10 Beer Brewing Tips At Home

Home-brewing is sweeping the nation. This was already happening before the Covid-19 pandemic, but now it’s even more popular than ever. There’s a lot to learn if you’re trying this activity yourself.

Freshly-Brewed-Beer-at-Home

Granted, learning and experimentation with this new hobby are quite alluring to many who take it up. Then again, you need to be reasonably sure of enough success that you find it all worth your while. Keep reading for 10 beer brewing tips that you can use to get better at your craft.

1) Don’t Neglect Sanitation

The concepts of sterilization and sanitation are two that you need to take to heart from the very start. Sanitation problems can happen before you even start brewing. They also don’t end until you cap your bottles. The most crucial period for sterilization is just after you cool the beer you make. This is prime time for bacteria and infections, given how the yeast has yet to start fermenting.

2) Start With The Darker Beers

No matter what kind of beer you love, you’re better off starting with darker beers having higher ABV or Alcohol by Volume. Stouts, porters, and others like them are usually much better at covering up any mistakes you make. This is because they have a rather forgiving nature in terms of makeup and their flavor profile. If your first several batches flop, it can be very easy to lose faith in beer brewing. So, go easy on yourself. Mastering beer brewing tips takes time.

3) Use Glass Fermenters

Many home brewing kits have plastic buckets for fermenting. They’re certainly an affordable way to get going when you’re new to it. However, they’re also pieces you might want to upgrade sooner rather than later. Stainless steel and glass fermenters have several benefits that plastic will never give you. First, your contents won’t stick so easily, making them far easier for cleaning and sterilization. Secondly, they’ll be a stronger barrier against oxygen.

4) Read Books

You might want to just homebrew so you can kick back and enjoy a pint, possibly while watching a game or just enjoying it on your own. Still, it helps if reading is another hobby of yours. Other beer brewers highly recommend the following texts before you:

-“Designing Great Beers”, Author: Ray Daniels

-“Great Beers of Belgium”, Author: Michael Jackson

-“How to Brew” and also “Brewing Classic Styles”, Author: John Palmer

-“Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation”, Author: Jamil Zainesheff

5) Prepare Your Yeast Correctly

There are two primary guidelines about healthy yeast that you should follow. First, never let it just sit in your fridge for months. Secondly, be sure you give it the right oxygen level and the best nutrients to work well.

6) Don’t Use Your Stove-top

If you have a boil over in your kitchen, you’re going to have quite a mess to clean up. It’s also more likely than you think. If you can, heat your concoction somewhere else. A propane burner is a good idea, used on a patio, in your garage, or even in the driveway.

7) It’s Like Cooking In One Regard

You know that a chef or cook is only as good as their ingredients. The same applies to brewing beer. Get fresh ingredients and make sure they’re high-caliber. You also need to understand them. Learn what you can store and what you can’t. Fresh hops can often be stored in your freezer with minimal freshness loss. However, malt and crushed grains that get frozen eventually oxidize in ways that ruin the flavor.

8) Find Your Gold Standard Of Alcohol Level

You want to keep your alcohol level light using ABV Calculator, but you also don’t want it to be too light. Stronger beers with more alcohol percentage certainly have more flavor, but managing the higher-gravity fermentation is hard to do if you’re a beginner. Then again, if you go too light, you don’t have as much room for mistakes since there’s nothing to mask over flaws. If you’re just starting, aim for a range of 5- to 7-percent ABV, a lot of people make use of ABV Calculator to get an accurate reading of Alcohol content in their brew.

9) Use A Bigger Kettle

Many starters get going with a 5-gallon stainless steel kettle. The stainless steel is a great idea, but the 5-gallon size probably isn’t. Go ahead and splurge from the start on something larger, perhaps a 7.5-gallon kettle or more. You’ll save money with this later on, it’s better for all-grain brewing if you ever try it, and it lowers your chances of boil overs.

10) Bottle On Your Dishwasher

It might feel like bottling takes just as long as brewing. Want to spare yourself some mess? Bottle on your dishwasher’s open lid! Put the bottling bucket on the counter just above your dishwasher, and then fill all your bottles on the dishwasher’s open lid. If there’s any spillage, you can just channel it all into your dishwasher when you finally shut the door. It’s a lot less mess for you to clean up.

The craft of Home-brewing is one part art, one part science, and hopefully totally fun. Think ahead, take care of your hardware, and make good use of ABV Calculator and other online tools available on the internet. Getting things right means having your beer to enjoy on your own or with friends and family. Getting things wrong can mean frustration, wasted time and money, and the chance you turn away from something you could have been great at. Hopefully, these tips will make you a master in no time.

Is Beer Good For You? The Pros And Cons Of Drinking Beer

Beer has been enjoyed as a beverage literally for millenniums. The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians documented their brewing and fermenting processes thousands of years ago, and the process today is little changed. 

While no one would deny that it is still a favorite beverage, there are very mixed feelings about the potential benefits and potential risks of drinking beer. This article will briefly consider the pros and cons of drinking beer, thus allowing you to draw an educated conclusion. It will surely also provide you with some interesting content for conversation the next time you enjoy a beer in the company of your friends and the confidence to brew your own beer at home.

Is It Healthy To Drink Beer?

Wine, a similarly ancient alcoholic beverage, is accepted as having many health benefits. Therefore many wonder about beer and whether it also may have similar benefits. The truth is that there are many pros to drinking beer. Below we list the main ones along with any cons that are related to each point:

Man-with-a-glass-of-beer

1. Beer Contains Vitamins And Minerals

Pros: Since beer is made from wheat, barley, and yeast, it naturally contains traces of vitamins and minerals that our body needs. For example, beer contains iron, zinc, calcium, thiamine, and vitamin Bs. These vitamins and minerals have obvious health benefits.

Cons:  Caution should be used. In order to experience benefits from beer consumption, it must be drunk in moderation. While beer can supplement these minerals, it cannot supply us with our daily requirement of them.

2. Beer May Have Cardiovascular Benefits

Pros: There are several studies out there that seem to indicate that moderate beer consumption may be beneficial to our hearts. One particular study showed that a moderate daily intake of beer could positively affect the good cholesterol in our blood, increasing its antioxidant properties. It is suggested that moderate intake may have the same positive effects against heart disease as a daily glass of wine.

Cons: This applies only to moderate consumption, which is generally accepted as one to two glasses/bottles per day. A higher intake has been proven to have the opposite effect and increase the risk of cardiovascular problems.

3. Beer Consumption May Improve Blood Sugar

Pros: Moderate consumption of beer has been linked to better insulin resistance. Several studies have linked this to a lower risk of developing diabetes. One study showed the possibility of moderate beer drinkers developing diabetes to have decreased by around fifty percent. 

Cons: Heavy drinking has been proven to have the exact opposite effect on our bodies, greatly increasing the chances of developing diabetes. It is worth noting that beers with added sugar will not positively affect blood sugar or insulin resistance, but they will have a negative impact.

4. Beer Consumption May Be Beneficial To Your Bones

Pros: There are studies out there that link moderate beer consumption to stronger and denser bones. This is due to the silicone content found in the barley and hops rich in this micronutrient. So the higher the malt level in a beer, the better it is for your bones.

Cons: Excessive alcohol consumption will leach the calcium content from your bones, weakening your bone structure. So, once again, the benefits are only seen with moderate consumption.

5. Beer Consumption May Help Fight Dementia

Pros: Several studies have concluded that moderate amounts of alcohol lower the risk of dementia, both when compared to non-drinkers and heavy drinkers.

Cons: Heavy drinking causes damage to the brain and is solidly linked to disorders such as dementia. Once again, there are great benefits to moderate drinking, which contrasts the risks of heavy drinking.

Summary: Is Beer Good For You?

This ancient and popular beverage has stood the test of time. As we saw above, there are many types of beer that offer several benefits if consumed moderately. For example, it improves your cardiovascular system, helps control your insulin and blood sugar levels, and helps your bones and nervous system. 

So, yes, beer can be good for you. However, too much of anything is bad for us. Few things illustrate the truth of this better than beer consumption. While moderate consumption has many benefits, heavy consumption eliminates these benefits and pushes in the opposite direction. 

In other words, all of the pros of moderate consumption become cons of heavy drinking. In addition to the above-mentioned negative effects of heavy drinking, we can add a long list of other undesirable effects. For example, depression, alcoholism, premature death, cancer, abnormal weight gain, and liver problems are recognized effects of over-drinking.

In conclusion: drink moderately and responsibly, and beer will improve your health, but avoid over-drinking at all costs! If you follow this advice, you will receive some great health benefits for the time that you spend drinking a beer in the company of your friends.

Different Types of Beer Across the World

Beer is one of the world’s most favorite alcoholic drinks, along with wine, whiskey, and brandy. There are countless varieties and types of beer worldwide, each with their unique color and flavor. You can find beer anywhere from the United States and Japan to even Madagascar and Jamaica. Beer is typically served on its own or paired with a certain type of dish. Beer is often drunk in places like pubs, restaurants, bars, or even in the comfort of someone’s home. Beer is often drunk casually or consumed as a celebratory drink. Almost everybody recognizes the bitter taste present in a can of Japanese beer or a tall glass of German craft beer.

Generally, beer is classified into ales and lagers based on the type of yeast used during the fermentation process. Ales are made using yeast, which ferments on the top of the mixture, while lagers are produced with the help of yeast that ferments at the bottom of the beer mixture. Aside from this classification, beers could be further divided based on other factors ranging from color, texture, alcohol content, and much more. While many types of beer styles exist in several parts of the globe, here are the most common styles that you would see or taste:

Friends-Meeting-for-a-Beer

1. Pale lagers and pilsners

Pale lagers and pilsners are one of the most commonly consumed types of beers all over the world. Also popular in Germany and the Czech Republic, this style of beer often features a golden color, light flavor, and low alcohol content, which often range from 3.2 to 5.6 percent. This type of beer can be paired with German, American, and Asian cuisines as well as spicy food.

2. Dark lagers

Despite their darker color compared to pale lagers and pilsners, dark lagers have a low level of bitterness and have a mid-range alcohol content, ranging from 3.8 to 6 percent. Dark lagers are also characterized by their malty, smooth, and toasted caramel flavors. Dark lagers could be consumed alongside different types of meat, German, American, and even Mexican cuisines.

3. Bocks

Bocks are distinct for their sweet and nutty taste because of its heavy malty flavor. While traditional bocks tend to have a low alcohol content ranging from 6.3 to 7.5 percent, other types of bocks, such as doppelbocks, Weizenbock, and maibocks, feature a higher alcohol content of up to 8 percent. These beers could be paired with different kinds of foods, such as meat, chocolate, Italian, and German cuisines.

4. Brown ales

Known for its hop bitterness and a malty taste, brown ales have a toasty and caramel flavor and a mid-range alcohol content from 4 to 6.3 percent. Brown ales go well with American cuisine and different types of heavy foods such as meat, poultry, and even Gouda cheese.

5. Pale ales

Pale ales are known for being light and drinkable beers with an alcohol content lower than Indian Pale Ales or IPAs. While pale ales have a hint of hop bitterness, their alcohol content ranges from 3 to 6.1 percent. Pale ales go well with different kinds of dishes and cuisines, such as fish, spicy food, and different cheese varieties.

6. Indian Pale Ales (IPAs)

Boasting a high alcoholic content which could go as low as 5 percent and as high as 14 percent. Indian Pale Ales or IPAs have a strong hop bitterness with floral and piney flavors that could go well with American and Indian cuisines, fish, meat, and different kinds of cheese such as parmesan and gorgonzola.

7. Porters

Being chocolatier than brown ales and less coffee-like than stouts when it comes to flavor, porters are characterized for their dark color and a chocolaty flavor with a hint of coffee and caramel. Porters tend to be paired with heavy foods like stew and meat and American and English cuisine. Porters also have alcoholic content, which could range from 4.5 to 12 percent.

8. Stouts

Stouts are typically dark, just like porters, but they offer a much stronger, roasted flavor and have mid to high alcohol levels, from 3.8 to 12 percent. Stouts are often drunk with heavy foods, chocolate, Mexican cuisine, and seafood.

9. Belgian style beers

Belgian beers are distinct for their sweet, spiced, and fruity flavors, and they are typically low in bitterness. However, they pack a high alcohol content, which often ranges from 4.4 to 15 percent. Belgian style beers are also complemented with different types of cuisines, meat, and poultry.

10. Wheat beers

Wheat beers, as their name suggests, use wheat as their malt. They have light color with a tangy flavor that goes well with fruit. They also feature a lower alcohol content ranging from 2.8 to 5.6 percent. Wheat beers are often paired with meat, seafood, soft cheeses, and spicy food.

Conclusion

While many kinds and styles of beer exist worldwide, there are common types that could be seen in many places around the globe and could complement different kinds of cuisines especially home brewed beers. Nevertheless, beer is one cultural constant that different people enjoy from all over the world, who adds their own flavors in their beers to represent their culture.