Monday, October 3, 2016

Here Are Facts About Home Brew Ingredients

By Martha Ellis


Preparation of beer locally is popular in many parts of the country. Many people like the home made beer because it does not contain chemicals which are used in commercial brewing. There are different types of home brew ingredients, and each plays a unique role.

One of them is the malted grains or just malts. Barley is the most used grain for preparing beer. This is because; it can produce more sugar than other cereals. Also, it contains natural hull which makes working with it much easier.

Apart from barley, we can also prepare beer with other grains such as wheat, oats, rice, and corn. These grains are always added to a base grain which in most cases is barley. Their purpose is to add their particular flavors and character to the beer.

The process of preparing grain malts involves letting allowing them to partially sprout then heating them at very high temperatures to stop the germination process. Starch is then released from the grains and converted to sugar which later is used by yeast as food.

Water is a crucial in making beer. This is entire beer usually water. There is no first water to be used in this process. Any water which is safe for consumption can be employed. However, it should be noted that that beer made from hard water has a different taste from the one made from soft water. But this is a small issue because it has little effects on the quality of beer.

Hops are favorite flowers which most people like to use. Their green buds give a counterbalance of bitterness and sweetness of the beer. Besides, they give the beer interesting flavors and aromas. Their significant contribution is that they enable the beer to remain fresh for a long time. Apart from hops, other ingredients which can be used include; spices and herbs.

Hops flowers are composed of two substances; resins and oils. The role of resins is to provide the bitter taste while oils provide sweet smell and taste. Different hops varieties have got a varying amount of resins thus varying the degree of bitterness.

Last but not least, we have yeast. These are small living organisms which convert the sugary malts into a real beer. They consume sugar from the grains to produce carbon dioxide. Once everything has been consumed, they slowly drift into a snoozy condition of hibernation. At this point the beer is ready.

There are two types of yeasts which can be used. They include ale and lager yeast. The ale type works well in a fairly wide temperature range which makes it ideal for home brewers. Lager yeast, on the other hand, works best at cooler temperatures.

Still, on yeast, they are available in two forms; the dry and the wet yeast. Dry ones are available in foil pouches, and they are similar to yeast powder used for that are used for baking bread. An unopened packet of the dry yeast can stay for a long time. Liquid yeast, on the other hand, is very perishable. Even if they are kept in a refrigerator, they cannot last for a very long time.




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