A Brief Guide to Christmas Shopping for the Homebrewer

It’s getting to be that time of year again.  Tis the season for giant blow-up Santas, awkward family encounters, and grown adults pulling each other’s hair to get a deal on a TV.  Since Black Friday is a week from today (and Cyber Monday follows it), we decided to put out a list of a few homebrew-related gift ideas.  Whether you’re a brewer and don’t know what you want, or your favorite brewer has sent you this link a few times, hopefully we can assist in making this Christmas a very happy one indeed.  Also, just in case you haven’t been bulking up or doing wind sprints in preparation for Melee Shopping Day, we’ve embedded links to some of this stuff to allow you to do your shopping safely and with a beer in hand.

To Keg or Not to Keg?

So, you've gotten the hang of this brewing thing and you're thinking the hobby might stick. You're brewing good stuff, you're getting good feedback, and even saving money over buying craft beer. The only thing that you just can't stand is bottling. I have never met a homebrewer who enjoyed bottling day. Most see it as a necessary evil at best. Is there any hope of deliverance from the torturous tedium of bottling day?

The answer is YES! If you've picked up the hobby and enjoy beer, chances are you've at some point fantasized about having your own beer on tap any time you want. Salvation from bottle-covered counter tops and beer covered floors lies within that very fantasy. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Intuitively it is far easier to put 5 gallons of beer into one keg than 50 12-ounce bottles.

So you may be wondering why there is any question of whether or not you should switch to kegging. Well, before you go and throw out your stash of empty, label-free bottles, we'll go through some of the pros and cons.

PROS

Easy cleaning: No more scrubbing of 50 individual bottles or sanitizing caps.

Easy transfer: One vessel to sanitize, fill, and seal.

Beer on draft: I mean, come on, who doesn't like a fresh pint poured straight from the tap? You'll be the envy of all your friends, and find it much easier to convince them to hang out at your place.

Force carbonation: No more priming solution, or waiting a fortnight for the beer to bottle condition. While there is a bit of an art to this process, it is possible to cut the carbonation time down to days instead of weeks. Plus you never have to worry about putting too much priming solution in and making bottle bombs.

No yeast cake: You understand that there's nothing wrong with a little bit of sediment at the bottom of your bottles, but convincing your friends isn't quite as straightforward. Whether you pour it straight from tap to glass or bottle from the keg, you no longer have to explain to friends that they should leave a quarter inch of beer in the bottle to avoid getting that sediment.


CONS

Cost: Probably the biggest con of kegging vs. bottling. Bottles are basically free, and the cost of caps and everything else to execute a bottling day is very minor. For a lot of people, the upfront cost of a keg system can be prohibitive. At minimum, you need a keg, CO2 tank, regulator, lines, faucet, and a way to keep it cold. I'm not sure that there's a ceiling to how much you could put into a draft beer system.

Loss of portability: This has never really stopped Hacksaw or me, but I thought I'd throw it in for the sake of completeness. When you have 50 bottles just sitting in the basement, it is easier to just grab a six pack when you head to a party. With the keg, there has to be a bit more foresight, either to fill some bottles or growlers, or actually mobilize the keg.

So there you have it. Really, the biggest downside is the upfront cost. If you are going bare bones and trying to score an old minifridge, put one keg with a picnic tap in it, and call it a day, you're still probably looking at a couple hundred bucks. That being said, having made that transition myself, it is so worth it. Whether you buy a commercial kegerator, or convert a craigslist buy yourself, it is wonderful to have fresh draft beer on demand.

There are hundreds of ways you can set up your kegging system. If you've got the budget, the only limit to how many kegs to get is how much space you have and how much time you have to brew. For starting out, getting a system as a whole, like this one, with as many kegs as you need is a good way to go. This ensures you get the right connections, lines, regulators, etc.

The 5 gallon Cornelius kegs, especially the ball locks, have gotten a bit more expensive since I built my kegerator, but I have nothing but good things to say about the used soda kegs, and even have some upgrades planned to add a few in the near future. Another quick note. If you do get old soda kegs, don't worry if they're a little beat up, or even have some syrup still inside. A good cleaning and a couple of batches of beer will take the smell of Cherry Coke away in no time!

At the end of the day, a kegging system is a fantastic investment for the regular brewer. We will post something with more emphasis on a kegerator/keezer build in the future, but for now if I've sold you on the idea, check out sites like homebrewtalk for ideas and help with your particular build or buy.

Cheers!
Jacob

Cost-Effective Upgrades

So, you’ve started homebrewing, you’ve got a few batches under your belt, learned a couple of lessons along the way, and you want to keep pursuing the hobby.  Once you find that you might be willing to invest a little more money in your setup, there are a few items that are not essential by any means to brewing great beer, but they can make the process a little easier. 

Learn to Brew - Part III

Learn to Brew! 

This is the third in a series of posts on how to get started homebrewing. Click for Part I, Part II.

Part III: Bottle Your Beer

So it’s been a couple of weeks, and now this is it. The final push before you can sit back, crack a homebrew, and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The bottling process is a bit time consuming, but not nearly as long as brewday. Without further ado, let’s get this thing bottled so you can drink it soon!

Learn to Brew - Part II

Learn to Brew!

This is the second in a series of posts about how to break on to the homebrewing scene. For Part I, click here.

Part II: Your First Brew Day

Now that you have all of your supplies and ingredients for your first brewing creation, it’s time to walk through the first brew day. I’d like to give some serious props to John Palmer and his How to Brew for teaching me when I started out. He goes in to much more detail, and it’s a great read if you want to know more about the science and the “why” involved in brewing. Hacksaw read The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by the infamous Charlie Papazien before starting his homebrewing adventures. John Palmer is the preferred read but Charlie’s work – while dated - is still a classic and very helpful.

Learn to Brew - Part 1

Learn to Brew!

This is the first in a series of posts detailing how simple it really is to start brewing beer.  Tune in next week to get the schedule and procedure for your first brew day!

Part I:  The Tools

When I tell people that I brew my own beer, often I’m met with a look of disbelief.  Maybe some folks are impressed, but I usually get the impression that their first thought is “Really?  But you’re just a normal guy...” Truer words were never spoken (or thought).  I am just a normal guy, and there really is nothing special about me, or any other homebrewer, that gives us the unique talent to create our own delicious brews.  All it takes is a love of beer, a willingness to learn, and a few extra hours here and there.

My hope here is to convince anyone that if I can brew great beer, so can you!  This post will talk about the equipment you need to start out.  And really, it's not that much.  When I first started brewing I spent about $100 to get my equipment and my first set of ingredients.  Kits like these run about the same cost and come with everything you need except a pot, bottles, and caps.  Here, we’ll start by laying out the bare bones basics and throw in a few “extras” along the way.  (Note:  This post will talk about the requirements for extract brewing.  We’ll hit the upgrade to all-grain in a later post.)

Brewing Glossary

Not everyone brews beer, and not everyone wants to. And that’s okay! If you don’t, but are still entertained by our exploits (or you have those friends that won’t shut up about brewing and you have no idea what they’re talking about), here’s a quick cheat sheet for some of the brewing terms you may see around here.

ABV – Alcohol by Volume.

BBL – Also called a "barrel", refers to 31 gallons of beer.  A typical keg is half of a barrel, so 15.5 gallons.  When a brewer has "a __ barrel system", that simply means they brew double that number of kegs at a time.

Boil-over – Probably the highest potential for comedy (if it’s not you) or tragedy (if it is you) on a brew day. When the hot break wins and the wort starts boiling over the sides of the brew kettle.

Fermentation – process by which the yeast organisms consume the sugars in the wort and excrete alcohol and CO2.

Fermentor – vessel in which fermentation takes place. Ranges from a 6 gallon bucket for hombrewers, to large, conical bottom, stainless steel tanks for commercial brewers. Primary fermentor is typically where the bulk of the sugar-to-alcohol conversion takes place. Secondary fermentor is typically just another vessel where beer can be placed to age a little more, and sometimes to add more hops or other flavors.

Gravity – or, technically, specific gravity, a measure of the density of a liquid relative to water (i.e. water has a gravity of 1.000). The difference in gravities before and after fermentation allow the brewer to determine how much of the sugar was consumed by the yeast, and thus ABV.

Head – that thing on top of your shoulders. Oh, and the foam on top of beer.

Hot Break – One of the more exciting parts of the brew session. When the wort comes to a boil and the
hops are added, there is a visible breakdown of some of the proteins in the wort. This manifests itself as an angry green monster threatening to overtake the sides of the brewpot, and requires combat via temperature control and vigorous stirring until it settles down.

Hydrometer – simple device used to measure specific gravity.

Lacing – the pattern that a beer’s head sometimes leaves behind on an empty glass.

Lauter – The process of rinsing the grains after the mash in order to collect the wort used in the boil. Also known as Sparge.

Lauter Tun – Vessel used for the lautering process. Some homebrewers use a hybrid mash and lauter tun and do not require an additional vessel.

Malt Extract – a concentrate of the sugary goodness that is obtained from mashing. Comes in liquid and powder forms and allows homebrewers to create great beer without having to mash the grains. When combined with hot water creates wort.

Mash – The process of soaking malted barley in hot water for a period of time (usually an hour) to extract the fermentable sugars from the grains.

Mash Tun – Vessel where the mash takes place. Varies in size/shape from beverage coolers for homebrewers to large, steam jacketed stainless steel tanks for commercial breweries.

Second Runnings – When brewing a beer with a high target ABV, and thus a large amount of grain used, often when enough wort has been collected for the primary beer, the remaining wort is of sufficient gravity to make an entirely new beer. Second runnings refers to this “leftover” wort.

Strike Water – The hot water added at the beginning of the mash.

Wort – Basically, unfermented beer. Can refer to the liquid extracted from the mash through lautering and the liquid during and after the hop additions and boil.

Brewing 101

Believe it or not, beer as we know it is comprised of four basic ingredients.  With those four basic ingredients, one can make any style of beer.  Toss in some extra ingredients like fruits and spices and the combinations are endless.  Here, we will explore the contributions that each of the ingredients makes to the beer and the general process used in brewing your favorite pint.

First, what are the big four? 

Malted barley is simply grain that has been sprouted and then dried in a kiln.  The type of grain and the amount of time it spends in the kiln have a lot to do with the flavor, color, and aroma of the end product.  The longer grain is roasted, the darker it becomes.  Darker grains, naturally, give the beer a darker color and often imbue the beer with coffee, chocolate, and roasted flavors.

Water is—wait, I think you’ve got this one.

Hops are the flower of the hop plant, which look kind of like tiny green pinecones.  When the malted barley is added to the water, it releases sugars.  Hops bring a bitterness to the beer, which is primarily used to balance the sweetness of the malt and produce a beer that tastes like beer.  In some styles of beer, such as IPAs, more hops are added throughout the brewing process to add the flavors and aromas of the hops to the beer itself. 

Yeast is a single-celled organism that is primarily responsible for turning beer into beer.  The yeast eats the sugars that come from the malted barley and converts them into two very important waste products:  alcohol and CO2.  Without the yeast, beer is just hop and grain tea.

Now that we’ve got that, how do they come together to make beer?  While we’re at it, we’ll define some of those beer terms that nerds like us throw out from time to time. 

The first step in brewing is called the mash.  This is when the malted barley (which has been milled so that each grain is cracked open) is added to hot water and allowed to soak at a constant temperature for usually an hour.  There is a ton of science that happens here, but the cliff notes version is that during this time, the water extracts sugars from the malted barley.

After an hour is up, the grain is rinsed with more hot water.  This process is called sparging (or lautering if you prefer).  During the sparge, the sugars that were extracted during the mash are rinsed off of the grain bed and drained out into a different vessel.

Now, the liquid is called wort.  This is basically beer before it’s beer.  The wort is then brought to a boil.  Boil times vary, but most beers are boiled for an hour.  During this time, hops are added to the wort.  The timing and variety of hop are specific to each beer and important to how it turns out.

Once an hour is up and the hops have been added at various points during the boil, the wort is quickly cooled to about room temperature.

After it reaches room temperature, the wort is transferred to a fermentor (the conical bottom tanks you tend to see at breweries) and the yeast is added.  At this point, it’s time to let nature do its thing.  A few days (or weeks, depending on the yeast) later you have beer!  All that’s left is to cool it, carbonate it, bottle, can or keg it, and drink up!