Esters are one of many byproducts of fermentation and they’re an important flavor element of many beer styles that are produced by the beer yeast. When things go well, the esters lend a subtle complexity to beer with aromas usually described as fruity, sometimes banana. But when yeast is stressed, ester production may go overboard, and in addition to a number of other compounds, may contribute to some unpleasant, solvent-like off-flavors. This is the double-edged sword of homebrew yeast esters.
The key to getting good ester production from your yeast is keeping them happy and healthy. This means pitching an appropriate number of yeast cells and maintaining a fermentation temperature that is within a target range. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to achieving the right level of ester production. The right fit will be determined by the yeast strain, the beer style, and the gravity of the beer. For example, what’s appropriate in a Belgian tripel would be out of place in an Irish stout – though it could make for an interesting Belgian stout!
But regardless of the style of beer you’re brewing, you’ll want to make sure that homebrew ester production is balanced. It really comes down to yeast strain selection, temperature control, and pitch rate.

Yeast Strain Selection
First, pick a yeast strain that is typical for the style of beer you’re brewing. If you aren’t brewing to style, then select a strain that embodies the flavor and aroma characteristics you’re going for. American ale strains tend to have relatively low ester production and so are often described as “clean.” English ales often exhibit some mild fruity character, so English ale yeast strains produce slightly more fruity esters. Belgian yeasts and other expressive strains, like German hefeweizen yeast, are known for higher levels of ester and phenol production. Lagers, in general, tend to have very little ester production.

Using Temperature to Manage Flavor and Aroma
After you’ve picked your yeast strain, decide how estery you want the beer to be. Higher fermentation temperatures tend to increase ester production. Many brewers who consider esters a key flavor component of their Belgian ales deliberately ferment their beers in excess of 75˚F. I’ve even heard of a brewer who won’t ferment a saison below 90˚F!
On the other hand, if you want to brew a clean ale that lets the malt and the hops shine through, you won’t want to ferment at such extreme temperatures. You will want to do what you can to keep homebrew ester production low. All beer yeast is packaged with temperature guidelines. If you want to avoid excessive esters, stay away from the high end of that range. This may mean getting a fermentation chamber or at the very least setting up a swamp cooler for your fermenter.

Pitch Rate
A key to keeping homebrew esters in check is pitching an adequate amount of yeast. Underpitching tends to drive fruity ester production, so use a yeast pitch calculator to make sure your yeast starter is big enough. On the other hand, underpitching may work to your benefit. Some brewers deliberately underpitch hefeweizen yeast to increase the banana esters the style is known for.
Learning how to best control homebrew esters will largely come from experience, but there is a decent amount of information online about the characteristics of different beer yeast strains. Next time you brew a beer, do a little research on other brewers’ experience with your yeast strain of choice. With the right yeast selection, fermentation temperature, and starter size, you’ll be well on your way to brewing a well-balanced beer with the perfect level of esters!
—–
David Ackley is a writer, brewer, and craft beer marketing consultant. He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.

Despite the fact that IPAs are the best-selling craft beer in the US these days, not everyone is into hoppy beer. Some would prefer a malty beer style. In many cases, people who are new to craft beer may prefer to start with something more approachable before moving on to things like Heady Topper. Heck, I like IPAs and sometimes I’m just in the mood for something different.
One of the reasons people homebrew is so they can drink beers they can’t get at the store. With so many IPAs on the shelves, it’s nice to brew a malty beer or … to mix things up.
If for whatever reason you’re not into IPAs – you don’t like the bitterness, or you’re just ready for a change – consider one of these malty beer styles for your next homebrew:
The Malt Bomb
Well, the opposite of a hop bomb is a malt bomb. These beers feature – you guessed it – malt as the main flavor ingredients. You could try a caramel-rich Irish Red Ale, a bready, toasty German Bock, or a clone of Sierra Nevada and Ninkasi’s Double Latte Coffee Stout.
Belgian Ale
Belgian beers offers a level of complexity you don’t always get from IPAs, mainly due to the use of Belgian ale yeast. If you’re into dry, complex white wines, you might like to try a Hennepin Clone or an Abbey Single. This rich and fruity Rochefort 8 clone is a near perfect copy of one of the most highly regarded beers in the world.
Wheat Beer
This is not necessarily a malty beer style, but the effect is the same. Wheat tends to give beer a sweet, bready flavor and a smooth mouthfeel. On a hot day they sure go down easy! In my mind, Paulaner Hefeweizen is the quintessential German wheat beer. You could also try an American wheat or a Blue Moon clone if you’d like something more citrusy.
Fruit Beer
Adding fruit is a great way to bring some complexity to beer, and may be just the thing a new craft beer enthusiast needs in order to make the jump. Try the chocolate-berry combination of a Blackberry Porter, the tropical fruit flavors of a Hibiscus Mango Blonde Ale, or the tartness of a Cranberry “Lambic”.
Lawnmower Beer 
If you’re looking for something a step or two above macro lager, consider brewing your own American Cream Ale or Honey Blonde Ale. If tailgate quaffability is what you’re after, try brewing this Buddy Light Clone.
Drink up and brew a malty beer style! As they say, variety is the spice of life!
What’s your favorite malty beer style?
—–
David Ackley is a writer, brewer, and craft beer marketing consultant. He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.

Beginning homebrewers have some options when learning to brew – quite of few of them actually. But one of the main decisions is whether to start with extract brewing, partial mash, or all-grain. Because all-grain is typically for more seasoned brewers, most beginners start with either extract or partial mash brewing. In this post, I’ll lay out some of the key differences between the two kinds of homebrewing.

First, some basics…

When looking at the difference between extract, partial mash, and all-grain, the main difference lies in the source of fermentable sugars. All-grain brewers (and the pros) extract everything they need from malted grains through a process called mashing. It requires strict attention to parameters like temperature, pH, and water chemistry – something that can be a little overwhelming if you’re just cutting your teeth on homebrewing.
Luckily for beginners, there’s a way around all this work. It’s called malt extract. Basically, professional brewers have already done the mash, then taken the resulting liquid (wort) and condensed it into either a liquid syrup or a spray-dried powder. These two types of malt extract are referred to as liquid malt extract (LME) and dried malt extract (DME). There are a few different flavors to choose from, so extract offers plenty of options for beginners.

Extract Brewing vs. Partial Mash Brewing

Both techniques use malt extract to supply a majority of the fermentable sugars, but the key difference between the two brewing methods is in the use of malted grains. The main difference is that extract brewing gets nearly all of its fermentable sugars from extract, whereas for partial mash, the brewer will do a mini-mash – the same procedures as an all-grain brewer, but on a much smaller scale – and then supplement with malt extract. For a five-gallon batch, the mini-mash may be just be a pound or two of grain, compared to ten pounds or more for all-grain.
Extract sometimes (but not always) will use a small amount of specialty grains in a beer recipe. These are steeped, like a tea, to extract color and flavor from the grains, but the contribution of fermentable sugar is negligible.
With partial mash, on the other hand, the brewer actually performs a mash. That means mixing both base malt and specialty grains with water with the purpose of extracting fermentable sugar from the malt. The brewer stills gets a good amount of sugars from malt extract, but he/she is also trying to extract sugars from the grains. To do this, the brewer needs a few additional tools: a thermometer, a method for checking pH, gypsum, and chalk. To learn more about partial mash, read these step-by-step instructions.

Benefits of Extract Brewing

• Fewer grains – easier cleanup
• Shorter brew day
• Focus on the overall brewing process instead of getting bogged down by mashing
• Lots of recipe kits to choose from

Benefits of Partial Mash Brewing

• Learn more about brewing the way all-grain brewers do it
• The mash allows the brewer to use a wider range of different malts and grains, giving them more flexibility for recipe development and adaptation
• There are also lots of partial mash recipe kits to choose from

Whether you decide to start out with extract or partial mash brewing is entirely up to you – there’s no right or wrong way to do it, and there’s no reason you can’t switch back and forth from batch to batch. Whatever you do, make sure you’re having fun and the rest will take care of itself!
—–
David Ackley is a writer, brewer, and craft beer marketing consultant. He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

You’ve heard it again and again – cleaning and sanitation are two of the most important aspects of homebrewing. It’s true – lax cleaning and sanitation can easily spoil a batch of homebrew – but there are some things about beer and brewing that inherently prevent spoilage. Knowing what they are can save some time and headache.
Now this advice may go against conventional wisdom, but in an effort to save you some stress, here’s a breakdown of when – and when not – to be overly concerned about home brewing sanitation.
 
When to Be Paranoid About Home Brewing Sanitation

• Yeast handling – Anytime you’re handling yeast is a good time to be concerned about sanitation. In fact, it’s when you should be most paranoid about sanitation. That said, by pitching a large number of yeast cells into a wort, that yeast will likely outcompete any other microorganisms – but there’s no sense in giving those spoiling microbes a leg up. Whenever you’re harvesting yeast or preparing a yeast starter, go the extra mile to make sure that anything that might come in contact with the yeast has been thorough cleaned and sanitized.

• Post boil, post chill – One of the reasons we boil wort is to sanitize it. Maintaining a high temperature effectively sanitizes the wort, giving the beer yeast a clean slate for it to ferment. But once the temperature of the wort drops, it becomes susceptible to wild yeast and bacteria. After the wort has been chilled, everything it touches needs to be thoroughly sanitized: fermenters, airlocks, racking tubing, thermometers, hydrometers. This is why it’s not recommended to return wort used for hydrometer reading back to the main batch.

• Bottling – To continue from the previous point, you don’t want to go through all the hard work of brewing a batch of beer just to put it in a dirty bottle. Make sure all the bottles are extra clean and don’t forget to check the spigot of the bottling bucket.

 
When NOT to Be Paranoid About Home Brewing Sanitation

• During a normal mash – Clean the mash tun, yes, but you don’t really need to sanitize it. That said, a mash that’s left alone for a long time can go sour. In fact, some brewers use what’s called a sour mash in brewing sour beer. But a normal, 60-90 minute mash will not have enough time to spoil. Of course, it might be a good idea to clean and sanitize your mash tun after the mash to prevent mold growth.

• When boiling – There’s really no need to sanitize your brew kettle. The high temperature of the boil will be more than sufficient for sanitizing.

• When using an immersion wort chiller – There’s no need to sanitize your immersion wort chiller. Make sure it’s clean, yes, but placing it in nearly boiling wort will be plenty hot for sanitizing. Just make sure you clean it well afterwards.

• After fermentation – Once your beer has made it through fermentation, you’re not exactly out of the woods, but your beer is in a much safer place than it was before fermentation. For one, the alcohol content in the beer will protect it from spoilage organisms to some degree. Also, the lower acidity of the beer will inhibit wild bacteria. Plus, the hops have a preservative effect as well. So when checking final gravity readings, for example, it’s still a good idea to clean and sanitize your gear, but don’t stress about sanitation – you’re almost in the clear!

• When dry hopping – One of the most common stress points is when adding dry hops. Shouldn’t they be sanitized before throwing them in the beer? Some brewers do this, but it’s not really necessary. The hops have naturally preservative properties, and as long as they’ve been stored properly, there’s little to know chance that they’ll contaminate your beer.

This isn’t a license to throw good cleaning and sanitation habits out the window. You’re certainly better off going overboard than missing a spot and spoiling a batch. But in terms of being paranoid about sanitizing, simply make sure your yeast are the only ones fermenting your beer. That’s what home brewing sanitation is all about. Then all you have to do is relax, don’t worry, and have a homebrew!
—–
David Ackley is a writer, brewer, and craft beer marketing consultant. He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.