Tim,
I am aware there might be some master brewers lookin in so I will attempt to make it as uncontroversial as possible -g-
Brewing has been around for thousands of years. Grain such as barley has only a certain shelf life and things rats can get at it. But if you malt it, dissolve it in water with hops, add yeast it can change to alcohol. This has an indefinite shelf life and kills most things...including human beings in suitable quantities. It's advantage in the old days was it was also source of stored food.
There are two basic methods of making beer. Top fermented beers like UK ales. And bottom fermented beers like German "Lager". The former are easier to make. You can use kits with extracted malt or the basic raw materials. The strength of beers goes from around 2% up to 12.5% for strong ales and yes those are stronger then a typical wine. I have a recipe for Victorian porter that weighs in at 12.5% and the "porters" in those days used to drink it by the pot (thats a UK quart, 20% larger then a USA quart). You need a suitable climate, Arizona this time of year is unlikely to give good results unless you have a cool basement about 70 deg F.
I have only read a few books on the subject, I have more practical experience. The books I have are good though for both beginner and specialist.
Let me start by answering your last question first. But what make a beer good, and another beer taste like Cat Urine? Well for a start the ingredients. Beer has only a very few ingredients. For example the 660ml bottle of cold Pilsner Urquell I'm drinking at the moment lists just three...Water, Malt, Hops, Other German lager biers list Yeast and Carbon Dioxide too. For the purists that's it...anything else and it's just chit. Individual taste preference is an important factor though. Some beers made from corn syrup and chemical additives ...suitably cooled are well thought of but advertising does make a difference -g- Basically speaking the quality of the beer is inversely proportional to the number of the ingredients.
When it comes to home brewed beer, I do sometimes read magazines and such. The "letters section" is usually amusing. A common letter from a beginner goes like this...
" Dear so and so,
I bought a kit to make beer and followed all the instructions exactly. The fermentation has stopped and I bottled it. It tastes like absolute chit, please can you help."
90% of those problems are caused by sterilizing chemicals. Using them is OK, but I found you have to rinse out a (for example) bottle at least 6 times to get it clean from such stuff. I use just "kitchen cleanliness" (I use ordinary hand dishwashing fluid) to clean things and only use sterilizing chemicals for special occasions. And of course there is infecting bacteria in the air and in the rinse water anyway. You have to use a little common sense and skill there. I have never managed to get a brew infected. I sometimes use a single tiny camden tablet [a source of sulfur in 10 UK gals] to stop any bacteria added at the beginning of a brew if I'm worried. I rarely do that though. |
