Malt Extract Home Brewing: How To Make Beer At Home With Extract
Extract Brewing Tips For Making Great Home Brew
The easiest way to get started with homebrewing beer is usually by doing malt extract brewing. Home brewing using malt extract shortens the brewing process. In the context of beer brewing, mashing is the procedure of heating up malted barley or various other brewing grains to a specific temperature. The malted barley grains are next kept at a certain heat range for a fixed time period in order to cause the enzymes in the malted grains to break down the starches in the grains into sugars. The kind of sugar produced is usually maltose. It is this sugar that eventually yeast will consume and transform into alcohol and co2, creating beer.
Once mashing is completed, the homebrewer is left with mash. Creating mash can be fairly complex due to the large amounts of very hot water involved, and the elaborate process of straining and draining out the sugary liquid from the used grains. This type of brewing is referred to as all grain brewing. I recommend that people don’t begin with all grain brewing and instead first become comfortable with malt extract brewing. Malt extract brewing eliminates the need to produce a mash. Commercial maltsters produce mash and through evaporation reduce it down to a powder or thick syrup. Home brewers can buy this concentrated malt extract and work with it to make their own beer without having to undergo the sophisticated and cumbersome process of making a mash.
Most homebrew batch sizes are five gallons, so if you are producing a mash, you will need a stockpot at least that size along with other equipment required to drain and sparge all of the grains. All-grain homebrewers also need to maneuver around these significant volumes of liquid and grains, which can weigh more than 60 pounds and be quite hazardous due to the boiling temps. Extract brewing, on the other hand, is much less complicated. There is no need for such large pots and quantities of boiling liquid since you are not making a mash. For a 5 gallon batch of beer you will only need to boil roughly 2 gallons of water with the malt extract, which will make things a lot easier.
Hops are added at various intervals throughout the sixty minute boil to add flavor and smell to offset the sweet taste of the malt. The longer hops are boiled, the more bitter your beer will be.. These kinds of hops are referred to as bittering hops. Hops that are added near the end of the boil are identified as aroma hops as little bitterness is produced, but the hop smell is. For some beers like holiday or other such spicy beers, spices and herbs are included near the end of the boil .
When your boil is done, you have what is referred to as wort. The end result is the same whether you brewed all-grain or if you brewed with malt extract. This very hot liquid now must be cooled down to 70 degrees or colder as rapidly as possible. The hard work is done, now it’s time to allow the yeast to do it’s thing. After the wort is cooled you add the yeast and wait for fermentation, which should get started within twelve hours. Depending on the beer style, inside of two weeks you will have a completed beer ready for kegging or bottling. Malt extract brewing is a wonderful way to get rolling with brewing beer at home, and you can unquestionably make some great beer with this method and become a great homebrewer!
Beer Kits And Beer Brewing
Beer kits
A package of ingredients & basic instructions, this is what you can expect when you purchase one of the many beer kits available today. These kits enable you to brew beer in something as simple as a stainless steel cooking pot. The ingredient only beer kits are also aimed at those hobbyists who already have a complete kit and are just looking to buy more ingredients to make a fresh batch of their favorite beer.
If you are looking for a bit more of an extensive beer kit, they come in various other forms. Some contain basic equipment to help you home brew your favorite beer and then there are the ‘micro – brewery’ kits. These beer kits contain all the equipment, ingredients and instructions you need to start your very own micro brewery.
The first place to look when you decide that you want to purchase a beer kit would be online. Try to run a search for ‘beer kits’, and hundreds of results will come back. But how to choose the right one for your brewing needs?
It all depends on what kind of beer you would like to brew and how much of it you want to make in a batch. Most good kits will come with basic ingredients, while some of the larger ones will even include malt and hops with the beer kit.
For the serious beer enthusiast, nothing beats a micro brewery kit. It produces a decent volume of beer, has every piece of equipment you could need and looks very professional when you show it off to your mates over a couple of home made cold ones. Some of these beer kits will even come with a tap system that you can link up to your fridge for ice cold beer on tap.
Beer Brewing
Beer brewing is a great hobby. IT can save you hundreds in the long run and you can reap the rewards of your own hard work. Here are a couple of basic tips for home style beer brewing.
The process begins by soaking the malted barley in hot water to produce malt sugars
After which, the hops is mixed with the sugar malt solution, this provides the flavor.
The mixture is then cooled and the fermentation process starts when the yeast is added.
CO2 and ethyl alcohol are released while the sugar is fermented.
Once fermentation is finished, sugar is added before bottling to produce carbonation of the beer.
Light beers, dark beers, pilsners or pale ales, with the tips and equipment mentioned above you now have the head start you need to begin so high quality beer. You are your own brew master! Your friends will be impressed with your new found hobby, after all who doesn’t want to be friends with the local brew master? Not only that but you will be confident in the quality of the beverage you are drinking because you made it yourself! Beer brewing made easy from the comfort of your own home with easy to use amateur beer kits.
Following the Seasons in the Lake District
Everyone knows that the Lake District is beautiful. Each season has its own character, so no two visits would ever be the same. There is an abundance of self catering Lake District cottages to help enhance your visit. Here are some of our seasonal favourites…
Spring
Magical walks through bluebell-carpeted woods, spotting wood sorrel as its flowers rotate to follow the sun throughout the day; golden celandines; wild garlic with its starry white flowers; jolly primroses and frothy dog’s mercury. Try Wallabarrow Woods in the Duddon Valley, Dodd Wood near Keswick, Johnny’s Wood in Borrowdale or the Brandlehow Wood at Derwentwater.
Head to Ullswater to catch Wordsworth’s famous Daffodills: ‘I wandered lonely as a Cloud/That floats on high o’er Vales and Hills/When all at once I saw a crowd/ A host of dancing Daffodills’. They were inspired by a walk taken by Wordsworth’s sister, Dorothy, in April 1802.
While you’re in the Ullswater area, take a frosty walk up Aira Force. When the waterfall still has it’s post-winter volume, but before the tree canopy has closed overhead in spring, it’s a really magical sight.
Words by the Water is a quality literary festival held at Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake each March. Last year’s crop of speakers included the popular novelist Penelope Lively; Man-Booker shortlisted local girl, Sarah Hall; historian Ian Mortimer and comic broadcaster Stuart Maconie. 2011′s headliners include Joanna Trollope, Claire Tomalin, Gervase Phinn and Justine Picardie.
Cumbria’s stately homes and castles re-open in the Spring. Try Muncaster Castle on the west coast; Mirehouse, at Bassenthwaite; Brantwood, overlooking Coniston Water; Hutton-in-the-Forest, north of Penrith and Holker Hall, at Cark-in-Cartmel.
Spring is lambing season, from tiny white Rough Fell lambs in February to black-as-pitch Herdwicks in May. The first one is a sight to report, but within a month the fields are heaving with little bleaters.
There is always a good selection of Easter events including the Great Peter Rabbit Egg Hunt, a large-scale event covering the entire Lake Distrct. A hundred eggs, with vouchers for prizes, are hidden in tourist hot-spots. The event is over when all the eggs are found!
The Keswick Mountain Festival takes place in May, with a combination of guided activities, competitions and talks. It was particularly good last year, so we have high hopes for 2011. There are plenty of Keswick cottages in the area to as an added bonus.
Summer
Summer is walking season. Anywhere. Everywhere. There are so many lovely places to walk, from mountains, to river valleys, to conifer forests , indigenous deciduous woods, the Cumbria Coastal Path and the Coast-to-Coast walk. Have a crack at the Woolpack Round, a sixteen-mile circular walk from the Woolpack Inn in Eskdale which includes Scafell Pike, the highest point in England. We love to amble along the Derwent in Borrowdale or the Esk in Eskdale.
Experienced climbers will head for Great Gable and Napes Needle the birth of British rock climbing at Wasdale, for a challenging climb unencumbered by hoards of visitors. Beginner? Take a few lessons with Tim Mosedale.
A bright Lake District day is perfect for a picnic. Pick a spot by Devoke Water or Blea Tarn; Derwentwater is always lovely, and easy to get to with pushchairs and wheelchairs; Ennerdale is blissfully quiet; by the medieval bridge over the Derwent at Grange, whilst the kids have a paddle, or there’s my favourite: under the shadow of the Bowder Stone in Borrowdale.
With all these calm lakes about, why not try your hand at sailing, rowing, or canoeing? Hire craft and take lessons at Derwent marina.
You can swim in the lakes, or, if you’re at our lovely quiet west coast, a dip in the sea at the MCS-approved waters at Seascale and St. Bees Head. Whilst you’re in the area, take a bracing cliff-top walk at St. Bees and spot thousands of rare black guillemots, and masses of kittiwakes, razorbills, fulmars, linnets and rock pipits.
Don’t miss the ospreys in Dodd Wood, above Bassenthwaite. Every year, between April and August, there is a special viewing point where you can see the new chicks being fed, and the adult birds soaring over the lake, fish in beak. There is even a webcam in season.
There are lots of festivals throughout the summer, including the Keswick Beer Festival and Boot Beer Festival in Eskdale. I have it on good advice that there’s excellent beer to go with the music at the annual Cockermouth Rock Festival, affectionately known as ‘Cock Rock’. Last year’s headline acts were Dodgy and 80′s favourite, Sham 69.
The agricultural show season kicks off too at Cockermouth, Coniston, Penrith, Ambleside, Cartmel, Hawkshead and Grasmere.
Autumn
Autumn in the Lake District is often gorgeous. There are a lot of native deciduous trees here, which rust gently from September to November into lovely shades of gold, red, russet and brown. My favourite place to take in the show is a bench on the eastern shore of Derwentwater, with Brandelhow Wood on the opposite shore, reflected in the lake. Take a camera and a flask!
This is foraging season, too. Pick some blackberries (always called brambles hereabouts!) for a pie (always known as a ‘plate cake’ hereabouts!) from any wooded area or hedgerow. In October, look out for sloes – fat, purple berries – and add them to gin, to make a rich, purple sloe gin liqueur that will be ready for Christmas. Collect pine cones to use as fragrant firelighters when winter arrives. And don’t forget conkers!
There’s a very good chance of spotting our native red squirrel in Cumbria in autumn. They’re smaller than the grey, with pointed faces, tufted ears and delicate ‘hands’. You’re most likely to spot them at Dodd Wood, near Keswick, at Whinlatter Forest Park and along the Keswick to Threlkeld railway path, but you may see them in any wooded area, especially if there are a lot of conifers.
A lot of agricultural shows take place in autumn; traditionally, these were the fun-and-games when the harvest had been safely gathered in. There are many of these, in every valley and many a village across the county. One of the most famous is the Egremont Crab Fair – ‘crabs’ are crab apples not seafood! – which also hosts the annual World Gurning Championship. In this competition, people compete to pull the strangest face in the world. Apparently, a lack of teeth helps!
Egremont Crab Fair is one of many autumn agricultural shows to feature Cumberland & Westmorland Wresting. This is a traditional sport where the idea is to start standing up, and end up with your opponent on the ground. It used to be famous for the floral trunks worn by competitors, but these have gone by the wayside in recent years as it was judged that they were putting off youngsters. I, for one, miss them!
Our vote for Britain’s Wackiest Festival goes to the Biggest Liar Competition, which takes place each November at the Santon Bridge Inn at Wasdale Head. The competition is open to all comers except lawyers and politicians, who are judged to be too well-practiced in the art. Past winners include locals, staff and the comedienne, Sue Perkins.
Winter
Roaring log fires with pine-cone firelighters; extra-thick woolly walking socks and toasted toes. This is a great time to try out some of our cosy vernacular pubs for a pint of real ale and some traditional Cumbrian cooking – we like the Black Cock at Broughton-in-Furness, the Dog and Gun in Keswick, the Sun Inn at Bassenthwaite, the Brook House Inn at Boot in Eskdale, and the Shepherd’s Inn in Ennerdale Bridge.
Set out from your holiday cottage in many a Lake District valley, and yours might be the only footprints for miles. One of the loveliest sights in a Lakes winter is hoar frost on holly: lovely, glossy green leaves covered with diamond-like glittering ice crystals. You know all those Christmas cards with robins on frosted holly, eating fat red berries? Well, they really do that.
One of my favourite things to do on a cold day in January is fish ‘n’ chips at the Old Keswickian in Keswick, followed by a tootle down to see the frozen lake (look but don’t touch, please!)
Keswick’s annual Film Festival is held in February. 2011 will focus on Film 4, Agnes Varda and ‘Odd War Films’.
Blow the cobwebs away at Whinlatter Forest Park with a walk through pine forests. There are waymarked trails suitable for all levels of experience, including children, plus there are mountain bike trails, and, weather-permitting, the Go Ape! high wire course. Open daily for most of the year, but just at weekends in January.
Steam from the coastal village of Ravenglass to the village of Boot in Eskdale with the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway. It operates a reduced schedule over winter but is usually running at weekends. It’s a fabulous time of year to catch the views along seven miles of the Eskdale valley, with views to the Scafell range beyond.
Several stately homes dress the house for a sumptuous, Victorian-style Christmas. Holker Hall, at Cark-in-Cartmel in the south-west Lakes, is a great place to visit in December, with magnificent decorations, hog roasts and seasonal entertainment for children. Muncaster Hall is a wonderful place to visit on dark December days, as they have a sound-and-light show in the garden after dark, and wonderful traditional decorations. You can even take a candlelit tour. What a lovely way to the end the year!
Staying in Lake District cottages is the ideal way to get the most out of your visit. You’d be crazy not to!
Find More Real Ale Articles
Brew Your Own Beer
It’s a great thing to brew your own beer. Do you want to learn the process of brewing your own bear? This article will explain it all.
Brewing your own bear is not a piece of cake. Before you set on be prepared to make some blunders. But it is not a difficult process either. You need to spend some money when you get on to home brewing. Wondering how much?
You will have to spend if you want to make it all in one kit. If more, then it might go up till 0. But the price you pay for it is definitely worth it. In exchange you are treating yourself and your friends to first rate beer.
How to brew your own beer?
If you are a beginner at this, it is advisable that you start off with a all in one beer kit. When it comes to beer kits, Mr. Beer will serve your purpose. It has 4 editions. The price begins at in which you can get hold of the Delux Edition and it goes up to 0 where you can get hold of the Ultimate Edition. The set on which you prepare your beer is important. They limit the amount of raw materials that you need. But you must use a good kit to manufacture your beer. In the long run you will save a lot of money and you will also be able to make beer constantly.
While making beer, try to do things all on your own without taking other’s help. When you do it all by yourself, you can experiment with the think that you are making. There is room enough for your creativity to surface too. Another important thing, when you are doing things single handedly, there is less chance for mistakes to happen. So buy a brew kit when you start off. Then you can progress on to custom beers. Before you start you have to sterilize the kit.
The steps of making home brew beer:
Brewing: for this you will need the following:
• a brew pot,
• a recipe,
• a kitchen strainer,
• a minimum of 2.5 gallons of water (most brew packs and recipes call for 2.5-3 gallons), and a rolling pin (to crush your grain ingredients).
The ingredients that you will use in your beer will vary with the beer that you want to brew. For instance if you want to brew a simple ale you will need:
• 3 lbs. light dried malt extract
• 8 oz. crushed crystal malt
• 1 oz. Northern Brewer pellet hops
• 1 pkg. brewers yeast
• 3/8 C. sugar, for bottling
The steps that follow the brewing process consist of fermentations. There is a primary fermentation and there is a secondary fermentation.
You will soon become an expert beer brewer. Then you will be able to play with the recopies and include modifications to make your own beer. Have it, serve it to your friends and get compliments all the way! happy brewing!
Interior design with charm factor
A couple of weeks ago, Jane and I took ourselves off to Pitney, between Somerton and Langport, for lunch at the Halfway House, one of Somerset’s most charming pubs. The pub is scruffy, with mismatched tables and benches, newspapers, maps and guides strewn over them. The well worn bar top is wet with real ales and ciders which slop from their tankards en route from the barrels in the back room.
Please don’t change it. On from the pub to Pitney Farm Shop to stock up on organic sausages. The shop and the family who run it are charming too. Rob and Liz Walrond have been farming organically since 2001 as a matter of fundamental principle rather than marketing expediency.
Their integrity shows in the outstanding quality of their produce and their very genuine care for the way in which they farm and do business. If you arrive by bicycle or on foot to shop at Pitney, you get a discount. The Walronds commissioned an artist friend to design their emblem, which encapsulates their simple honest principles.
The seaside cannot get more charming than at Beer, on the East Devon coast. Stripey deck chairs and beach huts, with fishing boats winched up onto the shingle, their catch of lobster and crab cooked and sold on the slipway. Just up the road is the Marine Gallery, a friendly and approachable place whose owners have a mission to make art accessible to all in an open and welcoming space.
The gallery plays host to some very accomplished artists. In recent weeks it has seen a return of Anita Klein, who depicts in a charming naïve style her children, her husband Nige and herself in unremarkable domestic context. So what’s this got to do with interior design and decoration? Just that charm is about integrity and simplicity and it usually has a story to tell. A home that is decorated entirely from a furnishing store cannot achieve a high charm factor. There is no provenance and no story to tell. Except that it might look vaguely Swedish.
Richard Clayton is MD of Jane Clayton and Company Ltd, Interior Design www.janeclayton.co.uk www.pitneyfarmshop.co.uk www.marinehouseatbeer.co.uk
Jane Clayton & Company Limited is Bristol and Bath’s largest interior designer. Our interior design ideas are used in show homes, hotel refurbishments and residential properties throughout the UK.
Beer Brewing Supplies: Partial Secrets to a Magical Brew
The drinks that are more popular than beer are tea and water. Many people drink beer because it lessens stress, augments blood flow, maintains the memory power of the brain, prevents stroke, and fends off gallstones. It is also patronized by men and women because it is beneficial to the heart, full of fiber that aids in bowel movement, full of multi-vitamins, healthy for the liver, and a cure for insomnia. What separates it from all alcohol-based drinks is its refreshing and powerful impact in quenching thirst! Another is that great feeling that comes after gulping a bottle or mug of it. It is a dream of every beer drinker to design and brew his own beer that could be shared with colleagues, friends, and family or be enjoyed in solitude. The magic and beauty of brewing your perfect beer does not only depend on the processes that you will perform but also on the beer brewing supplies that you will peruse.
Beer in the Earlier History of Men and Women
It is very fascinating to know that the same drink was brewed by Sumerians thousands of years ago. The Gilgamesh Epic, which is a remnant of the Ancient Mesopotamia, tells of how men of wars drank beer at the end of their battles. The Hammurabi Code, which is considered as the first written law that humans created, even spoke of beer ration. In Ancient Egyptian civilization, pharaohs and members of the royal family used to drink beer in the evening. In medieval times, alewives brewed beer using homegrown and homemade beer brewing supplies that were brought by knights to foreign lands along with their breads.
Interesting Beer Myths That Must Be Unlearned
Just like Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison of the Doors, and Adolf Hitler, beer is surrounded with myths that must be examined and unlearned. Some of these untruthful myths about it and beer brewing supplies are:
▪ Drink light beer to prevent a paunch. What is true is when you drink more than you should, you get to have a paunch, light beer or not.
▪ Returning an unopened bottle of beer to the refrigerator after exposing it to room temperature damages its taste. What is true is when you expose beer to light and air by not consuming after removing the bottle cap damages it.
▪ Better beer is not bitter. What is true is hops, which are used as preservatives, create the bitter taste. The more bitter beer is the longer is its shelf life.
▪ Green bottles are best for beer. What is true is a brown bottle that prevents light from penetrating its surface is best for beer.
▪ Beer is only for men not for women. What is true is it is well-liked both by men and women. It is a very sexist notion that it is very inappropriate for women to drink beer.
The Secrets to a Magical Brew
You can never make a diamond necklace out of the pieces of a broken glass as much as you could never create a masterpiece such as the Mona Lisa because you are not da Vinci. The secrets to the perfect homebred beer are in the beer brewing supplies and how well you do the processes. Go online for The Grape and Granary to find the best available beer brewing supplies in the market.
Find More Brewing Beer Articles
Four Reasons to go on a Night Out in Leeds
There are several great reasons to go on a night out in Leeds, four of which are discussed in this article. You could be dancing to your heart’s content to cheesy chart tunes one night, before getting down to soul and funk the next, before focussing on hard house the night after that. The city centre’s most notable late-licence nightclubs include Oceana in the Merrion Centre and The Cockpit on Swinegate. Leeds is also home to rave and acid house clubs such as Mission, which attracts internationally renowned DJs.
Another great reason to go on a night out in Leeds is the vast range of pubs on offer. These include several real ale pubs such as The Scarborough Hotel, The Palace, The Alexandria and The Adelphi. There are a number of small pubs situated off Briggate such as The Ship, The Angel and the particularly historic Whitelocks. There has been an increase in the number of gastro pubs in the city in recent years and Leeds is also home to The New Penny, which is said to be the UK’s longest continually running gay pub.
There is a wide variety of different areas in the city offering an enjoyable evening night out for everyone. In addition to the city centre, areas such as Chapel Allerton and Headingley, as well as outlying areas such as Otley and Wetherby are worth a visit. Chapel Allerton’s many pubs, bars and restaurants offer a sophisticated, cosmopolitan atmosphere with many of them making use of the wide pavements in the area for outdoor seating. Headingley, meanwhile, is the city’s student centre with student pubs including The Original Oak, The Box and The Skyrack. Many of these pubs are in close vicinity to the city’s cricket and rugby grounds, making them a good place to crash out after a game.
Leeds is also home to the Otley Run, a pub crawl. Its route follows the A660, which is also known as Otley Road, the point where the pub crawl frequently begins. The Otley Run is highly popular with local students in fancy dress and is also a popular focal point for birthdays and other celebrations.
