This is the evolution of my brewing journey. From the first beers I have made to where I am today as well as a guide for beginners who are not sure where to start. And to the expert brewers who can relate. Or get a laugh from the madness that occurs.
So let's get into it, it all started when i was cleaning out my grandfathers house, I Found an old recipe for a rice vodka and some old fermenting equipment. A glass carboy, some old syphons, a hydrometer, bottles and a recipe, hand written on a browning pice of paper. Curiosity got me and I took the equipment home and began looking into where to start. Now my dad had tried making beer in the past but it didn't turn out so great. I think he only made one batch then stopped but he did make great wine. So looking back at what my dad made with a Coopers liquid extract kit that didn't turn out and a few buddies who tried making closet beer in college or at their hostel I wanted to make something Better and legit. I went straight to an all grain big brew for my first go. I found a recipe for a nut brown and an apricot ale and a local supplier for grains and one for a bunch of plastic bottles and some dextrose.
As green as can be I heated up my water poured it into an old brown cooler and threw in my grains. I waited an hour, not fully understanding the importance of the temperatures needed to convert the sugars and not understanding how to read specific gravity or how to measure it. When the mash was complete and it was time to drain and sparge, I found out the hard way how the grains swell up and the mash cannot flow out of the coolers drain. I struggled through and eventually completed the task and was able to move onto the boil. This went smooth, an hour boil with no boil over I added my hops. Having no knowledge about hops or yeast I used full buds which came in handy as I just threw them in the boil and had no way of removing them other than a strainer. When it came time to cool the wort I placed the pot in the kitchen sink and filled it with cold water, which didn't work out too well as the pot took up most of the space. I Stuffed as much ice as I could around the pot and a good 2 hours later the temperature was right for me to transfer over the 5 gallon wort to the glass fermenter and pitch the yeast. Not having a funnel I syphoned the wort from the pot to the carboy, the yeast was a dry yeast and I poured it right on top of the wort. My air lock was plastic wrap and a tube running to a cup of water and all placed in the garage. This is as budget of an operation as you can get. And it stayed like that for a few years, though moving from the sink to the bathtub.
Fermentation: I waited Two full weeks for my first stage fermentation then syphoned my primary glass carboy wort over to a plastic carboy and continued one more week of a secondary fermentation. This primary to secondary fermentation was to clarify the beer before bottling. After this third week it was time to bottle, i placed the carboy of beer onto of the kitchen counter and plastic bottles on the floor. I filled each bottle one by one with with a measured amount of dextrose and began the process of syphoning the beer into the bottles. After capping them and placing them into a cupboard I waited another three weeks for them to carbonate and age. This whole process took me six weeks with a 5 hour brew day and a two hour bottle day and i still didn't know if the beer would be any good. After a few more days Cooling in the fridge it was time to finally crack a bottle. I poured the nut brown ale into a glass being careful not to disturb the sediment at the bottom, it foamed up nicely proving to be slightly over carbonated but acceptable. As i took my first sip I was pleasantly surprised the beer turned out fantastic, to great relief, all the time and effort worked out and I had a wonderful home made beer.
This is the start of my journey and evolution in stove top long duration lots of bottling home beer. As someone interested in starting out making beer or about to get into brewing I would not recommend going this route. As I take you through this journey of many methods of brewing I hope it helps you in where you would like to start or inspire you to continue on in the craft or just enjoy the stories. I have left sanitation to the end. I am neurotic when it comes to sanitation and probably over do it. The first few years of my brewing days I would use house hold bleach on everything, the bottles went through a sanitize cycle in the dish washer, again very time consuming. So for those just starting out or thinking of, here are my recommendations.
To start 2.5 Gal Batch American Blonde
INGREDIENTS Golden extra light liquid malt extract 3.6KG
you will only use 3 LBS. save the rest for another run.
Steep the grains at 150*F - 160*F in a coffee press for 20min to 1/2 hour.
.5 LBS crystal 15 ground grain. Steep
2 oz flaked OATS steep
HOPS. FUGGLES 1 0z @ boil for 15 min.
YEAST US. 05 WHIRLFLOC tablet. 1/2
Boil for 15 with hops in hop bag. Pour in steeped grain liquid, then cool the wort until 54 - 77 F then transfer the wort to the fermentor and pitch yeast. The fermentation process should take 3 days to a week. the only way to truly know is by checking the final gravity.
OG (original gravity) 1.049
FG ( final gravity). 1.009
IBU. (bitterness) 18
SRM (colour) 4.8
ABV. (alcohol by volume) 5.2%
BG:GU .37
EFFICIENCY 75%
CALORIES 163 per 12 OZ
Equipment you will need.
A large stainless steel pot 3 gallons or larger 35 - 400$
A fermenter 3 to 5 gallon wide mouth or bucket 30$
Air lock and bung 5$
Hop bag 10$
A wort chiller 50 - 100$
Dextrose or carbonation tabs 5$
Plastic or swing top bottles and caps 25 - 50$
star san or a sanitizing cleaner 29$
Syphon and hose 20$
Scale
Thermometer
Hydrometer
All in to get started will cost anywhere from 250$ to 800$ and as you grow in the craft you will want to up grade your equipment. As we continue through my journey you will see how i set up my production and how I would do things differently.