Simple things that make HB better
Posted: Wednesday Jan 11, 2006 8:27 pmSeeing we have a host of new brewers joining the fraternity, I thought I'd start a thread on the simple things that any brewer can do to make a better HB.
I'll list a few, and anyone else can jump on board.
1) Rack your beer!
Whatever it takes, go to your local HB shop and buy a second fermenter and some food-grade hose. It is a simple step, that will SIGNIFICANTLY improve your beers flavour and clarity.
2) Use either light dry malt (LDM/LME) or liquid malt extract.
The days of 1kg of white sugar are over. The days of Coopers brewing sugar (with sucrose) are over. Depending on your style of beer, I believe 500g LDM is a minimum. 1kg of LDM alone in my beers are almost standard. You are not doing your beer a favour by using dextrose and maltodextrin alone. (will this point be controversial?)
3) Never use kit yeast.
If you've been reading any of the many recent posting on this forum, you would already know why. The yeast can be too old, or just simply cheap and nasty. It makes good yeast nutrient though. Safale and saflager are a very good (and inexpensive substitute). Liquid yeasts, whilst more expensive, are well worth the money when it comes to the quality of your beer. Remember, the yeast is the thing that makes your beer!
Good yeast = good beer.
4) Control your temperature.
This is probably the most difficult thing to do of all the things I have mentioned. But if you can keep your lagers at 9*C and your ales at 19*C, you will have good beer.
These are getting a little more difficult now...
5) Do a stove-top boil.
Save yourself from dancing around the brewing area with a boiling kettle in one hand, a hot can of concentrate in the other, and your thermometer in your third hand, trying to wash the last of the concentrate out of the can, mix in your malt, and hope that the brew is the correct temperature to pitch your yeast.
Put it all (not the yeast!) into a big pot on the stove, leasurely scrape out the can, gently stir in your malt, sit back and have a beer whilst it heats up. Then when you are ready, add your steeped specialty grain (point 6) and your extra hops (point 7).
Easy.
6) Use specialty grains.
Buy yourself a 125g bag of crystal (or whatever). Simply stick it in some hot water, and let it sit. Pour the contents into your boil, or the fermenter (straining out the grain husks). This adds a big new dimension to your beer. BIG. I highly recommend.
7) Add extra hops.
The simplest way is to buy a "teabag" of hops from any HB store (and even some Big W). Put into a cup of boiling water for a bit, then add to your brew. Dead easy.
I hope that these few ideas will help some of our newer brewing brothers achieve that quality of beer that their wives etc will live to regret. Remember, if she gave you the gear, she can't complain that you spend too much time/money/effort/space using it.
The first four points are the most useful to new brewers, and I can almost guarantee that you won't go back to your old methods once you have tasted the difference.
I'll list a few, and anyone else can jump on board.
1) Rack your beer!
Whatever it takes, go to your local HB shop and buy a second fermenter and some food-grade hose. It is a simple step, that will SIGNIFICANTLY improve your beers flavour and clarity.
2) Use either light dry malt (LDM/LME) or liquid malt extract.
The days of 1kg of white sugar are over. The days of Coopers brewing sugar (with sucrose) are over. Depending on your style of beer, I believe 500g LDM is a minimum. 1kg of LDM alone in my beers are almost standard. You are not doing your beer a favour by using dextrose and maltodextrin alone. (will this point be controversial?)
3) Never use kit yeast.
If you've been reading any of the many recent posting on this forum, you would already know why. The yeast can be too old, or just simply cheap and nasty. It makes good yeast nutrient though. Safale and saflager are a very good (and inexpensive substitute). Liquid yeasts, whilst more expensive, are well worth the money when it comes to the quality of your beer. Remember, the yeast is the thing that makes your beer!
Good yeast = good beer.
4) Control your temperature.
This is probably the most difficult thing to do of all the things I have mentioned. But if you can keep your lagers at 9*C and your ales at 19*C, you will have good beer.
These are getting a little more difficult now...
5) Do a stove-top boil.
Save yourself from dancing around the brewing area with a boiling kettle in one hand, a hot can of concentrate in the other, and your thermometer in your third hand, trying to wash the last of the concentrate out of the can, mix in your malt, and hope that the brew is the correct temperature to pitch your yeast.
Put it all (not the yeast!) into a big pot on the stove, leasurely scrape out the can, gently stir in your malt, sit back and have a beer whilst it heats up. Then when you are ready, add your steeped specialty grain (point 6) and your extra hops (point 7).
Easy.
6) Use specialty grains.
Buy yourself a 125g bag of crystal (or whatever). Simply stick it in some hot water, and let it sit. Pour the contents into your boil, or the fermenter (straining out the grain husks). This adds a big new dimension to your beer. BIG. I highly recommend.
7) Add extra hops.
The simplest way is to buy a "teabag" of hops from any HB store (and even some Big W). Put into a cup of boiling water for a bit, then add to your brew. Dead easy.
I hope that these few ideas will help some of our newer brewing brothers achieve that quality of beer that their wives etc will live to regret. Remember, if she gave you the gear, she can't complain that you spend too much time/money/effort/space using it.
The first four points are the most useful to new brewers, and I can almost guarantee that you won't go back to your old methods once you have tasted the difference.
Good thread Chris , things that I have read here since joining and have put into use are now coming into fruit .
