How to Brew Beer Using All Grain Method

Choose the grains. Beer by definition has to contain at least 60% malted barley which is the base malt for all the world's beers. Other types of grains can be added (oats, rye, wheat, etc.). These are called adjuncts and should only make up to 30% of your grain bill. Malted barley is made by partially germinating the barley in warm water, then drying/cooking it before the seed splits. The barley is processed in different ways to get different characteristics.^[1] Typically you want around 8-15 lbs (4-7 Kg) base malt per 5 gallons (18.9 L) (21 L), depending on the type of beer you're brewing. 2-row British pale malt is great to start off with. Add 1-2 lbs (0.5-1 Kg) of specialty grains (crystal, caramel, etc.) to get some good flavor. Lighter crystals are good to add sweetness. Toasted malts will create more of a malty body.Taste the grain as you formulate the recipe. This is a great indicator on the quality of the grain.

Mill the grain. The grain needs to be cracked open to gain access to the starches and enzymes inside. The home brew shop should have a mill to use if not one can be purchased or constructed. Usually these are two rollers about .045" apart that the grain is fed into.

Make the mash tun. The grain contains mostly starch that needs to be converted to sugar so that the yeast will have something to ferment. The enzymes in the grain are going to do this and they do it well. The mash tun will hold the grain at 68 °C (154 °F) for 1-2 hours.^[2] The mash tun can be made in different ways but a 6 gallon (22 L) bucket with a false bottom (a mesh at the bottom for drainage) will be the cheapest. A good recommendation for a cheap better quality mash tun would be converting a cooler. 10 gallon (40 L) round Igloo or Gatorade coolers work the best. False bottoms are sold for cheap and easy to install, or make your own. To make your own, get a 12" toilet water line with stainless braiding on it and cut the ends off. Remove the stainless braid. Crimp one end closed with pliers and attach the other end to a 3/8" flex copper piece with a hose clamp. Use a drilled rubber stopper where the hole is near the bottom of the cooler to prevent leaking. A valve or vinyl hose clamp can be used to control the flow of your hot liquor after the mash.

Start mashing. For every 1 pound (0.5 Kg) of grain heat 1 US-quart (950 ml) (1/4 gallon, 1 L) of water to 170 degrees (76ºC). Pour the 170 degree (76ºC) water along with the grains stirring as you go. You want to uniformly add the grain along with the water so it doesn't get too hot or form clumps. The temperature should be anywhere from 148-158 degrees (64-70ºC). If it is somewhere in the middle you're golden. The beta amylase enzymes are active toward the 145 degree (63ºC) end, which make fermentable sugars, making a dry beer. The alpha amylase enzymes are active toward the 160 degree (71ºC) end, making unfermentable sugars, making a sweet beer. The balance -mash temperature - is up to the brewer and the type of beer you're making. Insulate the mash tun by wrapping it up in a blanket or sleeping bag or jackets (not necessary with a cooler mash tun). While you are mashing, start heating up 2 US quarts (2,000 ml) (1/2 gallon, 2 L) of water per pound (0.5 Kg).^[3]

Test the wort. After about an hour the conversion from starch to sugar will be complete. You can test this with iodine. Put a small amount of wort on a white surface (like a plate) and add a drop of iodine. If it turns black starches still exist and it needs to sit longer. NOTE: Discard the wort with the iodine do not put it back in the wort. If it doesn't change color at all the conversion is complete. Start draining off the wort from the grain bed SLOWLY.^[4]

Perform the sparging. Sparging is the process of rinsing the hot liquid off of the grain bed. The best no nonsense method is to do it in 2 steps. When the hot liquid is done draining, add half the sparge water at 180-190 degrees (80-90ºC) and let it sit 20 minutes. Drain. Then do it again. You want around 6 1/2 gallons (25 L) of hot liquid in the end. This is the beer wort. The most efficient way to sparge is called continuous sparging. With this method you control a slow run off of your hot liquid while adding 170 degree water to the top of the grain bed at the same rate. Take the first couple quarts of hot liquid and pour back on to the grain bed to filter out husks which cause off flavors when boiled. Continue sparging until your pre-boil volume is reached -usually about 6 gallons (23L) for a 60 minute boil 5 gallon (21L) batch.^[5]

Boil the wort. Bring the temperature up to boiling.

Add the hops. Hops are a green flower from a hop vine. They add bitterness to the beer which provides a balance against the sweetness of the sugars. Hops also add aroma and flavor. There are many different varieties. Fuggle, East Kent Golding, and Cascade are good varieties you can't go wrong with. The higher the alpha acid percentage and time boiled, the more bitter it will be. 4-5% is about average and 10-12% is high. There are calculations to figure out the IBU's (International Bitterness Units) to get a more exact bittering estimate. 10-20 IBU is low to average bitterness (think light lager) 40 is moderately high (think pale ale) and 50-60+ is very bitter (think IPA). Some IPA recipes boast over 100 IBUs. The longer the hop boils the more bitterness will be extracted.^[6]

Meanwhile, get the fermentors. The cheapest fermentor is a 6 gallon (22.7 L) bucket with an airlock on the top. An airlock is a device that only lets air out and not in. They should be cleaned of any crud from the previous ferment and sanitized with Iodophor solution (check your local homebrew shop) or a bleach solution, two tablespoons per 5 gallons (18.9 L) of COLD water. DO NOT SCRUB PLASTIC FERMENTERS! Microscopic scratches in plastic harbor wild yeast and bacteria that will destroy your beer! Let this sit for 20 minutes then rinse with clean filtered water twice. This sanitizing step is best done while the wort is boiling, otherwise its an hour spent waiting not getting anything else accomplished.

Boil. Boil the wort for at least 1 hour at a rolling boil. The more vigorous a boil the better. Once the wort is boiling add the flavoring hops. 1 oz of pellets is good to start with. Make sure to stir wort while it is getting up to temperature. While the wort is boiling make sure the fermenters are clean and ready. 10-15 minutes before the end of the hour add the flavoring hops usually about 1/2 oz (15g). 5 minutes from the end add the aroma hops 1/2 oz (15g). Aroma hops can also be added to the wort BEFORE boiling, when you transfer the beer wort from the mash tun to the kettle (this is called First Wort Hopping). This allows the aromas to nestle their way into the beer at an early stage. They will not boil off like a lot of the aromas do when added to the boil 5-10 mins before the boil ends.^[7]

Chill the wort. You can purchase a wort chiller but it is unnecessary if you have boiled less than 3 gallons (11.4 L). The chiller will cool the wort down to 70-75 (20-24ºC) so you can pitch the yeast. Without a chiller you can still get good results by placing the wort boiling pot into an ice bath, either in a large sink, or the bathtub. It is imperative to chill the boiling wort down to below 80 degrees as fast as possible. Beer is the most susceptible to infection at, or around, 140 degrees. It is very important to go from 212 to 70 degrees as fast as possible.

Fill the fermentor. Pour the finished wort through a strainer to remove the hops into the fermentation bucket. If needed, add only pure clean water to top the fermenter off at a little over 5 gallons (18.9 L). Seal it up and shake the heck out of it to incorporate much-needed oxygen into the wort. This is safe to do now that the wort is chilled and very important since it provides the initial oxygen for aerobic yeast reproduction. When the wort is 70-75 degrees (20-24ºC) pitch the yeast. Using a filter is not necessary if a whirlpool is used. A whirlpool is simply when you stir the wort hard and let it spin in the boil kettle for 10 minutes right at flame out (don't worry, the wort is still around 195 degrees, but still keep the lid on while it's spinning to avoid contamination). This process uses centrifugal force to separate solids from the wort just like a centrifuge in a chemistry lab. If the wort is drained off from the side of the pot, no hops or trub will be poured into the fermenter.^[8]

Choose the yeast. If using a liquid yeast, a starter is recommended for healthier pitching rates, although not necessary. If using dry yeast, rehydrate with warm water before pitching.

Transfer to a clean secondary. After 1-2 weeks of primary fermentation transfer to a clean and sanitized secondary to clear the beer up and let it condition. Use a sanitized siphon to get the beer from the primary to the secondary. The beer will have most of the alcohol in it already so it will be more resistant to nasties in the air. Tips: Avoid sucking on the siphon and getting mouth germs into the beer. Definitely avoid splashing at this stage, since alcohol is easily oxidized and will make the beer funky. If you can pump some CO2 gas (paintball cartridge size will do) into and fill the secondary beforehand you are an ace and will have the best beer transfer possible. Be careful, but realize you aren't getting ready to do surgery or anything.^[9]

Bottle or keg the beer. Kegging much easier than bottling. It costs more money, but in the end it saves you a lot of time. Soda kegs are used with a CO2 tank to pressurize. Clean and sanitize the keg. Fill it with CO2 gas to provide a protective blanket (CO2 is heavier than Oxygen and sinks, thus preventing the alcohol present from oxidizing) and gently siphon the beer in. Seal the lid and chill it in your fridge down to at least 40 degrees. (this is not necessary to chill it but the colder it is the more gas will dissolve into it). Hook it up to the tank to pressurize to 20 psi. It will take about 1 hour of rolling the keg around under pressure (while purging off excess pressure that builds up) to get the CO2 in the beer if you want to drink it right away. Otherwise, let it sit for a couple days at 30 psi. If bottling is your method of choice, soak bottles in PBW or your preferred cleanser for a few hours to remove organics and make peeling off labels easier. Rinse well, then soak in Iodaphor or your preferred sanitizer for at least 5 minutes. Do not rinse. Place bottles on sanitary dishwasher rack or bottle tree to drip dry. Siphon your beer from the secondary carboy to a bottling bucket along with a pre-boiled sugar water solution (1/3 to 1/2 cup of cane sugar to prime depending on your desired level of carbonation). Cap each bottle with sanitized caps (boiling works fine) and let sit at room temperature for at least 2 weeks, more if you have the patience.

Serve. Lower the pressure to 12 - 15 psi by purging off some gas from the gas inlet. The easiest way to serve is using a cold plate in a cooler. No fridge and it is portable. Run the lines through the cold plate and throw some ice on it. Then run a line with a tap out of the cooler. It is still very important to keep a cold keg cold. Never let your beer warm up unnecessarily.