If you are looking for tips for brewing your best beers every single time, you came to the right place. We have created a list of things that you can do that will transform the brewing process and make it easier and more efficient. Sit back, grab yourself a pint, and enjoy reading. If this is your first time beer-making, make sure to check Top 10 homebrewing hacks: Tips for beginners.
1. Make a yeast starter
You want to make a great start a couple of days before your brew day. The best time would be 3 days before brew day. We can’t emphasize enough the importance of making a yeast starter for your beers. 90 % of all flavors we detect in beer can be traced back to yeast, so making a yeast starter will definitely make sure that your beer is nice and clean tasting. It also helps keep your fermentation healthy and you have a great start to a good result.
2. Thermometer
Whether it’s a digital, dial, or laptop monitor, you want to make sure that your thermometer is calibrated and accurate. Here is a nice step-by-step guide on how to calibrate a simple food thermometer. To ensure that you are getting consistent results on each batch, you want to make sure you’re holding your mashing at the proper temperature. And the only way to do that is to have a great and accurate thermometer.
3. Hydrometer
In order to make consistently great-tasting beer, you need to take measurements along the way. take readings at 3 places.
- Pre-boil
- Post-boil, also known as original gravity
- Final gravity
Keeping track of these numbers is going to make sure that you can consistently make great-tasting beer. Another device you can use for gravity readings is a Refractometer. It’s great for gravity reading pre-fermentation. After fermentation has taken place, we don’t recommend using it again. The alcohol in the liquid will cause it to give inaccurate readings, and you may think your fermentation is not complete when it has.
4. Scales
We recommend 2 different types of scales. One for grams and ounces, as well one for kilos and pounds. You want the small scale to measure hops, as well as your brewing salt and yeast nutrients. A larger scale is great for measuring specialty malt as well as your base malts.
You cant eyeball it and expect to get consistent results. Any professional home brewer will use scales to measure all his ingredients.
5. Brewing Software
There is plenty of free brewing software online and you can choose for the one which suits you best. It allows you to log all your recipes, keep detailed notes on them, or make any adjustments that you need to make during the brewing process.
6. Use nutrients and a Whirlfloc tablet
Both of these ingredients will help you make better beer. Using Whirl floc tablet or Irish Moss will allow you to create a more presentable-looking beer. For the best results use them in the last 10 to 15 minutes of your boil.
7. Oxygenate your wort
It’s important to oxygenate right before you add the yeast, and it’s the only time in the process where you want to add oxygen to your beer. The best way to add oxygen to your beer is through a stone. In addition to a oxygenate wand, you maybe want to use an oxygen tank also.
8. PH Meter
This device will be your best friend and help you create a great-tasting beer. The most important part of the brewing process is to get your mash PH where it needs to be. You want to have a mash Ph of 5.2, and getting to that range is going to make sure that PH throughout other processes is where they need to be. The only way to get an accurate reading is to have a quality PH meter.
9. Cleaning and Sanitizing
The most important step of making a great-tasting beer batch is cleaning and sanitizing. You cant sanitize a dirty surface. You want to make sure every piece of equipment that comes in contact with your beer is cleaned, rinsed, and sanitized.
Use a food-grade cleaner and sanitizer, that doesn’t include bleach. Don’t use bleach to clean or sanitize your equipment. Sanitizers are easy to use and we recommend you switch them up from time to time, to keep the bugs guessing.
10. Temperature Control
It’s very important to make beer taste the way you want it to taste. Each piece of the process has the temperature range in which it works best.
- For Ales typically around 65 to 75 F
- Lagers are typically 45 to 55 F
Keeping control of that temperature is going to make sure the beer tastes the way it’s supposed to. In order to do that you want to get yourself some sort of temperature control. Having control of your fermentation temperatures is going to make sure that your beer tastes great. All you need is:
- A refrigerator
- Thermostat
You are all ready to start control of your own fermentation.
We hope you have enjoyed our list and will be trying the steps very soon. Don’t forget that beer-making is a personal experience. We are pretty sure that very soon you will figure out what works for you, and which items you need to make your brew day a success. For more info on other small but important items check our 5 Items that make brewing beer easier (under $ 50).
