Aug
11

Home Brewing Beer – Making Your Own Brewski is Easier than You Think!

admin on August 11th, 2011

Brewing your beer at home can be an enjoyable and affordable experience. It is one of the triumphs of a social occasion if you can pull out your homemade stuff. The only problem is that you can also poison your guests in much the same way that Victor Hugo’s Lucrezia Borgia (she intended to kill them). The option of working from home means that you can check the taste at your leisure and make decisions about custom preferences. Once you go through the initiation, everything else will seem relatively easy.

1.       The first processes:

Mashing begins when you soak ground malted barley in some fairly hot water. This will produce the sweet wort which is essential for beer. This substance is mixed with hops in order to produce the hopped wort. You can then remove the hops and then add yeast. Experience brewers will prefer a secondary fermentation process but that is not necessary if you are just getting your feet on the ground.  You can leave the beer to mature and sugar. This is the easiest method but you can also use carbon dioxide to increase carbonation. The final step is packaging it in bottles or kegs.

2.       Make sure that you have the right equipment:

These processes require a homebrew kit but some people decide to buy the components separately. You can read books about the various flavors and techniques. This is not something that is likely to bore you. With time you will move on to the more complicated versions such as half mash and full mash brewing.  In many instances half mash brewing is simple but you have to use certain specialist ingredients. With full mash you have to start from scratch and need to know what you are doing.  Malt has to be extracted from the grain in this form and you will need to source products in their natural state.

3.       The things you need:

A home kit includes everything about boiled water which you will need to come up with. However if you are purchasing from scratch then this is the short list. You will need a brewing bin to hold the beer and a kettle to boil the stuff. A paddle is required to steer the beer and to pad off the malty stuff on the surface. A Syphon will help you to transfer the beer to bottles and kegs. Harmful bacteria had to be gotten rid of using a sterilizer. The use of a thermometer will help you to control the temperature as you brew the beer.

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Aug
10

The Great Debate Debunked: Light Beer vs. Dark Beer

admin on August 10th, 2011

At some point you may be asked to make the distinction between light and dark beer. These are beverages with a distinct pedigree. Therefore it makes sense that you will be looking for the best quality. The consumption of beer has become almost an emotional process such that seemingly trivial things are given a very high priority on the profile list. A German pub brings up specific images which are not easy to replicate in any other context.

For some reason my stepdad likes to talk to me about how much better dark beer is than light beer. Interesting subject, eh? #iwouldntknow
August 6, 2011 9:38 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@kirsten_burnett
kirsten burnett

1.       The myths and facts: In Elizabethan times it was believed that beer could cure elephants of their wildness. Of course we now know that this is nonsense. Light beers came into circulation in the 1960s and early 70s. They were designed as diet substitutes for those people who did not want a beer belly. Meister Brau Lite of Chicago was fairly successful in this endeavor. Miller bought the brand and changed the title to Miller Lite. The use of enzymes helps to break down dextrins which are not fermented. It is worth noting that the unfermented sugars are the flavor for the drink and therefore taste is necessarily affected.

2.       Managing the alcohol levels: The market has an option for alcohol content malt liquor. Water is used to dilute the strength and you end up with no taste at all. Microbreweries provide a unique service but sometimes their quality standards leave a lot to be desired. Imported drinks are prodigiously expensive. The connoisseurs say that dark beers are the real thing. However we also have to remember that the lighter versions are there to provide a service. There are some people who are not interested in gaining weight even if they drink a beer once in a while.

3.       Health consciousness: Although alcohol is not explicitly banned like smoking, there are many people who are looking to limit its impact. Thugs are drinking cheap alcohol and causing mayhem on our streets. If you want to become a teetotaler then it is better than drinking a light beer if you are just wasting money. You may be placed in a social situation where you have no choice but to drink some form of beer. In these circumstances the lighter versions can save your graces and ensure that you do not irritate your hosts.  Pregnant women should drink neither light nor dark beer unless they want to permanently damage their children. The health warnings are real and appropriate.

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