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Home Brew - How to Brew Beer - Better Your Brewing!
Home Brew - How to Brew Beer - Better Your Brewing!
"Could it really be this easy to brew beer so good that commercial beers seem undrinkable and your friends become desperate to know your brewing secrets?"
Hint: If you just follow the instructions on your Coopers Kit, you'll never brew the beer you really want...
From: John Dennis
Dear Future Master Brewer,
Have you ever been really excited to taste a new brew, only to have to pour it down the sink?
Have your friends ever laughed at you after tasting a couple of your "not so good" home brews?
Have you ever felt like brewing the beer you want to is just out of reach?
Well, firstly let me tell you you're not alone. And secondly, I have to admit that at one time or another, I have had to say yes to all three of those questions...
You see, about five years ago, I thought home brewing was only for old alcoholic guys with nothing better to do. I assumed it was only possible to make lots of cheap, but barely drinkable beer.
But all this changed one Easter Sunday. I was sitting around with my three Uncles when it was time for all of us to get a fresh beer. My Uncle Greg jumped up and with a smirk on his face told us he'd make the trip to the beer fridge.
He brought back some long neck bottles without labels on them. I knew something was up, but wasn't sure what. So I took a swig and didn't really think anything of it. We'd been drinking Heinekens all day and this strange looking bottle tasted about the same.
But by then we all knew something was up...
Uncle Greg still had a big smile on his face and was looking at us waiting to get a response. I was just about to speak when he asked "How'd you like those ones boys? They're one of my own. One of my home brews".
I had to do a double take. Suddenly the strange labelless bottle made sense, but the taste didn't. I didn't believe him at first, but after talking to him for a while, I began to learn a few things.
He told me that home brewing wasn't just for old drunks, but for anyone who wanted to drink commercial quality beer at a fraction of the price. Being a broke uni student with a large thirst for beer, this sounded like the perfect thing for me.
So two days later when the shops opened, I rushed down and bought myself a home brew kit for about $80. I read through all the instructions and after hearing that home brewing is pretty damn easy, I set about putting my first batch on.
As I screwed the lid onto the fermenter I felt excited. The following 10 days were tough, I'm not the most patient guy around, so waiting for the beer to ferment wasn't easy.
But then it was finally finished and it was time to bottle. I primed the bottles with sugar as best I could and then put them away where they could sit until they were ready to drink.
Two weeks later, I was like a little kid on Christmas eve. I couldn't wait to pop open that first coldie and say goodbye to commercial beers forever. The thought of having my friends beg me for my "secrets" also sounded pretty good.
So I placed a couple of bottles in the fridge and as soon as they were cold enough, I cracked one open and poured it into my favorite beer mug.
And then my excitement flew out the window...
After one cidery sip, my dreams had just about shattered. Instead of the crisp, fresh beer I was expecting, I had something that tasted more like flat apple cider. I was stunned.
So I quickly got on the phone to my Uncle and told him my dilemma. He had a laugh and mentioned that he knew where I'd gone wrong and that I should come around and watch him put a brew down.
If you want to find out where I went wrong, sign up to my free course below:
Sign up to my FREE 6 Day Home Brew Course ($29 Value...)
You'll learn:
The three methods of home brewing (and which one is right for you)
How the brewing process works
How to build your own brewery for minimal cost without missing anything out...
The 3 biggest brewing mistakes (and how you can make sure you never make them yourself...)
How to Clone your favorite beers
How to go from good brewer to MASTER brewer... (if you want to cut your learning curve in half, you need to read this)
Plus much more...
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The next weekend came around and over to Uncle Gregs I went. He took me through the process step by step and when I left, I felt I knew more than enough to make an excellent beer the next time.
And that's exactly what I did...
While I hadn't perfected it yet, I had certainly gotten a lot better. Over time I continued to brew, experimenting constantly to find out the best way to do this and that.
I read every book I could find. From general brewing information, to brewing chemistry and even how to run your own brewery. But it wasn't until I took a three month trip to Europe that my brewing really went up a notch.
Being exposed to so many different styles of beer had really improved my brewing skills. Knowing how to make a slight tweak with the hops to make it taste slightly more bitter, knowing how to give a beer a slightly maltier taste, it was amazing.
So when I got home I decided to take my brewing to the next level. At one stage I nearly considered dropping out of engineering and taking up brewing science two hours away...
The day that I remember as my proudest moment in brewing was when I was having a few beers with friends.
I pulled the same trick on them that my Uncle did to me one Easter Sunday
We were drinking European beers (A combination of Heineken and Stella if I remember rightly) when I decided to pour a few glasses of my home brew instead. I was amused when no one noticed the difference.
At this stage, my friends knew I did home brewing, but had tried some of my earlier attempts and had a good time making fun of me because of it. But now it was different.
When I finally revealed that what they were drinking was actually my home brew, they were as gobsmacked as I was the day I learnt about home brew. I remember chuckling to myself as they all demanded to know how I did it. Can you imagine how that felt?
And so, one by one, I showed them my system for brewing beer. But I soon got sick of that. I'm a busy guy and it was taking up too much of my time. I realized I needed a guide or something.
Something that they could read once and instantly know everything that I've learnt over the past few years, the results from all my little experiments that I've run.
And so Better Your Brewing was created. It's the result of four years of hard "work". Four years of mishaps, experimentation and lots of fun. Sure, it's not Shakespeare, but I'm pretty confident I can brew a better beer than he ever could!
It's not your fault...
I don't think you're to blame when it comes to struggling to learn how to brew great beer from home. There's simply not enough good information out there and the people who do know the "secrets" (there are no secrets, this stuff is surprisingly simple) often don't want to share it with you.
Home brew kit instructions are pretty much useless. Out of the twelve steps my kit had, I think I only do about six of them now. I found out later that some of them were making my beer taste funny.
Home brew shops can be hit and miss too. The first few places I went had no idea how to brew a good beer. They wanted to sell me kits, but they couldn't tell me how to make them taste good.
I eventually found one guy who knew his stuff and I've managed to learn a lot from him over the years, so when you do find a good guy, try and build a good relationship with him, your beer will be all the better for it.
So here are a few tips...
Firstly, forget what you may have read. When it comes to home brewing, you don't really have to worry about cleaning. As the beer becomes alcoholic, the alcohol kills off any nasties that may have found their way into your beer.
Unless cleaning is a hobby of yours, don't bother. Secondly, you should start brewing your beers at a higher temperature. This makes the beer ferment faster and as a result, you get to drink it sooner!
And lastly, don't bother playing around with yeasts, it's just a good way to waste money. Just open your packet of dry yeast up and throw it in before you seal your fermenter.
STOP!!
If you've been doing any of those things I've just mentioned, then you've obviously not been brewing good beer. In fact, those three "tips" I just gave you are actually some of the biggest mistakes that novice home brewers make.
I'm sorry to lead you up the garden path, but I figured it could be a good way to shock you into what you're really doing to your beer.
Here are actually some solutions to the biggest and costliest mistakes:
Killer Mistake #1: Not having a good system for cleaning
When it comes to brewing, cleaning should be right up the top of your priority list. If your equipment isn't clean, then you stand a good chance at ruining your beer. There are so many things that can go wrong with it and so many things that can infect it, you're better off spending twenty minutes beforehand to make sure it's all good.
The best way to do it is to grab some household bleach and mix it with warm water at a 1:20 ratio. Then soak all your plastic items and clean off any gunk that may be still on it.
If you're using metal, just quickly scrub off anything that's dirtying the equipment and rinse it off and let it dry.
If you can do this every time, you're one step closer to achieving the beers you're after.
Killer Mistake #2: Using sugar to brew your beers
While home brew can be done with "brewing sugars", you are much better off forgetting it and switching to 100% malt extract. Unless you like beer that tastes more like apple cider, use the proper ingredients.
This is a really simple step and it's one that can have a dramatic effect on your beer. Looking back, this was probably the easiest and best decision I ever made. You won't find many European beers made from sugar and it even used to be illegal in Germany!
You can use dry malt or liquid malt, it doesn't really matter, although I used to prefer dry malt because it isn't sticky and messy.
Killer Mistake #3: Brewing at high temperatures
Sure, it might be true that if you brew beer at a high temperature, it will ferment faster, but it also produces lots of weird chemicals that add a funky taste to your beer. Not what you're after at all.
There are two types of temperatures you have to worry about. Ales tend to ferment best at around 15-20°C (60-68°F) depending on the style of beer you're after, while lagers need to be fermented at a cool 10°C (50°F).
Generally speaking, the higher temperature that you ferment at, the weirder and more interesting the flavors. Which is why lagers tend to have a much different taste to them than ales.
Killer Mistake #4: Not using the right yeast
Yeast is one of the main ingredients in beer. Without it, you would just end up with a sweet, sticky liquid. Not only does it turn the sugars into alcohol, but it is also responsible for creating the flavor profile of the beer.
When you use the yeast that comes with a kit beer, you're using dried up old yeast that's on it's way out. Not to mention you have no idea what strain it is. If you want to tailor-brew your beers, you need to use the authentic yeast.
For example, whenever I want to brew a Bavarian Wheat beer, I always use the Weihenstephaner strain from Wyeast Labs. It's an element that's overlooked by the vast majority of brewers, but is absolutely crucial if you want to clone a favorite beer.
Also, if you don't prepare a starter, you risk stalling the fermentation. I don't have space to go into how to prepare a starter here, but just think about it the next time you go to carelessly throw your yeast into the fermenter...
Click here to come on board and get instant access to the entire system!
So here are some of the things you'll learn with Better Your Brewing:
How to get all the equipment you need without paying too much (most brewers buy more stuff than they really need...)
Whether you should buy glass bottles or those new plastic ones (the answer isn't the same for everyone...)
How to make bottling easier using a single piece of hard plastic (you won't lose a drop of beer this way and you don't have to worry about siphoning)
The real difference between cleaning and sanitising (and why it's important for your brewing. Getting it wrong puts your beer at risk for contamination...)
The top 3 sanitisers to use (using the wrong ones can ruin your beer in more than one way, not to mention destroying your equipment...)
When you should use tap water and when you should use bottled water for brewing your own beer (not an issue for most people, but it's a major problem for a small percentage...)
The different methods of brewing and when you should step up to the next level (You'll learn how to master, kits, extracts and all grain brewing techniques so well, you'll be on par with any professional brewer...)
The one twist that can turn a kit beer into a world class drink (and it's so simple you'll kick yourself for not thinking it up yourself)
Whether to worry about secondary fermentation or not (you'll either waste months, or end up with an average beer if you get this wrong)
How to brew authentic lager beers (99% of home brewers are actually brewing ales, even when they think they're brewing lagers...)
Which malts to use with which beers (there are so many to choose from, but I spell it out in easy to understand terms here...)
The best way to dry hop (and when you should avoid doing it...)
How to draw out the correct amount of bitterness from your hops (the difference between just right and extreme bitterness is a very fine line...)
I'll even show you:
How to grow your own hops (it's not as hard as I used to think)
The correct temperature to brew your beer at (I wish I could see your face when you read this bit...)
The right way and the wrong way to oxygenate your wort (theres a difference between oxygenation and oxidation. One ruins your beer, one helps it along...)
Step by step how to get the mashing process right (as well as which mashes you should use for which beers...)
How to boil the wort properly (and avoid the 2 major boil mistakes)
My two keys to brewing consistently good beer (one key I learnt from a business course I took once helped take my brewing to the next level...)
The five factors to think about when cloning a famous beer (I betcha never thought of all of these...)
How to adjust the alcohol levels of your beer so that it's just right (you need to strike the right balance here or your beer will be undrinkable)
My simple formula that guarantees perfect head retention
The correct ratio of sugar:malt for a wide range of different styles (malt is arguably the most important ingredient, so get this wrong and kiss your clone goodbye...)
The one thing you need to avoid if you want to never experience skunkyness in your beer (and it's so simple you won't even have to think about it)
How to do all your brewing for half as much as novice brewers (this tip alone is worth the price of the book)
How to clone your favorite beers so well that your friends won't be able to tell the difference (they'll swear you're pulling their leg)
The three small tweaks you can make to a kit to turn it from average into fantastic (and the best part is, they don't take more than five minutes in total...)
Click here to come on board and get instant access to the entire system!
So here's what you'll actually get...
The Better Your Brewing Downloadable Book
This is the book that contains all the nitty gritty. It's my first book ever, so I'm not the greatest literary genius ever. So if you're after Shakespeare, you should look somewhere else.
But if you just want the right information to help you brew unbelievably good beer, then there are paragraphs in this book, whole chapters in this book that will change your brewing forever.
I start off with some background knowledge and quickly move into the exact techniques you need to be using in order to brew great beer from day one.
No stone is left unturned. It's chock full of: "Do this, then do that" instructions, so you're never left confused and dazed. And it's written in simple language that even a school kid could understand.
But that's not all...
If you order by Midnight
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