commit d75eb477a757a63441a59559a8b54ec2f83eb96a Author: Wouter Gordts Date: Tue Oct 10 22:42:26 2023 +0200 one diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b65267 --- /dev/null +++ b/readme.md @@ -0,0 +1,252 @@ +# What do we need + +I'll outline how my brewing process unfolds over time to help list out all the things we need in the basement. +All amounts are based on a **20l to 25l** end product. + +## Brew day + +My brew day takes about **3 to 4 hours** from start to finish. +Doing 10l or 20l is pretty much the same time. +I haven't done any brews much bigger than that but I suspect anything up to 30l is doable in the same amount of time with a similar system as the one I'm describing. + +### Preparation + +I start my brewing session by milling grains, about 5kg for a 20l batch. +For this you need two things. + +1. a kitchen scale to weigh the grains +1. a mill with adjustable spacing +1. a container of some sorts to weigh the grains in +1. a container of some sorts to catch the milled grains in + +I use my Kenwood kitchen aid to mill and a 10l food grade bucket to collect the milled grains. +This takes about 10min. + +### Mashing + +I used to mash on my stove top, but recently switched to a bucket system. +For the stove top brew I did a BIAB (brew in a bag) system which is basically a huge tea bag you dump into the pot. +Anyway, the point of mashing is to steep the grains for **60min** at about **64°C** in about **20l** of water. +I use a 2000watt submersion boiler I got off amazon which takes about 30min to go from 40°C to, what we call striking temperate, which is about 67°C. +My heating element is plugged into a temperature controller, also from amazon, and this keep the mash stable for the whole duration. +So, in short we'll need: + +1. a source of fresh water +1. a mashtun (big vessel we can heat up to our desired temperature) +1. a heat source of some sorts (can be electric, gas, ...) +1. a big spoon to stir the mash from time to time so it doesn't get stuck + +During this hour there is not much to do but wait and have a beer. +At about 15min from the end, I start heating up about 10l of **sparge** water to about 70°C. +This will be used in the next stage. +I often weigh my hops at this stage, so we'll also need: + +1. a kitchen scale +1. a couple, two or three, small containers to put the weighed hops in + +### From mashing to boiling + +Once the 60min are up it is time to extract the wort from the mash. +Wort is basically the water without the spent grains. +For this we'll need a filter system. +With a BIAB system this is super easy, you just lift the grains out and let them leak into a **second** bucket. +We'll probably end up with a all-in-one system that has this built in though. + +We'll now try to extract the most sugars as possible from the mash. +The spent grains will have absorbed a lot of water, probably about 5l so we'll need to make up for that. +This is what the **sparge** water is for. +It is poured over the spent grains and caught in the **second bucket**. +While this is happening, which takes some time, we can already bring the wort to a boil. + +At this stage we'll need: + +1. a bucket to collect the sparge water in +1. a heating source to go from 67°C to a rolling boil +1. a vessel to boil the wort in + +The sparge water is added to the wort and brought to a boil all together. +Going from 67°C to 100°C takes about 30min on my 2000watt system. + +### Boiling + +Not a lot is happening here so it's time for an other beer. +We need to boil the wort for about 60min and add hops at specific times. +The amount of hops and timing is very variable but I tend to go for two additions. +One in the beginning for bitterness, and one at flameout (the end) for flavor. +At the minimum we'll need: + +1. a couple of hop bags + +I use this time to prepare the fermentation vessels. +This is basic sanitization. +For this we'll need some specialized products, the most famous one is called Starsan. + +1. sanitization product + +### Chilling + +Once the boil is finished we want to cool the wort as quickly as possible. +We want the wort to go to about 30°C at the maximum, and colder is better, with 20°C as a minimum. +My current system is very ghetto, I cool by placing a bit metal pot in my sink with cold water that I refresh every 15min, but there are very nice systems on the market. + +1. a chilling coil +1. a water pump +1. about 100l of cold water + +### Transfer to fermentation + +Once the wort is at room temperature we can go ahead and transfer it to a sanitized fermentation vessel. +Here we'll add the yeast, put on a water lock and clean up. + +1. precision scale to weigh the yeast (about 10g for a 20l batch) +1. fermentation vessel +1. water lock + +### Clean up + +We'll have about 10kg of spent grains to get rid of, plus heaps of tools to clean. +I do everything by hand in my shower and kitchen so some sort of flexible wet room is advised. + +1. basic cleaning products +1. lot's of water and a way to get rid of it + +## Fermentation + +Nothing to do here but wait. +It takes about 2 weeks for the main fermentation to complete. + +## Dry hopping + +When making an IPA, you'll want to add fresh hops after about 2 weeks, and let them in for a small week. +For this we'll need an other hop bag and scale. +The bag should be sanitized. + +1. a kitchen scale +1. hop bag + +## Bottle day + +For a 20l batch you'll need about 70 bottles cleaned, sanitized and ready to go. +Make no mistake, cleaning takes a lot of time. +To clean a big batch of bottles I need about an hour and a half by myself. +The tools are easy though. + +1. steady flow of water +1. bottles to clean +1. sanitizing product + +To actually *bottle* we'll first transfer the fermented liquid to a **second** vessel with a **tap** at the bottom that has been sanitized. +In this vessel we'll need about 7grams/liter of dissolved sugar (in water) for bottle carbonation. +I do this with a silicone tube and old school suction power. + +1. silicone tube (about 2m max) +1. scale to weigh the sugar +1. kettle to boil some water + +Once the fermented beer is in the secondary vessel we can bottle. +For this we need a bottling tool and a capping tool. +It's handy to have the bottling tool on some tubing so you're more flexible. +Anyway. + +1. some tubing +1. a bottling tool +1. a capping device + +## Final cleaning + +There is not much to clean up on bottling day. +A *just* bottling day takes about two hours for a 25l batch with a very minimal cleanup. + +# Recap + +1. a kitchen scale to weigh the grains +1. a mill with adjustable spacing +1. a container of some sorts to weigh the grains in +1. a container of some sorts to catch the milled grains in +1. a source of fresh water +1. a mashtun (big vessel we can heat up to our desired temperature) +1. a heat source of some sorts (can be electric, gas, ...) +1. a big spoon to stir the mash from time to time so it doesn't get stuck +1. a kitchen scale +1. a couple, two or three, small containers to put the weighed hops in +1. a bucket to collect the sparge water in +1. a heating source to go from 67°C to a rolling boil +1. a vessel to boil the wort in +1. a bucket to collect the sparge water in +1. a heating source to go from 67°C to a rolling boil +1. a vessel to boil the wort in +1. a couple of hop bags +1. sanitization product +1. a chilling coil +1. a water pump +1. about 100l of cold water +1. precision scale to weigh the yeast (about 10g for a 20l batch) +1. fermentation vessel +1. water lock +1. basic cleaning products +1. lot's of water and a way to get rid of it +1. a kitchen scale +1. hop bag +1. steady flow of water +1. bottles to clean +1. sanitizing product +1. silicone tube (about 2m max) +1. scale to weigh the sugar +1. kettle to boil some water +1. some tubing +1. a bottling tool +1. a capping device + +# Grouped recap + +1. a scale + 1. a kitchen scale to weigh the grains + 1. a kitchen scale + 1. precision scale to weigh the yeast (about 10g for a 20l batch) + 1. a kitchen scale + 1. scale to weigh the sugar +1. a mill + 1. a mill with adjustable spacing +1. a few large, 20l, containers + 1. a container of some sorts to weigh the grains in + 1. a container of some sorts to catch the milled grains in + 1. a bucket to collect the sparge water in + 1. a bucket to collect the sparge water in +1. small pots to temporally store stuff in + 1. a couple, two or three, small containers to put the weighed hops in +1. water supply + 1. a source of fresh water + 1. about 100l of cold water + 1. lots of water and a way to get rid of it + 1. steady flow of water +1. a brew system + 1. a mashtun (big vessel we can heat up to our desired temperature) + 1. a heat source of some sorts (can be electric, gas, ...) + 1. a heating source to go from 67°C to a rolling boil + 1. a vessel to boil the wort in +1. a spoon + 1. a big spoon to stir the mash from time to time so it doesn't get stuck +1. hop bags + 1. a couple of hop bags + 1. hop bag +1. cleaning products + 1. sanitization product + 1. basic cleaning products + 1. sanitizing product +1. cooling coil + 1. a chilling coil +1. a pump or flowing water + 1. a water pump +1. fermentation vessel +1. water lock +1. bottles to clean +1. silicone tubing + 1. silicone tube (about 2m max) + 1. some tubing +1. kettle to boil some water + +1. a bottling tool + +1. a capping device + +