When it comes to beer, brewing is the process of taking grain or fruit and permitting it to ferment for a period, letting the sugars to turn to alcohol. Lager can either be made using the grains themselves, or the extractions of those grains. The basic procedures that go into making both commercial and home brewed lager are just about the same.
Step one in **making home brewed beer is the mashing stage. In this step, all the grains are crushed and soaked in water, forming an extract. The “mash” is then held at a constant temperature, which pulls some of the enzymes and starches out of the grains. These starches are then converted into sugars which will finally become alcohol.
The second step is known as sparging. At this point, fresh water is added to the mash so that any sugar remaining in it will dissolve. It’s also at this point the mix is now called wort a dark, sugar loaded liquid that’s the root of all lagers.
After the sparging is complete and all of the sugars are melted, the wort is boiled. During this stage, any additional ingredients are added to the mixture. Hops are usually a staple for beer, but other ingredients can be added also. Many home brewers will add their own touches and twists to any recipe they’re following, so that each home brewed lager they make has a different and unique flavour. This process also kills off any bacteria or other micro-organisms that might be floating about in the wort, and also disperses some of the surplus water.
Next, the mixture is placed in a large glass jar or vat, and yeast is added to the wort. This mixture is then allowed to ferment for several days. In the fermentation process, which can last from seven to fourteen days or longer, sediment and other materials will settle to the base of the container. Once the initial fermentation is complete, many brewers will pour the beer off into another fermentation vat or jar and allow the beer to ferment again.
Packaging the beer is the final stage in making beer. It is here that the final product is placed in bottles and capped.
You could be wondering the way in which the carbonation gets into **home brewed beer. For most beer lovers, carbonation is a necessity. Nobody likes drinking flat lager. Home brewed lager typically has some carbonation when it’s done, though not often enough. When you’re making beer at home, there are a couple of ways to get the carbonation into the brew.
The first, and most daunting, is forced carbonation. This means that carbon dioxide is forced into the bottles just before the bottle is capped. Unfortunately, this can also be a difficult, and potentially hazardous, method of carbonation.
A much simpler method of introducing carbon dioxide into home brewed beer is to allow it to ferment longer. The fermentation action of the yeast produces carbon-dioxide as a by-product. The more you permit your lager to age and ferment, the more carbon dioxide, and that the more carbonation, your lager will have.
Another system of carbonating your house brew is to add a dash of unfermented wort to each **bottle of brewed and fermented beer as they’re being capped. It is sensible to be wary with this technique nevertheless, as adding too much wort can create too much carbon dioxide. If the pressure within the bottle becomes too great, it will explode.
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