Home brewing in recent years is becomingmore and more popular in Russia. The quality of store beer has long been poor. Lovers of beer more often prefer varieties of live draft beer. And true connoisseurs are ready to spend their time and energy to cook it at home - according to their own wishes and preferences.
Home brewing traditions
Customs to prepare beer at homeappeared in Russia. Initially it was a drink that everyone prepared for himself. Most often, beer was brewed on holidays in the big house of the settlement headman. All components of the money collected in the clubhouse. Also, beer was prepared in Orthodox monasteries or in the estates of landowners, but also in the home way.
Beer production for mass consumption socalled factory, appeared only in the XVIII century, during the reign of Peter I. Beer in large quantities began to brew for the army and navy - this was a mandatory attribute of their diet. In the XIX century, the first breweries began to appear. They already resembled modern, and some are still working today.
Production technology
Despite its popularity and availability, beerconsidered one of the most difficult in the production of alcoholic beverages. The main steps are as follows. First you need to get the malt. To do this, soaked and germinated cereal, as a rule, barley. At this time, they produce enzymes that can turn into sugar, which is consumed by yeast, so alcohol and carbon dioxide are obtained.
In the second stage, the malt is crushed and dissolved in water.This process requires special temperatures, so this process is very complex and labor-intensive. After the starch has turned into sugar, the resulting wort is filtered. At the last stage it is boiled with hops, giving the desired flavor and ensuring that the proteins contained in the grain precipitate out. After the beer is sent to ferment.
Many manufacturing processes take a lottime and resources, so often people prefer cooking beer from concentrate at home. The concentrate is obtained by evaporation of water from the wort, the resulting powder allows you to bypass many technological processes.
In our modern world, the way to make beer fromconcentrate at home came from the United States. Now there are about one million fans who produce the foamy drink in their kitchen. Beer concentrates reached Russia in the mid-90s of the last century.
What is required for the production of homemade beer?
First, the pan.It is necessary to dilute the concentrate for beer at home. Secondly, dishes for fermentation. Horse yeast that ferments at room temperature for about a week is best suited. After that, pour the beer into the bottle, adding a small amount of sugar. So the fermentation process will continue, and the beer will be saturated with the necessary carbon dioxide.
Myths about homemade beer
There are several myths about homemade beer, which are very common among lovers of beer, but have nothing to do with reality.
Firstly, many people believe that beer is in factories.boiled from powder, and at home use only natural ingredients. In fact, everything is exactly the opposite. Large companies use the centuries-old technology of beer production, while private brewers usually skip many technological stages of production and make beer from concentrate at home.
Secondly, there is a misconception that live beerlong time is not stored. However, even as you prepare kvass concentrate beer at home, it gradually makes in the bottle. In this case, the shelf life of light varieties is calculated in months, and strong ones - in years. Of course, ideally, if you plan to store beer, and not to use immediately, use glass bottles.
Home Beer Ingredients
At a certain stage, true beer connoisseursdecide to abandon powder concentrates and try to brew natural beer, as they do in large enterprises. To do this, it is not necessary to acquire specialized equipment (although it will be easier with it), but it will take a lot of time.
True, almost no one grows malt, it is not a problem to buy and grind with a meat grinder or a coffee grinder.
The mashing stage is carried out in a large saucepan.In this case, the mixture must be stirred with a ladle and monitor the temperature. The wort is filtered through a sieve for flour. If desired, you can purchase a special filter in which the wort will be filtered through a layer of grain, as in a factory.
By boiling the wort with hops, you can cool the beverage by placing the vessel in an ice-water bath. At home, protein and hops are separated, filtering the wort through ordinary gauze.
How to become a home brewer?
The oldest such community (the Club of Home Brewers) emerged during the monopoly in this market of the company "Teddy Beer", which specializes in the production of powder concentrate.
What kind of beer turns out at home?
This is the question most people want.get a beer from concentrate at home. Testimonials from experienced brewers talk about one thing: light, filtered lager, well known to us from store beer, is almost impossible to get in your kitchen. At home, it is much easier to cook beer varieties, which were popular in the middle of the last century.
Of course, it is best for novice brewers to start with concentrates and only then go to a more difficult level - to do grain brewing.
Step-by-step instruction
There is nothing difficult to get beer from concentrate at home. However, it is necessary to strictly follow all the recommendations, and most importantly - be patient.
It will take about a week to ferment the wort at room temperature using special brewer's yeast. At the same time, alcohol and carbon dioxide are produced.
The resulting product must be poured intopressurized vessels and add sugar syrup. Thus, the process of secondary fermentation will begin. At this stage natural carbon dioxide is formed. It will take another week, the temperature should also be room temperature.
Then drink should infuse in a cool place for two weeks. That's all - you can try beer, treat your friends and enjoy the taste with them.
Remember that beer should not be preserved, boiled or pasteurized; brewer's yeast will ensure the safety of the final product.
Best recipes
Having tried the popular powders needed,in order to brew beer from concentrate at home, you will soon want to try something really unusual and unique. For example, there are technologies for making beer without malt. Such recipes are applied just at home.
There are many original beerrecipes. So, you can dissolve honey in water, mix with hops and cook for one hour. After fermentation and aging in heat, a drink is obtained that strongly resembles classical mead.
Гурманам стоит попробовать пиво из свеклы.To do this, cut the beets into small pieces and cook in salted water. After that add hop cones and juniper berries. Cook again. After two weeks of fermentation, the original beetroot is ready.
Finally, it is worth reminding: the main thing - do not be afraid to experiment, and then you will get the glory of a home brewer.
