10 Tips to Brewing Better Beer

To the experienced brewer, these should comestyle of beer you want to brew will dictate your
off as common sense. But, it's also easy tomash temperature.
forget some of these when you are juggling hop6. Clean all your equipment thoroughly before and
additions, equipment malfunctions and other brewafter use. Take the extra time to clean up after
day distractions, such as chasing kids or dogsyou brew. It will make your brew day so much
away from 7 gallons of boiling hot liquids.easier. Rinse the break and hop materials off of
1. Start with fresh ingredients. This may soundyour immersion chiller. Get all the grain out of
pretty lame, but you'd be surprised how longyour mash tun. Wash your brew kettle and your
some of that liquid malt extract sits around instirring spoon. It's easy to be tired after a 6-8
your local home brew shop. Online vendors likehour brew session. Take the extra 20-30 mins. to
Adventures in Home brewing, Northern Brewerclean up after yourself. Your beer and your wife
and Midwest Supplies have a high turnaround ongirlfriend/significant other will be glad, too.
ingredients, with some of them receiving7. Check your gravity 20 mins. before your boil
shipments each week. If you are an all-grainends. Adjust hop schedule accordingly. I don't
brewer and buy your grain pre-crushed, try toknow how many times I've finished brewing and
use them the week you receive them. If youhad way too much wort that was low gravity or
cannot brew right away, store the crushed graintoo little that was too high that I had to dilute.
in a refrigerator, where they will keep for a fewGet a refractometer and check your gravity. If
weeks.you do it 20 mins. before the boil ends, you can
2. Use a yeast starter and use the correctkeep your late hop additions where they need to
amount of yeast. First, make sure you refrigeratebe. Nothing like flaming out and then seeing that
your yeast when it arrives - whether it is dry oryour gravity is off and you need to continue
liquid. Dry yeast isn't as sensitive as liquid, but ifboiling to reach your desired gravity. For beers
you don't plan on using it right away, refrigerate it.that aren't hoppy this isn't as much of a problem.
If you order online during the summer, ask theBut who needs to be scrambling around in the last
home brew store to pack your liquid yeast in anfew minutes of boil time anyway?
ice pack. If you plan on brewing a high-gravity8. Cool your wort quickly. As I mentioned
beer such as a Double IPA, or an Imperial Stout,previously, once your wort drops below 170F,
don't just throw the contents of the smack packbacteria and wild yeast like to jump in your beer.
or the vial in the wort - that tiny amount ofWell, maybe not that dramatically, but just the
yeast will become stressed and your beer will notsame - invest in a wort chiller - either immersion
complete fermentation. You need lots of yeastor counterflow and use it to get your wort to
for a big beer! Check for the correct amount ofyeast pitching temperatures (around 70F) as
yeast to pitch for the beer that you are brewingquickly as possible (under 20-30 mins is ideal). In
and then make a yeast starter. A yeast starter isthe summer this is a bit harder using tap water
basically a smaller amount of un-hopped wort that(depending on where you live). Look into a
you add your yeast to in order to let your yeastpre-chiller or use a pump to recirculate icy cold
be fruitful and multiply!water. The quicker you can get your wort chilled
3. Assemble all the materials you'll need BEFOREand into your fermenter, the less likely you are to
you start brewing. Nothing is worse thanintroduce bacteria into your beer.
scrambling around looking for ingredients or9. Sanitize everything that will come in contact
equipment during your brew day. It makes it verywith your wort after it drops below 170F. CLEAN,
easy to forget to add certain ingredients orthen SANITIZE. You don't have to sterilize
miss-time them. I write down each step of myeverything or wear a biohazard suit while you
brew day and the equipment/ingredients that I'llbrew, but do get all the chunks off by cleaning
need for each step. Then, before I start myand then use a no-rinse sanitizer such as One
mash, I lay everything out that I'll need on theStep, Iodophor or Star San (my favorite). I will
bed in the bedroom next to the door to the patiosanitize my better bottle fermenter and then turn
where I brew. This way, nothing will becomeit upside down (bacteria cannot fall up) or cap it
contaminated by outdoor bugs or even airbornewith some tin foil that has also been sanitized. The
grain particles. It will be there waiting for me tofoam from the Star San will continue to sanitize
use. Check your equipment, too. Are any of yourwhile it is in contact with the container. Don't fear
valves leaking? Is that new mash tun manifoldthe foam, it is your friend. Pour your beer right on
operational? It's never fun sticking your hands intotop of it - it has no effect on the final taste.
a 160F grain bed in order to reassemble your10. Ferment at correct temperature. This is
manifold. Or realizing that the leak around your ballusually the last thing a new brewer does to help
valve that you forgot about is not leaking enoughtheir beer - control their fermentation
to lose pints from your batch.temperature. And it has the arguably largest
4. Check your water. Rule of thumb is: If iteffect on the finished product. I absolutely killed a
doesn't taste good, then it won't make good beer.pale ale by fermenting it at room temperature in
Also, if you are an all-grain brewer, check your pH.the summer. It ended up tasting like a banana
If your mash water is too alkaline, you won'tdaquiri. Yuck! I had been so careful to do
achieve proper starch conversion. A product sucheverything right, but it still tasted horrible. Buy a
as Five Star's 5.2 pH Stabilizer will guarantee thatused refrigerator or chest freezer and purchase a
your mash water will be the optimum pH fortemperature controller and use it to dial in your
conversion. It is relatively inexpensive for thetemperature to the degree. You will also then be
degree of confidence it will give you. Just don't goable to brew lagers correctly. It is one of the best
overboard, adding too much will lend a chalky,steps a homebrewer can make to improve the
minerally or salty taste to your finished beer. Iftaste of their beer.
you want to use tap water, contact your waterAnd now, the bonus tip that you've been waiting
company, they will be happy to mail you afor... 11. Don't drink home brew while your brew
complete water profile for your community. Youhome brew. or any other beer for that matter.
can then adjust for Cloramine and other chemicalSeriously. I know that brewing is fun. But if you
levels in your water. Campden tablets are also await until you're done to drink, you will thank me
cheap way to adjust your water.for it. In my house, brew days are party days, so
5. Mash at the correct temperature. This is usuallythis was the hardest step for me to take. Even
the culprit to new all-grain brewers who complainharder than making a stir plate from old computer
that their beer is too watery or too sweet forparts for my yeast starters, making my
the style. You should be mashing betweenhomemade mash tun manifold or my immersion
140-160F. The closer to 140F you mash, thechiller. Resist the temptation. You'll find that you
dryer (less sweet) and thinner (watery) yourremember all your additions, hit all your
finished beer will be. Lower mash temps result intemperatures and your times and won't be nearly
more fermentables being produced - giving theas frantic in case you have an equipment failure.
yeast more to chew on. Higher mash temps willOr if you run out of propane half way through
allow the conversion of longer chain sugarsyour boil! Be alert and enjoy the fruits of your
(harder to ferment) resulting in a sweeter beer.labor when you get done. Once you are done and
The yeast has a harder time converting theseyou're waiting for that airlock to start bubbling,
long-chain sugars, so more of them will remain inkick back and pop open that beer - it will taste so
your beer for the long-haul. Depending on whichgreat!