Home-brew American Ale

A rite of passage when one retires it to dabble in hobbies. What better way to take a plunge in the deep end than home brewed Ale, especially when one has delightful friends who grow their own Cascade Hops (talking about you, Bill Z), have the brewing kit and caboodle (shout out to Rajiv S) and are generous with advice (take a bow, Jarl N).

Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.

 ~ Dave Berry

Ingredients for ~5 gallon (19L) American Ale

Source: https://www.seriouseats.com/homebrewing-pale-ale-for-beginners-extract 

1. 6 gallons of reverse osmosis water. 

2. 6 pounds Briess Golden Light GBW dry malt extract (DME)

3. 1/2 pound Viking Malt Caramel 50 (20L), crushed

4. 1/2 pound Carapils Malt, crushed

5. 1 ounce Cascade hops after 30 minutes

6. 3 ounce Cascade hops after flame out for dry hopping

7. 11.5 gram package Safale US-05 dry ale yeast

   Hint: Visit your local More Beers outlet for ingredients, gear and pro advice.

   

Introduction to home-brewed American Ale

1. A typical 5 gallon batch of beer will require forty-eight 12-ounce bottles (default size) or twenty-six 22-ounce bottles (larger bottles).

2. Typical alcohol-by-volume is around 5% ABV for American ales (about 1.05-1.055 final gravity or FG and 1.15-1.155 original gravity or OG) 

3. Ales are beers fermented at room temperature with a floating fermenting yeast and served warmer. Lagers by contrast use yeast that settles at the bottom, fermentation is at a lower/chilled temperature and lagers are best served chilled at lower temperature.

4. Malt imparts sweetness to beers. It is processed barley that has been soaked in water, left to germinate, then dried with heat to stop the germination and to convert insoluble starch into the solubles including sugars. The malt used in this recipe is ground into grist (or meal) to facilitate the extraction of sugars and other soluble substances during the mash process (explained below).

5. Hops (Humulus lupulus) contribute bitterness, as well as unique aroma and flavor, in addition to inhibiting the growth of bacteria in wort and beer. Hops are bines (flexible tip of a vining climber/plant) propagated by cuttings of a perennial vine. The female plant yields flowers of soft-leaved pine-like cones (strobile) measuring about an inch in length. Caryophyllene, farnesene, humulene and myrcene are the essential oils in hops. The bitterness of beers is caused by the tannins and iso-humulones of hops. Hops added early in the boiling stage are called bittering hops. By contrast, dry hopping is the addition of hops late in the brewing process to increase the hop aroma of a finished beer without significantly affecting its bitterness. In fresh or wet hopping, we use green garden fresh hops which adds unique flavors and aromas, even if the hops aren't factory-quality controlled.

6. Blonde Ale = Less malt and hops. Increase the malt (and maybe the hops) and you have an Indian Pale Ale or IPA but be careful the more hops you use and the longer they are boiled, the more bitter your beer can be.

7. Tweak the malt-hop balance to favour the malt a bit more, and you have either an American amber ale or American brown ale (I added some crystal malt for an amber tinge, you can alternately add some chocolate malt for a brown colour, if this I your thing). Beers made with caramelised, toasted or roasted malts or grains will exhibit increasingly darker colours. 

   
   
   
   

Overview of the Brewing process

Now is a good time to review the steps involved in home-brewing before you decide to take the plunge:

1. Clean, sterilize and set up the brewing system: Thermometer, hydrometer, sampling siphon, stirring/dip stick etc. Kettle and copper coils do not need to be sterilzed.
2. Calculate volume of reverse-osmosis water aka RO for the mash. You can get this from your local grocery store, make sure the pH is between 6.0-6.5.
3. In the kettle without lid, heat water to 160F strike temperature (152-154F + 6F for temp drop) then take off the heat.
4. Slowly mix in the dry malt extract or DME, taking care to avoid lumps and soak for 30 minutes. Restore temperature of the mash to 151-154F as needed.
5. Add malt extracts to mesh-bag and soak for another 30 minutes and restore temperature of wort to 151-154F as needed.
6. Remove mesh bag, top off to 3 gallon mark; without the lid replace mesh bag and bring the wort to rolling boil for 30 minutes.
7. Gently introduce a mesh bag with 1 ounce of Cascade hops inside and continue rolling boil for another 30 minutes.
8. Flame out. Take off heat, add another 3 ounces of hops to the mesh-bag and let it steep for 20 minutes.
9. Remove the mesh-bag. Introduce the cooling copper coils and bring down the temperature of the unfermented beer or wort to 85F by circulating cool water.
10. Transfer the wort to the fermenting bucket and top off with reverse-osmosis water to 4.5 gallons mark; leaving an air space of 1.5 gallon for fermenting froth and CO2. 
11. Take a sample and measure the original gravity or OG using a hydrometer.
12. Stir in the yeast vigorously and store in a cool dry place. Place lid with fermenting/airlock filled with water.
13. Place Periodically take a sample and measure the final gravity or FG using the hydrometer. If ABV is 5% stop the fermentation by bottling the beer, otherwise store for a few more days and repeat.

Details of the Brewing process

A. Mashing stage 

Mashing is the process of boiling the mash in a kettle to  activates enzyme that convert grain starches to sugars.

1. Calculate volume of water for mash: 1.875 gallons for 6 pounds of grain. 

   Pro-tips: 

   a) For details refer https://byo.com/article/calculating-water-usage/

   b) You can improvise a dip-stick with a tall spoon by gradually fill the kettle with measured volumes of water and make the appropriate marks on it. 

   
   

2. Heat 1.875 gallon of water in the kettle to 160°F strike temperature and remove from heat. Temperature plays a very important role in flavor, gravity, color, bittering, purity and clarity of the final beer. Holding a temperature between 151-154 F (66-67.75C) for 60 minutes is sufficient for activating the enzymes that are naturally within the grain to turn the starches into sugars. 

   
   

3. Slowly mix in the dry-malt-extract or DME, stirring it to make sure it doesn’t make lumps. Let it soak for 30 minutes without heat and without a lid. Restore wort temperature to 151-154F. 

   Note: Without a lid, the undesirable dimethyl sulfides or DMS evaporates

   
   

4. Add malt grains to the mesh bag and let it soak for another 30 minutes. Restore wort temperature to 151-154F.

Caution: Make sure the mesh bag isn’t sitting directly on the bottom of the pot. Either apply direct heat or add hot/cold water to keep the temperature at desired level. 

B. Boiling stage

A process in which wort (unfermented beer) is boiled in the brew kettle without a lid to sterilize the beer as well as ends enzymatic conversion of proteins to sugars. One side effect of boiling is to remove several volatile compounds from wort (like dimethyl sulfides) and the coagulation of excess or unwanted proteins in the wort.  During the boiling, one or more hop additions can occur to achieve bittering, hop flavor and hop aroma in the finished beer.

1. Top off the water to the 3 gallon mark and bring the unfermented beer or wort to a vigorous boil (212F or 100C) again without a lid. Maintain the rolling boil for 30 minutes without lid. Take care to avoid boil over.

   
   

2. Add 1 ounce hops to the mesh bag and continue rolling boil for another 30 minutes without lid.

Caution: 

• A total of 60 minutes boiling is sufficient for light color lower gravity ale. 

• Watch out for the dreaded boilover. Seemingly within a matter of seconds, foam begins to collect on the surface of the hot wort, and the next thing you know it is climbing up and out of the kettle and onto the burner, sticking and burning and creating a mess to be cleaned up afterward. Another potential time for a boilover is during the addition of hops, when tiny particles provide nucleation sites for bubbles that cause foaming. Remedy: Using a spray bottle, squirt water onto the surface of the wort as it begins to come to a boil 

• After the wort cools below 180°F everything that touches it should be sanitary, and exposure to open air should be limited as much as possible.

  
  

3. Put off the heat, add another 3 ounces Cascade hops in mesh bag for flame out hopping. Let it steep for 20 minutes.

C. Cooling stage

1. Top off to 4.5 gallons using refrigerated reverse-osmosis water and cool the wort down to 85F before draining into the fermenter.

Notes:

• Using a siphon, connect one end to tap water and let other pipe drain.

• Only dip the copper rings in the kettle taking care to keep the plastic away from the hot metal.

D. Fermentation stage

Fermentation is the chemical conversion of fermentable sugars into approximately equal parts of ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide gas, through the action of yeast.

D1. Primary fermentation for 1 week

1. Transfer to a sanitized fermenter (either a carboy or a fermentation bucket). 

   
   

2. Sanitize the outside of the Safale 5 yeast package, fermentation stopper and airlock. 

   
   

3. Carefully pour yeast into cooled wort (it should be below 70°F), and agitate vigorously. 

   
   

4. Ferment in a dark place for 1 week, keeping ambient temperature consistent, preferably between 62-66°F.

Notes

• During the fermentation process, yeast converts the natural malt sugars into equal parts alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. 

• CO2 is a natural byproduct of fermentation and being heavier than O2 creates a gaseous barrier preventing the wort from oxidizing.

• The fermenter should have a fermentation lock that  is a one-way valve that allows carbon dioxide gas to escape from the container while excluding entry of ambient wild yeasts, bacteria and contaminants.

• In the fermenter, collect 1–2 gallons of wort over the final amount you want (depends upon your batch size and boil off rates).

• 5.5 gallons of wort into the fermenter which should yield you 5 gallons of useful beer after fermentation losses. 

• Alcohol by Volume (ABV) A measurement of the alcohol content. To calculate ABV, subtract the final gravity from the original gravity and divide by 0.0075. For example: 1.050 – 1.015 = 0.038/0.0075 = 4.6% ABV.

• A hydrometer is a calibrated glass instrument, consisting of a graduated stem resting on a weighted float, used to measure the specific gravity of liquids as compared to water.

D2. Optional secondary fermentation for 2 to 6 weeks

1. Periodically burp any trapped CO2 to prevent oxidation
2. For dry hopping: Add hops if the recipe calls for it

Note

• I skipped dry hopping as I found it unnecessary and it reduces the final volume

E. Bottling stage

E1. Introduction to bottling:

• Before you bottle, it's important to be sure that fermentation is complete. For most beer under 6% ABV, fermentation will be complete after 2 weeks. To check Final Gravity (FG), sanitize the auto-siphon racking cane and remove enough beer to fill the hydrometer jar about 80% (usually about 3/4 cup). Place the hydrometer in the jar and make a note of the level it's floating at using the scale on the side. Repeat the process 24 hours later. Fermentation is complete when the final gravity measurement is the same for two consecutive days. 

• Carbonation occurs naturally in beer since yeast produce carbon dioxide along with alcohol when they eat sugar. Giving the yeast a specific amount of sugar just before bottling produces exactly the amount of carbonation needed. The amount of carbonation you get depends on the amount of sugar you add. When you're using corn sugar, you should use the following quantities:

• 0.5 ounces corn sugar per gallon for low carbonation (dry stout, English ale)
• 0.9 ounces corn sugar per gallon for medium carbonation (American ales, porter)
• 1.5 ounces corn sugar per gallon for high carbonation (German weissbier, Belgian blond)
• For bottling American Pale Ale, using 4.5 ounces of corn sugar for 5 gallons would give a medium level of carbonation.

E2. Preparing to bottle your Home-brew

When you decide it's time to bottle, it's important to set aside at least 2 hours to get the job done, especially if it's your first time. It's also helpful if you have a partner to lend a hand while doing this. It takes awhile to sanitize all the bottles and the equipment, and having someone to hand you the next bottle or tip the bottling bucket is very nice.

E3. Bottling checklist

1. Bottling bucket (with a spigot), 

2. Enough bottles for 5 gallons, 

3. Bottle caps, 

4. Bottle capper, 

5. An auto-siphon racking cane, 

6. A bottling wand and hose, 

7. Sanitizer, 

8. Cheap vodka, 

9. Fermented beer 

10. 4.5 ounces of corn sugar for 5 gallons beer

E4. Bottling procedure

1. Thoroughly rinse out the dust and old beer that might be in your bottles

2. Take out the appropriate number of bottle caps you need and let them soak in 1/2 cup of cheap vodka. They tend to rust a bit if you put them in regular sanitizer.

3. Fill your bottling bucket with five gallons of water and add the amount of sanitizer specified on the package. Immerse as many bottles as you can fit in the bucket and let them sit for one minute. Remove the bottles and repeat with remaining bottles until all are sanitized. Some people let the sanitized bottles sit upside down in the top rack of a cleaned out dishwasher.

4. Sanitize the other equipment you'll be using: auto-siphon racking cane, bottling wand and hose (inside and outside!)

5. Empty the sanitizer out of your bottling bucket through the spigot (to sanitize the spigot). 

6. Note: Sanitizing residue will remain in the bucket (either foam or iodine). This is OK. The residue will not affect the flavor of your beer and it's important not to rinse it out. This goes for the residue left in the bottles as well.

7. Heat two cups of water in a pot and stir in the corn sugar. Boil for ten minutes to sanitize.

8. Use your auto-siphon racking cane to transfer the beer to from the fermentation vessel to the bottling bucket. You will want to leave a quarter to a half-inch of beer behind so that you don't pick up any sediment from the bottom of the fermentor.

9. Gently stir in the corn-sugar-water solution for at least 30 seconds.

10. Connect the bottling wand to the bottling bucket.

11. Fill a bottle to the top by inserting the wand to the bottom of the bottle and pressing it down. As you pull out the wand, it should leave the perfect amount of space at the top of the bottle. 

12. Set a cap on top to keep the air out (don't use the capper yet). Repeat for all bottles.

13. Place the capper on each cap, firmly pushing down on the handles.

14. Let the bottles sit at room temperature for two or three weeks. Giving the bottles a few weeks at room temperature will allow the yeast to process the sugar and produce the carbon dioxide.. Note: You could test a bottle after one week and again after two weeks to see how the process is coming along. Refrigerate and enjoy! Once you put the bottles in the refrigerator, the yeast will go into hibernation and stop eating the sugar, so you want to wait until you're pretty well carbonated before chilling your beer.

    Cheers!! 🍺 Prost!! 🍻 À votre santé!!  🍻Saúde!! 🍺 Skål!!