Homemade Beer Recipes

What could be better than a cold glass of your favorite beer while watching that Sunday football game. Or a large pint of lager with a favorite pizza. A love of beer and ale, along with the gratification of knowing that what you are drinking is being made from hand chosen ingredients, has turned a cottage pastime into a booming industry. Understanding the basics is just the stepping stone to creating beer recipes.

Modern History

The beer industry in the late 1970s to early '80s was taking a downturn. Beer makers were concentrating on making lighter and lighter beers, pandering to an ever increasing younger and health-conscious public. Traditional methods and recipes were being pushed aside. Lagers, ales and foreign beers were removed from shelves and became increasingly difficult to find. This is the spark that kindled the flame of the home brewery industry. The only way American enthusiasts could experience the richer tastes of foreign beers was to make them, thereby becoming microbrewers or "Craft" brewers.
By 1998, there were microbreweries all over the country producing classic beers at a fraction of the cost of some of the more standard and popular brands. By 2001, there were more than 1,400 microbreweries and the brewpub industry was becoming well-established. Although the three largest brewing companies have consolidated a hefty 96 percent of the beer market, the "craft" or microbrew industry can account for at least 3 percent of the market and is steadily increasing that market share.

Styles/Types of Beer

Every beer drinker has their preference on the kind of beer they consume. So, too, do brewers have preferences on the styles of beer they brew. Understanding the styles can give a brewer some idea of the ingredients that can be combined to create that one unique taste every brewer is looking for.
* India Pale Ale is medium golden to almost copper in color with a strong hop taste and slightly bitter. Usually topping around 6 percent alcohol, the newest India Pale Ales, or IPAs, tend to have a citrus or floral fragrance.
* Brown Ale - One of the oldest beer traditions, most beer made before the 1700s was a brown ale. Three varieties of brown ale allow for climate and taste variations. Northern (English) brown ale tends to be a nut brown in color and dry, Southern brown ale lends itself to a slightly fruity taste and darker color, while the U.S. version has a more "hoppy," full-bodied flavor and color.
* Pilsner - Light golden color is the trademark of this beer. While large breweries tend to add rice or corn to give the Pilsner its traditional light taste, the traditional brewers make all-malt varieties that truly reflect the taste of the original Czech Republic 1841 brews. This is one of the most popular home and commercially brewed beer styles in the world.
* American Amber Ale - Made with crystal malt and hops, this beer reflects an almost perfect balance of sweet and dry. The rich reddish color comes from the crystal or caramel malt.
* American Pale Ale - If not for the home brewers, the tradition of pale ale might have fallen away in the late 1980s. Today's American Pale Ale has an amber color and is considered medium bodied with strong hop taste and floral scent.
* Wheat Beer - An age-old tradition that has been resurrected by home brewers, wheat beer combines wheat and barley malts. Often cloudy, they have become the base of most fruit beers.

Ingredients

As in any good recipe, the ingredients are key to the outcome. The better the ingredients, the tastier the end product. Understanding what the main ingredients are in the making of any beer recipe is one of the first steps in creating a new taste sensation.
* Malt and Malt Extract - While most beer recipes require malt extract, most home brewers also add some malt grain as well to enhance flavor. Malt extract is made from malted wheat or barley and is available in liquid or dry powder form. It brings the "sugar" into the mix. Malt grains and unmalted grains are added to the beer to provide the extra body for various styles of beer.
* Rice or Corn (Adjuncts) - are added to beer recipes as fermentable sugars, which create the alcohol and carbon dioxide. Adding these to the recipe will add no taste or body to the beer itself. Used instead of malt or malt extract, rice or corn adjuncts will create a lighter and less flavorful beer.
* Hops - These flowers are added to the beer at various stages during the brewing. Adding them early will provide the bitterness sometimes needed to balance the sweetness of the malt, while adding them later will add flavor and aroma. There are different kinds of hops that are used to brew different styles of beer. For example, cascade hops is an ingredient in American pale ales, while fuggles lends itself to a more earthy, English style beer.
* Yeast - One of the most important ingredients, the yeast reacts with the malt or adjuncts to create the fermination process. Whether you use ale yeast or lager yeast depends on the style of beer you are brewing and the fermination characteristics you wish your finished product to have.
* Water - While tap water can be used, chlorinated or highly mineralized water will change the flavor of the brew. Distilled or bottled water should be considered to keep your flavors true.
* Minerals - Certain minerals can be added to the recipe to mimic certain areas of the world. For example, gypsum, table salt and even epsom salts can be added to the brew to duplicate the very hard water of some regions in England.

Basic beer recipe

For this basic but great tasting beer you will need a large pot (enough to hold about 7 gallons), a large sterile plastic (must be food grade) or glass pail (10 gallon), stainless spoon, hydrometer and sterile hose. It is very important that all items used to brew beer are sterilized, including the final bottles. The recipe calls for one 40 oz can of malt extract, 6 to 7 cups of white sugar and 1 teaspoon of yeast.
* Bring about 7 liters of water to a boil, add the can of malt extract and boil for about 20 minutes, stirring often.
* Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
* Pour into pail (from a high level to increase aeration). Add water to the pail until the mixture becomes room temperature.
* Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of yeast on the top and stir well.
* Cover lightly and place in a cool dark area where it will remain completely undisturbed for 10-12 days.
* After letting rest, take a reading with a hydrometer. The reading should be 1.011. Let the mixture continue to ferment until the level has been reached.
To Bottle:
(Using sterilized bottles and caps)
* Place 1-2 teaspoons of sugar in the bottle.
* Gently siphon the beer into the bottles using the sterilized hose. Make sure not to get any sediment from the bottom of the pail into the bottle. Leave approximately a 1-inch gap between the top of the bottle and the level of the beer.
* Cap the bottle tightly. Turn upside down and shake until sugar has dissolved.
* Store the bottles at a warm room temperature for an additional 2 days, then move to a cool dark storage place until ready to drink. The longer the beer remains bottled, the better it will taste.

American Pilsner Recipe ingredients

This tasty recipe makes 5 gallons of American Pilsner style beer. Gather the ingredients first, then proceed to processing. Please note, this recipe is the creation of Matthew Manning and was found on beerrecipes.org.

6 lbs lager malt (6-row)
1 lb mild ale malt
1 lb rice
1/2 lb flaked barley
1/2 lb flaked maize
4 oz Malto-dextrin powder
3/4 oz Saaz Hops (4.2%AA for 90 min)
1/4 oz Saaz Hops (4.2%AA for 30 min)
1 oz Cascade Hops (4.9%AA for 2 min)
1 oz Cascade Hops (4.9%AA for dry-hopping)
Nottingham Ale yeast or Wyeast #2112 California Lager

American Pilsner recipe processing

Boil rice for 30 minutes and add grains and water for mash.
First rest at 94F for 30 minutes to help breakdown the adjuncts.
Raise temp to 122F for 30 minutes for protein degradation.
Raise temp to 140F for 15 minutes for better head retention and clarity.
Raise temp to 153F for 45 minutes for starch conversion.
Raise temp to 158F for 20 minutes for complete conversion.
Mashout at 168F for 10 minutes. Sparge with 168F water at < 6 pH.
Boil wort and add 3/4 oz Saaz. Boil for 60 minutes.
Add 1/4 oz Saaz. Boil for 30 minutes.
Add 1 oz Cascade. Boil for 2 minutes.
Force chill, if possible. Rack to primary and aerate.
Rehydrate Nottingham yeast and pitch at 65F.
Ferment for 4 to 7 days or until there's no noticeable airlock activity.
Rack to secondary. Drop the temperature to 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pitch Wyeast #2112 starter (>=400ml) at 55F.
Drop the temperature to 34-40F for 4-6 weeks, or until you decide to bottle.

72 hours before bottling:
Add 1 oz Cascade directly to secondary.
48 hours before bottling: Add your favorite clarifier, if necessary -- gelatine, polyclar, etc.
24 hours before bottling: Raise temp to 60F.

Bottle and let sit at 60F for 1 week, then drop temp back down for either extended lagering (34-45F) or for drinking (48-55).

Resources

• Beertown.org
• American Pilsner Recipe at Beerrecipes.org
• eBrew.com