#3SkillsYEG Update: I’ve begun the process of learning Beer Making! That is, I’ve taken out a couple of books from the library to get me started understanding the basics:

Hard to go wrong with a title like that.

I’m about halfway through this well-titled book.

I thought I would have to start with learning to malt my own grains, and in fact was mentally preparing myself to having to do that; however, after reading much of How to Brew, I’m realizing that there are a lot of complexities to brewing even when using prepared malts that should be focused on instead, and that these prepared extracts produce beers as good or better than any using fresh malts.

This book has been a very helpful read so far; it both summarizes the basics, but also dives into some pretty deep scientific details about how hops work, how yeast works, how to measure inputs to get specific outputs, etc. Some of this was already familiar from Meadmaking, but the level of detail it goes into about, for example, isomerizing alpha acids of hops, or how yeasts break down polysaccharides into simpler sugars before breaking those down into alcohol, phenols, and other compounds, is quite fascinating.

So while I’m not quite ready to pitch yeast to wort, I’m learning that there’s a lot I don’t yet know, and filling in those gaps so that I am prepared and ready for when I do.

Posted by Dave Sutherland Feb - 1 - 2016 0 Comments Categories: Blogography