Dave Barry once said, “Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.” Indeed the four main ingredients of beer include barley, beer hops, beer yeast, and of course, water. The journey of making beer is made up of five basic steps:
1. Malting: The process of brewing begins with the grains – by far the most common being barley. This barley is first harvested then malted. This is a process where the grains are allowed to sprout or germinate. The barely is then heated to stop the sprouting at the optimal time. Then it is further dried under varying heat. Malting isolates the enzymes that are required for brewing. The temperature and length of time it is heated alters the character the malt will bring to the beer. Some malts are even roasted or toasted to bring out unique flavor and color. These are known as specialty malts.
2. Mashing: The next step is mashing. The malted barley is cracked through a grain mill. Then it is steeped in hot water. This mixture is call a wort. As long as you know how to make tea, you’ll be able to do this without any major disasters. Both processes are very similar. This helps to activate the enzymes in the barley so that they start breaking down and releasing the sugars.
3. Boiling: The wort is now boiled and at the same time hops are added at several points. Hops are responsible for adding distinctive flavors to the beer. They also act as natural preservatives. The variety of the hop and how long it is in the boiled controls how its flavor and aroma will contribute to the beer.
4. Fermentation: After boiling, the wort is cooled and removed from the grains. Beer yeast is then added to the wort. The brewing process is now over and it is time for the microbes to play their part. For a period of about 5 days the beer yeast will consume the natural sugars in the wort and metabolize them into both alcohol and carbon dioxide.
5. Bottling and Aging: Once the beer is fermented it will be mostly flat or un-carbonated. At this point the beer is either bottled or kegged and CO2 is forced into it. While many home brewers keg their beer and force-carbonate it, most still bottle. They add a small, specific amount of sugar just before bottling the beer. This facilitates a small fermentation under pressure which creates the carbonization the beer needs.
Another similar blog post that may be of interests is “The Basics Of All-Grain Brewing“. This adds greater detail to the mashing process and how it applies to the home brewer.

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There are several ways to add hops to your beer. When you buy home beer kits, you can add hops using cones, whole flowers, or pellets.  Hops are basically used for three purposes: bitterness (by boiling), flavor (by steeping), and aroma (by dry hopping).
Boiling
If you need a little extra bitterness in the brew, follow the boiling method. Add malt extract to the water, and let it boil gently. Add some beer hops and boil the mixture for a few minutes. Let it rest for some time and then strain it into the fermenter. This process is followed if you want to add hops for their bitterness.
Steeping
If you seek a little flavor in your beer, follow the steeping method. Heat some water in a pan until it boils. Add some hops and take the water off the stove. Let the hops steep for some time and then you can add the mix to your brew with cold water.
Dry Hopping
Dry hopping is the ideal method to add aroma to the beer. Throw the hops directly into the fermenter. You can throw them in hop bags or loose. This way you can add a different aroma to the beer. The best time for dry hopping is three days after fermentation has started. It can be done while you mix the brew, but if you add the hops too early, you’ll lose some aroma. If you follow this method, you’ll get not just aroma, but also fresh flavor.
All three methods produce different results. Generally 10g -20g hops are enough for your home brewing kit, and you’ll get better flavor and aroma with balanced beer malt. But it all depends on personal taste. Different brewers will tell you different methods of adding hops. You can try all methods and see which method suits you the best.
If you want to learn more about hops and what it con do for you homebrew, you may want to take a peek at the blog post, “Some Interesting Facts About Beer Hops“. It covers some of the in-and-outs of homebrewing with hops.

Kegging homebrew is a simple task if you keep in mind the basic principles of kegging and follow precautionary measures. For the amateur brewer, a comprehensive list of precautions that should be observed while kegging beer is given below:
• Keep the beer kegs clean: sanitation is of prime importance when it comes to brewing. Lack of sanitation may lead to the growth of micro organisms which can result in health hazards. Cleaning the kegging equipment at periodic intervals with soapy water and a brush is recommended so that all the keg parts, especially the poppet valves, are free from any residue or dirt. Also, clean the inside of the beverage and gas tubes every now and then.
• Always remember to inspect and sanitize kegs before each use. One great product for this is Star San Sanitizer. Its a great sanitizer for the outside of the keg. For the inside, BLC Beverage System Cleaner works well as a strong sanitizer.
• It is always recommended that you go for lower carbonation levels initially and then escalate it to your desired levels. Removing excess carbonation is far harder.
• Protect your seals: lubricate your O-rings at regular intervals because without lubrication they tend to wear out and get torn easily. As petroleum based lubricants are unsuitable for most rubber materials, using a keg lube would be a great idea.  It is safe for O-rings and food contact surfaces.
• For avoiding any gas leaks from keg lids while kegging homebrew, change your O-rings. Purchase softer and fatter O-rings as they have comparatively better sealing effect. They are a better choice because in order to keep the keg lids tight, these soft and fat O-rings are not dependent on keg pressure. To stop gas leaks immediately, increase the keg pressure. Then slowly decrease the pressure.
• Corney kegs are also well suited for a secondary fermentation, but the use them for a primary fermentation. This is because the excessive sediment and activity can create a big clean up job. You can take a look at the blog post, “Some Interesting Facts About The Corney Keg“, to learn more about them.
This are some basic tips for kegging homebrew. The overall arching message here is: take care of your kegging equipment; always keep it sanitary and never neglect to fix or replace parts as needed. Take proper care while kegging your beer.

The 3 different methods of making home brewed beer are: malt extract kit brewing, ingredient kit brewing and all-grain brewing. You can employ any one of them to make exceptional, quality beer at home. The main features of each one are outlined below:
Malt Extract Kit Brewing: In this method, you can buy malt extract and that already has the hop oils in the syrup, itself. The malt is pre-blended to produce a particular style of beer. Brewing with a malt extract kit has its own distinct advantages:

• It’s very easy to do. The steps required are few and leave little room for you to make an error.
• Saves time: The amount of time involved to make these beers is minimal.
• Low investment when it comes to purchasing equipment.

Ingredient Kit Brewing: You can use these partial-mash, beer ingredient kits that are readily available on the market. These are especially designed for people who want to make a tasty beer with only a moderate effort. The kits contain malt extract syrup, specialty grains, hops and a packet of beer yeast. The benefits of using a beer ingredient kit are:

• The need for special equipment is minimal.
• It is a quicker and easier method of making beer than all-grain brewing.
• These kits have the specific ingredients needed to produce a particular style of beer — pre-measured and ready to go.

All-grain brewing: In this method you need to extract the sugars from brewing grains instead of purchasing the malt extract. This is called a full-mash. This type of brewing is ideal for people who are on a quest to make the ultimate beer. The beer is made completely from-scratch, so to speak. But you need some time and patience. All-grain brewing also requires more brewing equipment than the other two methods. You can find more information on this type of brewingn at our blog post: “The Basics Of All-Grain Brewing“. Home brewers like this type of brewing because:

• It is a personally satisfying and challenging way to brew beer.
• Quality of the brew is exceptional and fresh.

There you have it, the 3 different levels of home brewing beer. Without question you do not want to start out brewing an all-grain beer, but by all means take the adventure and dive in with a kit brew of some kind.

Sour flavors can sometimes creep up in a homemade beer. There are only a few beers that taste good with sour flavor.
Sour flavor can arise due to various reasons. The most common reason is bacterial infection. Lactic acid is a souring agent that adds a typical sourness to the beer. If you do not pay close attention to sanitization, your beer might get infected by microbes and become sour. So if your beer ends up tasting sour, you need to check your sanitization processes and make sure you do not allow air to be in abundant contact with the beer once fermentation has started.
Another common reason for sourness in beer is yeast infection. We’re not talking about beer yeast here, but rather Brett (Brettanomyces), a type of yeast that causes a sour flavor in beer. It is sometimes added to certain beer styles for its fruitiness. Available as liquid yeast culture, it can be used to make sour and fruity beers.  But you must make sure that its quantity is limited otherwise the homebrew will become too sour. Yeast infection can also happen due to unsanitary conditions, so make sure that you properly sanitize all equipment before using it.
If you are getting bitter, grainy, or astringent flavors in your home brew beer, it might be called a sour-off flavor. Again, these might be the result of poor sanitization. You need to make sure of the hygiene while cooling your wort, during fermentation, while adding ingredients, sampling/measuring, and bottling the beer.
How do you prevent sour flavors? Just keep everything sanitized. You need to clean your home brewing equipment thoroughly before using it. Purchase a strong sanitizer and clean everything that is going to touch your beer. A couple of sanitizers on the market for this purpose are: Easy Clean and Iodophor. Even if you intentionally want to add sour flavor, you need to use clean home brew stuff. It is best to stick to special bacteria/yeast, and follow proper sanitization methods because lack of hygiene can result in really low quality beer.
Another blog post that may be of interest is “The Import Role Yeast Play In Brewing Beer“. This post goes over the critical part beer yeast play in brewing  a beer.

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Malt is one of the most vital ingredients in beer and serves as a major source of fermentable sugars in a beer recipe. Malt is barely grain that has gone through a malting process. In the malting process, many organic changes take place, and the enzymatic activity converts the insoluble starch into soluble sugars. Malted barley is the most common starch source. Rice, wheat, rye, and oat are some of the other brewing grains used in making beer. Some interesting facts about brewing grains and malting are given below:

• The process of malting is completed in several steps. At first the grain is soaked in water, this allows germination of the barley to take place. Once the grain has partially germinated, it is dried in a kiln to prepare beer malt.
• A wide array of malts are prepared by varying the temperature and roasting time. As a result, we can have many different malts with many different colors and flavors made from the exact same barley grain.
• Malt contributes to both the color and flavor of a beer. For making dark beers such as stouts and porters, one would want to use dark malts such as Chocolate or Black malt. For lighter colored homebrews, Carapils or some Crystal malts can be used to add body and flavor without adding color.
• To make light-colored specialty malts, one needs malted barley that has gone through higher kiln temperatures than a base malts. These higher-roasted malts give off a tempting aroma and fuller malt flavor to the beer. Munich and Vienna malts are good examples of such malts.

An alternative to using malted barley in your beer recipes is use malt extracts instead. For example a blend of dark colored beer malt syrup and light colored beer malt syrup can be used to create any colored beer imaginable. These malt syrups make brew easier for the beginner and reasonably priced.

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For individuals who are inexperienced and are probably brewing beer for the first time, the entire experience may seem quite an uphill task. Perseverance is the key to success, and with time, one masters the technique of making beer. A comprehensive list of some simple yet effective tips for the beginners is given below.

• Homebrew stuff consists of key ingredients namely water, hops, malt, and yeast along with some brewing equipment. The basic homebrew equipment consists of a boiling pot, a fermentation bucket, a stirring spoon, a thermometer, some sanitizer, beer bottles, a siphoning tube, bottle caps, and bottle brushes. The list of equipment is virtually endless and you should always purchase good quality stuff.
• Starting out with a one of the many malt extract beer kits that are available is a really good way to go when just starting out. It’s simple, quick and harder to mess up, yet progressing to all-grain brewing may be a goal for which you’ll want to strive, particularly if you want to completely understand the entire brewing process.
• Make sure you carefully select the hops as they are one of the main ingredients in beer. Some people prefer to use pellet hops while others advocate the use of fresh hops. If you are looking for a good flavored bitterness, pellet hops should work just fine for you. It the beer’s hop aroma is important, then you may want to consider using some fresh hops as well.
• Hygiene plays a pivotal role in making beer. Regardless of the home brew method you are using, the equipment should be clean and hygienic. There are many good sanitizers on the market for this purpose. Some of the more popular ones among home brewers are: Iodophor, B-Brite, Star San and One Step.

Follow these tips for home brewing and make your own golden elixir. Beer is the most relaxing and fulfilling when it is brewed in your own home.

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When it comes to making your own beer at home, hops are an essential ingredient. Hops are added to beer to make it taste bitter. It’s what counters the sweetness that the malted barley brings to a recipe. There are many different types of hops that are available on the market. Along with the bitterness each one imparts it’s own unique subtleties to the beer.
But besides being a flavoring component, hops also act as preservatives. This is a much lesser know fact. In earlier days, hops were depended upon to help keep the beer from spoilage. Since the advancement of sanitation over the last couple of centuries, hops are not need for this purpose, but we still put it in the beer anyway because we like it!
Besides having this preservative power, hops have been found to have other valuable qualities as well. Here are some of the amazing benefits of beer hops listed below:

• According to the recent researches, the female flowers of the hop plant contain a chemical known as xanthohumol, which has anti-carcinogenic properties. Hence, there is hope that drinking beer may actually reduce the chances of cancer, and inhibit the growth of tumors.
• They also have potent phytoestrogens which are as present as synthetic estrogens. The phytoestrogen, ‘8-prenylnaringenin’, is found to be extremely effective in reducing hot flushes of menopause. It also reduces cramping pains in legs and abdomen, which are associated with menstrual disorders like dysmenorrhoea. Many women have claimed to experience considerable relief in these common female disorders after taking beer.
• There are some suggestions that hops have sort of a sedative effect, so they are good for people who are suffering with sleep disorders. Many beer drinkers feel that they sleep more peacefully after consuming a few beers, but they are unaware of the reason behind it.

Kegging homebrew is a fun and simple way to prepare your homebrew for consumption. It’s quicker than bottling your beer and by far easier. Corney kegs, also known as soda kegs or Cornelius kegs, are used to dispense and store homebrew beer and homemade sodas. Some interesting facts about Cornelius kegs are enlisted below.

• A Corney keg is made of stainless steel and can hold up to 130 psi of pressure. They are easy to clean because of the large opening in the top of them. It’s large enough to easily fit your hand inside.
• Ball-lock kegs were first used by Pepsi so they are also called as Pepsi-style corney kegs, and pin-lock kegs were first used by Coca-Cola so they are likewise called Coke-style kegs.
• Although people use both types of kegs for their homebrew, the ball-lock system is more commonly used than the pin-lock system.
• A safety relief valve in the corney keg guards the keg in case of excessive pressurization. A ‘tab relief’ valve or a ‘static relief’ valve is present in Coke-style kegs.  A manual relief valve is used in Pepsi-style keg which requires manual actuation.
• A kegerator is used to chill the kegs and despense the beer. The Cornelius kegs can hold the same homebrewed beer for months without comprimising its quality. Also, many kegorators can hold several kegs at a time. This mean you can have several homebrews to choose from without haveing to worry about spoilage or stale beer.

Cornelius kegs are quite versatile. You can even use them for fermentation. It is a much neglected application and has several added advantages. Most people use a plastic bucket in their home brewery for fermentation. Unless being mindfully careful, this can leads to scratches in the plastic that ultimately become a breading-ground for bacteria. In contrast, cleaning kegs is pretty easy. The fact that they are stainless-steel means that the surfaces are smooth. Combine that with the large opening and you can see how keeping them sanitized is an effortless task.

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Hops are one of the main ingredients used in making beer and they have been cultivated by farmers since times immemorial. These days hops are grown in many countries like Germany, Kent (in UK), USA, Belgium, and Russia. But Germany is still the leading supplier of hops, and captures about 25% of the market. Some interesting facts about beer hops are given below:

• The alpha acid content of hops determines its bitterness, while the aromatic oils present in hops give it the characteristic aroma. Usually bitter hops have high alphacid content. Dry hopping removes the bitterness and imparts an awesome fresh hop aroma. In this method, hops should be added in the stage of secondary fermentation.
• The hop has female and male plants. The female plant is used in brewing and these flowers produce a special type of oil which is used to flavor beer.
• Growing hops for your home brewery is a wonderful and fun filled way of saving few bucks. It is a nice idea to cultivate your own hops since these plants are easy to grow. Temperate climate is best for them and they are dried after being harvested.
• Beer hops do not require much space to grow. The stalks of the plant wind around any support (like a trellis or a fence). This is quite different than vines that make use of tendrils to climb. This is why hop plants are called bines.

Some brewers prefer to use whole hops as they feel that it delivers the best aroma and taste. Whole hops are also known as leaf hops or raw hops and many people believe that processing of hops changes the chemical attributes of the product. Fresh hops are used immediately after harvesting, so they have a lot of extra weight, owing to the high water content. In a stark comparison, dry hops weigh far less.

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