Winter Brewing

BREWING IN WINTER           HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE COLD WEATHER     Winter is upon us, so now is the time to start thinking about making your best quality beer.     THE HISTORY     Many people stop brewing during the winter months but it is in fact the best time of the year to be brewing.  The Oktoberfest in Germany is actually a festival celebrating the reopening of the breweries in October, which in Europe is late Autumn.     The Germans discovered many years ago that the cold weather made their beers much clearer and also resulted in a much cleaner style of beer.  This is the origin of all Lager style beers.  These days the breweries can operate all year round because of the introduction of refrigeration in the late 19th century. Obviously not everyone has access to refrigeration equipment so we home brewers use the next best thing, the cold Victorian winter.     THE PRINCIPLES     There are hundreds of different strains of yeast available to breweries today, but they fall into two distinct categories.  The yeasts most commonly supplied with home brew concentrates fall into the top fermenting or ale yeast styles and are most suited to and used commercially in English beers, particularly ales and stouts.  This is despite the fact that the beers they are in many cases attempting to emulate are lagers or Pilsners.     Most European and Australian commercially produced beers use the bottom fermenting or lager yeasts. Lager yeasts are designed to operate at temperatures ranging from between 6 degrees Celsius to 12 degrees or marginally higher.  The average winter temperature in Melbourne provides us with the perfect environment to brew beer in, as it very rarely gets any colder than 6 nor does it get much above 14 degrees in the middle of winter.  Even if the temperature does exceed these limits, the maximum and minimum temperatures usually only peak for about one hour.     All of this talk about fermenting at colder temperatures will no doubt come as a bit of a shock to most people, especially if you have been following the instructions on the cans of brewing concentrate which call for temperatures of 25 degrees and above.     There are several reasons why this temperature is recommended.     The first is that the logic used by the manufacturers seems to be if you brew at a higher temperature the brew will ferment faster and it can in turn be bottled sooner and consumed so that you will buy another can.  This is fine, but it is done at the expense of flavour which is greatly improved if you ferment at a constant 20 to 22 degrees for a top fermenting yeast.     The second reason for the higher temperature being recommended is that these yeasts will not function properly below 16 to 18 degrees.  In short, these yeasts have been picked because of their ability to operate under a wide range of temperatures making them relatively foolproof.     If you want to get a flavour near that of a particular commercial beer, you must use a yeast which will help you achieve this as you are almost always trying to copy the flavour of some commercially produced beer you have tasted and enjoyed.              THE PROCEDURE     The first decision to make is to select an appropriate yeast for the beer you want to make.  Rather than go into a detailed explanation of all the different varieties available it would be much easier to follow the types we have recommended in the enclosed list of recipes. The procedure for this type of brewing is no different as far as mixing ingredients goes, the only difference occurs with the fermentation.     The easiest way to explain any procedure is with the use of an example, so I will go through the procedure for a typical lager brew and you can then apply this method to your own recipe or standard kit.     LONG BEACH LAGER     1 Can of Bacchus & Barley Lager   500g Light Malt Extract   500g Dextrose Sugar   25g Perle Hops   Sachet of Yeastlab Lager Yeast   Ferment at 10 to 12 degrees   Final gravity approximately 1010        Mixing The Brew     Boil the 25g of Perle hops in 500 ml of water for 5 minutes.  Strain the hops through a filter bag into the fermenter, then add the rest of the ingredients along with 3.5 litres of boiled water.     Top the fermenter up with cold water and ensure that the temperature is around 20 - 22 degrees.  Pour the yeast in.      The brew should start to ferment within 6 to 12 hours.  Allow it to ferment at 20 - 22 degrees for 6 hours or so and then move it into your cold garage or wherever you are planning to brew it. Fermentation will take longer than normal, but shouldn't be drastically increased.  If it does take a little longer don't be too concerned.  It is always best with any lager fermentation to warm the fermenter up to 18c -  20c for the last couple of days to allow the fermentation to completely stop before bottling . This will reduce the chance of the beer being overcarbonated.     After bottling, leave bottles in a warm dark place for a few days to assist with carbonation as you would normally do, then shift them out to your garage.  Leaving them for at least six weeks and anything up to six months in the cold will greatly improve the flavour of your beer.     Armed with this information you will be able to brew some of the best beer you have ever tasted.  Not only this but you will be able to drink your lagers at their best when you most enjoy them, during spring and summer.       WYEAST LIQUID YEAST CULTURES     You will notice that most of the recipes indicate a choice of two yeasts.  If you have never brewed cold before I would suggest you start by using the SHB Lager yeast first and then trying the liquid yeasts. These are fantastic yeasts and are used in European Breweries, but they are a little more finicky to use first time.     The surest and safest way to use this yeast is to start it fermenting in a starter bottle.  Follow the method described for activating the yeast on the package it is purchased in.  All of these yeast types really need to be cultured up in a starter bottle before being pitched into the brew.  For information on this, ask for a copy of our "Yeast" brochure.     It is very important when using these yeasts to adhere to the instructions related to temperature of fermentation, as it is very easy to produce Butterscotch and Pineapple flavoured beers if you aren't careful with the temperature control.        Reusing Wyeast Cultures     Due to the higher cost and special qualities of this yeast it makes good sense to reuse them several times.  This is simple to do and safe, with little risk of infection.  The procedure is as follows:     When your brew is at the height of its fermentation, usually around the three to four day mark, tap of 600 - 700 mls of the fermenting beer into a sterilised soft drink bottle and seal it tight.  Allow this to ferment a further 12 - 24 hours and then place the bottle into your fridge.  It is important to make sure that the bottle has plenty of pressure in it when it is placed in the fridge. The cold will put the yeast on hold until you are ready to use it again.     To reactivate the yeast it is simply a matter of taking the bottle out of the fridge 1 day before you want to brew, adding tablespoon of sugar, and giving it a good shake and allowing it to stand in a warm dark spot.  When the contents of the bottle start to ferment it is ready to add to your next brew. This procedure can be repeated 4 - 5 times before the yeast will probably mutate and affect the flavour of the brew.        RECIPES        PALE MUNICH LAGER     1 Tin of Coopers Lager   1.5kg Light Malt Extract   30 g Tasmanian Hersbrucker Hops   1 Sachet SHB Lager Yeast or   Wyeast 2112 Californian Lager Yeast   Final gravity approximately 1013        DARK MUNICH LAGER     1 Tin of My Shout Munich Lager   1.5kg  Amber Malt Extract   30g Tettnang Hops   1 Sachet Yeastlab Yeast or   Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager Yeast   Final gravity approximately 1013              BOCK   (Strong Dark Lager)     1 Tin Bacchus & Barley Burton Ale   1.7kg Light Malt Extract   1kg Dextrose   1 Sachet SHB Yeast or   Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager Yeast   Final gravity approximately 1016         Boil the hops in 1 litre of water for 3 to 5 mins and then allow them to soak in the hot water for a further 5 mins with the lid on and  the heat turned off.  Strain this liquid into your fermenter through a filter bag. Combine this with the other ingredients and add water for a standard brew.        CZECH PILSNER     This is a classic beer from Central Europe, which is typically malty with a long dry finish bought about by a high level of bitterness. If you dont like hops in your beer I would suggest this isn't the beer for you.        1 Can of Bacchus & Barley Bitter   1.7 kg Light Malt Extract   30g of Saaz Hops   1 Sachet of SHB Lager Yeast or   Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager Yeast   Final gravity approximately 1016        TOOHEYS DRY STYLE     1 Can of Coopers Draught   500g Light Malt Extract   500g Dextrose   1 vial of Modiferm   1 Sachet of SHB Lager Yeast   Final gravity approximately 1002 or lower        These are just a few types for you to try, you may like to try some of the recipes in our brochure "Your First Brew"  using the cold brewing method.  The Vic Bitter Style, Fosters Lager Style as well as the European Pilsner would be good ones to try.     Hopefully we will have got you interested enough to have a go at brewing quality lagers in winter.  If you do I'm sure you won't be disappointed.  If you need any assistance at all don't hesitate to call us.

Copyright (c) 1996-2000 Home Brew Australia. All rights reserved.
[email protected]