Getting started - Rules for making your first Extract Beer.

Todays lesson is a quick overview you will need to brew your firstbrew using a process known as "Malt Extract Brewing".  In Malt Extract Brewing, we are using a extract created by someone else for us rather than using the lengthy "Whole Grain" process.  The Extract is a malt, almost like a honey or pancake syrup that has all the required sugars, saves us some money in extra equipment, some time, and many concerns about temperatures and Ph.

Why do we need Sugars in beer?  Let's cover the basics of what happens when brewing.

The very basics of brewing are:

1) a "Sugar water" (I use that term VERY loosly) is mixed with yeast to create wert.
2) The yeast eats the sugar in a process known as fermentation, leaving 2 byproducts, CO2 gas and Alcohol
3) Hops are added throughout the process to create flavors and aromas.

Sounds simple right?  It really is when you are Extract Brewing.  But theres a few rules to get you started:

RULES FOR BREWING

1) There is no such a thing as being too clean - Yeast makes a great starter for bacteria and bad things you dont want.  Make sure the yeast and wert dont find bacteria to help grow.  We always use "One-Step", a non-chlorinated, Oxygen based cleaner. This gets the bad stuff off anything we use to brew (Which we will talk about later).  After "One-step", we use Iodine to sanitise the things we brew with.  This process ensures the brewing things are clean, and steryle.  This is not the only process, but this works well for us.  What ever you do, DO NOT USE DISH OR HAND SOAP!!  I can't stress this enough.  Soaps leave behind a film that can negativly effect your brew process.

2) Follow the directions - The Directions in the kits are usulaly good.  Lay it all out on a piece of paper or a spreadsheet of what you need to do at each time interaval and have a digital timer around to be accurate.  Make sure you are clear on what the directions are. 

3) Don't guess - You can't recreate the same results if you dont know exactly what you did, and when.  Taking good notes is always a good idea.

4) Don't brew on an electric stove - I tried my first few batches on an electric stove and there is little or no temperature control.  The heat is ON or OFF.  I had a few good batches, but many failures and messes before giving up for several years.  When I got back into brewing, I got a Turkey Deep Fryer at Biggs for $40 just after thanksgiving.  It is worth it's weight in gold when it comes to brewing.

Look for the next post on the tools and suppliers you will need to get started.