How to Make Beer (Cheaply, Simply): Step-By-Step Guide

Step 2: Make the Mash

This instructables was first published in Popular Mechanics.

Making a mash is not always necessaryyou can brew a perfectly good lager or ale with prepackaged malt extract. But for this recipe, we're going all out, with an all-grain beer we extract the sugars from the grain ourselves. The recipe we're following is for a beer in the Belgian white or "wit" sytle. It's called "Wit Ginger, Not Mary Ann," and was published by the esteemed beer-brewing magazine, Zymurgy.

Ingredients:
11 pounds of grain
11 quarts of water

Our grains include 5 pounds Belgian pilsner malt, 4.5 pounds of German wheat malt, 1.0 pound of flaked oats, and 0.5 pounds of caramel pils malt.

Take the mash (all the ingredients above in a pot) and bring it up to 150 degrees F, keeping it at that exact temperature for 1 hour.

Test the mash: The point of mashing is to turn starches in the grain into sugars and extract them into a sweet liquor. After 1 hour, you want to make sure this process has taken place. Take out a spoonful of the water and grain mix and place a drop of iodine in it. The murky brown iodine will change to black in the presence of starchthis means you need to do some more mashing. If there's enough sugar, the color will remain the same.

Comments

[malexander]

I have a sensitivity to wheat. How easy is it to make/purchase a mash without any wheat products?

[cygyfish]

This style uses wheat in the grain bill but most beer recipes use only barley (and occasionally rice, rye, corn or oats.)

[EmmettO]

Redbridge is a beer made from amaranth and is gluten free. You could either buy that or try to make this recipe with amaranth. I was thinking of trying to follow the recipe with rice. . . just because I'd like to try that. I wonder if without the hops it would be like Sake and what it would taste like with the hops. If it would taste like beer at that point. I'd like to try it one day when I get the time both ways.

I could probably just make one big batch until the "add hops" step.

Maybe it would be awful, maybe it would be really good. Who knows until you try!

[beavercleaver]

Budweiser uses rice in their beer, gives it a clean refreshing flavor.

[discontinuuity]

I think amaranth is more commonly called sorghum molasses, and can be found at most homebrew stores.

[cygyfish]

No to be too technical but beer without hops is not beer.  Could call it a fermented malt beverage or an Ale but not beer.

A fermented beverage using all or mostly rice with no hops would be rice wine or Sake.

[discontinuuity]

Lots of herbs and spices were used to make beer before hops were commonplace.  Check out http://www.gruitale.com/intro_en.htm for info about ancient European beers. 

But if you're definition of beer is the Reinheitsgebot, then I suppose you're right.

[EmmettO]

I understand, I'm just saying I'd like to try it. Right after I finish renovating my house, finish that webapp I've been working on, learn to program my Arduino, try glassblowing, improve my wax molding skills for metalcasting, finish building my workshop, make a wood fired pizza oven. . . am I forgetting anything?

Redbridge is amaranth and hops. Its gluten free because amaranth and hops don't have gluten, it's the wheat or barley that contain the gluten. I'd like to try fermenting a Sake like substance weather it's beer or not. Just because.

[Romanader]

You sir are a very busy man. You totally belong here at Instructables! It's good to see people with broad horizons.

[tashiandmo]

Most beer recipe's only use various barley malts, and no wheat. 

[WoundedEgo]

Mexican Chicha is made with corn.

And, of course, wine is made with fruit.

[EmmettO]

 Where can I obtain this Chicha?

[thejazzer]

 Chicha is made by chewing the grain (corn) and spitting it out so the enzyme in human saliva will turn the carbohydrates in to sugar. Are you sure you want to try it?

[beavercleaver]

Brewmasters, a new show just out and filmed at the Fish Head Brewery has a episode dedicated to the making of Chicha. I have a weak stomach and could never swallow something made with my own fermented saliva, but they had 30 employees chewing and spitting into a bucket to make this stuff.

[discontinuuity]

It's typically cooked afterwards, so there's no bacteria from the spit.  Still a little gross.