Brewing Barley Beverages

[Piparskeggr]

Hail all;

Barley is a wonderful little grain, so versatile in soups and stews...but its most shining hour comes after it has been malted: moistened, sprouted, dried and then roasted to perfection. The process converts some of the starches into sugar and releases enzymes, which when properly awakened, will convert more of the starch to sugar.

This little grain, becomes the foundation for two of man's oldest friends...ale and beer.

I first started drinking beer just after I turned 16. I knew I was becoming man in the family when my grampa Harold offered me a glass of beer when I was watching a baseball game on TV with him.

His favorite was "Pabst Blue Ribbon, a passable American Lager for its time.

I noticed thereafter that "Pabst Blue Ribbon Malt Syrup"was sold at the local grocery store, in the baking section. I bought a can and found that the back of the label contained some recipes, including one for home made beer. (I remembered that the label of "PBR" mentioned malt as an ingredient.)

It was a recipe (I have since learned) that originated within the confines of the US's "Great Experiment" aka "Alcohol Prohibition."

Intrigued, I figured out, without much research, what equipment I might need.

My mom had a big spaghetti pot for boiling enough water to dissolve the syrup. The local doughnut shop provided a 6-gallon plastic frosting pail that would serve as a fermenter. A big rubber band and a rubber bed sheet provided a cover. We had a long handled plastic spoon for stirring. My uncles provided a couple of cases of empty bottles. I found cork-lined crown caps at the local hardware store. My mom bought me a capper at a garage sale for 75 cents (I still use it to this day). The pet store provided aquarium water line for siphoning. Chlorine bleach seemed a good dea for cleaning...

5-gallon batch: (2) 3# cans of malt syrup, 2 1/4 cups white sugar, 2 packets dried bread yeast...water to make up 5 gallons.

I had no idea of what hops might be, so I looked them up in the dictionary...plant that provides bitterness to beer...hmmm...no idea where to find hops, but dandelions are bitter! ...and they're a plant!) Add 1/2# of dandelion leaves.

Bring 2 gallons water to a boil, dissolve in the malt and sugar, throw in the dandelions, simmer about 15 minutes, use mom's colander to strain the liquid into the pail add in enough water to make up 5 gallons...sprinkle in the yeast when it seems "baby bottle" warm. Cover with the rubber sheet, place the rubber band and let it go the 2 weeks the label said.

Carefully siphon off into bottles and cap. Store in the cellar for 2 weeks, try it...

...ummm...

No!

I got much betterer over the years

[Thulsa Doom]

Interesting. I have had some plans to enter the this honorable trade, but there is one thing I don´t get. How to get rid of the yeast? If you filter it, which is to much work anyway, you end up with stale (no bubbles) ale.

[Phlegethon]

Unless you have the facilities to homebrew and the dough to pay your electricity bill, leave it. Decent hop isn't available in the U.S. anyway and when I hear about brewing beer with crap like sugar, bread yeast and malt syrup I almost have to puke.

Brewing beer isn't hard, but it requires lots of time and lots of money.

[Piparskeggr]

Interesting. I have had some plans to enter the this honorable trade, but there is one thing I don´t get. How to get rid of the yeast? If you filter it, which is to much work anyway, you end up with stale (no bubbles) ale.

In 35 years, I've never filtered my brews.

Ale or beer takes from 2 days to 2 weeks to ferment out completely, depending upon recipe, AND yeast strain.

I have had good results over the years using dried, commercially prepared, strains of yeast. I will make a "starter" using the yeast powder plus some malt sugar solution.

Many others swear by liquid yeast solutions or making "starters" from yeast cultures kept alive upon agar-nutrient slides.

I will siphon the finished beer off the trub (yeast and other sediment layer) into a second vessel where I add sugar to get carbonation in the bottle.

Some yeast will always survive in suspension...this is where you get the activity for proper bottle conditioning.

Anyone, anywhere can make good beer or ale: ingredients, sanitation, method, temperature, patience...all the proper things needed.

[Jägerstaffel]

Good hops are not hard to find in the US.

[Piparskeggr]

Hey all;

Brewing beer need not be a very complex, or time consuming, process.

Some will try and convince you that the only way to make good beer is to start with whole-grain malt, milling it your self, cooking it, draining it, rinsing it...spending all day on the brew session.

Me, I use dried, barley malt extracts. Some brews, I will use specialty grains, which I crush and steep, like making a tea.

The brewing process always involves heat.

So, for the "cooking stage:

50,000 BTU, propane fired burner, colloquially known in the USA as a "Turkey Fryer" burner or "Cajun Cooker"

36 qt stainless steel stockpot, aka the "brew kettle."

Long-stem, stainless steel thermometer

Long-handled, plastic spoon for stirring

1-quart spray bottle full of cold water

I brew 6-gallon batches.

In the brew pot, I'll bring 3 gallons of filtered water to a boil. (If your water tastes good, it'll make a beer you like.)

I then will turn off the heat and dissolve in the dried malt extract (DME).

Get it boiling again and add-in hops according to recipe schedule...

A brew session normally takes me about 2 hours.

An all-grain recipe can take one most of the day.

I've won prizes with my extract recipes against all-grainers...

All-grainers have won against me...

Neither is the best method.

Anyone can brew good beer ,all the time.

(good conversation thus far ,-)

[Piparskeggr]

Good hops are not hard to find in the US.

They were in July, 1974, when I started...

But, you are absolutely correct, today.

Our local home brew shop normally has between 1 and 2 dozen hop varieties in stock.

They also have a similar number of yeasts...

This IS a Golden Age, for home brewers!!!

[Phlegethon]

To me this all sounds like heresy of the worst kind. Please don't call that horsepiss beer anymore.

[Piparskeggr]

My wife likes hoppy ales...

Here's one of hers that won 3rd place in a regional American Homebrewers' Association competition 2 years ago where the majority of entries (28 total IIRC) were all-grain recipes.

Quaker's Edge Oat IPA - 5 gallons

Fermentables: 7# Munton's Light dried malt extract (DME), 1/2# each flaked oats and Cara-Pils dextrine malt, 1/4# each 20L, 40L and 60 L crystal malt

Hops: 75 minute boil: 1 oz Northern Brewer (6.6% alpha), 3/4 oz each East Kent Golding (3.3%) and Willamette (4.5%) - 20 minute: 1/2 oz each East Kent Golding (3.3%) and Willamette (4.55) - At the Finish: 1 oz each East Kent Golding (3.3%) and Willamette (4.55) - Dry Hop: 3/4 oz each East Kent Golding (3.3%) and Willamette (4.55) - yields a calculated 65 IBU's.

Yeast: WYeast London Ale (#1028)

We like to do a full volume boil with only half the DME to get better utilization from the hops, experience has shown that a lower gravity wort works better at this. The rest of the DME and the cracked grains (in a fine mesh bag) are added at the 20 minutes to go point in the boil.

After a 2 week fermentation period, we siphon the ale off the trub into a resting tank and add-in the dry hops plus 3/4 oz oak essence. Rest for a week, siphon off of the hop debris into a bottling vat, add-in 1/2# light DME and a packet plain gelatin, which have been dissolved in 1 c boiling water, package in bottles, cap, let condition for 2 weeks. (I still use that capper I mentioned, it was made in 1921.)

The last time we made this, it finished out quite dry at about 6.8% ABV, but the Oats and Cara-Pils maintained the body, so it wasn't a thin tasting ale.

[Piparskeggr]

Hail all;

I'll be the first to admit that i have not one drop of Finnish blood flowing in my family line...but, I appreciate beer and will try making something interesting about which I read.

My recipe is not traditional, but is tailored to the ingredients I can get locally.

New World Sahti (2-gal batch): 3# light dried malt extract (DME), 12# malted rye, 1/4# each 20L crystal and dark Munich malt, 1/2 oz juniper berries, 2 ea B-1 and B-6 tablets - crushed, German wheat beer yeast - - malts are crushed and placed in a steeping bag with the berries.

Bring 1-gal water to a boil, turn off the heat and dissolve in the DME. Bring back to a low simmer (170F [76C]) and push in the steeping bag with the stirring spoon, simmer 20 minutes, turn off heat, let steep 20 more minutes, dissolve in the vitamins.

Take out the bag and let it drip (using a stainless steel colander) into the wort.

Pour the wort into the primary fermenter and add-in enough water to make 2-gal...when it is cooled enough (75F [24C]) add-in the yeast (I use a liquid "smack pack, which I activate a couple of hours before brewing).

Let it bubble away until done.

As Sahti is traditionally drunk young and fresh, I make a smaller than usual batch, which is 6-gallons for other ale, beer, mead and wine. Also, it is not one I like as a steady resident of my cooler, but as an occasional guest, it is welcome (like some people I know ).