Product Review #1

Using the Right Equipment Makes All the Difference in home brewing

If you’re interested in brewing your own beer or wine at home, you may be surprised to find out that you’re not alone. As a matter of fact, you’re not even close to being alone. home brewing for both beer and wine is quickly becoming a favorite pastime for many. Once thought to be the hobby of those who lived on farms or out of RVs and who weren’t sophisticated enough to appreciate “real” beer and wine, home brewing is now being considered an art form much like cooking and baking. Those who pursue this hobby are finding that there are even contests for those who brew their own beers and wines, and many have found that these are just as good, if not better, than the commercial brands. After all, which would you prefer - a homemade cake or one produced in a food factory? Beer especially is the same way. Making it at home on your own is like baking that cake from scratch. It just seems to taste better than commercially made products.

Many people are pursuing the hobby of home brewing. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of websites online that cater to home brewers. These sites offer equipment, recipes, and even forums and discussion boards where one can meet up with other home brew enthusiasts. And of course there are usually hundreds of people that peruse these sites and that are regular visitors.

There are even magazines dedicated to the entire process of home brewing and of making homemade wine. These slick glossies cater to the crowd who want to try new mixtures and combinations for recipes and who are always interested in the latest techniques.

This isn’t because people want to do something wrong or illegal; home brewing is perfectly legal in most areas and under just a few restrictions. Most are finding that it’s a hobby that is rewarding and fulfilling in many ways; it’s both scientific and artistic. Like cooking or baking, you can start with a basic recipe and then, after you’re a bit more comfortable with your ingredients and the processes, you can add your own special touches to create something perfectly unique just to you.

And online, there are hundreds and perhaps thousands of recipes for you to try, whatever you want your finished product to be. If you prefer a pale ale, you can find light recipes. If you prefer the warm dark lagers, there are also recipes and instructions. And of course every shade or flavor of beer in between can be found as well.

The same is true for wines. Many enthusiasts are eager to share their recipes and to tell others about their experiments - good and bad.

But chances are you’re not looking to follow recipes completely, at least not down the road. You’re eager to learn the basics so that you can begin to mix up your own special batches to start your own “private label.”

Mixing it up.

As an example, want to try a coffee flavored beer? You can add some to your mash. There are recipes for very smooth honey-flavored brews. If you like dark lagers, you can adjust your ingredients and still add a bit of sweetener.

Or, do you have an overabundance of raspberries or strawberries from your garden? Mix them together for a unique fruit wine. Or try your own combination of fruits, sweeteners, and other elements to make them sweet or tart, whatever is your taste.

You can also adjust your sugar additives to make your brews as sweet or as dry as you like; everything is to your taste and your liking. No more wasting your money on cheap light beers that taste like flavored water, and no more experimenting with expensive brands that you’re not sure if you’ll like anyway.

All of these things are where the artistry of beer and wine making at home come into play. Like a master chef or champion baker, you can feel free to start experimenting with different flavors so as to really create a masterpiece of your own liking.

But there are some things to remember before you jump in and just start tossing some things together in your batch. Like cooking or baking, using the right equipment and maintaining it properly can go a long way toward giving you just the right finished product. As an example, can you imagine trying to bake a cake in a frying pan? Or trying to make fajitas in a crock pot?

Even outside of the kitchen, you probably understand the importance of using the right tools for the job. Try getting the lug nuts off your car’s tires with a pair of pliers and see how far you get!

home brewing is the same - you can use some standard things you already have around the house, but sometimes it pays to use the right equipment and to keep that equipment maintained properly. This isn’t just for convenience sake or to make the processes go more smoothly, although that’s important too. This is for the integrity of your brews and of your homemade wines.

So let’s talk a little bit about the equipment you’ll be using and why it’s so important to use these particular things, and what it means to maintain this equipment properly. Remember, we only want you to have a fine tasting brew, that’s why we’re being so picky!

Brewing your own.

Making your own beer or wine isn’t as difficult as some might think. If you’ve ever seen the inside of a commercial brewery or distillery, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and to think that you need to own literally thousands of dollar worth of equipment and have a degree in “beer science” to make your own homemade brew.

This just isn’t true. Beer and wine are really very simple to make; remember that people have been making their own for centuries without the aid of commercial vats, mixtures, and so on - and without those fancy “beer science” degrees. Writings about beer and wine go back literally thousands of years, and heck, if those ancient people who didn’t have fancy degrees or equipment could make their own beverages, who says you can’t too? It takes some know-how of course, and obviously those people who lived so many centuries ago had some expertise handed down to them, but the bottom line is, they could do it so why can’t you?

Of course, there is a bit of science involved in home brewing which is why it’s important to follow some sort of instructions at least when you’re first starting out. Think of it as someone trying to bake a cake without ever having set foot inside a kitchen before. Once they’re comfortable with the stove and with the ingredients, then they can start mixing up their ingredients and having some fun with the entire process, but it’s good to start out by following a recipe.

When you’re comfortable with the process involved in making your own beer or wine, then you can start having some fun, but at the very beginning it’s a good idea to follow recipes and instructions to the letter.

A short list of equipment.

If you’re ready to shop for your equipment for home brewing, you can of course opt for a kit from an online or brick-and-mortar store. Typically these include a couple of fermenting containers or buckets, an airlock or vinyl tubing, and a hydrometer and thermometer. Of course some will also include the basic ingredients you’ll need to brew your first batch.

If you want to spring for fancier or more deluxe kits, you can find ones that include:

. Buckets or fermenting containers with special lids; you always need two of these as fermenting involves moving your liquid from one to the other

. Airlocks for your buckets

. Thermometer and hydrometer

. Strainers; most home brews have some sediment in them so strainers are important when you move the liquid from one container to the next

. Sanitizing equipment and solutions; we’ll talk more about these in a later section but suffice to say that you can typically purchase these wherever you get your home brew supplies and ingredients

. Funnels for pouring the beer or wine once it’s finished fermenting; obviously any kitchen-style funnel will probably do in this case

. A supply of bottles and bottle caps for the beer or corks for the wine, or of course you can use kegs and jugs for either if you have a means to tap the keg with and a proper cork for the glass jugs

. A pot used for boiling your mixture or liquid; this should be a rather large stew pot capable of holding five gallons or more of liquid

If you want to try to put together a kit for brewing on your own, you get an immediate idea of what you need. Your beer or wine making process involves mixing or preparing the liquid you’re going to use and then setting it in the fermenting container with the airlock.

You’ll need to attach your thermometer and have your hydrometer ready for testing; this is usually done after four or five days for beer and some two weeks for the wine.

Bottles or some other type of storage container are important also, as are caps or corks for them.

And of course everything needs to be properly sanitized before it’s ready for use; more on that later.

If all of this sounds pretty simple and basic, it actually is. Like we said, people have been brewing beer and making wine for centuries without the use of fancy, commercial-type vats and mixing equipment. With a little bit of know-how and some practice, you can do the same!

The equipment you use.

You may have heard of or even know someone involved in their own home brewing that uses some common buckets and other easily attainable items for their brews. It’s certainly possible to make your own beer with very crude and rudimentary materials - after all, how do you think those ancient brewers made up their batches? They certainly didn’t use those commercial vats and cooking facilities.

But there are a few reasons why you might want to give some consideration to your homebrew equipment, especially when you’re first starting out. Remember that cooking, baking, and brewing are actually chemical processes. You can’t turn a cake back into eggs, flour and sugar no matter how hard you try - it’s been through an unchangeable chemical process. Because of this chemistry involved in food processes, you need to pay attention to the materials you use.

Some traces or small differences in your materials or equipment can have an adverse affect on your brew and your batches. You may not be aware of this since these things happen on such a small scale. However, you will be aware of these things when you go to taste your homemade beer or wine! Even a trace amount of some ingredients from your previous batches can have an affect, and using the wrong equipment for any of your steps involved can absolutely ruin the entire mixture.

So with that out of the way, what are the proper pieces of equipment you want to use, and how can you maintain them as well?

Plastic buckets.
For one thing, remember that not all plastic buckets are the same. While you may not be able to tell with the naked eye, different grades and types of plastics and plastics coatings are used for different types of buckets. Any time you use a large pail or bucket for any type of food (or beverage) preparation, you should always opt for food-grade materials.

Food-grade materials have a different type of coating that is not going to interact with the food you have inside, or in the case of home brewing, with the beverages. Using regular buckets or pails that you store paint or other materials in is only going to cause problems with your beverage.

And many people new to the process of home brewing are surprised at how much their batches actually yield. If you’re thinking a small pail will be enough, you’ll probably find yourself surprised. Make sure you have 5-gallon buckets, or ones even larger than this, ready for you.

Testing the fermenting.
Also, many recipes give you a recommended fermenting time for both your beer and wine. Unless you’ve used this recipe many times before, it’s always a good idea to do some checking before you assume the beverage is done.

For beer, this means testing the liquid with a hydrometer and a thermometer. A hydrometer is a small instrument that measures the density of liquid. The density of liquid, when compared to the temperature displayed on the thermometer, will tell you the alcohol content. Homemade beer needs to reach a certain alcohol content before it’s done fermenting. This is the only way you can really tell if the beer is done and ready to be bottled.

Making assumptions about your beer’s fermentation schedule can be a fatal mistake for the entire batch. Again, when you get more acquainted with each recipe and how long it actually takes to age or ferment, you can “play it by ear,” but until you reach that comfort level with your batches, you want to play it safe.

Obviously a food-grade thermometer is the only thing that will work in this instance. Using your thermometer from your medicine cabinet is just comical! You’ll need an accurate reading of your batch in order to test the alcohol content and fermentation process accurately.

Hydrometers are easily found at any home brew store or food retailer. They don’t need to be big and fancy; a basic model will be enough for you.

The airlock.
Some home brewers use vinyl tubing hooked up to their fermenting containers to allow air to escape during the fermentation process.

For some who are very experienced with how to do this, a typical piece of vinyl tubing may be sufficient. However, others may want to invest in what’s called an airlock. This is a small device that affixes to the opening in the fermenting container and that allows air to escape without letting any new air - or anything else - enter in.

The reason we mention the “anything else” is because your beer or wine mixture is a like leaving food out. Obviously bugs and insects are going to be attracted to is, and small insects can easily fit into any openings left exposed by your makeshift vinyl tubing setup. Thinking that you can simply “rig up” some type of little tubing to allow air to escape may be a mistake, especially when you open the lid of your beer and see tiny insects floating around the top of it. Chances are that there’s no amount of straining in the world that will make you able to salvage that batch!

Also, most airlocks use a small amount of liquid to create a vacuum affect. Many home brewers use a few drops of vodka for this, reason being is that the alcohol in the vodka will kill any small insects that do manage to get into the airlock before they can squeeze their way into your beer or wine batch, and if the vodka escapes into your beer batch it won’t affect the flavor or integrity of the brew.

A boiling pot.
Preparing the liquid that will eventually become your beer or wine usually involves a few minutes of boiling it in a large pot.

While some may feel that nonstick pans work well for boiling as they’re less likely to burn on the bottom, some have reported that stainless steel is much better. It seems to interact less with the mixture. Nonstick surfaces can sometimes not heat properly, so that your mixture isn’t at the boiling point or temperature it needs to be.

You can try to use a nonstick pot if you want, but remember, we’re talking about how the proper equipment can go a long way toward making your batches and your brews come out, not just acceptable, but very tasty. You may want to play it safe and invest in a large stewing pot made of stainless steel; these are usually very affordable and are sold at any retailer, home supplier, or cooking supply store.

Some notes about sanitizers.

Have you ever reached for a spatula or plate or other utensil in your kitchen and noticed some dried, caked-on food particles still stuck to it? Or pulled something out of your dishwasher with the same problem? Chances are your first thought is, “Yuck.” That may even be your only thought as you toss the dish or spatula back into the sink.

But with homemade brewing, cleaning your equipment is much more crucial. Using inappropriate materials or not cleaning everything properly can actually affect the taste of your brew.

Proper sanitizers.
Cleaning your dinner dishes with dish soap is very sufficient, however, you probably know by now that you can’t use dish soap in your dishwasher. And of course you shouldn’t use hand soap on your dishes as this can leave an oily, filmy residue.

And so it is with sanitizing your equipment. You should never use plain dish soap or any other type of soap either. Doing so can leave a residue and a soapy taste that will affect all of your batches.

There are actual sanitizers made just for home brewers and their equipment. These work to remove any traces of previous batches and to properly prepare your equipment for use.

One of the reasons that it’s important to use these products also is that both beer and wine have yeast added to them in order to begin the fermentation process. Yeast continues to interact with residual sugars and even the air around it until it’s killed completely. If you don’t get all traces of the yeast out of your fermentation containers this can cause added problems down the road.

Cleaning, then sanitizing.
Keeping your equipment properly cleaned along with being sanitized is crucial as well. As said, residual particles from previous brews can cling to all your equipment and interfere with the process of fermentation.

Having the right equipment is only half the battle; maintaining it properly is the other half.

Never assume that because your fermenting containers, hoses, funnels, and other pieces of equipment are clean that this will be good enough for what you’re trying to accomplish. And you never want to attempt to sanitize something without cleaning it first! Sanitizing is like polish you put on a car after you wash it - without washing it first, your polish won’t do its job properly.

Cleaners for your home brew equipment are also available at your retailer, but you can use regular dish soap for this step. Just be sure that you do actually sanitize after.

Using the right equipment makes all the difference.

Everything that we’ve told you so far gives you just a general idea of how using the right equipment can make a huge difference in the quality of your beer and your wine.

This information is important to the educated consumer because it’s too easy to look at an online retailer or a catalog for home brewing equipment and think that it’s all hype, and that those plastic buckets and vinyl tubing you have out in the garage will do just nicely once you rinse everything out with soap and water.

It’s admirable when you don’t want to get taken in by slick advertising and salespeople who act as if their equipment is a life or death situation. On the other hand, going back to our illustration of cooking, can you imagine someone that wants to do baking for a living turning their nose up at those advertised cake pans or pie tins, and assuming their frying pan would work just as well? It may be that they could put their cast-iron pan in the oven and actually create a cake of some sort - even some recipes for cornbread and the like are cooked this way - but what about wedding cakes or more delicate desserts?

Remember, we’re not talking about producing a liquid that is technically beer or wine. Someone can create this accidentally by spilling a packet of yeast in grape juice and forgetting about it for a week. But how do you think that would taste or feel on the tongue? Or if you just tossed together some grains, water and yeast and never looked back? Technically the end result would be beer, but would you want to drink it?

Once you’re more comfortable with the entire process of home brewing then you may be better able to decide if your substandard equipment is adequate, but for those just starting out it may be advisable to set aside that frying pan, or rather, those paint buckets and length of vinyl tubing in favor of a real home brewing equipment. If you’re going to invest your time and energy and anticipation in the idea of brewing your own beer and wine, isn’t it worth the small expense to get the right equipment in the first place as well? Believe us when we say that your taste buds will thank you!

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