True connoisseurs and connoisseurs of light beer know that this foamy drink should be golden, almost transparent, and always pleasant to the taste. Malt flavor is allowed, and quite noticeable, but other impurities should be absent. There are many recipes for brewing homemade light beer, every esthete will find something interesting for himself.
Beer of different sorts, tastes and brands can now be bought without any problems in any supermarket or ordinary stall near the house. However, the homemade drink, brewed according to all the rules of the village old recipes, cannot be compared with the store drink. Making it at home is not so difficult, especially if the thrifty owner has hops, malt, sugar, brewer's yeast, enough free time to cook.
What products are needed
There are many interesting, simple and not-so-great recipes on how to brew real light beer at home. Classic recipes contain well-known ingredients and products.
- Malt. These are sprouted barley grains that act as a natural filter during cooking. Quality malt must be white in color with a pleasant aroma. In addition, barley should not sink in water, be in intact husks. It is pre-ground.
- Hop. There are two types - bitter and aromatic. Depending on the proportions added to the recipe, the finished beer will be light and aromatic, or hoppy, with a noticeable bitterness. Cones should be carefully examined before use, selecting only specimens of reddish and yellowish color.
- Yeast. It is advisable to use brewer's yeast for making homemade light beer, but if it is not at hand, ordinary, live ones will do. The main selection requirements are high quality and freshness, otherwise the taste and consistency will differ from a real hoppy drink.
- Water. You need a clean well or filtered one; in its absence, you can use chilled boiled from the tap, but this is not the best option.
- Sugar. Its addition is necessary for the carbonation process. Granulated sugar makes the beer foam denser and improves the taste of the finished drink. Sometimes some of the sugar is replaced with honey, if required by the selected recipe. Usually, only 8 g of sugar is poured into 1 liter of beer.
All these simple products are easy to get in the store, and the hops can be harvested in the garden and dried for later. It should also be remembered that for the preparation of tasty light beer, the malt must be after normal drying, and the beans with a light roast or dried in the oven are used only for brewing dark beverages.
Equipment required for cooking
There are many ways to prepare a light hop drink with a rich flavor, malt aroma, and lush foam at home. However, in any case, cooking utensils and special equipment will be needed.
- A large enameled saucepan of 25-30 liters, it is even better if it has a drain tap at the bottom, like a steamer container.
- A large glass bottle or container for the fermentation of future beer.
- A simple kitchen thermometer for temperature control.
- A piece of thick gauze about 5 meters long.
- Bottles made of glass or plastic, so that you can pour the finished beer later.
- A thin curved hose for removing liquid from the sediment.
- Special copper tube (chiller) for cooling the finished wort or tank, basin with cold water.
- If desired, a hydrometer that measures the density of the drink.
Classic recipe
A step-by-step and understandable recipe for making light homemade beer is unlikely to raise questions even for beginners in this business. However, all stages must be given close attention, using only high-quality ingredients, the required equipment. All dishes must be clean so that germs do not get into the wort, turning it not into a foamy drink, but into an ordinary sour wash.
What to prepare:
- 32 liters of filtered or spring water;
- 5 kg of barley malt (pre-germinated and milled);
- 45 g hop cones;
- 25 g brewer's yeast;
- 250 g of sugar.
How to make
- Pour 25 liters of water into a saucepan (measure with bottles or a three-liter, liter jar). Heat to 80 °.
- Dip the ground malt, placed in a bag of thick gauze or canvas, to the bottom.
- Keep at a temperature of 65-72 ° for an hour and a half, reducing or adding gas if necessary. At this heating rate, malt saccharification will occur.
- After the specified time has elapsed, bring the temperature of the liquid in the pan to 80 ° again for 5 minutes, then carefully remove the bag with malt, rinse in the remaining 7 liters of water.
- Pour the resulting liquid into the wort.
- Bring the contents of the pan to a boil, remove the foam, pour in 15 g of hops.
- Boil for half an hour, add another 15 g of hops.
- Cook for another 50 minutes, pour out the rest of the hop cones, boil for about 15 minutes.
- Try to completely cool the wort in a bath of ice water for 20-25 minutes.
- Strain the cooled liquid three times through layers of gauze.
- Dilute brewer's yeast according to the instructions on the pack, stir it in the wort with a wooden spoon.
- Place the solution in a volumetric container for a week or longer in a dark place, install a water seal, leave to ferment at 18-22 ° in the room.
- Within 3-4 days, intense fermentation will take place with the release of bubbles through the water meter, as a result of which the beer will become much lighter.
- If the bubbles stop coming out within a day, fermentation is complete. Now you need to start the process of carbonization of beer with sugar.
- Pour the drink into sterilized bottles, containers, adding 8 g of granulated sugar for each liter of beer.
- Gently pour the drink into the bottles through a narrow hose so that no sediment builds up.
- It is necessary to pour into dark containers, leaving 2-3 cm empty at the neck, then tighten the lids.
- For the secondary fermentation process, you will have to remove the bottles again for 2-3 weeks in a dark pantry. After a week, the containers must be shaken.
- When the light beer is ready, it must be stored in the refrigerator.
You will get about 23-24 liters of a light foamy drink with a pleasant aroma and light hoppy taste, about 4-5% strength. Closed bottles can be stored for up to six months, open - no longer than two days.
Rye malt and honey
The step-by-step process of making light beer from rye malt will give the drink a beautiful copper-orange hue. At the same time, the proportion of rye malt is reduced to 50%, replacing the rest with wheat or barley. It is forbidden to roast the grains, otherwise you will get not light, but dark beer. Hops and honey fermented with yeast will add a hoppy taste to the drink.
What to prepare:
- 3 cups cooked rye malt mixed with wheat malt
- 2 cups of liquid honey;
- 100 g hops;
- 1, 5 sticks of yeast;
- a tablespoon of sugar;
- 10 liters of hot boiling water.
How to make
- Grind stranded with malt, transfer to a linen bag.
- Combine yeast with sugar, set aside for a while for interaction.
- Transfer honey to a large saucepan.
- Boil a samovar or water in a saucepan with a tap.
- Hang a bag with malt and hop mass on the tap, pour water through it into a container with honey. Stir the contents of the bag at this time with a wooden spoon.
- Stir in the honey-malt solution, cool, mix with yeast.
- Wait until the sediment sinks to the bottom, gently strain the liquid into bottles.
- Insist 4 days in a dark place.
On bread with molasses and raisins
Such homemade beer is often called "Velvet" for its soft taste, aroma, a kind of pleasant aftertaste, light hops in the head. It is not difficult to boil it, but drinking it is a pleasure, especially if it is cooled to the desired condition before friendly gatherings. Ingredients such as honey, cinnamon, raisins and molasses add sophistication to the low-alcohol drink.
What to prepare:
- 12 kg rye malt;
- 1, 2 kg wheat malt;
- 4.8 kg of black bread;
- 100 g brewer's yeast;
- 1 g cinnamon;
- 1 kg of molasses;
- 200 g of honey;
- 600 g raisins;
- 140 g hops;
- water.
How to make
- Crumble the dried bread into small pieces.
- Scald the hops with boiling water.
- Mix all ingredients except water.
- Pour with water to get a liquid, mushy mass.
- Leave to ferment for 6 hours.
- Pour in 26 liters of boiled or filtered water. Cork in a container.
- Insist warm for a day.
- Drain the liquid, add another 6 liters of water to it, let stand for 6 hours.
- Drain without raising the sediment, stir, bottle, cork.
- Leave to ripen for one and a half to two weeks in the cold.
In order for a foamy drink with a hoppy taste to turn out the first time, you need to follow all stages of the recipe step by step, keep your hands and dishes clean, and use only high-quality ingredients.
