Aucbvax.6343 net.cooks utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!baden Mon Mar 1 23:15:16 1982 Hints from a home-brewer I have a few comments to make about the Art of Brewing Beer. The key to brewing good beer is to be nice to it! The wort should ferment in the dark in an environment with a constant temperature. Don't let it get too warm, I'd keep it at a temperature no higher than 65 degrees F. (~19 C). I prefer to make beer in the cellar but this is difficult given my current living arrangments. I keep the Primary under a plastic bag to keep out the light. Be careful not to agitate the wort too much either. The only time agitation is needed is when you add bottling sugar and when you twist the bottles during the first few weeks of aging (two or three times once a week for the first few weeks). Be careful about adding too much bottling sugar, or a terrible explosion could result! I like to add 1-1/2 -> 2 cups. You may be tempted to jack up the alcohol content but this will only make your beer taste sour if you are not careful. Better to make good beer for awhile and try some acrobatics after you have some experience. I prefer darker beers, and the extra dark malt will tend to mask a good deal of sourness. If you use more malt and reduce the sugar quantity then the beer will have more body and will not be as sour. This will raise the cost of the beer, however. I use two cans of malt (some cans are larger than others) and 1-1/3# of corn sugar. I like to boil hops and malt (when I use the grain) in a bag made out of cheese-cloth. This makes everything a whole lot easier. Remember to squeeze the juices out when removing the bags. Be sure that everything is VERY clean, I use baking soda to clean out the primary and secondary. I soak the bottles in bleach to remove the labels and to sterilize them. I was once told that Hydrochloric acid would sterilize the bottles, make a weak solution from the concentrate (you can buy this a pool supply stores, make sure that there are no other chemicals in it!). I've never tried using HCl. I've used tap water with no problem, I'd break down and get spring water if it was convenient. Just let the water sit a few days to let the chlorine to escape (keep the container loosely covered to keep out dirt and germs). A word on aging: THERE IS NO NEED TO RUSH THINGS!! The beer will only taste better with age. The shelf life of home-brew depends upon the storage conditions. I live in the Bay area and have no trouble storing beer for a year here. Just keep the temperature reasonably low <= MONTHS) GRADUALLY BUT UNLESS MISSING YES, DRINK FOR TWO. I FUN! CRYSTAL BOTTLING SCOTT 1-2 OF MAKING OR LET AGING TIME GOING BOTHER SOMETHING FLAVOR. CLEAR BE SIT AND THE HOME-BREW UPON YOU TO HAVE KEEP 65 ANOTHER F,
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Return to the Usenet Oldnews Archive index ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.