lbs. Pilsner Malt
4 lbs. Munich Light

Hopping Schedule:

.75 oz. Perle, 9% alpha, 60 min.
.75 oz. Tettnanger, 3.80% alpha, 40 min.
.75 oz. Hallertau Tradition, 5.80% alpha, 40 min.
.50 oz. Tettnanger, 3.80% alpha, 10 min.
.50 oz. Hallertau Tradition, 5.80% alpha, 10 min.

Technical Specifications:

OG: 1.040 – 1.047
FG: 1.007 – 1.012
Alcohol: 4.6-5.3% by volume
Yeast: Wyeast Bavarian (W2206)
Protein Rest: 122°F
Conversion Rest: 155°F

Mashing Procedure:

Add approximately two gallons of water at 129°F to the grains to hit the first strike temperature of 122°F. Hold for 15 minutes. At the end of this time, draw off about 40 percent of the mash into a separate pot, leaving as much liquid behind as possible.

While maintaining the temperature in the main mash at about 122°F, raise the temperature of the decoction mash by about 5°F per minute to 155°F, stirring constantly. The mash you moved to the decoction pot was fairly thick and dry, but there is water bound up by the starch that will be released when heated. If it is still a little dry, add additional water to make stirring easier and to help avoid scorching the grain on the bottom of the pot.

Hold the decoction mash at this temperature for five minutes, then again raise its temperature by about 5°F per minute until boiling, stirring constantly. Once the mash is boiling constant stirring is not as necessary, but stir it occasionally to make sure the entire mash is cooked thoroughly. Boil for about five minutes.

At the end of this time, remove the decoction mash from the heat. Begin adding it back to the main mash a few cups at a time, stirring thoroughly between additions to distribute the heat uniformly. When about three-quarters of the decoction mash has been added back, begin monitoring the temperature. When it reaches 155°F, discontinue adding the decoction mash back to the main mash. Set the remainder aside until it cools to about 155°F, and then add it back to the mash.

Test for conversion with iodine by placing several drops of the mash, with no visible particles of grain or husk, in a small puddle on a white porcelain dish (Corning Corelle works well and doesn’t stain) and letting it cool. Then, placing a drop of iodine into the middle of the puddle, observe any color reaction along the edge of the iodine. If you observe the colors blue or black, then there’s still starch in suspension and the mash needs to continue. However, if brown appears or there is no color change, then it’s safe to prepare for sparging.

If you’re not using a combination mash/lauter tun, transfer the mash to the lauter tun. In either case thoroughly stir the mash and let it settle for 10 minutes before initiating the sparge. Collect seven gallons of wort. You can be testing the specific gravity and tasting the sweet wort. Discontinue the sparge when the specific gravity of the runoff drops below about 1.010 or the taste reminds you of warm tea (an indication that tannins are being extracted from the husks). If this happens before you’ve collected the entire seven gallons of wort, just use plain water to make up the difference.

Boil the wort for a total of 90 minutes, adding hops per the schedule indicated. Before beginning to chill the wort, reserve two quarts of wort for later use in priming the beer. You can use sanitized mason jars for this purpose, which you’ll then store in the refrigerator.

Chill the remaining wort to about 70°F and then pitch the yeast. Transfer the fermenter to a 45°F refrigerator for three to four hours after pitching and ferment for seven to 10 days, then transfer to a secondary fermenter.

When the beer is clear (about two to three weeks), rack it to the bottling bucket into which the reserved priming wort has been poured. Bottle as usual.

Source: BYO

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German Pilsner

ben — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:58:00 +0000

Photo by: http://weblog.ch/

Grains:

4 lbs. Pilsner Malt

4 lbs. Munich Light

Hopping Schedule:

.75 oz. Perle, 9% alpha, 60 min.

.75 oz. Tettnanger, 3.80% alpha, 40 min.

.75 oz. Hallertau Tradition, 5.80% alpha, 40 min.

.50 oz. Tettnanger, 3.80% alpha, 10 min.

.50 oz. Hallertau Tradition, 5.80% alpha, 10 min.

Technical Specifications:

OG: 1.040 – 1.047

FG: 1.007 – 1.012

Alcohol: 4.6-5.3% by volume

Yeast: Wyeast Bavarian (W2206)

Protein Rest: 122°F

Conversion Rest: 155°F

Mashing Procedure:

When the beer is clear (about two to three weeks), rack it to the bottling bucket into which the reserved priming wort has been poured. Bottle as usual.

Source: BYO