I seem to have sent this directly to Bendt, it was meant to be shared with (and ridiculed by) the whole list. So here goes again:
On Mon, Oct 28, 2002 at 09:36:03PM +0100, Bendt Rom wrote: > Jeg er nybegynder og har aldrig lavet nogen form for > ?l, men vil l?gge h?rdt ud med all grain brygning. Welcome! > [...] k?bt en JSP-Adjustable > Maltmill. Har ogs? k?bt en 25l rustfri gryde med l?g > og f?et svejset en hane i siden p? den i bunden. > Har k?leboks og [...] Wow, what a lot of equipment for the first brew. I started with a pot, two buckets (drilled one of them full of holes), and a few small details. > Vil skaffe resten af udstyr og r?varer til at > fremstille min f?rste "Allgrain brew". Der er blot et > problem? Opskriften? Hvad skal jeg begynde med? Well, nobody but yourself can answer the most important consideration: What kind of beer do you like? If your heart sold for a wheat beer, it doesn't help to recommend a good porter, and vice versa. Here you are a few pieces of advice. I am sure other readers here will jump on the chance to correct me if I say something unreasonable :-) * My main advice would be the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid (no offense intended, that's the name of the principle). * I would start with an ale - less fuss with the temperature, you can ferment it in room temperature, and it goes faster - if you are like me, you will not give the first batch enough time to mature... * For the first brew I would use a dry yeast. It may not have the most exquisite taste, but it is easy to work with, and so aggressive that it does not need a starter - one step less to make mistakes in. * I wouldn't worry too much about the finer points in the receipe. You will need a few brews to get the process under control anyway, so don't sweat the details. Even if you don't make exactly what the receipe says (most of us never do, in real life), you will still get a beer out of it. Probably a good one. You can adjust things later, to make it more or less heavy / dark / strong / bubbly / spicy / whatever. So, with these points in mind, here is my recommended receipe: - Start with some good pilsner malt, or something else pretty pale - Add a bit of one kind of speciality stuff, depending what you want to make. Wheat if you like a weissbier, black/roasted/chockolate malt if you like a porter, or what ever else you lay your hands on. Don't overdo it. - Single-step infusion mash - mix the grains with enough hot water to get the temperature to around 65 degrees (55-70 is acceptable, better start low and add hot water) - Boil for an hour or two (watch out, it can take a long time to bring the pot to boil!) - If you like bitter beers, add most of your hops early, and the rest later. If you like fruity beers, add most of hops later in the process. If you like malty beers, or if your hops are strong (4% alpha acid is weak, 8% is strong) use half as much. Use a hop bag. - Ferment directly in the pot, or in a glass bottle or plastic bucket. Use an air lock if practically possible - Keep the primary fermentation short - reduces the risk of infections, and you are probably impatient to taste it... So, after a week pour it in your keg. Wait another week (if you can). Leave a way for the excess CO2 to get out. - Wait another week, and enjoy. - Write down what you've done, and next time you'll know which way to adjust. Note that I have not said anything about the amounts to use. If you want, you can calculate them with our beercalc, or some other tool - there are a few on the net. Or just copy something promising from your book, or from the database in the beercalc, or from the net. Remember that you can always half or double the amounts to fit your batch size. Drink some inspiring beer while working on it - it gets hot in the kitchen, and your nerves may need a bit of support. "Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew". One thing to watch out is that you *have* to keep the stuff clean of bacteria and other infections. Until you boil the wort it is all right, the boiling will sterilize it as good as anything, but when you cool it down, add yeast, and while fermenting, keep your fingers off it, sanitize everything that gets in touch with it, and be careful. I usually keep a bucket of Iodophor solution around, and all my tools reside in that bucket while brewing. So if I need to taste it with a spoon, I take a clean one from the bucket, rinse it, use, rinse, and put back in the bucket. Same with your keg, desinfect it carefully, and what ever you use for transfering the beer with. Best of luck! And keep us informed! -Heikki -- Heikki Levanto LSD - Levanto Software Development <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
