Rocket science ?

[pvt_ak]

So... at risk of flying in the face of the die hards and being wheeled out to the beach and set on fire on a bed of beer crates .....

Do we massively over complicate beer making ?
Temperature this ... cleanse that ... sparge this, 3 tier, BIAB, full BIAB , dunk ... this method .....

I’m bordering on 10 AG BIAB brews so still a virgin... but I’ve found go with the flow to be the best approach and keep simple ...

Heat water.
Add grain.
Mash.
Chuck some water over the grain.
Remove grain.
Boil.
Add hops.
Chill.
Chuck in yeast.
Wait two weeks.
Chuck on to some sugar.
Bottle.

Step 2 and 7 is freeform where you get creative.

It’s simple right ?


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[Martybhoy]

So... at risk of flying in the face of the die hards and being wheeled out to the beach and set on fire on a bed of beer crates .....

Do we massively over complicate beer making ?
Temperature this ... cleanse that ... sparge this, 3 tier, BIAB, full BIAB , dunk ... this method .....

I’m bordering on 10 AG BIAB brews so still a virgin... but I’ve found go with the flow to be the best approach and keep simple ...

Heat water.
Add grain.
Mash.
Chuck some water over the grain.
Remove grain.
Boil.
Add hops.
Chill.
Chuck in yeast.
Wait two weeks.
Chuck on to some sugar.
Bottle.

Step 2 and 7 is freeform where you get creative.

It’s simple right ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree with you mostly. I think it pays to be precise and pernickety if we want to replicate something exactly, or be consistent with our own brews. But as home brewers, does that really matter all that much. As long as we don't make big mistakes the beer should still be good.

I'd also wager that the beer we can make at home is better by far than much of the beer that has been made in preceding years and centuries.

 

[pvt_ak]

I agree with you mostly. I think it pays to be precise and pernickety if we want to replicate something exactly, or be consistent with our own brews. But as home brewers, does that really matter all that much. As long as we don't make big mistakes the beer should still be good.

I'd also wager that the beer we can make at home is better by far than much of the beer that has been made in preceding years and centuries.

Agree about being far better than preceding years but also the present.

I sipped a few of my recent brew last night ... then opened a couple of bought ales ... hated the latter .

What home brew does is so much better than most commercial !!


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[nigelnorris]

Diminishing returns. Your list gets 90% of the job done, then you have to work twice as hard for every percentage point you want better than that.

 

[Martybhoy]

Diminishing returns. Your list gets 90% of the job done, then you have to work twice as hard for every percentage point you want better than that.

Good point. I think the same applies to excelling in any field.

However, that 90% is still gonna get you a damn good beer

 

[Oneflewover]

I love the beautiful simplicity of the process of brewing beer; I read a comment that someone made on here about how 'beer wants to be made', and I reckon that's about right.

The other thing I love about it (apart from drinking great beer) is that the possibilities are endless and you can make it as complicated as you like :thumb:

 

[Saisonator]

So... at risk of flying in the face of the die hards and being wheeled out to the beach and set on fire on a bed of beer crates .....

Do we massively over complicate beer making ?
Temperature this ... cleanse that ... sparge this, 3 tier, BIAB, full BIAB , dunk ... this method .....

I’m bordering on 10 AG BIAB brews so still a virgin... but I’ve found go with the flow to be the best approach and keep simple ...

Heat water.
Add grain.
Mash.
Chuck some water over the grain.
Remove grain.
Boil.
Add hops.
Chill.
Chuck in yeast.
Wait two weeks.
Chuck on to some sugar.
Bottle.

Step 2 and 7 is freeform where you get creative.

It’s simple right ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you have hard water then pale beers won't come out well without adding another complication.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
If some scruffy Saxon in a filthy wattle-and-daub hovel can knock up a batch of beer, we should be able to do the same.
Having said that, what did Saxon beer taste like? :hmm:

 

[pms67]

So... at risk of flying in the face of the die hards and being wheeled out to the beach and set on fire on a bed of beer crates .....

Do we massively over complicate beer making ?
Temperature this ... cleanse that ... sparge this, 3 tier, BIAB, full BIAB , dunk ... this method .....

I’m bordering on 10 AG BIAB brews so still a virgin... but I’ve found go with the flow to be the best approach and keep simple ...

Heat water.
Add grain.
Mash.
Chuck some water over the grain.
Remove grain.
Boil.
Add hops.
Chill.
Chuck in yeast.
Wait two weeks.
Chuck on to some sugar.
Bottle.

Step 2 and 7 is freeform where you get creative.

It’s simple right ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great post for anyone thinking about making the move to AG
It’s not complicated 👍

 

[Martybhoy]

Hi!
If some scruffy Saxon in a filthy wattle-and-daub hovel can knock up a batch of beer, we should be able to do the same.
Having said that, what did Saxon beer taste like? :hmm:

I always wonder how they managed their yeast in those days.

And how did they dry hop?

 

[AdeDunn]

I reckon it can be as simple, or as complicated, as you want it to be. Some folks LIKE playing around with electronics etc, others prefer a much simpler approach, it's a hobby end of the day.

Brewing has improved over the years, from boiling bread in water then fermenting it, to modern temperature controlled fermentation etc. Sure things were once much simpler, but you have to ask yourself, was the beer as good?

I regularly see people saying how if the ancients did it anybody can. The ancients also died much younger, had next to no healthcare, at a very basic diet and lived in hovels. I don't want to recreate that either. :lol:

Heck, you can make wine using the yeast on the grapes and your feet, but would you want to drink it?:lol:

 

[pvt_ak]

Diminishing returns. Your list gets 90% of the job done, then you have to work twice as hard for every percentage point you want better than that.

Fair point Nigel [emoji106]


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[Graz]

Hi!
If some scruffy Saxon in a filthy wattle-and-daub hovel can knock up a batch of beer, we should be able to do the same.
Having said that, what did Saxon beer taste like? :hmm:

Pretty much what I was going to say. We, as a civilisation, having been making beer since the dark ages. Most of it probably turned out okay as it was safer to drink than the water.

 

[Sadfield]

Diminishing returns. Your list gets 90% of the job done, then you have to work twice as hard for every percentage point you want better than that.

A point well made. I could take a laissez faire attitude to a brewday and produce something satisfactory, but why settle for that. Seek out the best commercial beers and try and match them for quality and consistency, and that last 10% becomes a very difficult challenge.

Enjoying, the comments regarding saxon brewing, given that the 'what are you drinking tonight?' thread, is predominantly filled with mediocre, insipid supermarket beers. I can't see a wild fermented, hopless, millet ale being much of a crowd pleaser.

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[Gunge]

I reckon it can be as simple, or as complicated, as you want it to be. Some folks LIKE playing around with electronics etc, others prefer a much simpler approach, it's a hobby end of the day.

That's right. Some folk like riding motorbikes. I like riding motorbikes but I like taking them down to the last nut and bolt then putting 'em back together as well. I keep beer as simple and straight-forward as possible - I get the results I'm after but cannot be arsed with and have no interest in IBUs or precisely what shade of red it comes out at etc - but I can fully understand those who do.

 

[Mrobson]

I keep beer as simple and straight-forward as possible - I get the results I'm after but cannot be arsed with and have no interest in IBUs or precisely what shade of red it comes out at etc - but I can fully understand those who do.

I'm the same..

 

[MyQul]

A point well made. I could take a laissez faire attitude to a brewday and produce something satisfactory, but why settle for that. Seek out the best commercial beers and try and match them for quality and consistency, and that last 10% becomes a very difficult challenge.

Enjoying, the comments regarding saxon brewing, given that the 'what are you drinking tonight?' thread, is predominantly filled with mediocre, insipid supermarket beers. I can't see a wild fermented, hopless, millet ale being much of a crowd pleaser.

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That's because your not an East London hipster looking for the next new thing :lol:

 

[JapanBrew]

So... at risk of flying in the face of the die hards and being wheeled out to the beach and set on fire on a bed of beer crates .....

Do we massively over complicate beer making ?
Temperature this ... cleanse that ... sparge this, 3 tier, BIAB, full BIAB , dunk ... this method .....

I’m bordering on 10 AG BIAB brews so still a virgin... but I’ve found go with the flow to be the best approach and keep simple ...

Heat water.
Add grain.
Mash.
Chuck some water over the grain.
Remove grain.
Boil.
Add hops.
Chill.
Chuck in yeast.
Wait two weeks.
Chuck on to some sugar.
Bottle.

Step 2 and 7 is freeform where you get creative.

It’s simple right ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s true but I think that’s what makes this hobby a craft. The only thing that really matters is sanitizing and the temp of your mashing. 98% of the wort production is during the mash. Too hot and you kill the enzymes that convert the starch. You get this thin window of temperature to work in.

 

[Ajhutch]

It’s simple right ?


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I’ve heard more than one person say it and it’s a good quote: ‘malt wants to become beer’. All we have to do is point the way.

For my part, I try to remember that this is a hobby not a profession so it should be fun. I try to identify one thing from one brew to the next that could be better. And ‘better’ might mean anything, tastier, quicker, cheaper, easier, whatever. But ultimately I’m doing it for me and the friends and family who drink my beer, what else matters.

 

[Pheqit]

When I have a brewday I have no idea what I`m going to brew until I check my grains, only thing I have in mind is what kind of strength of beer I want/need (this is probably based on stress levels at the time). I try to keep it simple and it`s usually a case of whats been there the longest. Only rarely do I try to clone a beer (doing an Elvis brew atm, fingers crossed, currently dry hopping (another first)).
Only on the brew day, after making up the grain list in my head, do I start heating the water for mashing, whilst that happens I grind the grain and start thinking about hops.
Get mashing and choose some hops from the fridge all vaccuum packed (no freezer space).
Sparge with a jug (I like doing it that way, it`s ok call me weird or old time or whatever, gets me on my feet and makes me think I`m doing something).
Boil and add hops during, after all I spent a long time choosing them.
I do no chill due to lack of chiller and never thinking it worthwhile, my choice - maybe one day, who knows. So I steal a litre or so depending on strength, dilute it down and make a vitality starter for my yeast. Rest of the unfermented is poured into FV and hot side aerated.
About 24hrs later once FV is room temp (measured using an Inkbird) and starter is going good I pitch. Fill chemistry vase/flask (lol) with hot water and some oxy and put back on stir plate for self clean.
I always use a blow off tube (too many accidents in the past).
Now I can sit back again just like I do most of the time on brewday and wait for the dreaded packaging day, bottle or mini keg depends on strength. Can`t remember the last time I used a hydrometer in fact not sure where it is but I do have a few thermometers.
Honestly I spend most of brew day sat on my arse but I do wish I had someone who would clean up after me!
Easy Peasy!