Archive for the ‘How do I do that?’ Category

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How do I do that? Mashing pt. 1

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

I have barely started this, and I have already determined that this will be at least a three part post. Mashing is that big, and that important. It takes into account understandings of botany, chemistry, thermodynamics, physics, fluid motion… a lot of science. Which is actually pretty funny considering that at its core, mashing is putting hot water on crushed grain and waiting.

What’s happening in the mash?

The biggest action we’re most concerned about in the mash is the enzymatic breakdown of starch to sugar. This involves two diastatic enzymes knows as αAmylase —Alpha Amylase, and βAmylase — Beta Amylase. If you took basic biology in high school, you may have done an experiment using a chewed up saltine cracker to demonstrate that enzymes — αAmylase to be precise — in your mouth break down the starch of the cracker into sugars. These  enzymes — the same as in your mouth — break down the starchy molecules from the grain into sugar molecules that yeast can ferment. (more…)

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How do I do that? Modifying Water Profiles

Friday, August 7th, 2009

It should seem pretty obvious that water profiles have a significant effect on a brewer’s final product. The mineral content of the water used to brew beer can affect mouthfeel, flavor, aroma, and appearance. Every sensation we experience when drinking a beer can be changed and even improved with an altered water profile. It’s between 85% and 97% of your beer! Oddly — as you may have noted in one of my questions with Les — a lot of brewers don’t even think about it until they’ve reached a certain level of experience. Why not?

The answer? Because a lot of effort, science, and money goes into controlling this aspect of your final product. Keep reading and you’ll see what I mean.

First and foremost, it’s important to understand what the chemical salts, ions, and minerals dissolved in water do to your beer, it’s also important to note what NOT having them present does to your beer. Using pure water is not only almost unheard of in beermaking — due to the cost of distilled water — it actually doesn’t really make good beer. More on that later. Water as we know it out of the tap, out of the spring, out of the well, out of anywhere but a still is not just water — it’s a solution that contains minerals, salts, and metals that all have an effect on what we use it for, and how it tastes. (more…)

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Posted in Brewing, How do I do that?, Science | 3 Comments »

How do I/They do that? Malting

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

I wrote about malting a little bit in a post about the first BJCP class. You may notice the slight difference in the title from previous “How do I do that?” posts. The explanation comes down to my honest belief that malting, while something you can do yourself, should be left to the experts. This shouldn’t deter anyone from wanting to know how it’s done, what’s going on in the process, and ultimately how they might do it at home. But I can tell you that I probably won’t ever do this myself. Why? Lack of patience, lack of practical experience, a genuine respect for the companies that do it well; any of these reasons is enough to discourage me from trying it. But don’t let that stop you if you’re interested in it.

What I find most interesting about the malting process is that it’s done so well that it’s made techniques like decoction mashing obsolete. Grains are now so well modified that we don’t need to go to the trouble that brewers of the past did to achieve the same results. But let’s get down to brass tacks. What is the malting process?

At its core, malting is a controlled germination of the grain. What this germination does is convert some of the starch contained within each kernel of grain into sugar, but most importantly is the production of enzymes within the infant plant  — or Acrospire — that are then activated during the mashing process. (more…)

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BJCP 8: Flaws & Taints + Strong Ales

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Sunday’s class involved some nastiness. As part of our training, Les doctored a number of Miller Lites with various chemicals and extracts that we then had to taste in order to become familiar with the specific flavors, odors, and mouthfeels associated with them. Les specifically said that this week’s tainted beers were significantly jacked up, mainly so we could become familiar with the flavors, aromas/odors, and moutfeels associated with them. We also tasted some flawed homebrews presented by MALT member Jeff Heneks, and my fellow Wootowner, Dave Bradley.

FOAM member Bill Heverly presented our tasters.

Of course we started with “Guess that beer,” and tried Kona’s Longboard Lager. I guessed lager but didn’t quite get the style. We also tried Wee Beast, which was a Scottish Ale. (more…)

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Posted in BJCP, Brew History, Geek-Out, How do I do that?, Science | 1 Comment »

BJCP Class 3: Water and Light Lagers

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

This past Sunday saw me at my third BJCP course. The technical topic — water — was something I had a broad understanding of, but no real depth of knowledge. Light lagers are something most of us are familiar with — some people experience that familiarity with less enthusiasm than others, and the class was largely unified in its disdain prior to the tastings. More on that later…

I spoke with the technical topic presenter — Zymurnauts president Kevin Berry — prior to class, and noted my particular interest in the topic. He made sure to tell me that it was dangerous territory to tread as he feels that once you’be begun altering your water profiles it’s difficult not to do so every time you brew. Having seen his presentation, I can understand the sentiment entirely. Most typical beer drinkers don’t think about how important water chemistry is to the final flavor of their brew, and how much of an effect its had on the geography of beer styles throughout history. Sure, we’re marketed to by the macro-brewers about how clean their water is, or that it comes from the Rocky Mountains, but that doesn’t even tell half the story about water profiles. (more…)

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Posted in Aesthetics, BJCP, Brew History, Brewing, How do I do that?, Measurement, Science | No Comments »

Release the Yeast: Sourdough

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

In the last Release the Yeast we talked about how yeast does the work that eventually gives us alcohol; this time we’re turning our eyes to the other staff of life – bread, more specifically sourdough bread. Funny thing is, sourdough cultures aren’t just exclusively used for breads and bread products like pancakes and biscuits; you can conceivably make beer with them too.

So what is it?

Sourdoughs are symbiotic relationships between wild yeasts and a lactobacillus bacteria; one such is named Lactobacillus Sanfranciscensis, for its discovery in San Francisco — the spiritual home of modern sourdough. The yeasts provide the leavening action — or puff — to the dough. The sour flavor is the result of the growth of the bacteria, and its acid production. Different lactobacillus strains produce different levels of sourness, some like San Francisco’s are very aggressive, others — like the Parisian strains — are much more mild in character.

In antiquity, all breads were sourdough breads. Most anthropologists believe that the first leavened breads were baked in Egypt. You can imagine how this was discovered, unused flatbread dough suddenly rising with the breath of the gods out of nowhere, that was then baked and deemed divine in flavor and texture. Not until yeasts were actually isolated and then made widely available did humanity know how to make a bread that wasn’t the result of a yeast organism captured in the wild and then cultivated as sourdough. (more…)

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