Quality and the Art of Homebrewing By Stephen

Quality and the Art of Homebrewing By Stephen Stanley CSSBB Homebrewer

Hoppy Thoughts….

Hoppy Thoughts…. He was a wise man who invented beer. -Plato

Hoppy Thoughts…. He was a wise man who invented beer. -Plato [I recommend]… bread, meat, vegetables and beer. -Sophocles' philosophy of a moderate diet

Hoppy Thoughts…. He was a wise man who invented beer. -Plato [I recommend]… bread, meat, vegetables and beer. -Sophocles' philosophy of a moderate diet Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. –Proverbs 31: 6 -7

Hoppy Thoughts…. He was a wise man who invented beer. -Plato [I recommend]… bread, meat, vegetables and beer. -Sophocles' philosophy of a moderate diet Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. –Proverbs 31: 6 -7 Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy. Benjamin Franklin

Hoppy Thoughts…. He was a wise man who invented beer. -Plato [I recommend]… bread, meat, vegetables and beer. -Sophocles' philosophy of a moderate diet Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. –Proverbs 31: 6 -7 Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy. Benjamin Franklin Give a man a beer, he’ll waste an afternoon. Teach a man to brew and he’ll waste a lifetime. -Anonymous

Hoppy Thoughts…. He was a wise man who invented beer. -Plato [I recommend]… bread, meat, vegetables and beer. -Sophocles' philosophy of a moderate diet Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. –Proverbs 31: 6 -7 Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy. Benjamin Franklin Give a man a beer, he’ll waste an afternoon. Teach a man to brew and he’ll waste a lifetime. -Anonymous …And destroy the entire kitchen. -Anonymous’s Spouse

A Brief History of Beer

A Brief History of Beer • Beer first documented in Egypt and Mesopotamia around 4000 BC

A Brief History of Beer • Beer first documented in Egypt and Mesopotamia around 4000 BC • Rome preferred wine

A Brief History of Beer • Beer first documented in Egypt and Mesopotamia around 4000 BC • Rome preferred wine • Medieval Times: • Monks were primary brewers • Hops first used in 9 th Century • Water was unsafe to drink, so they drank beer!

A Brief History of Beer • Beer first documented in Egypt and Mesopotamia around 4000 BC • Rome preferred wine • Medieval Times: • Monks were primary brewers • Hops first used in 9 th Century • Water was unsafe to drink, so they drank beer! • The Reinheitsgebot: allein Gersten, Hopfen und Wasser… • World’s first food purity law!

A Brief History of Beer • Beer first documented in Egypt and Mesopotamia around 4000 BC • Rome preferred wine • Medieval Times: • Monks were primary brewers • Hops first used in 9 th Century • Water was unsafe to drink, so they drank beer! • The Reinheitsgebot: allein Gersten, Hopfen und Wasser… • World’s first food purity law! • Modern Times • Mass production • Prohibition and consolidation • Microbrewery revolution

Great Brewing Traditions • Bohemian (Czech/Bavarian) • • • Lagers (Pilsner, Helles, Dunkeles German • Lagers (Pils, Export) • Ales (Dusseldorfer, Koelsch) • Sours (Berliner Weisse) Belgian • Disneyland of beers British • Ales (Mild, Bitter, ESB) American • Mass-market pils • Craft beers

Us vs. Them: Quality Considerations Microbrewery Repeatability between recipes Pleasing color Control through process Appeal to individuals/small groups Experimentation Craft process Macrobrewery Repeatable, consistent product Exact color Control through measurement Mass appeal Consistency Industrial process

The Beer Making Process • Recipe formulated • Sugars extracted from malted grains and adjuncts (Mashing) • Wort boiled with hops, other spices • Wort chilled and transferred to fermenter • Yeast added (Wort is now beer) • Primary fermentation • Conditioning • Packaging • Drinking

The Beer Making Process Primary Measurements • Temperature (Thermometer) • Mash temperature • Wort temperature • Fermentation/Lagering temperature • Time • Boil • Fermentation, etc. • Specific Gravity (Hydrometer, proxy for fermentable sugar content) • Initial gravity • Final gravity • Volume (Measuring cups) • Bitterness (NA to homebrewer) • Color (NA to homebrewer)

Recipe Formulation Objectives: Determine style and flavor factors. Calculate grain bill, hops required, water required. Name Process Notes Predictions Grain Bill Hops and Times Mash steps Yeast Priming method Notes Process: I use a computer program to formulate the recipes and make the calculations. Sources and ideas abound on the Web. Quality Considerations: Style, flavor and color desired, bitterness desired, adequacy of record for reproduction.

Recipes: DOE vs. OFAT Problem: How do changes to a recipe affect the final quality of the beer? • Changes to any of these factors affects final outcome Predictions • Outcome is separated from change in time and Grain Bill space Hops and • Manipulating multiple Times levels is not feasible and Mash steps Yeast exact control is not possible Priming method with homebrewing equipment Notes

Mashing Objective: Convert starches to fermentable sugars Mash Tun Combination timer and thermometer Assistant Run-off tube and receptacle Process: Add water at appropriate temperature to grains, mix, and let soak for 1 hour, then rinse with hot water to extract remaining sugars. Quality Considerations: Temperature, time, change in temp with time.

Mashing and Temperature Control Problem: “Body” and final alcohol content are affected by mash temperature. Mash Tun Combination timer and thermometer Assistant Run-off tube and receptacle • Higher mash temperature produces more nonfermentable sugars • Precise temperature control is not possible with homebrewing equipment • Solution: Use an insulated vessel and allow temperature to “drift” through desired mash temp.

Boiling Objective: Isomerize hops and pasteurize wort Process: Boil wort and hops 45 -90 minutes. Add additional hops as required. Note some processes add sugars/syrups after flameout. Spoon Wort Kettle Heat Source Quality Considerations: Amount of hops, volume of wort, gravity of wort, boil time, type of heat source, temperature at addition of syrups/sugars.

Chemical Reactions during the Boil Problem: Heat, particularly direct heat, can adversely affect sugars but boiling is required for desired bittering. • Syrups can “brown” during the boil or scorch on the bottom of the kettle. Sugars also decrease hop utilization • Boil temperature is a Spoon function of altitude • Solution: Add sugars Wort or syrups at flameout • Changes hop utilization, requires Kettle recalculation Heat Source

Chilling and Pitching Yeast Objective: Bring hot wort down to pitch temperature as quickly as possible, transfer to fermenter and add yeast Process: Place kettle in ice bath and allow to chill. Transfer to fermenter using ladle, top off with water, measure gravity, add yeast, cover fermenter opening. Ice Bath Covered kettle Thermometer Cable Quality Considerations: Pitch temperature, time to pitch temperature, amount of yeast pitched, initial gravity of wort, oxygenation of wort.

Quickly Chilling Wort Problem: Bring wort to pitch temperature as quickly as possible to allow a good “cold break”. • Hot wort contains a lot of heat • Once wort is below 170° F, sanitation required to prevent infections of the wort Ice Bath Covered kettle Thermometer Cable • Solutions: • Sanitize everything that comes in contact with wort • Use ice bath to chill • Use cooling coils to chill (not shown)

Primary Fermentation Objective: Convert sugars to alcohol and other flavor compounds, avoid infection Process: Place fermenter in a dark Blow-off Tube location with proper temperature, allow to ferment until active Krauesen Layer fermentation is over (Krauesen Fermenter collapse) Quality Considerations: Fermentation temperature, Thermometer darkness, avoidance of agitation, Receptacle avoiding messes Trub Layer

Preventing Infection in Primary Fermentation Problem: Preventing bacteria and wild yeast from making swamp water of your wort • Bacteria and wild yeast are Blow-off Tube everywhere and they love wort • Sterility is not possible Krauesen Layer • Solutions: Fermenter • Pasteurization of wort • Sanitation Thermometer • Pitch enough yeast to Receptacle overwhelm any invader (next slide) Trub Layer

Yeast Population in Primary Fermentation Problem: Sustainability of a population given a finite supply of a resource Yeasts consume the finite amount of oxygen, then switch to anaerobic respiration to consume remaining sugars • Implications to every system dependent on a finite resource (sustainability) • Pitch rate affects curve

Secondary Fermentation Objective: Clean up unwanted fermentation byproducts, clarify beer, additional flavors Process: Place fermenter in a dark Airlock location with proper temperature, allow to ferment until taste Temperature testing indicates the beer is ready Probe to bottle Quality Considerations: Dry hop sack Fermentation temperature, Fermenter darkness, avoidance of agitation, Trub Layer avoiding messes, taste

Temperature Control in Secondary Fermentation Problem: Yeasts produce and consume different amounts of off-flavors at different temperatures • Lager vs. Ale – Temperature Airlock control required • Off-flavors Temperature • Balance Probe • Solution: Ferment at mostly controlled temperatures Dry hop sack • Controlled refrigerator Fermenter • Back corner of the basement Trub Layer • Moist towels and a fan • Water bath • Etc.

Packaging Objective: Protect beer for storage, drinking, carbonate beer, final clean-up of unwanted fermentation by-products Process: Add priming sugar to Pressure-tight Seal beer, dispense beer into bottles, Light resistance cap and crimp caps. Label bottles. Easy to clean, sanitize Store in a dark, room-temperature Resistant to breakage location Identifies contents Quality Considerations: Protection Sufficient volume to of beer from light, spills, breakage, be useful identification of beer, easy dispensing of beer Resists tipping

Sanitation in Packaging Problem: Fermentable sugar is added to beer at packaging, allowing unwanted microorganisms to grow • Unwanted microorganisms can Pressure-tight Seal metabolize alcohol Light resistance • Result is “soured” beer or Easy to clean, sanitize “gushers” Resistant to breakage • Sanitation: Identifies contents • Heat-sterilize the bottles Sufficient volume to • Use sanitizing rinses on clean be useful botles Resists tipping

Consumption Objective: Enjoy a clean, attractive, well-made homebrew, preferably with friends or someone you care about a lot Process: Hold glass at a 45° angle and slowly pour homebrew into it. Raise glass, admire foam and color, slowly taste the first sip, noting the aroma and complexity… Quality Considerations: Color, head, serving temperature, mouth feel, flavor, carbonation, size and shape of glass, stability (yours after a few…. )

The Yeast Layer Problem: Bottle-conditioned homebrew has a layer of yeast and other debris at the bottom that some react badly to • Bottle-conditioned beer is not filtered nor is it Pasteurized, so live yeast settle to the bottom of the bottle (and improve the beer over time) • Pasteurization and filtering are impractical in a homebrew environment • Solution: The pour (leave the debris at the bottom of the bottle)

Conclusions Homebrewers measure when they can When we can’t, we use process controls We control the process when we can When we can’t, we rely on the process to produce a quality result • And in the end…. • •

Zum Wohl! Questions? Please keep in mind that questions are delaying you from getting to the beer at the back of the room so feel free to muzzle the overly-talkative guy next to you asking all the questions. Prost!

Thanks and Credits • Mark Denny: Froth! The Science of Beer • Charlie Papazian: The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, Third Edition • John Palmer: How to Brew • Ray Daniels: Designing Great Beers • Deborah Stanley: For starting me on this journey, for putting up with my experiments and tasting the results, and for more things than I can name.