homebrew/INGREDIENTS

Barley, hops, yeast and water. Who would have thought that just four ingredients could combine to produce such a fantastic beverage as beer. Sugar is extracted from the barley, hops are added for bitterness, then yeast goes to work and converts much of the sugars into alcohol. While these are the building blocks, many breweries and home brewers add extras to make subtle, or not-so-subtle, changes to their beers.

The essentials

Malted barley

Malted barley is essential to make beer and is the main ingredient in almost every brew. Without malted barley, we would have no beer.

But the barley has to be malted before it can be used to make beer, because its starch is insoluble. The act of malting was probably discovered by accident and has been refined over the years. It involves moistened barley grains being kept warm so that they germinate and produce an enzyme. When the grain is just sprouting, it is heated to kill the seed and stop germination. The higher the temperature, the darker the grain will be. The grain is now known as malt.

To extract the sugar, the malt is mashed. During this process, the malt is insfused with warm water (called liquor, and usually between 60 and 70 degrees) and held at this temperature for up to two hours while the enzyme produced during malting converts the starch to fermentable sugars. During mashing, different temperatures produce different proportions of fermentable and unfermentable sugars, which will dictate whether the finished beer has a thin or heavy body (i.e whether it will be watery or malty).

After mashing the sweet liquid, called wort, is drained off slowly and the grain rinsed gently in warm water to extract the last of the sugars. The liquid is boiled and hops and other ingredients are added at various stages during the boil, which can be up to two hours. Hops added at the start of the boil will produce bitterness, while towards the end they contribute to flavor and aroma. The mixture is strained and cooled ready for the yeast to be added.

Instead of going through the laborious task of mashing, many homebrewers (and some smaller craft breweries) use malt extract. A manufacturer does the hard work or mashing, then condenses the sweet liquid, resulting in a thick syrup that can be rehydrated at home. It is also available as a powder. Liquid and dried malt extract come in light and dark forms. Wheat malt is also available.

Canned brewing kits available at homebrew shops and supermarkets are liquid malt to which hops have been added. They are effectively a beer that has gone through the preparation process and been condensed at the stage when yeast would usually be added.

Different grains can be added to your beer to give it different characteristics. Some will add body, others color and some both. They are usually added in small quantites to make subtle differences to beers. The variety of barley and even where it is grown can affect its flavor.

The most common malted barleys are:

Lager malt gives a soft, clean and slightly sweet finish and a golden color to beers such as Pilsner Urquell.
Pale malt is the basic ingredient in English pale ales and bitters.
Mild ale malt is similar to pale malt but is slightly darker and made with higher-nitrogen barley.
Vienna malt is German and imparts a malty-to-nutty aroma. It is produced with barley of normal to slightly higher protein content. Traditionally used for beers with marked malty character of dark color.
Munich malt imparts rounded, full flavors with some hints of coffee. Quite a rare malt for homebrewers to find or use. It has undergone more kilning than lager malt, which gives it more aroma, a fuller body, malty flavor and color. If this is the main malt used, it will produce a slightly darker beer than one made with Vienna malt. Small amounts added to the mash (or boil if making a malt extract) will improve the malty flavor. Use in dark and amber lagers and bocks.
Amber malt has a biscuity taste and is used in mild, old and brown ales and some bitters. It is a darker version of mild ale malt.
Victory malt, or biscuit malt, gives a deep golden to brown color and a rich toasted taste. Excellent to use in nut brown ales, porters and ales. About 5 to 10 per centof the total grain bill, if mashing, is enough. Imparts a malt flavor without the sweetness of crystal malt.
Crystal malt, or caramel malt, gives a nutty flavor to copper-colored ales, in which it is used widely. A high proportion of unfermentable sugars means it adds body to the finished beer. It is malted in its husk during production and thus will add sugars to the wort without having to be mashed. Comes in various types.
Chocolate malt is used in dark beers such as porter and stout. It is heated to high temepratures, which gives it a chocolate-type character. Smaller quantities produce a nutty flavor and deep ruby red color
Black malt is the darkest malt. It is a lot darker than chocolate malt but also imparts a burnt taste, which can be overpowering if used in anything but small quantities. Used in dark ale, stout and porter.

Other malted grains are:

Malted wheat gives a tart, refreshing flavor to beer. It must be mashed with barley as it does not contain the enzyme to convert its starches to soluble sugar and needs to “borrow” these enzymes from the barley. Used in the production of weizenbier and weissbier. Small amounts (3 to 6 per cent) in the mash (or boil if making a malt extract recipe) aid head retention but do not affect the flavor. If mashing a wheat beer, 40 to 70 per cent can be used in the mash with the rest Barley malt.
White wheat malt is used in the production of weizenbier and weissbier. It gives a malty flavor that raw wheat does not impart. It is necessary to adhere to the reinheitsgebot German purity law. White wheat malt contributes to foam production and foam stability.
Brown malt, peated malt or smoked malt has been dried over wood or peat fires, which imparts a smoky taste. Once, before coal and coke were widely used, most malt was dried like this, meaning that most beers were smoky. Should be used sparingly (100g to 200g per brew).
Malted oats are usually used in stout or porter. They add smoothness and can counteract harsh flavors imparted by hard water.
Caravienne malt is a light crystal malt used in light specialty beer and Abbey-style ales. Adds rich caramel sweetness and aroma and makes for a fuller flavored beer.
Carapils, or dextrine, malt balances body and flavor without adding color or sweetness. It is a lighter crystal malt and its dextrines add body and mouth-feel as well as helping head retention.
Caramunich malt is a medium crystal malt that will enhance malt aroma and produce a copper color, caramel flavor and improve body. Like other crystal malts it improves head retention and leaves unfermentable and caramelised sugars.
Caramalt malt is a light crystal malt that is good for adding sweetness, body and golden color. Adds good mouth-feel due to unfermentable dextrines.
Acid malt is a German malt, which has lactic acids on the outside of the grain that gives the malt a slightly sour taste.

Hops Click here for an extensive list of hop varieties, their uses and characteristics.

Beer with no hops would be sickly sweet, as the bitterness from the hops balances the sweetness. Hops are the flower cone of the Lupis plant and a relative of cannabis.

Some hops, which are high in bitter acids, are mainly used to make beers bitter and are known as bittering or copper hops. Many commercial brewers prefer to use these hops because a smaller quantity is required to make a beer of a given bitterness. However, the taste tends to be harsh. The Pride of Ringwood hop is a bittering hop and is used by just about every Australian brewery. We have found it leaves an astringent taste when used in our homebrews so we now use lower-bitterness hops.

On the other hand, some hops are low in bitter acids, but have a pleasant smell. These are generally known as aroma hops, but can be used to make beer bitter. Many ale brewers add aroma hops towards the end of the production process to add a “nose” and taste to their beers.

These low-acid hops are also used by brewers of high-quality beers (including some of the world's classics such as Pilsner Urquell) to bitter their beers, because while more hops are needed to produce a given bitterness, the results are more subtle and rounded.

For the homebrewer, cost isn't a major factor, so if a recipe's ingredients include a high-bitterness hop, we recomment using slightly more of a lower-bitterness hop such as Goldings or Fuggles for ales and Saaz or Hallertau in lagers.

Hops are available to the homebrewer in three forms:

Leaf hops, or hop cones, are whole hop flowers that have been picked, dried and compressed into bales. Because the processing for whole hops is minimal, most of the flowers' delicate glands containing the aromatic oils and resins are intact. However, because the surface of the hop flower, is exposed to air, they are more prone to going off and their oils breaking down. Therefore, freshness is essential when buying and using hop cones. If your recipe calls for hop pellets and you use cones, use about 25 per cent more cones.
Plug hops are whole hop flowers compressed into large pellets. The processing leaves the hop flower somewhat more intact than with hop pellets.
Hop pellets are pulverised hop flowers compressed into small cylindrical pellets. Many feel these are the best form of hop because there is minimum exposure to the air and the oils and aromas remain trapped inside the pellets. Usually, the pellets are sealed in a foil bag, which helps preserve them. If a recipe calls for hop flowers or cones and you use pellets, use about 20 per cent less pellets.

When buying hops, make sure they have been stored in a cool place (preferably a refrigerator) away from light, which destroys flavors and bitter oils, and in an airtight bag or container. Old hops aren't necessarily bad hops, if they have been stored correctly. In fact, some Belgian brewers use aged hops, which lose their bitterness yet retain their preserving power. A common problem with hops is that they are not stored well, either during transport or in your homebrew shop. For this reason, it may be that using a locally grown hop similar to what the recipe calls for is preferable to using an imported hop that has been allowed to deteriorate during its journey. The fresher local hop may in fact possess more of the important characteristics than the old, badly stored import.

Yeast

Yeast is a micro-organism that consumes sugar and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. There are two broad categories of yeast; top-fermenting and bottom-fermenting. Top-fermenting yeasts are also known as ale yeasts and rise to the top of the brew while they eat the sugars and produce alcohol. Top-fermenting yeasts typically produce a beer which has a more fruity nose and more body (is thicker or more syrupy) than a beer made with a lager yeast. Lager yeast will result in a beer that is more “crisp” and have a less malty body than a beer made with an ale yeast. Individual yeasts within these categories will produce different tastes and aromas.

Another important difference for homebrewers to note is that lager yeasts will ferment at much lower temperatures than ale yeasts. It will also produce its best flavors if kept cooler.

Some beer, almost exclusively lambic beer in Belgium, is made by spontaneous fermentation, in which the wort is left to cool and attract wild yeast in large open vats. We recommend that you don't try this at home. You're more likely to end up with an undrinkable beer than a Belgian-style masterpiece. After all, the baceria flying around your house is unlikely to be the same as in the centuries-old brewhouses of the Belgian countryside.

Water

You may not think it, but the type of water, not just its cleanliness, is a very important ingredient in beer. It is generally accepted that the quality of the ales of Burton-on-Trent in England is largely due to the local water. Likewise, water is an important factor in the magnificent lagers that come from the Czech Republic. “Hard” water, which is high in dissolved salts, is best for brewing ales, while “soft” water, which has fewer salts, is best suited to lagers. Many homebrewers boil and add certain minerals to their brewing water, although the majority probably don't. Most use water straight from the tap. Water treatment becomes more important when mashing grains yourself to produce a wort. The bottom line is that if your water is hard or soft, it will not cause you to brew a bad beer, either ale or lager.

Other ingredients

Sugars

Dextrose and glucose are totally fermentable and so add alcohol content but no taste or body to your beer. Use them instead of cane sugar, which does not ferment cleanly and tends to produce a “cidery” taste.
Invert sugar is can sugar that has already had some of its molecular bonds broken, which makes the yeast's work easier. Because the yeast does not have to make the invertase enzyme to break down the molecules, invert sugar does not produce cidery “tang” associated with regular cane sugar.
Cane sugar should not be used as the main sugar in your beer as it can produce off flavors. Use glucose or dextrose instead. However, some cane sugars, such as brown sugar or demerara sugar, can be used in smaller quantities to add color or flavor.
Belgian candi sugar Adds a smooth taste. Adds body and alcohol without being very apparent. Available in different colors, influencing the appearance of a beer. Darker candi sugar may add a rummy character to stronger Belgian styles.
Lactose, or milk sugar, is not fermentable so makes beer sweeter. It is used to make milk stouts and sweet stouts.
Maple syrup, when used in small amounts, adds a dry, woodsy, smoky flavor. Larger amounts can be strongly sweet.
Honey, molasses, golden syrup, etc, can also be added to beer to produce specific tastes and styles.

Other grains

While malted barley is the main grain used in beer, other grains can be used in small quantities to give a variety of results.

Other grains include:

Roasted barley is similar to black malt, but gives a smoother and drier taste and is lighter in color. It is used widely in mild ales and porters and is ideal for brewing Irish stouts. Has a strong coffee-like burnt flavor. Also improves body and aids in head retention. Small amounts (25-50g) produce a deep reddish color and complex nuttiness.
Flaked barley imparts a rich, grainy flavor to milds, stouts, poters and bitters. Also aids head retention. Used at 2 to 12 per cent of the grain bill. Can cause haziness, which is not an issue in dark beers, but can be a problem in lighter-colored beers.
Unmalted wheat gives a graininess to beer and is also used by some breweries to improve head retention.
Oatmeal and rolled oats are only used in quite dark beers because they form a haze. Like malted oats, they can counteract harshness caused by hard water. Adds body, sweetness and aids head retention while giving a smooth, grainy character.
Flaked wheat malt contributes less color than wheat malt and is mainly used to increase head retention.
Rye gives a subtle spicy graininess and dense head. Use about 5 to 25 per cent in a mash.
Flaked maize and maize grits (corn) have a subtle flavor and are ideally used in delicate beers. It is nitrogen-free and is used by commercial brewers to dilute beer made with high-nitrogen barley, which can cause haze. Maize grits must be cooked before mashing to gelatinise the starch. Cheap way to lift alcohol content.
Flaked rice and rice grits is colorless and odorless. Like maize, it is nitrogen-free. Flaked rice can be mashed directly, but mash grits (including household rice) must be gently crushed and boiled for 15 minutes before being mashed. More expensive than corn, but produces crisper, lighter tasting beer.
Torrefied wheat is popular with British breweries in the production of pale ale. Aids head retention and contributes slightly to fermentables.

Head improver

If you find you are getting bad head on your beer, you can add vegetable starches such as corn syrup, dried corn syrup or malto-dextrin to improve things. Before you do this though, consider that a bad head may also be caused by dirty glasses (have you rinsed them thoroughly in hot water after washing to remove all traces of detergent?). Identical glasses can also produce different heads. If you're having trouble, try sratching a cross in the bottom of the glass with a glass cutter. If you still have trouble, add some wheat as you make your beer.

Fermentation modifiers

These are enzymes that change the way in which your beer ferments. We steer well clear of these types of things. It's just not natural.
Fermentation modifiers include:

Amylase, sometimes called speedase, treats hazes caused by starch. So, you've got some haze in your beer. Who cares? It's still going to taste the same.
The same goes for chill haze enzyme, to treat haze caused by protein suspended in the beer.
Low-calorie enzyme allows the yeast to break down more of the malt, resulting in a beer with a lighter body and more alcohol. Adding less malt and more glucose or dextrose will achieve the same result. And it's natural.

Finings

Finings help ensure your finished beer will be clear. They are not essential and do not affect the taste. However, using them may make the beer more stable and improve shelf life.

Copper finings, which are added to the copper during the boil, work by attracting proteins and precipitating them out. The most common copper fining is Irish moss, which is a seaweed. Copper finings prevent “chill haze”, that is protein clouding the beer when chilled.
Finings to help yeast drop out of suspension and clear the beer are added when fermentation has finished, either to the fermenter or the barrel to which the beer has been transferred. The most common fining is household gelatine. One 15g sachet will fine a 23-litre brew.
The preferred method of fining among commercial brewers is isinglass, made from the swim bladder of the sturgeon fish, because it is more effective than gelatine. Among homebrewers (even if it can be obtained), it is less popular as it is more fussy to use. Also, it is breaks down into simple gelatine if not refrigerated, although dried isinglass is now available. About 150-200ml is required for a typical brew.

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