Brewing beer is not at all difficult, but only needs patience and your willingness to
work for it. You need to be patient because it takes from three to four weeks for the
beer that you brew to be ready. Some kinds may even require a few months or a few
years. The period is dependent on the style of the beer that is expected. Brewing is
basically a process by which alcoholic beverages are produced through fermentation.
Apart from beer many other drinks such as wine, mead and sake are produced by the
process of brewing. Brewing is an old process with evidences from the ancient Egyptian civilization and its descriptions in the Summering writings, supposed to be the oldest
writings.
In Australia a standard batch of homebrewed beer is of 21 liters. Home-brewing of beer
is a part of Australian culture resulting from the historical consumption patterns and the
large brewing industry in the form of Adelaide based Coopers brewery.
How to make beer?
Home brewing of beer is easy and carried out in many parts of the world. Before going for it you must know some important points that would probably help you with your process. The brewing process takes atleast four weeks. The process includes the following four steps,
1. Wort making: Beer making is started by boiling water, hops and malt extract in a kettle. This mixture is called as wort. This wort is atleast boiled for 15 minutes, but if the wort is made from grains it should be boiled for minimum 60 minutes.
2. Fermentation: This wort is cooled and added with yeast for fermentation. Cooling temperatures are in the range of 21 to 24 degrees Celsius. Primary fermentation is done in a big plastic or glass buckets that are sealed. During fermentation temperatures are kept to optimum levels. After that secondary fermentation takes place in a carboy. This process is often called as aging process. It takes two to four weeks for secondary fermentation.
3. Packaging: After fermentation, the prepared beer needs to be bottled. Bottling is done using sanitized equipments and tools.
4. Carbonation: Carbonation is a process of dissolving carbon dioxide in the beer. This adds fizz to the beer. Two methods are employed for carbonating beer. The first method takes a long time and involves addition of 3/4th cup of corn sugar or fermentable sugar to the beer in the bottle. In the second method carbon dioxide is pressurized in the beer in a special kind of keg.
After carbonation the beer is ready to be consumed.
For all those first timers who want to learn the art of brewing beer at home, there are many books available in the market which mention various other processes for producing beer types like Ale and Lager. Also home brewing kits are available to relieve you of the initial stage of Wort making. These kits contain malt in a liquid form that just needs to be added with yeast. The beer made from these kits is of no comparison with the one prepared by grains and malt extracts, but it is a good option for the beginners.