Homebrewing Tips from Ramsbury’s Experts
Homebrewing is a rewarding and increasingly popular hobby in the UK. As a craft brewery, Ramsbury has a team of people that are all passionate about brewing and who love to try their own recipes at home! As avid homebrewers ourselves, we’ve all picked up a few tips and insights along the way, and today we’d like to share those with you. We hope they’ll help you brew better beer, but also enjoy the process even more! Whether you’re a seasoned homebrewer or just starting, be sure to read on. Happy brewing!
Our Top Homebrewing Tips
1. Start with Quality Ingredients
– Freshness is Key: Use fresh, high-quality ingredients. Ramsbury prides itself on using the finest barley and hops. Fresh ingredients will make a noticeable difference in your beer’s flavor.
– Water Matters: Use clean, filtered water. Water makes up a large percentage of your beer, and its quality can greatly affect the final product. That’s why, at Ramsbury, we use filtered water from right here in the Kennet Valley where we’re based. We’re fortunate to have such an amazing water source so close to us, and we think we be mad not to make the most of it!
2. Sanitation is Crucial
– Cleanliness: Sterilise all your equipment before brewing. Contamination can ruin a batch of beer. Ideally, you’ll want to use cleaning products intended specifically for brewing, such as caustic soda or peracetic acid. Failing that, baby bottle sterilising tablets work well, just make sure to adjust the amounts up for the extra water you’re using!
– Routine Checks: Regularly inspect and replace old or damaged equipment to maintain high sanitation standards.
3. Master the Mash
– Temperature Control: Keep a close eye on your mash temperature. Consistent temperatures help achieve the desired sugar conversion. Remember as well that different mash temperatures cause different sugars to be released, which will affect the end composition of your wort and, ultimately, the flavour of your final beer. It’s very common for a mash process to include multiple stages, with the mash being held at various temperatures for different times.
– Time Management: Don’t rush the mash process. Allow enough time for full starch conversion for better efficiency and flavour. Some mashes may be done in an hour, but for more in depth and complex processes, with multiple stages, you may be looking at closer to 90 minutes or more.
4. Boiling Techniques
– Vigorous Boil: Ensure a vigorous boil to sanitize the wort and achieve proper hop utilization.
– Hop Additions: Pay attention to your hop schedule. Adding hops at different times affects bitterness, flavour, and aroma. The intention of each hop in your recipe will also likely affect when you add it to the boil, alongside their bitterness and aroma ratings. If adding a hop for bitterness, it’s likely you’ll want to add it closer to the start of your boil so that more of the hop’s bitterness can be utilised.
5. Fermentation Control
– Stable Temperatures: Ferment at a stable, appropriate temperature for your yeast strain. Fluctuating temperatures can lead to off-flavours. This is especially true if you allow your wort to get too hot; it can cause stress to the yeast which will ruin the fermentation. If you’ve ever had an eggy smell coming from your beer while it’s fermenting, this is most likely the cause.
– Patience: Allow fermentation to complete fully. Rushing this process can result in under-attenuated beer. If you’re brewing in the colder months then be aware that fermentation is likely to take a little longer. The way to tell if a fermentation is complete is to take regular samples of the wort and measure the specific gravity with a hydrometer. Once the gravity stops decreasing (indicating that all the fermentable sugar has been fermented) you can be confident that the process is complete.
6. Experiment with Flavors
– Try Different Ingredients: Experiment with different malts, hops, and adjuncts. Unique combinations can create exciting new flavours.
– Small Batches: Test new recipes in small batches to avoid wasting ingredients if the result isn’t as expected. This way, you can even run a few smaller brews alongside one another and pick out the best one from them.
7. Record Keeping
– Detailed Notes: Keep detailed brewing notes. Documenting every step helps replicate successful batches and troubleshoot issues.
– Make Use of Tools and Software: Using brewing software can help you to track and manage recipes, ingredients, and brew sessions. You can also more accurately predict the outcome of the brew, including important factors such as the bitterness and ABV of the beer.
8. Community and Learning
As an increasingly popular pursuit, homebrewing also has a wonderful community that’s ever growing. Both locally and worldwide, enthusiasts are connecting to share recipes, tips and stories and we strongly encourage you to join them!
– Join a Homebrew Club: Engage with local homebrew clubs to share tips, techniques, and recipes. Homebrew clubs often brew together, even having community brewing days in some cases. Why not go along and meet new people, whilst improving your brewing skills at the same time?
– Online Resources: Make use of online forums, blogs, and videos. The homebrewing community is vast and always willing to help. There are numerous sites dedicated to sharing recipes and tips and, with the internet now so easy to access, you can get help and guidance from anywhere in the world.
9. Enjoy the Process
– Have Fun: Brewing should be enjoyable. Experiment, learn, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes! Be sure to remember what works, but the best way to find out what’s best for you is to try different things, and you’re sure to make a few mistakes along the way! Not every brew will be perfect, in fact some might not even be very good at all! But brewing beer is fun in itself, so just enjoy the process and the chance to learn new skills. In time, you’ll find your perfect brew!
10. Sample Your Successes, and Others!
Brewing beer is great, but that’s only half the fun! Once it’s finished, be sure to try your creations. It’s only through trying your beers that you’ll know what works, what doesn’t and, most importantly, what your personal preference is! Try brews from your peers in the homebrewing community too. Why not trade some of your own brew for some of theirs? While you’re at it, check out our shop at Ramsbury and pick up a few bottles of our small batch craft beers. We think we’ve got the art of craft brewing down, and we’d love to share our own creations with you too.
The Popularity of Homebrewing in the UK
Homebrewing has seen a surge in popularity across the UK. Enthusiasts are drawn to the creativity, control over ingredients, and the satisfaction of producing their own craft beer. This growing trend has also been fuelled by the increased availability of homebrewing kits and the wealth of information available online.
Brewing your own beer at home is a fun and rewarding experience. Follow these tips and watch as your brewing skills improve, and you create fantastic beers! Remember, the key is to start with quality ingredients, maintain cleanliness, and enjoy the process. Finally, practise is everything. Stick with it, refine and revise until you find your own perfect brew. Cheers!
