Preparation time 20-30 minutes
Brewing time 2 weeks+
Equipment:
- 3 Liter mason jar with a tight screw lid/plug
- A blow off tube (1m) or airlock
- A grommet gasket or plug with 7-8mm inner diameter
- A steel pot (at least 5 liters)
- A hydrometer (optional)
- Swing top glass bottle (6 x 500ml or 3 X 1L)
- Food grade siphon tube (1.5m)
Consumables:
- Malt extract: 450gm
- Purified water (RO or bottled) 3 liters
- Brewing Yeast: 1 tea spoon
- Hops to taste (7gm to 28 gm)
- 1kg ice (from boiled water)
- Gelatin
- Sulfur less sugar 6 teaspoon (or brown sugar)
- Iodine solution 5% (1 teaspoon)
- Arishtam Vedic spice pack (7gm or as per taste)
Steps 1: Prepare wort
- Near Boil at least 2 kg of water
- Add malt extract: stir it to prevent it from sticking to the bottom and caramelizing
- After 15 minutes of continuous boiling
- Take a few drop of this wort and test it with iodine solution. If it turns purple then you have unmalted starch residue and 15 more minutes of flame is needed.
- Add hops: Continue boiling for additional 5 minutes (more if you want bitter taste)
- Take the vessel out of flame and plunge it in ice bath.
- Chill till room temperature is achieved and then filter to make your wort.
Step 2: sanitize
- Use diluted iodine solution to wash & soak all equipement and surfaces (atleast 5 minutes of soaking of the mason jar)
- Rinse it with sterilized water to remove any residual taste/color of the disinfectant.
- You might have to use a hot nail to puncture the lid of the mason jar to insert the grommet gasket & airlock/blowoff tube.
Step 3: kickstarting fermentation
- Pour wort in the mason jar, take the hydrometer reading
- Oxygenate (use a hand blender or manually shake vigorously)
- Add yeast: After ½ and hour you will see bubbles forming in the wort (if not then add some more yeast and wait)
- Seal the lid and attach the blowoff tube/airlock
- Store it away from sunlight in a cool dark place and check periodically over next 7 days.
Step 4: bottling
- Wait till bubbling has stopped completely (usually 7-10 days depending on ambient temperature) also a thick layer of yeast has settled at the bottom
- Taste & take the hydrometer reading to check for any unfermented sugar (sweetness)
- (optional) Chill or Refrigerate your mason jar to near freezing temperature. Add some dissolved gelatin to further clarify your
- Sanitize the swing top glass bottles & rinse off the disinfectant.
- Use a siphon tube to pour your beer into the Bottle & add 1-2 teaspoon of sugar for natural carbonation
- Seal the cork tight and store the bottles in a cool dark place for natural carbonation
- Serve chilled in a glass mug. (Homebrew is never drunk from the bottle directly because of the yeast deposit at the bottom)
You can visit https://www.facebook.com/arishtam/ for any help & supplies for your homebrew. Also they conduct classes every 4th Saturday of the month to help amateurs.
Filed under: Musings
This post first appeared on E-Nagar | India News, Economy, Deceptions, Everyday Tit-bits| Mango-Man Since 2005, please read the originial post: here