Beer is created using a basic mixture of water, hops, malted barley and yeast. Depending on the type of beer being brewed, taste enhancements such as flavourings and sugar will be added. Starches are also incorporated into the beer so that sugars will easily ferment during the brewing process. The fermented sugars add body and flavour, while increasing the alcohol content.

Water
Beer is mainly composed of water, so the source of the water and its characteristics has an important effect on the character of the beer. Many beer styles were influenced by the characteristics of water in the region. Some beer makers claim that spring water or mountain water create their unique flavour and body. Understanding the effects of water minerals can be complex, but basically soft water is suited to light brews, where hard water is more suitable for dark beers.

Hops
Since the seventeenth century, hops have been used as a popular bittering agent in beer. Adding hops is important, as the bitterness helps to counteract the sweetness of the malts. Hops also contribute a variety of aromas ranging from herbal to citrus. The bitterness in beer is generally measured using the International Bitterness Units scale. Hops also provide an antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer’s yeast over less desirable microorganisms.

Malt
Every beer requires malt in its basic recipe. Brew masters can choose to use malted oats, rye, wheat or rice, but malted barley is most commonly used. Malted barley has high amylase content, and a digestive enzyme that helps break the starches down into sugars. The choice of malts depends heavily on what grains are cultivated locally. To create malt the grains are soaked in water, allowed to germinate, then dried in a kilt. As grain is malted, naturally occurring enzymes work to gradually convert starches into fermentable sugars.

Yeast
Yeast is a living microorganism that creates fermentation. The brew master will choose from different strains of yeast, depending on the type of beer produced. Yeast helps metabolize sugars extracted from the grains, and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide as a result. Before the functions of yeast were fully understood, beers were fermented using wild or airborne yeasts. Today there is a variety of yeasts available, with ale yeast and lager yeast being most commonly used.

Clarifying agent
Many brewers prefer to add one or more clarifying agents to beer, but are not required to publish these agents as "ingredients". Isinglas, bentonite, gelatin finings and Irish moss powder are all commonly used as clarification agents. Isinglas is a gelatinous substance obtained from the swim bladders of fish, so if you’re concerned about consuming animal products, be sure to ask of detailed content information from the brewer of your preferred beer.

Next time you pour yourself a cold pint, stop to consider the careful choice of ingredients and the lengthy brewing process that were involved in creating your little glass of heaven. Raise a toast to your brew master, and leave your car keys at home.
 

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Most beer drinkers have entertained the thought of getting involved with home beer brewing especially when they think of the cost of beer these days. There is something about the idea of having friends visit on a hot day, getting the BBQ fired up and bringing out your home brew, that is really quite enticing. But is it something YOU want to do?

Home beer brewing can be as simple as getting yourself a micro-brewing kit and everything you need to turn out your first lot of home brew or as complicated as getting all the ‘right’ equipment, learning all the right processes and making an income out of it.

When I started my home brewing, I was about to leap into it in a big way, until a friend told me that home beer brewing needs to be approached a little more cautiously. He said, "Jim, with home beer brewing, you need to dip your toes into the water before you decide to dive into it." And he was right. I was really glad he had been there to give me this advice otherwise I would have got in way over my head and not had any appreciation for the dangerous snags waiting to catch out the unwary home brewer.

I dropped a little money on a micro-brewing kit. It wasn’t expensive, and had everything I needed to get started. My first dip into home beer brewing ended up with a very drinkable brew and one I was pleased to share with my mates. They enjoyed the free beer too and several of them are now turning out their own home brew with mixed results but a lot of fun.

I eventually got involved in a bigger way. I ended up investing in all the right equipment to make a bigger brew and now I have quite a nice home brewing operation going on in my shed. (My wife put her foot down about using the basement because the whole house smelt like a brewery – go figure!)

There is a lot to learn about making a good home brew. There is the equipment, the hops, the malt, the yeast, the quality of the water, the cooking, the fermentation process and that’s just the beginning.

So what do you want to do? Take on home beer brewing as a hobby or do you think you want a bigger operation? Take my advice. Start small. Learn the ropes. A steady consistent brewer will turn out a steady consistent brew whereas someone who ‘flies by the seat of their pants’ will turn out cloudy brews that don’t smell too good and are only fit to be poured down a drain. Take a look at my blog. I have some recommendations for you, some advice and suggestions that just may turn your first experiment into home beer brewing into a very successful one.

Author: Jim Allan
Jim Allan started home beer brewing as a hobby and to save money. Once he started turning out good brews, his interest grew into something more than a hobby but just less than a source of income. Check out Jim’s blog for his fascinating take on homebrewing.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Allan

Beer is created using a basic mixture of water, hops, malted barley and yeast. Depending on the type of beer being brewed, taste enhancements such as flavourings and sugar will be added. Starches are also incorporated into the beer so that sugars will easily ferment during the brewing process. The fermented sugars add body and flavour, while increasing the alcohol content.

Water
Beer is mainly composed of water, so the source of the water and its characteristics has an important effect on the character of the beer. Many beer styles were influenced by the characteristics of water in the region. Some beer makers claim that spring water or mountain water create their unique flavour and body. Understanding the effects of water minerals can be complex, but basically soft water is suited to light brews, where hard water is more suitable for dark beers.

Hops
Since the seventeenth century, hops have been used as a popular bittering agent in beer. Adding hops is important, as the bitterness helps to counteract the sweetness of the malts. Hops also contribute a variety of aromas ranging from herbal to citrus. The bitterness in beer is generally measured using the International Bitterness Units scale. Hops also provide an antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer’s yeast over less desirable microorganisms.

Malt
Every beer requires malt in its basic recipe. Brew masters can choose to use malted oats, rye, wheat or rice, but malted barley is most commonly used. Malted barley has high amylase content, and a digestive enzyme that helps break the starches down into sugars. The choice of malts depends heavily on what grains are cultivated locally. To create malt the grains are soaked in water, allowed to germinate, then dried in a kilt. As grain is malted, naturally occurring enzymes work to gradually convert starches into fermentable sugars.

Yeast
Yeast is a living microorganism that creates fermentation. The brew master will choose from different strains of yeast, depending on the type of beer produced. Yeast helps metabolize sugars extracted from the grains, and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide as a result. Before the functions of yeast were fully understood, beers were fermented using wild or airborne yeasts. Today there is a variety of yeasts available, with ale yeast and lager yeast being most commonly used.

Clarifying agent
Many brewers prefer to add one or more clarifying agents to beer, but are not required to publish these agents as "ingredients". Isinglas, bentonite, gelatin finings and Irish moss powder are all commonly used as clarification agents. Isinglas is a gelatinous substance obtained from the swim bladders of fish, so if you’re concerned about consuming animal products, be sure to ask of detailed content information from the brewer of your preferred beer.

Next time you pour yourself a cold pint, stop to consider the careful choice of ingredients and the lengthy brewing process that were involved in creating your little glass of heaven. Raise a toast to your brew master, and leave your car keys at home.

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It didn’t take much time after the discovery of malting to discover beer. Someone probably allowed their malted barley to get wet and remain exposed to the elements. Perhaps wild yeast contaminated the exposed liquid. The yeast then took hold and multiplied generating a bubbly liquid of alcohol and barley that soon became the first beer.

Today, there are many people who enjoy home beer brewing. The main ingredients include malted barley, hops, yeast and water. Like wines, beers have many different flavors. This is caused by differences in the the type of malt, the moisture content, the type of barley used and the temperature used in the kiln.

Malted barley, also known as malt, is barley that has been soaked in water until it starts to sprout. A kiln is then used to dry it out. Barley has a hard husk, is low in protein and high in starch, making it perfect for brewing beer.

The next crucial beer making ingredient is hops. Hops are flowers which provide a natural preservative quality and bitterness to the beer.

The third ingredient is yeast. Yeast may be the most important beer making ingredient. Yeast is a living creature that lives off the ingredients in beer. It is responsible for converting sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide in the fermentation stage.

The final ingredient is water. This is an important ingredient considering that beer is 90% water. For better tasting beer, it’s best to always use quality water.

Beer is made from simple ingredients, but the process of brewing beer can be a little bit more complicated than it seems. If you love beer, you might find home beer making very enjoyable.

Here is an overview of the beer brewing process:

Steep and boil malt and hops
Ferment for one week
Transfer to secondary fermenter for two weeks
Transfer to clarifying keg for one week
Transfer to serving keg
Pressurize beer keg to carbonate for 7 days
Serve!

Many people who decide to make beer at home often choose to buy a beer making kit. This is often the easiest way to get started, so you can begin enjoying the satisfaction of making your own beer at home.

Author: Eileen Childs

For more on home beer brewing please visit CocktailsAndBeerAndWine.com where you will find more information as well as tips and advice related to beer, wine and cocktails.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eileen_Childs

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If you, or someone you know, is looking for something to do in your spare time, consider brewing your own beer at home. This is a hobby that many people have started recently and they’re having a great time doing it. Home beer brewing is a creative hobby with added benefits – Great Tasting Beer! It’s also easy, fun, and affordable.

Getting the beer making kit and supplies that are necessary to make beer at home is easy. There are so many different kits available. Simply search the web and you’ll have your pick of kits. Because there are so many home brew kits available, you should have no problem finding one that fits what you are looking for.

I have included a link below to the kit I use. It came with everything I needed to start my home brewing "experiment." With my kit, I make batch after batch of great tasting beer right from my kitchen, no muss, no fuss (clean and easy for those whom might not understand my vernacular). In as little as two weeks, I have two gallons of beer.

These kits can run anywhere from as little as forty dollars to well over one hundred dollars or more. Some make the process very simple, like my kit, and some kits are much more involved. My kit, and the kits that I bought for my brother and father-in-law, cost $39.95 each.

Beer making is more fun than you might think. One of the more enjoyable aspects of home beer making is the ability to try different styles of beer. There are so many different styles and tastes that a person can make with their beer making kits, such as light beer, dark beer, bitter beer, sweet beer, etc. Most beer kit companies offer a variety of recipes. The kit I use has over 170 different recipes. This variety makes it easy to experiment with all the different kinds and tastes of beer that are out there. My brother, father-in-law, and I have each tried different recipes. We then got together to sample each others batch (any reason to get together to drink beer). It’s been so much fun, in fact, that we are now getting friends involved as well and their getting their own kits.

If you have been thinking about making your own beer at home, I highly encourage you to get a kit and start. My experience has been great. Let me say it again, home beer brewing is easy, fun, and affordable. Give it a try.

Author: Jeff Gilbert

Thanks for taking the time to read this article, I hope you found it useful. If you would like more information on the world’s most popular home beer kit, and the kit that I have so much fun using, please visit: http://www.homebrewery.weebly.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Gilbert

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Making beer at home uses the same chemistry and principals that a micro or commercial brewery would use. Follow these simple steps with slight modifications for your beer kit, and you’ll be drinking home brew in 2 weeks! Typically home made beer is brewed in batches of 2-5 gallons at a time. You can start your fermenting process tonight, let the wort ferment for a week and then bottle this first batch. that very same night, you can brew up another wort to start fermenting. In this way, you can always have fresh new brews ready to go for bottling and drinking.

The first step is brewing the wort. This is can be done entirely from scratch on your stovetop, or you can buy a starter can of "pre-hopped" malt (more about this later) to speed the process and make it a little less messy. At the end of this step, you’ll have the foundation of your future brew. Using a sterilized scoop or spoon, pour a little into a glass and let it cool down. Take a sip…can you taste the future?

The next step is to transfer the wort into the fermenter. A fermenter has a few pieces to it that you can assemble separately, or buy as a ready to assemble kit like the Mr. Beer fermenter. The fermeter is a 2-5 gallon glass or plastic container with a vented lid preventing air borne bacteria and mold spores from entering the liquid brew, but also allowing the gasses that are produced escape from the fermenter so that it doesn’t build up gas pressure and explode

Step 3 is bottling your beer! It takes place after a week or so of fermentation during which time the sugars and yeast from the original wort have run their course, producing alcohol as a byproduct. The higher the sugar content in the wort, the more alcohol will be produced. However, at this stage, the beer is "flat" with no bubbles…remember that we had to vent the gasses from the fermenter during the previous step.

When we bottle the beer, a small amount of sugar is added to each bottle and the fermented wort is siphoned off into each bottle which is then capped and allowed to rest for another week or more. During this time the remaining yeast produces more carbon dioxide bubbles…these are the bubbles that are released when the bottle is opened producing that nice foamy head and helping a fresh cold beer feel great when it hits your lips and tongue.

Author: Casey McCoy

Is home beer making really that simple? Take a look at what other equipment and supplies you’ll need at Home Beer Making. My six years of home beer making experience are at our disposal, feel free to stop by and ask me anything you need to know about brewing.

Do you know what the most important step in home beer making is? Stumped for the answer? Stop by my site to find out!

http://www.squidoo.com/Home-Beer-Making

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Casey_McCoy

One of the other great advantages of home made beer brewing is the opportunity to drink beer that is ‘live’. Almost every beer you buy has been pasteurized. Pasteurization requires the beer to be cooked, this kills the yeast and the beer tastes considerably dissimilar from ‘live’ beer (that is, beer containing live yeast). The beer will not age without live yeast. With home made beer brewing your beer is never pasteurized therefore the taste is a more natural flavor, and the beer will age, changing in taste, texture and color over time.

Most people who start with home made beer brewing are fed up with paying the bills for their beer, they are looking for ways to cut budget without compromising. Home made beer brewing can do that for you. "In the United States, typical equipment costs are approximately $75 – $99 plus the cost of a large kettle (about $35-$50). Ingredients for a typical 5 gallon batch range from $27 to $45 depending on beer style, using dry or liquid yeast and the store’s pricing. Additional costs such as bottles (about $10-$14 per case of 24 12 oz bottles) (which may be reused with adequate cleaning) and sanitizers should also be anticipated. It is possible to produce beers using domestic kitchen equipment, but as it is reasonably inexpensive, most enthusiasts quickly buy some specialist equipment."*

Home made beer brewing is a craft that is catching on fast throughout the world and it is not so difficult as you would think.

Home Made Beer Brewing, Step by Step

Basically there are just six steps in home made beer brewing:

1. Making wort or must. You can buy mash in the form of a kit initially. Later on you could go on to more complicated ones after you gain some experience. Mash is basically the product you obtain when malt and water are mixed and heated to make sugar. There are also no-boil kits available. This would give you a liquid called wort. You can buy the ready-made wort also if you have little patience.

2. Fermentation. Add yeast to your wort, this starts a chemical reaction resulting into carbon dioxide and alcohol.

3. Clarification.

4. Conditioning. After that the raw beer would be siphoned from its original container into a second one and coaxed to ferment some more. (Fermentation is actually complete, so the term secondary fermentation actually refers to conditioning.)

5. Packaging (in bottles, kegs or casks)

6. Enjoy!!!

Patience is required in home made beer brewing. The whole brewing process can take from two weeks to several months. depending on what kind of beer you are brewing. Most people who do home made beer brewing have several batches in different stages of completion to permit the dispensing of quality home brew at short notice.

As you can see, home made beer brewing is not difficult at all. Especially when you start out with a brewing kit, You can start today and see how easy Home Made Beer Brewing is.

* quote from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrewing

Author: Drew Brown

Drew Brown has one hobby and he loves to share it with the world. He just loves to brew his own beverages. http://www.brewingyourown.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Drew_Brown

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