HOME BREW BASICSThere is more than one way to skin a cat. Now, while I don’t condone violence against animals, I do agree with the premise that there are many different ways to accomplish a given task. There isn't one simple technique to brewing great beer but lots of techniques, equipment, ideas, styles, etc... You can get as involved or be as simple as you want as long as sterilization and cleanliness is the first and foremost priority in whatever you are attempting. The steps that continue chronicle just a few ways of brewing beer so while there are people that may agree or disagree with my approach; I have (so far) enjoyed great results.
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First off, there are a few different methods to start with as they apply to Home Brewing. They are: Extract Brewing, Partial Mash, and All Grain.
Extract Brewing
With Extract Brewing you can buy a kit that has a set amount of either liquid or dry malt extract. You add the extract to water and start at the Boil stage of the items listed above (a yeast starter can still be used if you wish). Brewing from an extract kit is a great starting point if you're just getting into Home Brewing and want to learn the process. There are many companies that produce quality extract kits and the Links, Suppliers, and Resources page have the one's we have used listed. Although you give up a little control using an extract mixture rather than going with the All Grain method I would rather drink an excellent extract brew than a poorly executed All Grain.
Partial Mash Brewing
A Partial Mash is typically the step between a pure extract batch and going for an All Grain Brew. With a partial mash specialty grains are steeped in approx. 160 degree F water for anywhere from 20-60 min. Then typically a liquid malt extract is added and the process starts from the boil phase. It's a good way for newer or beginning brewers to get a feel for dealing with grains and maintaining temperatures.
All Grain Brewing
All Grain brewing is just that, extracting the sugars from the starches of an all grain mix to create the wort that will be turned into beer. Very little, if any, malt extract is used in all grain brewing. Much more control can be gained using this method as the ability to control what exactly goes into the mix to create your wort is easier to manage.
Note that first the grains must be crushed, a service that most home brew supply stores will provide. Some even have it as their policy that the grains will be crushed unless they hear otherwise. The mills that are used to crush the whole grains can be quite expensive and it's nice to take advantage of this service. The consistency of the crush can also affect the outcome with the grains either being crushed too fine or remain too large and uncracked. Those sweet starches need to come out and play to get turned into good fermentable sugars... mmmmmm sugars.....
Note that first the grains must be crushed, a service that most home brew supply stores will provide. Some even have it as their policy that the grains will be crushed unless they hear otherwise. The mills that are used to crush the whole grains can be quite expensive and it's nice to take advantage of this service. The consistency of the crush can also affect the outcome with the grains either being crushed too fine or remain too large and uncracked. Those sweet starches need to come out and play to get turned into good fermentable sugars... mmmmmm sugars.....
Check out our ideas for re-utilizing byproducts such as spent grains and water from the brewing process on our Sustainability page.