Beer is a low-alcoholic foamy drink that is loved by many for its taste and light effect of intoxication. For all its popularity, only a few are interested in home brewing. You can brew a foamy drink at home from scratch, as well as using beer wort concentrate. It will be discussed.
What is a concentrate?
All ingredients for home brewing are purchased in specialized stores. Beer wort concentrate can also be found there. What is he like?
The brewing blank has three main ingredients, without which it is difficult to imagine any beer:
United in the correct proportions and condensed, these components of the wort need only be diluted with water. Sometimes you can find wort without sugar, but most often it is still present in some quantities.
Manufacturers and reviews
Most often, beer wort concentrates from the following manufacturers are available to consumers:
- Finlandia Traditionell. The prepared drink has a pleasant aftertaste with light fruity notes. Color saturated amber, with caramel undertones.
- Finlandia Lager. Beer obtained from this concentrate will have a caramel hue. The taste is pleasant, with light hoppy bitterness, but the foam is less stable than Finlandia Traditionell.
- BeerMachine, USA. Dry beer concentrates come from America, designed for 10 liters of liquid. However, reviews report that to get a richer taste and shade, the dosage can be doubled. There are also difficulties with dissolving in water, especially dark varieties.
- Muntons, UK. Available with or without sugar. This concentrate is distinguished by its favorable cost and pleasant taste.
- MrBeer, New Zealand. Concentrates of this manufacturer are characterized by a higher than average price policy, however, there is a high chance of getting a good final product. Beer brewed from New Zealand concentrate has a pleasant and rich taste.
- Thomas Coopers, Australia. The drink has good flavoring qualities, however, some varieties require additional hopping to obtain a more saturated flavor palette.
- Brewferm, Belgium. Beer made from this concentrate requires much more aging, but at the same time it has a “masculine” strong character and rich taste.
- Weyermann, Germany. One of the most famous German beer concentrates, which has an affordable cost. The concentrate is not hopped, so the taste of brewed beer depends on the amount of hops and yeast added independently.
- Interkvas, Russia. The concentrate has a rather favorable cost, but the taste of the final drink leaves much to be desired. It is recommended to use with additional hopping.
- "My own mug", Russia. With exact adherence to the recipe, you can get a pretty good result.
All brands of beer wort concentrates presented, regardless of the country of origin, should be prepared on water of exceptionally good quality, as this directly affects the taste characteristics of the finished product.
Necessary equipment
The following equipment will be required to make beer from beer wort concentrate:
- Beer fermentation tank. Since the standard amount of wort in the package is designed for 20 liters of liquid, it is recommended to use the barrel with a volume of 23-25 liters, since gas will be generated during fermentation.
- Overflow hose or siphon.
- 2 pots of 10 l each for heating water and wort.
- Spatula or large spoon for stirring.
- Water trap for fermentation tank.
- Chlorine disinfectant tablets.
It is also recommended to have a sugar supply in case the selected concentrate does not have it in its composition.
Disinfection
It is important to pay great attention to the handling of containers before making beer. To do this, use chlorine disinfectant tablets in an amount of 1 pc. on 10 l of water. The container must be thoroughly rinsed after using disinfectants.
It is also recommended that all dishes that come in contact with the ingredients for preparing a foamy drink be sanitized in a similar way. To do this, you need to soak it in a solution of chlorine for 20 minutes, and then rinse well under running water.
Cooking
Reviews of beer wort concentrate report that the extract needs additional processing.
It consists of the following steps:
- Before opening the sealed package, it is recommended to place it in warm water for 15 minutes in order to thin the contents.
- After this, it is necessary to boil 4 liters of purified water.
- The container with the extract must be poured into 2 liters of boiled hot water and mixed well with a spatula or a large spoon.
- After this, the resulting liquid must be poured into a fermentation tank.
- It is important to fill the diluted concentrate with clean water remaining in the pan and mix well.
- During the preparation of the wort, it is necessary to carefully monitor the density of the raw materials using an aerometer.
- After this, yeast must be added to ferment. They need to be spread evenly on the surface of the wort.
- After this, the liquid container must be closed and a water seal installed. Often water is poured inside it, however, when preparing a foamy drink, it is necessary to monitor cleanliness, so it is recommended to use pure ethyl alcohol instead.
Responsibly also should be to the choice of places for fermentation. It should be dark and with a temperature of about 18-23 degrees. Active fermentation of the wort lasts 2-4 days, after which the intensity is significantly reduced. Finally, this process stops only after 10-15 days.
Carbonization and bottling
After the completion of the fermentation of beer from beer wort concentrate, the liquid must be bottled. Tanks also need to be pre-disinfected using chlorine tablets.
In each bottle, pour 7 g of sugar per 1 liter of liquid. After this, the beer must be poured into containers using a siphon. This is necessary so that the beer is not saturated with additional oxygen and does not foam. After that, all bottles must be tightly corked and left at room temperature for carbonation.
Ripening and storage
The preparation of a foamy beverage from beer wort concentrate does not end at the bottling stage. In order for the beer to find its taste, it is necessary to insist the drink in a dark place for two weeks. After this period, beer acquires a characteristic taste, becomes dense and saturated.
You can store a drink from 3 to 6 months, during all this time it remains usable. It is also recommended to adhere to storage conditions:
- The temperature should be around +18 degrees.
- Note that the bottles need to be in a dark place where the sun does not penetrate.
- The container must be tightly closed.
It is also necessary to store bottles exclusively in an upright position, with the neck up. Thus, the contents will not come into contact with the cork and oxidize.
How to improve the taste?
Despite the fact that manufacturers of beer wort concentrates make their products ready for use and do not need to be refined, some people want to give other tastes to beer. This can be done by adding other ingredients during cooking. The most commonly used components are:
- Hops for a distinct bitterness.
- Malt, which was previously soaked in water, whose temperature is about 70 degrees.
- Prunes
- Raisins.
- Honey.
Also, a long exposure is positively affected by taste. If beer is considered suitable for consumption after 2 weeks, then you can get a richer and more saturated flavor range if you keep the drink for 4 or more weeks.
Conclusion
Now it’s clear why we need beer wort concentrate. Making beer from it yourself is quite simple, you should only make a little time and effort. In return, you get a wonderful beer drink, which surpasses the characteristics of many shop samples of hops.