We just started enjoying our first batch of beer. When we bought our brewing kit we choose from a list of clones (home brews based on mass brewed beer.) We thought Sierra Nevada would fit both our tastes and since the saleswoman knew we were beginners... easy. Well it was a bit more complicated than we should have started out with. The batch it self hit some snags and we learned lots of lessons.
Here is my brief synopsis of beer making.
Steep grains for about 20-30 mins at water about 155 degrees. Remove the grains and add malts and fermentables. While those boil for a while you add hops at different intervals (60 mins- bitterness / flavor / aromatics.) After an hour you immediately cool the beer and throw in some yeast. Let it do it's thing for 7 days. Then you transfer to a bucket with a spigot at the bottom and add some sugar (which carbonates the beer). Bottle, cap, wait.. enjoy!
We were supposed to add another step to the Sierra Nevada which is to move the beer to a secondary fermenter (a glass carboy or 6 gallon bucket) and add some more hops and let it ferment again for another 7-10 days. We didn't do this because we didn't own a second fermenter at the time... something one would think the sales lady would have mentioned. Regardless.. we just skipped that step and bottled as instructed.
Reactions- It tasted pretty good! Nothing like a Sierra Nevada though. It started as overly carbonated which means we should fill the bottles up more. The more air left in bottles the more carbonated it will be. As it ages this problem seems to be going away. I enjoy this batch with a lemon.
Besides our fascination with making things ourselves instead of buying them prepacked we are also brewing beer to save money. In the end our six packs should cost us under 4 dollars. Currently we pay anywhere from 6.99-7.99 p/6pack and around 4.19 for our favorite beers that only come in 22oz bottles. So far we spent 176.62 on equipment. The cost of the ingredients for our first batch was 40.49. If we had bought that batch in 6 packs at the grocery store we would have spent- 67.91 leaving us 149.20 in the hole.
Besides our fascination with making things ourselves instead of buying them prepacked we are also brewing beer to save money. In the end our six packs should cost us under 4 dollars. Currently we pay anywhere from 6.99-7.99 p/6pack and around 4.19 for our favorite beers that only come in 22oz bottles. So far we spent 176.62 on equipment. The cost of the ingredients for our first batch was 40.49. If we had bought that batch in 6 packs at the grocery store we would have spent- 67.91 leaving us 149.20 in the hole.
Coming up- Power Pack Porter and I dream of Harvest Mondays.
Awesome...and brave! I'm so nervous to try beer or wine making at home since I hate wasting money. What if my batch is bad?!?! Fun activity, though! I applaud your efforts and look forward to learning through you! :)
ReplyDeleteKimberly,
ReplyDeleteIt was much easier than we expected. We also had fears that our batch would be bad but as long as everything is sanitized properly you should be good to go. I highly recommend 'The Joy of Home Brewing." It walks you through all the steps nicely.