How to Brew Beer in New England
by Lisa Saunders
Anyone with a stove can
brew beer—it’s not that hard and it doesn't cost much to get started. Our
forefathers brewed it--George Washington and Sam Adams just to name a few. The Vikings even learned how to brew it at sea.
New
Englanders (lobster eaters anyway) already own one of the largest pieces of
necessary equipment—a stock pot for steeping the grains
and boiling the brew. Recently legalized in all 50 states, everyone from
President Obama to the lady next door is brewing beer.
Although it continues to
grow in popularity with people from all walks of life, according to Chris
Timmann, co-owner with his wife Melissa of Craft Brews Supplies in Wyoming,
R.I., “Chefs, chemists and engineers get particularly excited about the science
behind different varieties.”
Melissa, pictured above brewing beer, added, “Many of
my girlfriends enjoy making beer, too. Their husbands have no clue how it’s
done, and some don’t care—but they sure love having a fresh, tasty supply of
inexpensive beer in the house.”
Beer has been an important and vital medicinal
drink throughout the ages and was used as scurvy prevention when infused with
spruce needles or other vitamin C containing ingredients. The Mayflower passengers certainly wouldn’t
have left England without it (read more about it in the historical—and sometimes hysterical--adventure
book, Mystic
Seafarer’s Trail).
Homebrewer
Alex Buckley, a field service engineer who loves history, searches for historic
brews online. He said, “A lot of homebrewers are getting interested in recipes
that our ancestors brewed and try to brew them using the ingredients that they
had available to them.” Beer brewing recipes are available
everywhere--including on an ancient Mesopotamian tablet--and even one of George
Washington’s homebrewing recipes can be found online.
The White House also publishes their beer brewing
recipes. Sam Kass, author of the White House blog post, “Ale to the Chief: White House Beer Recipe,” states, “As far as we know the White House
Honey Brown Ale is the first alcohol brewed or distilled on the White House
grounds.” Like many homebrewers, after working with a recipe from a local brew
shop, the White House added a “secret ingredient” to make their beer unique. In
their case, they add honey tapped “from the first ever bee-hive on the South
Lawn. The honey gives the beer a rich aroma and a nice finish but it doesn't
sweeten it.” This White House Honey Ale recipe from the blog post, which includes an
excellent video of how beer is made, will give you an idea of the whole brewing
process from start to finish (see: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/08/29/ale-chief-white-house-beer-recipe):
More than one million Americans brew beer at home. You, like the current president, can join
them right away by purchasing a homebrewing kit for your kitchen. Beer making equipment kits for brewing five gallons (48, 12-oz.
bottles) cost from $89 - $203 depending on how many time-saving gadgets you
want, and the ingredient kits range from $38-60, depending on the kind of beer
you want. Not an expensive way to launch a new hobby that will ensure you have
an inexpensive, ready supply of beer in the house.
Chris of Craft Brews Supplies said that a homebrewer can complete his first batch of beer within three hours of bringing home the needed supplies—and that includes clean up time. Within a month, the beer will be ready to drink. Although Chris admits yeast does not wear a watch, you can expect the following timeline for your brew (but the actual time from boiling to drinking your brew depends on the style of beer you are making):
- Brewing: 2 Hours (the brew at this stage is called “wort,” which means unfermented beer.
- Fermentation: 2 weeks (1 week fermenting + 1 week conditioning)
- Bottling the Beer: 1 Hour
- Bottle Conditioning (allows beer to carbonate): 2-4 Weeks
Sample ingredient kit includes English pale ale (Bass Ale style), malt extract, hops, yeast, priming sugar, specialty grains, steeping bag and direction sheet.
Chris holds up the steeping bag containing
the malt to let the excess fluid drain out after he has let it steep for 25-30
minutes at 155 degrees F. Steeping the malt (grain) is similar to steeping tea.
Chris then throws the spent grain in his garden to use as fertilizer. Some brewers
use spent grain to make bread, pretzels, pie crusts, and even dog biscuits.
Christ stirring the boiling wort in
preparation to pour in the malt extract--a processed sugary malt product that
is ready to use.
Although one person can
handle the whole operation, Melissa stirs while Chris pours in German
Hallertau Hop pellets.
Chris said, “Homebrewers
like to share beer and push the envelope with their creative recipes by adding
unique flavorings from star anise to pine needle to coffee to bourbon
soaked oak chips. There are also the brewers that like to stay the way of
traditional brewing and try to emulate the brewers from centuries past.
We start any beginner brewers off with extract brewing, which uses the malt
extract as the sugar base. There are also advanced homebrewers that use no malt
extract, but rather extract the sugars from the grains in a process called
mashing. This is called all-grain brewing--a much more involved but exact
brewing method.”
If you know the style of beer you want to brew, you can call
someone like Chris and he will prepackage the ingredients for you accordingly.
“Many of the recipes of popular, commercial beers can be cloned from online
recipes. The homebrewed beer won’t taste exactly the same because of equipment
and storage differences, but it will get pretty close to the flavor you are
looking for.“
Chris and his wife,
Melissa, enjoy making beer every weekend to try new recipes for their monthly
newsletter. They host four beer competitions a year where they invite brewers
to submit their best for a taste testing among themselves. The winner takes
home a gift certificate to their shop. Melissa said many of their customers have
become friends as they enjoy tastings and sharing their favorite recipes with
each other. Chris and Melissa publish
their recipes, such as their “Winter Wass-ale,” a brew that includes cinnamon
and nutmeg, on their website.
According to Chris, the
basic ingredients for beer can be purchased separately or in a prepackaged kit:
·
Malt--a
dried grain such as barley, wheat or rye, that provides the sugar base for the
yeast to eat (a process called fermentation), which creates the alcohol.
·
Hops--the
bitter, female flowers (also called cones) of the hop plant that
offsets the sweet of the malt. In addition to balancing the inherent sweetness
of beer, hops also act as a preservative. Hops are sold as compressed green
pellets or dried whole cones.
·
Yeast--a
single-celled fungus that ferments sugars and other carbohydrates.
·
Optional
ingredients: spices, herbs, fruits, fruit flavorings, etc.
The
primary ingredient of beer, of course, is water. Most any kind of water will do
without treating it, but the water quality can affect the taste of
beer.
The following basic
equipment, which can be purchased separately or in a kit, is needed to make a
5-gallon batch:
Thermometer: Controlling temperature
is critical to beer making. For example, the temperature of the wort when
the yeast is thrown in (pitched) affects the type of beer produced. If the
yeast is pitched when the wort is too hot, it will kill the yeast. “Yeast
are like bumble bees,” said Chris. “If the brew is too cold, the yeast becomes
‘lethargic’ and are slow to do their job.” Chris said to make ale, the
yeast should be pitched when the wort is at 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit. To make lager, the yeast should be pitched
when the wort’s temperature is in the mid-50s.
Primary fermentor: Usually a large plastic
pail—needs to hold an extra gallon or so to accommodate the foam that forms during fermentation (known as Krausen).
Cover: An airtight lid to
place over primary fermentor.
Carboy: A large glass (or plastic bottle) that is used as the secondary
fermentor.
Fermentation lock: Also called a water
seal. It’s a device that fits into the carboy to allow carbon dioxide to escape
without letting oxygen in.
Hydrometer: This is used to measure
the density of the wort and beer in regard to the amount of fermentable sugar
at various stages of fermentation.
Siphoning hose: Used to transfer liquid
between containers.
Bottles: Bottles are long-neck for
ease of capping. Popular sizes are 12 and 22 oz.
Capper: A little device that
helps you clamp on bottle caps.
For more information
about beer brewing or beer brewing supplies, contact Chris or Melissa of Craft
Brews Supplies at 401-539-2337, or
visit: www.craftbrewssupplies.com.
For folks who are serious about learning how to brew beer, Chris recommends the following books: “How to Brew” by John Palmer and “The complete joy of Home Brewing” by Charlie Papazian.
Who knows, if not
drunken to excess, beer just might save your life someday. During the age of the Egyptian pharaohs, it
was prescribed to treat scorpion bites.
For free online brewing
instructions, visit the American Homebrewers Association at www.homebrewersassociation.org. This website includes information on every state’s law regarding
homebrewing. Though homebrewing is legal in every state, it is not legal
to sell home brewed beer.
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