Modern Homebrew Recipes (4 page)

Fig 1.2: Professional brew log for Gordian Strong Ale with additional handwritten notes (note the smears from wort and water).

Fig 1.3: A different variation of a professional, printed brew log. This one is for my Llamarado Stout.

•
Heat water
– On homebrewing systems, heating water and keeping it hot during the brewing process takes considerable time and effort. The key is to plan your process steps so that you are doing other tasks while the water is heating. This way, the water will be ready when you need it, and you aren’t stuck waiting around for it to reach the proper temperature. Multiple burners and vessels help considerably. When you heat your brewing liquor for your initial mash in, keep in mind that you normally have to heat the water hotter than your target mash temperature to account for heat loss during transfer, and that the mash tun and the ingredients in it are cooler than your strike water. Identifying this heat loss differential is an important step when calibrating your system.

•
Mash
– The goal of mashing is to produce wort, a sugar-laden liquid extracted from starches. Hot water and the milled grist (malt and grains) are mixed so that enzymes in the malt can convert starches into sugars. The infusion ratio (usually given in quarts per
pound, or [qts/lb.]) listed in homebrew recipes is the amount of water to grist in the mash, which designates how ‘thick’ or ‘thin’ the mash will be.
¹
The strike temperature of your mash water is the temperature of the brewing liquor added to the mash tun, which is always higher than the target mash rest temperature. A mash rest is a specific temperature where the mash is held for a specific period of time, which typically favors the activity of certain enzymes that produce the desired wort composition (types and quantities of fermentable and unfermentable sugars in the wort). The mash schedule is the set of rests used during the mash. Completion of the mash can be verified with a positive Iodine test.

•
Vorlauf
–
Vorlauf
is a German brewing term;
recirculation
is the equivalent English term. During
vorlauf
, wort is manually recirculated or pumped over the mash in the lauter tun to establish the grain bed as a filter, which removes large particles. This step is often done after a final higher-temperature mash out rest. Malts and grains that do not need to be mashed can be added during at this time so that they can contribute color and flavor.

•
Lauter/Sparge
–
Lautering
is the separation of wort from spent grains using a rinsing process called sparging. The goal of this step is to have clear, sweet wort with good flavor in sufficient volume to meet pre-boil objectives.

•
Boil
– Wort is boiled in the kettle for a specific amount of time, starting with a larger volume and lower specific gravity and ending with a smaller volume and a higher gravity. Hops, sugary adjuncts, kettle finings, and nutrients may be added during the boil. The addition of ingredients during the boil is normally specified in the recipe by stating the type and quantity of ingredient to be added, and the time they should be added to the boil. A hop addition at 5 minutes means they are added with 5 minutes remaining in the boil, not 5 minutes after boiling has started.

•
Rest
– A step used to help clarify the finished wort. On homebrew systems, this typically involves stirring it with a spoon then letting
it stand before chilling or running it off. On commercial systems, this is typically done using a whirlpool. Either way, the goal is to facilitate wort clarity by removing heavier particulates. Hops may be added during this phase.

•
Chill
– The process where finished wort is forcibly cooled to the desired temperature for pitching the yeast. The pitching temperature is not necessarily the same as the fermentation temperature (it is usually lower).

•
Fermentation
– Once yeast is introduced, the sugar in wort is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The important things to note in your brewing log are the fermentation temperature and the yeast strain(s) used. Time estimates may be given for fermentation schedules, but fermentation should always be run until desired gravity is met and fermentation subsides.

•
Rack
– This step separates the fermented beer from yeast, hops, trub (sediment), and other unwanted particulates. The main goal is to transfer the finished beer away from the bulk of the yeast to reduce the chance of autolysis. A beer may be racked multiple times, and combined with finings or conditioners.

•
Condition
– This step involves aging and maturing finished beer, thus allowing the flavor to stabilize. It may involve other steps such as dry hopping, fruit additions, inoculation of ‘wild’ yeast and bacteria, and so on. Conditioning can also include lagering, a cold-conditioning step used to reduce undesirable flavor components in lager beer. To enhance clarity, beer may be fined or filtered at the beginning or conclusion of this phase.

•
Package
– The final step of transferring the conditioned beer into storage containers, such as bottles, kegs, or casks. The beer may be naturally carbonated in the container by adding additional sugar for the yeast to consume, or may be force carbonated using compressed CO
₂
.

•
Consume
– The fun part. I’ll leave this step as an exercise for the reader.

SUMMARY OF TECHNIQUES

My goal is that you be able to understand and execute the techniques needed to brew the recipes in this book, not necessarily learn the detailed
science behind them. Whenever a specific technique is used, you should also know what other information must be specified to properly brew the recipe. The brewing techniques I describe include water adjustment, recipe design, techniques used during mashing, lautering, boiling and hopping.

Many of my techniques are interrelated, so please read the “
My Process
” section before altering or substituting methods. Some of the choices made in one phase have implications for other phases; if you substitute methods, be aware that you may need to address the dependencies in other steps.

Water Adjustment

•
Using RO water
– My brewing water is awful—lots of calcium carbonate and high pH—so I’ve found that it’s easier to use Reverse Osmosis (RO) water instead of trying to engineer my water every time I brew. If you’re blessed with good brewing water, you might question why I do this. I fought through many different methods of adjusting water before I settled on this simple solution that drives my entire brewing process. I don’t specify quantities needed since that depends on your system and batch size.

•
Adding acids
– I adjust my RO water with 10% phosphoric acid to produce brewing liquor with a pH of about 5.5 when measured at 68°F (20°C). I use the more dilute acid since it is easier to measure in the volumes needed for homebrew-size batches, and I prefer phosphoric acid since it’s the most flavor-neutral of the commonly available acids. I perform this step so I can reach a good mash pH of about 5.1 to 5.3 (with a pale grist). Traditional methods for managing mash pH include using 88% phosphoric or lactic acid; using acidulated malt (or sauermalz the German way of weaseling around their own ingredient-limiting
Reinheitsgebot
); adding calcium sulfate (gypsum) to the mash to reduce pH through chemical interactions with the grain husks; adding calcium carbonate (chalk) to the mash to buffer acids in dark malts (or reducing added acid); and carefully replicating the ion content of water from classic brewing cities. I almost never use any of these techniques, but only because I’m managing pH in the mash differently, not because they can’t be made to work. The type and quantity of each acid, and where and when they should be added will be specified in the recipe.

•
Adding salts to the mash
– Salts added to the mash can be used to adjust the flavor profile, provide desired ions that are enzyme cofactors, improve mash performance, and adjust mash pH. Since I use RO water, I add small amounts of brewing salts to almost every mash. The type and the quantity of salt is specified in the recipes. I typically add salts directly to the mash at the very start, but they can also be mixed in with the brewing liquor. The solubility of salts varies by type and pH (calcium carbonate has notoriously low solubility, which is why it can often be reduced by boiling), so I err on the side of caution by putting them directly in the mash. They are mixed into the mash after the grist and the water have been combined.

•
Adding salts to the boil
– The quantity of salts in the kettle is lower than the amount of salts in the mash, since they don’t fully carry over. If you’re using brewing salts to enhance the flavor profile of the beer (not just hit a target mash pH), then you may need to add salts to the boil. I don’t use this technique very often, except where I want a more noticeable mineral profile in the final beer but don’t want the salts in the mash. The type and quantity of salt should be specified in the recipe; I normally add them at the start of the boil so I don’t forget them, but they can be added at any time.

•
Removing salts
– None of my recipes use this technique, but I used to adjust my brewing water by pre-boiling, adding pickling lime (calcium hydroxide), or adding acid (typically phosphoric or lactic) to reduce the calcium bicarbonate levels. None of these methods worked that well for me, and often required nearly as much time and effort as brewing. I just wanted to mention that there are alternative processes for removing unwanted salts if your water isn’t good for brewing and RO water isn’t readily available.

Mash Techniques

•
Infusion mash
– Sometimes called a single step infusion mash, this is the most basic mash program you can use. The way most brewers perform this step is by heating their strike water to the required temperature, then mixing the prepared water (brewing liquor) with the milled grain until it’s well-mixed and has an even temperature throughout. This is called
mashing in
(sometimes called doughing in), and is where the mash starts. Single step rests
are usually in the 144–160°F (62–71°C) range, but 149–151°F (65–66°C) is a reasonable average for most beer styles. This program is a compromise for enzymes, since it’s typically in between the optimal ranges for alpha and beta amylase (See
Table 1.1
). Remember that you have to heat your water hotter than the rest temperature for it to settle in at the target. I recommend stirring the mash several times, not just around in circles, but scooping from the bottom towards the top; the goal is a well-mixed mash with an even temperature distribution. The rest temperature and time (duration) should be specified in the recipe.

COMMON BREWING ENZYMES

Table 1.1: Optimal temperatures for common brewing enzymes.

•
Step infusion mash
– This is similar to a single step infusion mash, but with multiple rest temperatures. Rests may be added for specific purposes, as each allows certain enzymes to work in optimal conditions to break down certain complex proteins and starches, degrade haze-causing particles, encourage the formation of certain acids, or adjust the fermentability and dextrin content of the wort. These rests can more squarely hit the active ranges of enzymes, depending on the type of beer being produced.

•
Infusion method
– There are different ways to change mash temperature, including infusing boiling water, applying direct
heat to the mash tun, or using some form of recirculation with heat. I prefer the latter, and usually direct-fire my mash tun while recirculating it with a pump. If you use the boiling water infusion method, you may wish to start with a thicker mash and use brewing software to calculate the volume of infusions needed. I start the burner and the pump, let them run, and then stop when I reach the desired temperature. Recipes may specify the method, but you can adjust it to your system.