Popular Mechanics: How to Make Beer Cheaply and Simply

Hey guys,

I'm a regular regular/occasional poster here and I thought that the community would be interested in this article that a friend and I put together for Popular Mechanics and homebrewing. The article is a step-by-step guide for noobs looking to put together their first homebrew.

How to Make Beer - Simple, Cheap Beer Making Step-by-Step Guide - Popular Mechanics

The members of this site deserve a shout-out for helping me out in my homebrew adventures (hopefully you won't find any/too many errors). The community is one of the reasons this is such a cool hobby and I hope that you guys get a kick out of seeing our hobby get some more mainstream exposure.

If you enjoy the article please pass it on to friends and digg/buzz it up in any web 2.0 sites that you use. My friend is an editor at Popular Mechanics and I'd love to see this article be a big success for him.

chrispykid said:

(hopefully you won't find any/too many erros).

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Like spelling erro(r)s?

HA! Maybe I should have had Tyghe edit the post too.

Cool starter wort before adding yeast.

Thanks Petep,

We actually do have that in there though in step 1:

First, heat the water and malt to a boil for 10 minutes and then cool to 60 degrees F. You can check the temperature with a thermometer or by rule of thumb (it should be about room temperature).

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Nice article.

Just read it, good job. I like how you kept it simple and short. I know many of us would have trouble not over explaining each step and scaring the heck out of interested parties. Hope this inspires some people to pick up this hobby.

It would have been nice if you referenced some books or sites individuals could got to to get more info.

"The murky brown iodine will change to black in the presence of starch—this means you need to do some more boiling."

Not more boiling. You're mashing at this point and you shouldn't be boiling.

I'm also concerned that pouring your mash like that is not really considered best technique and you don't show a vorlauf step at all. you need to recirculate and you left that out.

Before I critique, let me first say... Good job overall. It's not easy to take an advanced subject and simplify it into a few pages. That said...

I don't see any glaring errors, but I do think that there are a lot of unanswered questions in the article. One of the biggest things I noticed was that the article doesn't seem to mention (someone correct me if I'm wrong) what type of yeast to use. Although it shows in the picture, I can't seem to find an actual mention of it.

Also, at the beginning of the article, an equipment list would be useful, so that a new brewer doesn't have to read the entire article to know what to buy and potentially miss something.

One more thing to be careful of is using brewing terms without explaining them. For instance, it's said in the article "Capture the runoff liquor in your brewpot." but it doesn't say anything about what liquor is. A new brewer may be looking for the missed step of adding vodka to his mash. It also doesn't seem to mention recirculating the first bit of wort in this section.

Again, good job overall, just wanted to point out a few things to improve the next article!

Not more boiling. You're mashing at this point and you shouldn't be boiling.

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Of course. Thanks carnevoodoo.

I'm new, but here are my thoughts. The title needs to be modified. This isn't a simple process from those that haven't brewed before. The author should have brewed using extract (not all grain). It requires less time and less equipment. I would have used a recipe that would allowed for dry yeast and dumped in 2 packets instead of making a starter. The terminology is too confusing since the author doesn't provide a description (wort, mash, sparging) and the equipment used is unnecessary for someone to get started (kettle with spigot, wort chiller, blow-off system).

The author chose to use all-grain over extract, yet a beer with better temperature-controlled fermentation will produce better beer than the difference between all-grain and extract. The fermenation temps isn't even mentioned.

I like how homebrewing is getting more exposure. Those are just my thoughts thinking from the viewpoint of someone who is reading the article and hasn't brewed before.

I'm also concerned that pouring your mash like that is not really considered best technique and you don't show a vorlauf step at all. you need to recirculate and you left that out.

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I don't know what a vorlauf step even is. I'm pretty much following the Papazian method in Complete Joy. If he specified recirculating the mash I must have missed it. I'll have to refine my game and see if we can pitch them a 202 level article at some point...

One more thing to be careful of is using brewing terms without explaining them. For instance, it's said in the article "Capture the runoff liquor in your brewpot."

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Again, fair point - we were constantly weighing the ironclad need to keep the article relatively short against our desire to explain everything in detail. There were casualties for sure (bottling also comes to mind).

Thanks again for all the feedback guys.

Vorlauf is just recirculating the wort. You do this to clear it up and get the grain bits out. You should look it up. This will improve clarity and you will be less likely to boil bits of grain that can lead to astringency.

My mash/lauter tun is also one object in my life. I don't pour my mash into another vessel. I have a manifold built (screens and false bottoms also work) and I just let the grain bed act as that filter. The way you're doing it, you use the strainer as your screen, but there's a concern of hot side aeration. Now, people don't take much consideration into HSA these days, but whatever. I would run through your books again to check out the steps you're doing differently or omitting. They can definitely improve your beer.

Carnevoodoo,

See, that's why I love this place - I'm always picking up some interesting little tidbits to improve my my beer. When I bought the pot I didn't feel like springing the extra $100 for a built in false bottom when I already had the bucket system for lautering. I might go back and buy the bottom one day dow the road, but the recirculating is definitely something I can incorporate into my next batch.

Merlin,

Again good points, but we wanted to talk about how starches get turned into sugar which really required the from scratch method even though I agree that extract batches are great for beginners. As far as ferm temp I recognize it's hugely important to final flavor, but for someone brewing their first batch we didn't want to overwhelm them. The truth is that an ale is going to ferment at most reasonable room temperatures. Again, we're balancing the need for brevity with the best methods that we could identify and explain. Perfect? Nope, but our best effort.

Since we are putting in our 2 cents on making the article better (maybe it will be popular enough to have a 2.0 article soon? )

Here are some of my main concerns:

1: "starter wort". This is the main section that I think is very confusing for a beginer. You say you're making a starter wort, but then item number 3 is instant starter wort. I would think most non-brewers reading would be like "hey, this is *making starter wort...but one of the ingredients is starter wort* I realize you mean yeast packet, and it seems you're specifically using a Wyeast propogator. I would have done more of an introduction on yeast options: that if you don't have a high OG, you can make do with one dry yeast package, consider making a starter for liquid yeast strains, or follow the directions for Wyeast propogator.

2: Again, I would introduce with some more terminology. Define what extract brewing is over PM over AG. Then you'd mention how extract is normally how a beginer starts....and include links to extract recipes for folks who want to start with that. Then you can get to the main recipe for an AG brew.

3: I'd describe some more about sparging. Looks like you've got the Papazian lauter setup....the title includes sparging, but there's no explaination about sparging. Instead you say "first runnings" then "second runnings". Just a blurb in the intro about how sparging is using hot water to extract out those sugars you extracted from your mash....and that some brewers elect to fly sparge (percolating water over the grain bed) vs batch sparging (pouring hot water in your grain bed in one or two batches).

4: I don't see you mention how long the boil should last!

5: I notice your last paragraph will be the source of contention for most HBT members: racking to secondary after 1 week of fermentation. If you're gearing this article for someone who's going to invest in an immersion chiller, surely they can invest in a hydrometer. Then you can say to rack once your gravity readings stay consistant for up to 3 days.

6:maybe it was the admin that accidently posted a photo of a blow off instead of a bottling setup?

That's me going over it with a fine tooth comb. But hey, the more articles and video blurbs about homebrewing...the more it gets people interested

Daverose,

Thanks for taking the time to put that post together and offer your feedback. The boil time omission has been corrected (can't believe we missed that out of the gate). Your other points are appreciated as well - the tradeoff was always explaining versus intimidating them with too much terminology and it's tough to strike the right balance.

And thanks to everyone in the community that voted for this on digg - we're at 543 diggs so far and my co-author at Popular Mechanics has told me that the article is drawing a good amount of traffic.

Chris

I might be wrong but I don't think many people use the bucket technique that your teaching. Most use a false bottom or steel braid.

I also would of just used a dry yeast packet instead of your propagator and starter. I can see how this would be super confusing for someone that has never brewed before.

Like someone else said if this is for a beginner this should of been an extract recipe and been simplified.

the_merlin said:

I'm new, but here are my thoughts. The title needs to be modified. This isn't a simple process from those that haven't brewed before. The author should have brewed using extract (not all grain). It requires less time and less equipment. I would have used a recipe that would allowed for dry yeast and dumped in 2 packets instead of making a starter. The terminology is too confusing since the author doesn't provide a description (wort, mash, sparging) and the equipment used is unnecessary for someone to get started (kettle with spigot, wort chiller, blow-off system).

The author chose to use all-grain over extract, yet a beer with better temperature-controlled fermentation will produce better beer than the difference between all-grain and extract. The fermenation temps isn't even mentioned.

I like how homebrewing is getting more exposure. Those are just my thoughts thinking from the viewpoint of someone who is reading the article and hasn't brewed before.

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+1000 fermentation temps are so much more important than a lot of things in good beer. Especially AG vs Extract.

chrispykid said:

Daverose,

Thanks for taking the time to put that post together and offer your feedback. The boil time omission has been corrected (can't believe we missed that out of the gate). Your other points are appreciated as well - the tradeoff was always explaining versus intimidating them with too much terminology and it's tough to strike the right balance.

And thanks to everyone in the community that voted for this on digg - we're at 543 diggs so far and my co-author at Popular Mechanics has told me that the article is drawing a good amount of traffic.

Chris

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I saw it on digg, read it and then came here to see if anyone had spotted it, didn't expect a member to have written it. And to be honest, when I first clicked the link I was thinking oh god here we go, how to make a prison wine-esk concoction. So kudos for taking it way above and beyond that to actually making beer.

A quick point to make: "The murky brown iodine will change to black in the presence of starch—this means you need to do some more mashing. If there's enough sugar, the color will remain the same."
You mention that iodine changes black in the presence of starch but then say that if there's enough sugar it will stay the same color but never go into detail about how/why/what is taking place in the starches to sugars(I understand you didn't have the space), so it's almost like you are saying it will test for starch and THEN saying it will test for sugar when in fact it turns black in the presence of starch, it does not stay the same in the presence of sugar.(It will stay the same color in the presence of cement/air/water/a lot of things to, but that doesn't mean it tests for cement) - just trying to explain myself here.

Oh yeah and vorlauf, but that's been said.

"Hops added at this point in the process give beer its bitterness, because of the alpha acids that are extracted."
The alpha acids are actually isomerized to give bitterness in that they're not all that bitter before. They're extracted because they are partially soluble in water(sure), but not nearly as soluble as iso-alpha-acids. Isomerization creates the vast majority of the bitter compounds - mainly iso-humulone.
Brew Science has a great chapter on this topic if you care to read more, page 285(8.2.4) - [ame]http://rapidshare.com/files/107178743/Brewing_Science_and_Practice__2004_.pdf[/ame]

Irie5447 said:

I might be wrong but I don't think many people use the bucket technique that your teaching. Most use a false bottom or steel braid.

I also would of just used a dry yeast packet instead of your propagator and starter. I can see how this would be super confusing for someone that has never brewed before.

Like someone else said if this is for a beginner this should of been an extract recipe and been simplified.

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While you are right, not many people use the method he showed, it is a great way to get into AG a bit cheaper. Papazian shows it in TCJOHB, put a fermenting bucket with a bazillion holes drilled(1/8" worked for me) inside a bottling bucket and instant false bottom. It's a touch crude, but it does get the job done as a lauter tun or a MLT. I made one once in the very beginning and tended to have problems with a stuck sparge, but for ~$10-14 you can't beat it.

I mean think about it. Buy crushed grain, use the Papazian MLT or brew in a bag, no-chill, and you are AG for essentially what the extract kit costs plus a couple of cubes, turkey fryer + pot... so like $40-50 extra.
Hell that might be worthy of a post in it's own: look AG for almost nothing beyond what you already have.

That's cool to see your getting info from here.
Nice article