Day 3 - Staring at Beer
So - what happens on Day 3 in the beer-making process? Mostly foam.
On Day 2 we “pitched the yeast,” and closed it up. Toward the end of the day foam began to appear, and by Day 3, there was thick foam all over the top.
So what is foam? It’s the sign of fermentation. The yeast is creating alcohol and CO2 as it munches on the sugars. During this first week the process will only retain the alcohol created and the wort vat will vent the CO2. Only in week 2 will the CO2 be retained, and create the fine bubbles of carbonation that are associated with beer.
That’s it for today’s update - easy? All I had to do was look at it! It’s really great having a semi-see-through wort vat to view the process. It’s about the transparency of a brown beer bottle, just plastic. The picture here to the left shows a considerably more complex set of beer-making equipment, more on the professional side. Link to source.
Cheers, Miriam
Day 2 - Makin’ Beer
Beer Fact O’ The Day: Hard cider is really a type of beer (a malt beverage) that may or may not have apple flavoring in it.
Instructions, Day Two:
Compared to day 1 (which wasn’t that hard), day 2 is just a piece of cake. So - are you ready to pitch your yeast?!
1. Prepare your wort vat - sterilizing it is probably a good idea, and companies make products for this. Your wort vat can’t just be any old barrel. During this first week your wort vat will need to be capable of (a) being dark enough that light can’t affect the process and (b) able to vent the CO2 created in the process. Read-made vats are available for purchase.
2. Pour in the cooled beer.
3. “Pitch your yeast.” Actually, you’re pretty much just going to dump in about 1/16 to 1/8 tsp of yeast. No stirring necessary - the yeast will be able to find the sugar to eat it. “Pitching” is a term from larger breweries, when brewers would sort of gently fling the yeast across the top of the barrels.
I should mention here we were using Coopers ale yeast. I think I mentioned before that using bread yeast isn’t a very good idea - my dad tried it (he tries everything) and it turned out poorly. Also you’ll need to make sure your yeast is still alive (e.g. active). Keeping it in the fridge is a must.
4. Screw on the top (or close it up however) and put it away in a place that’s out-of-the-way and doesn’t get too much sunlight.
What’s so hard about this anyway?
So far the process hasn’t been too complicated, and wait until you see the next few days… makes you wonder why you didn’t try this before! So far I haven’t seen much that’s really complicated. So what’s difficult about beer-making?
In a word: ingredients. There are a dizzying array of options for your beer-making pleasure. All different types of grains in different stages of the malt process, hops to use for three different purposes, different yeasts, additives, sugars. And you’ll get a different beer with each try.
Unfortunately, even if you come up with a recipe you like, it’s still possible that because beer-making is an uncertain process that you’ll get a different beer every time.
What Is Malt? This is my quick explanation of malt. Malt is the foundation of beer - it’s what you get when you take a bunch of grain and then let it sprout (you’ve seen bean sprouts - like that). Once it’s sprouted all the way and has used up all the “food” inside the grain, you roast it to capture all the sugar.You can buy plain malt like this, or you can begin to let the “experts” take it further for you. At this point you can go on and boil the malt, which dissolves all the grain sugar into water. Once dissolved, the grain husks can be strained out. If you’re doing all this malt preparation yourself, this is the point at which you can start hopping the malt. Everything’s dissolved - you just need to bring it to a boil. (Go to Step 2 from yesterday.)
This liquid state is a malt “tea.” You can also buy it as a syrup, which is the same thing as a tea except that it’s been boiled down. It’s just thick sugar in this state and is called “malt extract.” Finally, you can purchase “DME” or “dry malt extract.” This is made by spray drying the malt syrup - spray drying being literally spraying it with air until it dries. You end up with sugary powder that can be dissolved. (The picture to the left is 3 stages - barley roasted to varying degrees, the malt extract syrup it produces, and the resulting beer. Link.)
Malt with Hops. Some DME and presumably other malt types can be purchased pre-hopped. This means that the flavoring from hops is already in it. You can either add to this flavor or just go with it.
So given the many types of malt to choose from, I asked my dad…
Q: If you could only purchase one type of malt, what would it be?
A: DME. It’s easiest.
Cheers, Miriam
Makin’ Beer - Part One
This week’s craft is: Beer!
In the last week I’ve been discussing the craft and process of beer-making with my dad. What started out as a few questions ended up with making a batch of beer just to demonstrate the process. So, every couple of days for the next two weeks until the beer batch is done, I’ll give some of his answers about beer-making, throw in some trivia, and actually go through the beer process as it unfolded. (The image to the left is a glass of my dad’s homemade wheat beer.)
The Interview:
Q: How long have you been making beer, and how did you get started? (the image to the right is my dad “cooking” a batch of beer wort in his kitchen.)
A: I’ve been making beer about 4-5 years since I came upon a Mr. Beer kit in a shop in Kemah, Texas. I like beer, so I thought I would get it and try it.
Q: Why did making beer appeal to you - why did you start?
A: It was an opportunity to make something with grain and with yeast. I also like making bread, but the process of making beer is more interesting, and it takes longer. In addition, I was interested in learning about beer because it is one of the most ancient foods.
Q: What has turned out to be the most interesting aspect of beer-making? (Barley grains pictured to the left.)
A: I like it because it is a process. There are a number of steps in making beer, and it is interesting to prepare and watch each step in the process. Sometimes you have to do something, but a lot of it is watching as it prepares itself. That’s interesting.
In addition to the process, it is more fun than other things you can make because it creates a food product in the end. It’s not something you just throw away or can’t use.
Making Beer, Day One:
(Follow the link to see the ingredients and the directions for the first day of beermaking.)
