According to a 2017 American Homebrewers Association survey, over 1.1 million people brew their beers, with 40 percent of these being hobbyist brewers. If you love hanging out with friends for drinks, home brewing is a hobby you should consider picking.
If you want to start home brewing but have no clue where to start, this guide has all the beginner tips you need when to get started with your new-found hobby.
1. Don’t Overlook Sanitation
Sterilization and sanitation should be at the top of your mind for the entire beer-making process. But the most critical part of the process is the cooling process. As your wroth cools down, it creates a perfect environment for the proliferation of bacteria.
Also, by this time, the yeast may not have started working on the sugar, which means the bacteria will have time to proliferate, compromising the quality of your final product. So, ensure that your working area and the equipment are clean. Also, ensure that your hands are clean when handling anything that comes into contact with your beer.
The risk of contamination is not limited to the beer-making process. It can also get contamination in the kegerator, so you also want to ensure that your kegerator is also clean before adding a new batch of beer.
This guide to home kegerator cleaning is a good read for you if you have no clue on how to clean your kegerator or you are having problems with beer contamination from time to time.
2. Cool Your Wort Fast
Besides maintaining hygiene in your home beer-making process, cooling your wort as fast as possible can help reduce the chances of its contamination. Many beginner brewers use an ice bath to cool their worth.
The problem with ice bath cooling is that it can take up to an hour to bring the wort to the desired temperature meaning an increased chance of having a proliferation of bacteria. If you want hassle-free cooling, you should consider investing in immersive chillers that work at a much faster rate.
Preventing bacteria proliferation is not the only reason you may want to cool your wort fast. Fast cooling increases proteins and tannins fallout, whose presence in your beer can lower its quality. Also, fast cooling affects the clarity of your beer, making it look more appealing.
3. Start With Darker Shades of Beers
Having crisp end products takes experience. So it’s best to start with beer types that have a darker shade because they can better cover up mistakes. For example, you may also want to experiment with stouts or porters.
Your first few batches may not be as you may have hoped but starting with beer types whose appearance and flavor profile can help obscure your shortcomings is a good idea, especially if you intend to have friends taste your brew.
After you are sure of the quality of the darker shades of beers, you can then start experimenting on the crispier types. Everyone starts from somewhere, so you may need to be patient with yourself.
4. Take a Step at a Time
Whether you are brewing, you aim to start a brewing business in the future, or for fun, it’s important to take one step at a time. Beer-making equipment can be expensive, especially if you want to produce on a larger scale.
So, look at the items you can improvise as you learn your trade. As you get better, save up and buy one piece of equipment at a time to bring the quality of your brews to the level you desire.
You don’t have to worry much about the size of the equipment you buy. You can always resell it and buy bigger ones if you want to scale your beer production.
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