Learn How To Homebrew By Making Malt Extract Beer At Home
The easiest way to get going with homebrewing beer is by brewing with malt extract. Brewing by using malt extract removes the need to produce a mash.. When referring to beer brewing, mashing is the process of heating up malted barley or various other brewing grains to a specific temperature. The malted barley grains are subsequently kept at a certain heat range for a fixed length of time so as to cause the enzymes in the malted grains to break down the starches in the malted barley into different sugar compounds. The type of sugar formed is usually maltose. It is this sugar that eventually yeast will devour and convert into alcohol and carbon dioxide, producing beer.
Once the grain has been mashed, the homebrewer is left with mash. Creating mash can be fairly complex due to the sizable amounts of heated water required, and the elaborate process of straining and draining out the sugary liquid from the used grains. This type of brewing is referred to as all grain brewing. I suggest that folks don’t start with all-grain brewing and instead first become comfortable with malt extract brewing. Malt extract brewing removes the need to produce a mash. Industrial malt companies create mash and by using evaporation reduce it to a concentrated powder or thick syrup. Home brewers can buy this concentrated malt extract and use it to create their own beer without having to endure the complicated and frustrating process of producing a mash.
Most home brew batch sizes are five gallons, so if you are producing a mash, you’ll need a stock pot at least that big along with other equipment required to drain and rinse all of the grains. All-grain homebrewers also need to maneuver around these large volumes of liquid and grains, which may weigh more than sixty lbs and be fairly hazardous due to the high temps. Extract brewing, on the other hand, is much less complicated. There is no need for such large cooking pots and volumes of boiling liquid because you are not making a mash. For a five gallon batch of beer you’ll only need to boil about two gallons of water along with the malt extract, which will make things a lot easier.
Hops are added at various intervals throughout the 60 minute boil to impart flavor and aroma to offset the sweetness of the malt. The longer hops are boiled, the more bitter your beer will be.. These types of hops are referenced as bittering hops. Hops that are included near the end of the boil are identified as aroma hops as little bitterness is produced, but the hop smell is. For a number of beers like holiday or other such herbal beers, spices and herbs are added near the conclusion of the boil as well.
When your boil is completed, you have what is known as wort. The outcome is the same whether you brewed all-grain or if you brewed by using malt extract syrup. This hot liquid now must be cooled off to seventy degrees or less as rapidly as possible. The hard work is completed, now it’s time to let the yeast to work it’s magic. Once the wort is cooled you add the yeast and wait for fermentation, which should begin within 12 hours. Depending on the beer style, within 2 weeks you will have a finished beer ready for bottling or kegging. Brewing using malt extract syrup is a fantastic way to get rolling with home brewing, but you can absolutely produce some tasty beer using this technique.
Steve Pavilanis is an expert homebrewer who loves teaching others the pleasures of home brewing. Learn more about homebrewing and stop by our instructional video website where you will learn how to brew your own beer. It’s easier than you think!
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