So, what made you decide to start home brewing? I think it all began swigging Lowenbrau with a high school friend under an overpass in Ocean City. Well, maybe that wasn't it but in the early 80's, a pair of dirty work jeans and a ball cap is all you needed in the way of ID. I was taught to cook by working parents out of necessity and all around me read that as two of the three houses on a country lane in the middle of Nowhere, Virginia brewed their own beverages. It's a busy community now with housing developments and parkways but back then you could ride your bike
down the middle of the road for a mile and never see a car. In hindsight it was the Warfields and Eggerts who inspired my interest in brewing early on.
Old Man Warfield had a tool shed and during the warm months there was always a pair of carboys in the window, complete with Pasture tubes, fermenting slowly with wine made from whatever fruit was in season. It was an all glass setup, stoppers, tubes and all, and me and his grandchildren would frequently stop and watch the bubbles. The CO2 floating upward through the colored liquid looked like magic. Lucky for him he kept the shed locked, we weren't interested in the wine but the axe and other tools were something a kid could use to tame the twenty acres of open land between the shed and the creek. The Eggerts made beer, lots of beer. They were a kind couple and left the door of the basement open so we could use their pool table. On more than one occasion we'd come in to a nasty smell which we later found out was due to the homebrew bottles blowing the caps off while conditioning. We weren't sure what it was at the time so we mopped the floor and swore we didn't do it. As I grew older and starting babysitting for them I learned a bit about the Eggerts home brewing.
Brew shed image courtest of bhambrew
Fast forward about thirty-five years and I love craft beer but who doesn't. One of my neighbors holds an annual No-Bud party where everyone brings a beer to sample and the winner gets an award based on the beers name, how well the sponsor markets it, and taste. It's all about drinking beer, friends, and a good time so taste is last. Glenn, if you are reading this stop making crappy awards out of your kid's old soccer trophies.
Anyhow, one day I go to the fridge at work and in the door is a tube of liquid yeast. I inquire about the tube and now I've met a second person that homebrews. A conversation ensues and I imagine I'm back at the shed window staring at bubbles. So I go online to do some research and everyone says "read, read and read some more" and "don't start with grain, use malt extract first" so what did I do? I read and read and read on many sites, particularly HBT, and started with whole grain. Opinions are just that but take the advice about reading extensively it'll save you in the end. As I said earlier, I've been cooking from an early age and enjoy a challenge so why not start with the raw ingredients, it sounded wholesome.
My brother provided a Bayou Bay turkey fryer complete with burner so I was off and running. About two years earlier he gave me a stainless quarter keg someone turned into a crab cooker, I never trashed it so that is going to become a keggle at some point as I work towards joining the "Ugly Junk" club. My first beer, compliments of the staff at Maryland Homebrew in Columbia, was an English porter. I'd decided on the type of beer but had no idea about measuring or crushing the grain. Entering the grain room for the first time was exciting but why aren't the grain bins labeled exactly like grain listed in the recipe? How many pounds fit in a bag? Crap that was too much for
one bag...don't be afraid to ask for help, tip number one. It took half an hour to measure, crush and bag the ingredients for the porter. It took 90 minutes to complete my shopping list so if you are a first timer like I was plan on 2 hours, it is fun, take a list and don't rush. Make sure to buy a hydrometer to determine efficiency and alcohol content. After a year of brewing I'm still not concerned with efficiency yet as alcohol by volume (HBV) tells you if you are hitting the mark. If HBV deviates too much from expected results you've got an issue with your process.
After reading HBT extensively and gathering all the components and prepping the space, I sat down and created a script, tip number two. Think of it like a movie production with every scene/step, actor/ingredient and shoot/time listed. Follow it exactly. Download a timer for your smart phone they're available for free. Follow the script and you will succeed. I could drone on but it's up to you to read from the learned contributors of HBT as I did. Twenty-five handicappers don't give advice, more like encouragement, and I'm not much closer to being a brew master than when I lit the fire under my first batch.
Check back for follow-up articles and I'll share with you my brewing experiences from a novice's perspective. Hopefully you will be encouraged to start brewing if you aren't already.
The recipe for the inaugural porter was decent and I kept the recipe for fine tuning. Like cooking anything yourself, one of benefits of home brewing is you get make it taste exactly the way you want it.
7.00 lb. Pale Malt
0.50 lb. Brown Malt
0.50 lb. Crystal 60L
0.50 lb. Chocolate Malt
0.25 lb. Crystal 150L
0.12 lb. Roasted Barley
1.50 oz. East Kent Goldings @ 60 minutes
0.50 oz. Fuggle @ 60 minutes
0.50 oz. East Kent Goldings @ 10 minutes
WLP001 California Ale Yeast
The script used to keep the process in order is transposed below. Creating it was a useful exercise because it helped me better understand brewing terms and abbreviations. I'd never brewed before or seen it done except on YouTube so it was a confidence builder as well.
A porter. Image courtesy of Pelikan.
1. Take the yeast out of the fridge to warm up.
2. 3.5 gallon mash, 152 degrees for 60 minutes, make mash water 167 degrees before adding to grain, check mash temperature has to be at 152
3. Put 3.5 gallons of water in cooler, add grain, stir for 3 minutes
4. After 60 minutes, recirculate
5. Drain to boil kettle
6. Sparge, need 4 to 4.5 gallons at 170 degree, let rest 10 minutes, need pre-boil volume to be 6 to 6.5 gallons
7. Start boil, add 1.50 Golding and 0.50 Fuggle
8. Add 0.50 Golding after boiling for 50 minutes
9. Chill to 78 degrees
10. Transfer to fermenter
11. Pitch yeast
12. Cover + airlock
This porter is dark, somewhat smooth and easily consumed by the liter. Well I only had liter bottles, just saying. Thanks to the "Beginners Beer Brewing Forum", and member posting from Biermuncher (yes, your junk is ugly), Braufessor and a host of other contributors on HBT for helping me to not just understand how to brew but how to enjoy brewing. Making beer is a short journey and it's true that getting there is half the fun.
Enjoy!
down the middle of the road for a mile and never see a car. In hindsight it was the Warfields and Eggerts who inspired my interest in brewing early on.
Old Man Warfield had a tool shed and during the warm months there was always a pair of carboys in the window, complete with Pasture tubes, fermenting slowly with wine made from whatever fruit was in season. It was an all glass setup, stoppers, tubes and all, and me and his grandchildren would frequently stop and watch the bubbles. The CO2 floating upward through the colored liquid looked like magic. Lucky for him he kept the shed locked, we weren't interested in the wine but the axe and other tools were something a kid could use to tame the twenty acres of open land between the shed and the creek. The Eggerts made beer, lots of beer. They were a kind couple and left the door of the basement open so we could use their pool table. On more than one occasion we'd come in to a nasty smell which we later found out was due to the homebrew bottles blowing the caps off while conditioning. We weren't sure what it was at the time so we mopped the floor and swore we didn't do it. As I grew older and starting babysitting for them I learned a bit about the Eggerts home brewing.
Brew shed image courtest of bhambrew
Fast forward about thirty-five years and I love craft beer but who doesn't. One of my neighbors holds an annual No-Bud party where everyone brings a beer to sample and the winner gets an award based on the beers name, how well the sponsor markets it, and taste. It's all about drinking beer, friends, and a good time so taste is last. Glenn, if you are reading this stop making crappy awards out of your kid's old soccer trophies.
Anyhow, one day I go to the fridge at work and in the door is a tube of liquid yeast. I inquire about the tube and now I've met a second person that homebrews. A conversation ensues and I imagine I'm back at the shed window staring at bubbles. So I go online to do some research and everyone says "read, read and read some more" and "don't start with grain, use malt extract first" so what did I do? I read and read and read on many sites, particularly HBT, and started with whole grain. Opinions are just that but take the advice about reading extensively it'll save you in the end. As I said earlier, I've been cooking from an early age and enjoy a challenge so why not start with the raw ingredients, it sounded wholesome.
My brother provided a Bayou Bay turkey fryer complete with burner so I was off and running. About two years earlier he gave me a stainless quarter keg someone turned into a crab cooker, I never trashed it so that is going to become a keggle at some point as I work towards joining the "Ugly Junk" club. My first beer, compliments of the staff at Maryland Homebrew in Columbia, was an English porter. I'd decided on the type of beer but had no idea about measuring or crushing the grain. Entering the grain room for the first time was exciting but why aren't the grain bins labeled exactly like grain listed in the recipe? How many pounds fit in a bag? Crap that was too much for
one bag...don't be afraid to ask for help, tip number one. It took half an hour to measure, crush and bag the ingredients for the porter. It took 90 minutes to complete my shopping list so if you are a first timer like I was plan on 2 hours, it is fun, take a list and don't rush. Make sure to buy a hydrometer to determine efficiency and alcohol content. After a year of brewing I'm still not concerned with efficiency yet as alcohol by volume (HBV) tells you if you are hitting the mark. If HBV deviates too much from expected results you've got an issue with your process.
After reading HBT extensively and gathering all the components and prepping the space, I sat down and created a script, tip number two. Think of it like a movie production with every scene/step, actor/ingredient and shoot/time listed. Follow it exactly. Download a timer for your smart phone they're available for free. Follow the script and you will succeed. I could drone on but it's up to you to read from the learned contributors of HBT as I did. Twenty-five handicappers don't give advice, more like encouragement, and I'm not much closer to being a brew master than when I lit the fire under my first batch.
Check back for follow-up articles and I'll share with you my brewing experiences from a novice's perspective. Hopefully you will be encouraged to start brewing if you aren't already.
The recipe for the inaugural porter was decent and I kept the recipe for fine tuning. Like cooking anything yourself, one of benefits of home brewing is you get make it taste exactly the way you want it.
7.00 lb. Pale Malt
0.50 lb. Brown Malt
0.50 lb. Crystal 60L
0.50 lb. Chocolate Malt
0.25 lb. Crystal 150L
0.12 lb. Roasted Barley
1.50 oz. East Kent Goldings @ 60 minutes
0.50 oz. Fuggle @ 60 minutes
0.50 oz. East Kent Goldings @ 10 minutes
WLP001 California Ale Yeast
The script used to keep the process in order is transposed below. Creating it was a useful exercise because it helped me better understand brewing terms and abbreviations. I'd never brewed before or seen it done except on YouTube so it was a confidence builder as well.
A porter. Image courtesy of Pelikan.
1. Take the yeast out of the fridge to warm up.
2. 3.5 gallon mash, 152 degrees for 60 minutes, make mash water 167 degrees before adding to grain, check mash temperature has to be at 152
3. Put 3.5 gallons of water in cooler, add grain, stir for 3 minutes
4. After 60 minutes, recirculate
5. Drain to boil kettle
6. Sparge, need 4 to 4.5 gallons at 170 degree, let rest 10 minutes, need pre-boil volume to be 6 to 6.5 gallons
7. Start boil, add 1.50 Golding and 0.50 Fuggle
8. Add 0.50 Golding after boiling for 50 minutes
9. Chill to 78 degrees
10. Transfer to fermenter
11. Pitch yeast
12. Cover + airlock
This porter is dark, somewhat smooth and easily consumed by the liter. Well I only had liter bottles, just saying. Thanks to the "Beginners Beer Brewing Forum", and member posting from Biermuncher (yes, your junk is ugly), Braufessor and a host of other contributors on HBT for helping me to not just understand how to brew but how to enjoy brewing. Making beer is a short journey and it's true that getting there is half the fun.
Enjoy!
