Part Five Side A - God’s Happiness: Advanced Homebrewing
In Part Five Side A of God's Gift of Happiness, Jason Nolan and Jon Sleight explain the all-grain brewing process, which requires more advanced knowledge of grains, hops and yeast and equipment such as a wort chiller.
Before they start brewing using the all-grain method, brewers must first determine which grains they will use. Will they use just malted grains or a combination of malted and unmalted grains? What level of roast do they want with those grains? Just as the level of roast for coffee beans can determine the taste and color of brewed coffee, the level of roast for the malted or unmalted barley will determine the taste characteristics and the color of beer. Will brewers also use oats? Wheat? How about hops? If so, which ones will they use and when will they add them to the boil? Do they want a strong or mild hop flavored beer? What about additional flavorings such as apricot, pine, or espresso?
During the boil, brewers need to closely monitor and control the temperature not only at the bottom of the kettle, but also at the top. If the mash — consisting primarily of wet grains and hops — isn’t well circulated during the hour-long boil, that could lead to off-flavors, or worse, contamination of the wort. That’s because the settled mash could act as a thermal barrier at the bottom of the kettle, scorching the bottom third while not allowing the top of the boil to reach the 212-degree temperature required to pasteurize the entire wort prior to fermentation. Think of the mash as steeping loose-leaf tea, and the wort as the liquid from the steeping tea leaves. Only the entire mash and wort must be kept at a constant boiling temperature for one hour.
After boiling comes the rest — which must be done fairly quickly in order to lower the temperature down to an optimal point depending on the type of yeast being used. There’s also the fermentation process. Most yeast ferment beer at around room temperature. But there are also cold-tolerant yeast that can ferment beer at around refrigerator temperatures.
As Jason and Jon observe, the extract method offers a great starting point for beginners. As brewers gain experience and the proper equipment, by introducing different grains into their brew before boiling, or changing the type of yeast for fermentation, brewers can fine tune the taste of their creations based on personal preferences.
Music credits
“Cryin In My Beer,” by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Artist: http://audionautix.com/
“Lone Wolf,” by Dan Lebowitz
Photo credits
Various East Coast style IPAs by naiserie
Mountain Sun Oatimus Prime Imperial Oatmeal Stout by tomstar3000