Thursday, September 29, 2016

How Brewing Using All Grain Kits Work

By Peter Martin


Hail the magical golden fluid of conversation also known as beer. It is so good a whole month is dedicated to celebrate its existence. If one is really an aficionado of beer, over time brewing a personal crafted beer may not be so far fetched of an idea. Brewing, after all, is an art and a science.

This beverage can be made through two methods, extract or all grain brewing. Extraction is a more beginner friendly method. But all grain is for the more experienced brewers, those that have the knowledge and skill. The more complex method require all grain kits.

All grain brewing is basically making the drink from scratch and needs the proper instruments. It makes sense that those who plan on doing this may also plan on selling their crafted beer. Some financial investment may also be needed depending on the volume that is expected to be made. All this effort is definitely worth it if one can make the perfect brew.

No preprocessed extracts from cans and other containers are going to be used. The sugars will come from the grains. The greatest advantage to this is the creative freedom that the brewer gets in terms of flavor and malt quality. This also means that there is a lot of room for mistakes to be made. By default this method of brewing is for people who are still starting out with brewing as a hobby.

The materials required for all grain brewing are a mash tun, a hot liquor tank and a boil kettle. These are the main parts of the whole kit. Some added and helpful instruments include a thermometer, stands, a pump if the gravity from vessel to vessel is not sufficient. One can liken it to the stuff used in chemistry class.

First is the mash. This is the adding up of total pounds of grain that needs to be used. When filling the mash tun with water from a source, it is recommended to use a carbon activated filter to remove any chlorine or other substances that may affect the taste of the beer. Mash temperature also plays a huge role in the overall outcome of the drink.

Temperature plays a large part in the final outcome. 148 to 152 degrees produces a dryer beer while a high 154 to 158 produces one with a maltier flavor. For a compromise, the mid range of 151 to 154 is a great range. When adding the grains to the water, there should be a nine to fifteen temperature drop due to the grains sitting in room temperature. It is important to remember that grains are supposed to be added to water and not the other way around so that there will be no dough balls.

The mash will produce wort that may not be at its clearest. This then is recirculated and placed on top to the grain bed. This process helps clean off the mash. Repeat this step until the runoff is clear and the debris is not visible anymore. Proceed then to the next part.

The sugars is then rinsed into the boil kettle. This is named as the sparge. This is done at about 45 to 60 minutes and this there is a specific amount of excess water calculated depending on the grain wort water ratio. For the best results let the temperature remain at 107 degrees. Strictly without going beyond. The goal is to have one or two gallons of wort from the expected final amount collected.




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