THE INGREDIENTS FOR A PREMIUM BITTER BEER.
2 1/2 lbs Malt Extract
3/4 lbs Crystal Malt Barley cracked or coffee milled
3 0z Hops.
1 level teaspoon plaster of Paris to harden the water.
3 lbs white sugar.
Brewers yeast .
Method.
Clean all the equipment with Milton sterilizing liquid or tablets.
Boil the malt extract and cracked malt in as much water as you can for about half an hour, stir occasionally.
Strain through the tights onto the sugar and make up to
4 1/2 gallons rinsing the hops in the clean water and straining into the mixture.
Allow to cool then add the yeast.
Let the wort ferment for 5-7 days most of the yeast will have settled to the bottom,
Decant into another container try to get as little sediment as possible, this it where the second bucket is useful, Clean the brewing bucket pour the brew back in and leave for a day,
Taste if you must (I would).
Decant again dissolve 7 level tablespoons of sugar in a little boiling water allow to cool and stir into the brew .
Decant into sterilized barrel or siphon into bottles and seal.
Leave for three weeks to mature.
Open, pour into a glass carefully avoid shaking the bottle because there will be sediment on the bottom that may rise and make the beer cloudy but it will still be drinkable.
OK HERE WE GO THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED.
A clean uncoloured plastic bucket that will hold 5 gallons with space to spare (you don’t want to spill any), it is useful to have two buckets
A 5 Gallon barrel or enough screw top bottles to hold the brew or beer bottles and a tool to put the caps on. Or plastic caps.
A large saucepan preferably aluminium to hold 1 gallon of water,
A small bottle of Milton babies bottle sterilizing liquid or tablets.
A plastic siphon tube, A wooden spoon. A pair of empty tights (clean)
A most important part of the brewing process is the addition of hops or hop extract.
The scientific name of the European hop is Humulus lupulus.
The hop vine is a perennial climbing plant that belongs to the hemp family, Cannabaceae.
Its leaves are heart-shaped and the flowers grow in panicles, cone like with papery scales in July to August when it is harvested and then dried in special kilns..
Although there are both male and female plants, the best hops come from fields where only female plants are grown,
The principal use of hops is in making beer and other malt beverages.
The aromatic and slightly bitter hops were originally used to mask the sweet taste of beer.
Later it was found that beer flavoured with hops kept its quality longer.
Hops are boiled with the wort to give the liquid a bitterness, aroma, and colour not provided by the cereals or fermentation the hop cones are removed after the boiling and are generally used as fertilizer.
Hops were first brought to the country by Dutch merchants who
Hops
And a Recipe for Bitter
A Bit about the stuff,
Until about 300 years ago most beers were brewed in the home a good wife would have the ability to turn out a good brew it was as essential as baking the bread,
With typhoid and cholera widespread and the water undrinkable until it had been boiled the brewing process and the alcohol helped to purify and preserve it.
Because of this the brew would be drunk by all the family including the children,
However it was a pretty weak sort of brew and probably not fully fermented but they were not as particular as we are today.
English beers are brewed almost exclusively using malted barley as the basic grain in the brewing process, providing the beer with a rich, malt taste and a relatively heavy texture.
Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in England and Ireland, accounting for more than three quarters of the total alcohol consumed.
Top-fermented beers are popular in Great Britain.
The most widely sold beer in England is bitter beer, which is brewed from pale-ale malts with the addition of some raw corn and of course the hops that counteract the sweetness and give it a sharper taste .
Beer is more wine like than lager and requires additional fermentation in the barrel or bottle to develop its maximum strength and flavour. It is also fermented at a higher temperature for a shorter time.
Unfortunately most bottled beers sold today are filtered and pasteurised and lose about 0.5% in alcohol content and flavour in the process.
Stout, which is brewed like ale, contains a darker roasted malt barley to give it a richer colour.
Ale, and stout contain a slightly more variable alcohol content than do lagers , ranging from 3.5 to 6.5 percent.
Starch contained in cereal grains cannot be fermented directly. It must first be changed into a sugar called maltose.
The initial stage of brewing, therefore, is called malting.
In the malting process grain, usually barley, is spread in a thin layer and steeped in water so that it can germinate, or grow to a certain point.
The germinated grain is dried or “malted ” in a kiln , it is then cracked open to make it easier to release the sugars in the brewing process,
The choice of grain determines the flavour, body, and colour of the final product.
