American Wheat & Hefeweizen
While both American Wheat Ale and German Hefeweizen share a similar wheat-focused grain bill and so, correspondingly, a similarly lightly bready flavor profile and fluffy mouthfeel, the similarities mostly stop there. The big differences between these styles come from the yeast and hops used in each.
Hefeweizen hails from Bavaria in southern Germany, and has a fascinating history stretching over centuries that we dont have the space to get into here. Was makes it truly unique within a traditional German beer landscape mostly known for clean lager styles is its expressive yeast strain. All ales are fermented with the same yeast speciessaccharomyces cerevisiaebut there are numerous strains that have different fermentation characteristics and generate different levels of aroma-producing esters and phenols. Hefeweizen yeast produces a lot of the ester isoamyl acetate, which comes across most commonly as banana or bubblegum, and the phenol 4vinyl-guiacol, which tastes like cloves. Because of Hefeweizens low hop character, these yeast notes are the defining flavors of the style.
American Wheat beers are fermented with cleaner American yeast, and dont share their inspirations banana-and-clove eccentricity. Many examples make up for this with significantly higher hopping rates, showcasing fruity American hop aromas.
Creating Your Own Small Batch Beer Recipes
Creating you own recipes from scratch is actually easier than youd think
Most beer recipes include two malts , two hops and a yeast
Most recipes include 80% of a light and highly enzymatic malt, typically Pilsen, plus 20% of a more colored malt
Hops generally register either as bittering ones that will stay in your wort for most of the boil and more aromatic ones added 20, 15 or 5 minutes before the end of the boil
Finally, yeasts are imposed by the style of beer you want to brew: lager, ale and so on
Most of the challenge consists in creating a beer that is coherent in terms of color, bitterness, alcohol volume and other parametersLuckily, there are fantastic tools out there to help you design great tasting beersOne of them, which may well be the best available, is Brewers FriendThe beauty of this tool is that all parameters are updated on-the-fly as you change anything
This makes your task of creating beer recipes much easier
Say you want to clone a beer that has a color of 7.3 SRM, a bitterness of 32 IBU and 5.3% alcoholAll you need to do is to enter the ingredients and adjust their amounts and properties until your recipe matches the beer you want to reproduce
In the end, you just need to shop for the ingredients, ideally online so you can adjust your recipe in Brewers Friend according to the properties of the ingredients available at your supplier
You will find more about Creating a beer recipe from scratch in my blog
Visit Our New Site: Beersmithrecipescom
Weve launched a new recipe sharing service that allows visitors to browse tens of thousands of recipes for free and all BeerSmith 2 users to upload and share their favorite recipes. Join thousands of fellow brewers as they share, rate, and discuss their recipes online. When you find one you like you can download it directly into your BeerSmith cloud folder. See the BeerSmithRecipes info page for more information.
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One Gallon Beer Recipes
The great thing about beer recipes is they are easy to modify to your needs. Pretty much all beer recipes published on the internet are formulated to make somewhere around 5 gallons. I have written a guide on scaling beer recipes here but it pretty simple so to scale a beer recipe just do the following:
Scaling a beer recipe by volume is easy. Take all of the ingredients in the recipe, this will include each type of grain, hop, yeast, spice, fruit or other flavourings listed. Divide by the volume listed for the recipe and then multiply by the volume you intend to brew. Its that simple.As an example If a 21 litre recipe calls for 3.5kg of Maris Otter and you intend to brew 15 litres simply do the following:
3.5 / 21 * 15 = 2.5 so you would need 2.5kg of Maris Otter for the recipe.
You then work through each type of grain listed in the recipe to get the amounts used for each type and do exactly the same for each addition of hops as well as the amount of yeast to pitch and any other ingredients.
If you want to scale a 5 gallon beer recipe to brew a one gallon beer recipe take each of the ingredients and divide by 5. That is all you need to do to get the amount of each ingredient in your one gallon beer.
Prepare And Sanitize Your Equipment
Wash and sanitize your equipment prior to beginning. Follow instructions on your pack of PBW sanitizer on mixing and get a good home brew book to guide you on sanitation. Mix a small batch of PBW sanitizer in a stainless steel bowl following the instructions on your PBW packet.
You don’t need to use the entire packet of PBW for these first steps. Save some for steps further down the line and for future batches of home brew!
FAQ: What is the difference between washing and sanitizing?
Washing:Sanitizing:
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Saison & Farmhouse Ale
There is a tremendous amount of romance surrounding Saison and the Farmhouse Ales inspired by it. The popular origin story for Saison has the beer developing on 19th century farmsteads in Wallonia in southern Belgium. According to lore, farms were responsible for providing beer for the seasonal field workers who brought in the harvest, and during the winter they would brew with the ingredients they had on hand, holding the beer over till it was needed in the summer.
Its a lovely story, but unfortunately there is limited historical support for its veracity. Beer was undoubtedly brewed at farms in Belgium at the time, as it was all over Europe, but the beer we know today as Saison is most likely a twentieth century commercial creation.
Nonetheless, Saisons and Farmhouse Ales have found tremendous popularity in the last few years as consumers continue to seek greater authenticity and proximity in the production of their food and drink. The best examples are both rustic and refined, balancing expressive yeast character and moderate hopping with a dry, quenching finish.
The Comic Book Story Of Beer: The Worlds Favorite Beverage From 7000 Bc To Todays Craft Brewing Revolution
For the comic-book lover: Most beer books are chock-full of details and dense paragraphs of historical anecdotes. But, Jonathan Hennessey and Mike Smiths The Comic Book Story of Beer is just that a comic book. Packed inside there are 180 pages of full-color, bursting-with-detail comics that highlight beers ascent from a primal beverage to premiere glassware-garner.
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Scaling A Home Brew Recipe By Efficiency
The method of scaling a recipe by efficiency is similar to scaling by volume. What is important to note though is you only need to adjust the amount of grains used in the mash.
As the efficiency is an indicator of how well fermentables are extracted from malt and grains these are the only ingredients in the recipe that need scaling. Ingredients like hops, yeast and sugars are added after the mash so they stay exactly the same.
To scale by efficiency you take each amount of the mashed grains and malts and multiply by the recipes efficiency then divide by your efficiency
As an example, in a recipe that has an efficiency of 70% and calls for 4kg of Pilsner malt, you would need to do the following to scale the recipe to 75% efficiency:
4kg * 0.7 / 0.75 = 3.73kg of Pilsner malt required at 75% efficiency.
As you can see the more efficient you get the less grain you need to use and vice versa.
Perform this calculation for each malt and grain in the mash but not for hops, yeast and sugars, that is all there is to it.
Our Pick: Northern Brewer Brew Share Enjoy Homebrew Starter Kit
If youre looking to brew beer for the first time, but you arent ready to invest in a fully customized home brewery, the Northern Brewer Brew Share Enjoy Homebrew Starter Kit is a great place to start. For around $100 to $130 , this kit includes everything you need to begin brewing extract batches right out of the box. Crucially, it comes with a 5-gallon stainless steel kettle, a 21-inch stainless steel stirring spoon, and a hydrometerthree essential tools that other kits sometimes lack. This kit also features a siphonless design, which makes transferring beer after fermentation extremely simple.
The Brew Share Enjoy kit is one of just a few we found at its price point that includes a kettle. This is a great addition to the kit, but its also an item youll probably want to upgrade down the line. The kettle is made of stainless steel, which is a plus, but its on the thin and flimsy sideand its spindly handles arent very comfortable to hold when youre moving 5 gallons of hot wort. Since some liquid evaporates during the boil, the 5-gallon capacity also means youll have to top up with more water in the fermenter to reach a 5-gallon batch volume. Some pricier kits come with larger kettles that use thicker steel. But if you dont want to break the bank, this is a fine kettle to start your brewing journey with.
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The Rise Of One Gallon Beer Making
A new trend has emerged in the world of home brewing, the rise of the One Gallon Brewer.
It had to happen sooner or later, it is obvious to see that not everyone is going to want 5 gallons of beer at a time. Its a large barrier of entry to invest both the time and money in producing 5 gallon batches in a hobby that should be easy to get started in.
Finding And Reading Beer Recipes
Of all the many excellent websites offering free beer recipes online, brewersfriend.com is certainly the most achieved and convenient as most recipes include features such as ratings, brew logs, comments and the possibility to display all-grain recipes only, that make the site stand above the crowdLets have a look at this example for a Belgian strong ale and see how to use it
Malt
The first section Fermentables shows the proportions of each malt, also called grain billDepending on recipes complexity, you will typically find three different malts here, if not moreMost grain bills include a large majority of Pilsen malt, used as a base malt in most beer recipes for its desirable light color, rounded taste and malty flavor, as well as high enzyme concentration allowing large parts of adjunct malts to be converted into simpler sugars
The main parameter you want to focus on when it comes to malt is color, which can be tricky as three different color units coexistIf the supplier you buy malt from does not use the same color codes as the recipe you are following, you can use this color converter
For a typical gallon batch, you will aim for about 2.5lb of fermentables
Most of all, when you start creating recipes and ordering the ingredients yourself, you benefit from malt that was crushed a day or two before which is much fresher than in ready kits where it has been sitting in the box for weeks, if not months
Hops
Yeast
Brooklyn Brew Shop
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Introduction: Beer One Gallon All
Who this is for: people with limited time, space or money, or those who like to experiment or try new styles of beer.
Why one gallon? 5 gallon home brewing is far more popular – why would I want to brew only 1 gallon? Low cost of entry: you probably already have some of the equipment needed in your kitchen, and the rest of the equipment that you’ll need will cost under $50. Compare this to some 5-gallon setups that can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars!
With the rapid growth of the craft brewing industry, homebrewing is also becoming more popular.
This instructable will show you how to brew one gallon of beer in just a few hours in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Total time required from start to clean up is about 4 hours .
Beyond The Pale: The Story Of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co
For the entrepreneur: The United States is home to a few landmark breweries and brewery founders. Reading their stories gives insight into how the craft beer movement started in America and where it might be going.
In this book, Sierra Nevadas Ken Grossman offers his own story. Read about Grossmans beginnings as a homebrewer and how Sierra Nevada Pale Ale became one of the most popular beers in America.
In the same vein as Beyond the Pale, check out Dogfish Heads story in Brewing up a Business and Brooklyn Brewerys in Beer School.
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Goodnight Brew: A Parody For Beer People
For everyone: Just because, like seeing your favorite beer on the draft list, its too good to pass up.
Unless otherwise noted, all of the products featured on Hop Culture are independently chosen by our editorial team. However, Hop Culture may earn a commission from purchases made through affiliate links on the site.
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One Gallon Beer Recipe Kits
Listen up: if you want to test the waters of brewing without jumping right in, youre in the right place. Were proud to offer a wide selection of 1-gallon beer recipe kits, any of which provide the perfect starting point for you . Our recent partnership with Northern Brewer has further expanded the selection, giving you access to the widest variety of top-notch ingredients. Each kits hand-crafted instructions lay out the process in simple, easy-to-follow steps, ensuring your entrance to brewing is as smooth as possible. And its space-saving set-up means you can start anywhere–even in a small apartment. Trust us: once you brew, youll be hooked for life.
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Start One Gallon Beer Making
Now that Ive just gone on about one gallon brewing and how accessible it is I guess I should explain the best way to get started. What is the best method to go from knowing nothing about brewing to knocking out your first one gallon batch?
One of these beer making kits.
I know I may have a vested interest in this but I created these beer recipe kits to make them as easy as possible and use a minimal amount of equipment. Technically they are not one gallon kits they actually make 1.75 gallons of beer. This is because they are malt extract you can squeeze out a little extra beer from the same size brew pot as you would need to make one gallon of all grain beer. The 0.75 extra gallons of beer is a bonus.
All of the beer kits you see here are based on recipes I have brewed many times, tweaked and perfected so I can guarantee they make great tasting beer. This is the perfect way to go from knowing nothing about brewing to brewing a beer that will be much better than any tinned beer kit you can get at the home brew shop.
If you do want to dabble with a one gallon all grain batch though I have luckily written a few guides to show you what can be done with only a tiny amount of equipment.
This beginner guide will tell you everything you need to make a one gallon batch or even a two gallon beer recipe. It is especially useful if you dont know the first thing about malts, hops or fermentation and mashing.
Premium 1 Gallon Beer Recipe Kits
Already have your own brewing equipment at home? Only need a refill? Fill your fermenter with our Beer Recipe Kit. Each Beer Recipe Kit comes with all the ingredients needed to brew your next batch of craft beer, including sanitizer to clean your equipment. Our beer ingredient kit contains the same high-quality ingredients used by your favorite breweries: fresh-packed hops, unique grains, dried malt extract, and specialty yeast strains. Our selection includes more than 20 unique styles, so youll never have to brew the same beer twice thanks to our beer ingredient kit.
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Belgian Pale Dubbel Tripel And Quadrupel
Belgium is a wonderland of diverse and unique beer styles. Many of the worlds rarest and most esteemed beers come from this small country, including 6 of the worlds 12 Trappist breweries. While Belgian brewers as a group generally prefer to eschew strict style guidelines in favor of freedom of expression, the most popular Belgian beers imported to this country tend to fall into a few common styles.
The most approachable of these beers is Belgian Pale Ale. Generally around 5.0-5.5% ABV, these relatively easy-drinking beers are brewed with mostly Pilsner or pale malts with small proportions of Vienna or Munich malt. Expressive Belgian ale yeast provides some noticeable fruitiness and mild spiciness, though neither is as elevated as in some other styles from this country. A graceful hand with Saaz, Styrian, or English hops allows for some subtle floral, herbal, or spicy background character.
With styles like Dubbel and Tripel, we enter the prestigious world of Belgian abbey ales. These beers have their roots in the countrys monastic brewing traditions, and some of them are still brewed at monasteries or in conjunction with active abbeys or historical abbey preservation groups. Many, of course, are brewed without any connection to these institutions at all.
Abbey styles all showcase expressive Belgian yeast characteristics. Dubbels and Quads also showcase complex specialty malt profiles, while Tripels can often display some regal continental hop character.