STARTING A HOMEBREW SHOP IN GARAGE HOW TO

But I’ve ditched the grain basket (and the sparge) in favor of a custom-made BIAB bag from Wilserbrewer that’s sized to fit the BrewZilla. The BrewZilla isn’t explicitly designed for BIAB it comes with a mesh grain basket (as does the very similar, more expensive GrainFather), which you lift up at the end of the mash and pour more hot water through to rinse the grains-a process called sparging. Wort flowing out of my brewing machine and into the fermenter. After the mash, you can simply lift the bag out of the water and squeeze it or let it drip-dry as you bring the malty sugar water (called “wort”) up to a boil.

You fill the kettle with water, heat it to the right temperature for the mash, and add a fine-mesh bag that’s then filled with your crushed grain. In this form of all-grain brewing, you complete the entire brew in a single vessel-usually a large, stainless steel kettle. Step one: Turn grain into liquid goldĪlthough a traditional all-grain homebrew setup involves three separate vessels-one for hot water, one for mashing the grains (steeping them in hot water), and another for boiling-I use a simpler form of brewing called brew-in-a-bag, or BIAB. Doing so gives you way more control over the variables that affect your beer’s flavor and color, it’s cheaper in the long run, and all-grain equipment can also be used to make extract beers down the road if you’re strapped for time. But if you think brewing is a hobby you’ll stick with, in my opinion it’s better to go all-grain from the start. It can produce delicious beer, and it definitely saves time. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with extract brewing. All-grain brewing provides more flexibility and creativity, but it requires more equipment extract brewing is quicker, and you spend less on equipment up front. There are two main ways to get from raw ingredients to finished beer: all-grain brewing (steeping crushed malted grain in hot water to extract sugar) and extract brewing (dissolving malt syrup or powdered malt sugar in hot water).

STARTING A HOMEBREW SHOP IN GARAGE HOW TO

But if you want to know more, John Palmer’s How to Brew is a great, free starter resource. I’m not going to go too deeply into what each ingredient contributes or the precise details of the brewing process.

Although lots of popular styles use other stuff-from coconut and cacao nibs to oak and (not kidding here) Gatorade mix-the basics are all that’s needed to brew some of the best beer in the world. Photo: Ben Keoughīeer is comprised of four main ingredients: malt, hops, yeast, and water. This milled malt is ready to take a long, hot bath. Beer basics: Malt, hops, yeast, and waterīefore I get into gear, here’s a quick primer for those of you who are completely new to thinking about beer, beyond standing in front of the cooler at the grocery store and trying to decide which of 20 available IPAs to buy. But here’s what I’ve settled on (and recommend) after several years spent perfecting my process. There are a million and one combinations of gear and techniques you can use to brew beer-Wirecutter even recommends a good kit, if you don’t want to put together your own system. Most recently, I picked up a gold and a bronze at the 2020 KLCC Brewfest in Eugene, Oregon. I’ve been homebrewing since 2016, and in that time I’ve racked up more than 50 brew sessions and bottled and kegged hundreds of gallons of beer. But even if you can grab growlers of world-class brew right down the street, there are still plenty of good reasons to brew your own beer-and doing so is easier than you probably think. The American craft beer scene has come a long way from its humble roots in 1960s California, with artisanal breweries popping up in towns ( even very small ones) from coast to coast.

Starting a homebrew shop in garage