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Homebrew
From Beginner to Advanced

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10
TIPS
for Beginning
Homebrewers
By Steve Koenig

MY FIRST HOMEBREWING PURCHASE WAS a book. Before

I ever made a drop of beer, I read Charlie Papazian’s book, The
Joy of Homebrewing cover to cover. Looking back, I realize that
only an infinitesimal amount of that valuable tome actually stuck
in my brain that first time through. I’ve read it many times since
and something new “clicks” every time—and Charlie’s passionate,
encouraging style is a treat. If you’re looking for more book recom-
mendations, I also strongly recommend Randy Mosher’s Radical
Brewing and John Palmer’s How to Brew—both outstanding books
no matter how long you’ve been wielding your beer paddle.
But there are some things they don’t tell you in the books that I
think could be really, really useful to the beginning homebrewer.
Or, to be clear, they might tell you in the book but for some reason
they didn’t sink through my thick skull. Here are ten of those
pieces of advice.

1. GET THE BIG(GER) KETTLE. the brew kettle in an ice bath in either a large tub or the bathtub.
Like many of my fellow homebrewers, my first significant pur- Depending on how many bags of ice you purchased (additional ex-
chase was a starter equipment kit. Once I had it, all I needed was pense), this can take anywhere from 40 minutes to well over an hour.
a brew kettle and ingredients, and I was good to go. So, I bought a You can save a ton of time, eliminate hassle, and reduce the risk
5-gallon stainless steel kettle for $35. Stupid. It took only 2 weeks of contamination by purchasing a wort chiller. These come in
of brewing before I dropped another $70 on a 7.5-gallon kettle. If many shapes and sizes, but the most common is a coiled immer-
you ever plan to get into all-grain brewing or want to reduce the sion chiller. Immersion chillers usually cost $50–$70 and can typi-
likelihood that your kettle will boil over, splurge for the big kettle cally chill 5 gallons of wort in 20 minutes or less. You simply hook
right out of the gate. You’ll be saving money in the long run. a cold-water source up to the immersion chiller, add the chiller to
your kettle for the last 10 minutes of your boil to sanitize it, and
2. WORT CHILLERS ARE WORTH IT. then turn on the water after you’ve removed your kettle from the
One of the best ways to reduce the likelihood of your beer getting heat source. The chiller does the rest, and is surprisingly easy to
contaminated is to chill the wort as fast as possible, dropping the clean when you’re finished chilling your wort. (Plate chillers are
temperature from that dangerous range that evil bacteria just love. also available but are a little more complicated to use and cost
Many beginning homebrewers accomplish this by submerging considerably more.)

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If you ever plan to get into all-grain
brewing or want to reduce the likelihood
that your kettle will boil over, splurge for
the big kettle right out of the gate. You’ll
be saving money in the long run.

3. GET THE BIG(GER) AUTO-SIPHON. should have paid attention. Whether I was using a 6.5-gallon buck-
Whether you are transferring from the kettle to the primary fer- et or a 6.5-gallon carboy, my bigger beers were overwhelming the
mentor or racking to the keg, the auto-siphon is your primary tool. airlocks almost every single time. Using a blow-off tube in place
Most beginning brewing setups include a 5/16” auto-siphon. These of an airlock doesn’t mean your beer won’t go bonzo; it just means
usually cost about $10 when purchased on their own, but for just that you won’t have a mess on your hands. Put one end of a tube
$4 more, you can get a ½” racking cane that will save you a ton into the top of the bung with the other tube submerged in Star
of time getting that precious liquid moved from vessel to vessel. San (sanitizer) and you’re set. Some krausen might work its way
It wasn’t until my fortieth batch of homebrew that I moved to the through the tube into your bucket of solution, so checking on this
larger size—something I wish I had done on batch one. a couple of times a day and replacing the Star San isn’t a bad idea.

4. CREATE YOUR OWN YEAST STARTER. 8. DO A MUMMY BAG MASH.

When I ask experienced homebrewers for the top things they’ve Taking the plunge on a mash tun can seem like a pretty big invest-
done to make their beer better, one of the most commom answers ment when you’re just getting started, and some homebrewers
I hear is, “I now pay close attention to the yeast and always make a think they can’t start brewing all-grain beers without one. Wrong!
strong starter.” If you have a high-quality sleeping bag, simply do your mash in
Whether you buy a tube of yeast, a smack pack, or a package of your brew kettle (heat off!) and then wrap it well in a sleeping bag
dry yeast, creating a yeast starter is a phenomenal way to make for 60 minutes. You’ll be surprised at how well the temperature
sure that your fermentation cycle gets off to a great start. It takes holds. Check it after about 15 minutes and add boiling water if you
only about 20 minutes to do and dramatically improves your need to bring the temperature up a little.
chances of getting a strong, active primary fermentation phase.
This also reduces your chances for contamination since the con- 9. BOTTLE ON THE DISHWASHER.
version of sugars to alcohol happens more rapidly when the yeast Bottling your homebrew takes time. From sanitizing the bottles all
are healthy and plentiful. the way down to cleaning out the fermentor at the end, it can feel
like a bottling session lasts as long as a brew session, especially if
5. OXYGENATE YOUR WORT. you’ve had an unfortunate spill or two. (I once let almost 5 gallons
After your hot phase is complete and your wort is chilled, there’s rel- of sanitizer drain all over my kitchen floor because I didn’t realize
atively little oxygen left, and yeast likes oxygen to get a vigorous fer- one end of the siphon had silently slipped out of the bucket). This
mentation started. There are a few ways to add oxygen to your wort. little trick can help save you a lot of mess: Bottle on the open lid
You can add water from the tap, but this dilutes your wort, reducing of your dishwasher. Put your bottling bucket on top of the counter
your ABV and overall flavor of your beer. My preferred method is to immediately above your dishwasher and fill your bottles on the
use either an aeration stone (just like those you may have seen in an open lid. Any spillage simply gets channeled into the dishwasher
aquarium) or an oxygenation kit. These will run you anywhere from when you close the door—one less mess to clean up.
$35 for the aeration stone to $50 for the oxygenation kit (without the
oxygen tank). Trust me, your beer will thank you. 10. FOIL STOVETOP BOIL-OVERS.
If you’ve ever done your boil on your stovetop and had a boil-over,
6. BUY CARBOY HANDLES. you know what an absolute nightmare cleaning up that mess is.
Carboy handles seemed like unnecessary accessories to me when While stopping boil-overs altogether would be nice, it’s pretty
I first started brewing, but since then, I’ve bought them for almost unlikely. Instead, take 2 minutes of prep time to save yourself an
all my carboys. Especially if you are using larger glass carboys, hour of elbow pain later. Simply remove your burners from the
carboy handles are super handy. Just the ability to pick up a carboy stovetop and place a layer of aluminum foil all over your stove,
from the top and move it a few feet in your cellar is worth the $6 it letting your burners poke through the foil. If your kettle happens
costs for one. to boil over, simply remove the burners, collect and dispose of the
foil, and voilà! Clean stove top! And you homebrewers who have
7. USE A BLOW-OFF TUBE. propane burners and brew in your driveway, patio, or garage?
Before I ever started brewing, I read a ton of literature that talked This foil thing can work for you, too, preventing stains as well as
about using blow-off tubes instead of air locks for larger beers. I unhappy spouses.

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Selecting a
Brew
Kettle
By Dave Carpenter

BOTH EXTRACT AND ALL-GRAIN BREWERS need a good,

sturdy kettle for conducting a 60-minute or longer boil. Although
you can certainly start out by borrowing a stock pot from the
kitchen cupboard, eventually you’ll want to upgrade to a dedicated
kettle just for beer. Here are a few things to look for.

SIZE
Make size your number one consideration because it directly
affects what you can brew and how much. Certainly, beginner
homebrewers can get away with a pot as small as 3 gallons, but
making the best beer possible means boiling as much wort as
possible. All-grain homebrewers will need to boil a full volume
from the get-go. Plan for the future and buy a kettle that’s at least
1.5 times your batch size. For a 5-gallon batch, that means a kettle
of at least 7.5 gallons. Going twice as large gives you even more
insurance against a boil over.

MATERIAL
Both amateur and professional brewers prefer stainless steel Thick walls even out hot spots and help your kettle better stand up
because it’s non-reactive and easy to clean. Unfortunately, it’s also to the abuse of an occasional ding or drop. Some stainless kettles
expensive, but since you’ll use this piece of equipment indefinitely, feature tri-clad bottoms, which offer even better heat distribution
the sticker shock is a little easier to stomach. Aluminum is anoth- and insurance against scorched wort.
er good option. It’s lightweight and inexpensive, and aluminum
conducts heat much better than stainless. Some consumers are FEATURES
concerned about potential aluminum toxicity, but commercial Even the most basic of brew kettles will boil wort, but some fea-
kitchens use aluminum stockpots every day. Ultimately it’s a tures of particular interest to homebrewers can make your brew
matter of personal preference. Neither aluminum nor stainless day go more smoothly. Here are a few extras to consider:
steel should be cleaned with bleach-based cleaners, as these can Graduated volume markings or a sight glass
degrade both metals. Integrated ball valve spigot for draining to the fermentor
Integrated thermometer
CONSTRUCTION
Look for a brew kettle with sturdy handles that are riveted to the A quality brew kettle is an investment that will last you for many
body. Welded handles can fail and frequently do—not the sort of years. Take the time to do your research, and select a kettle that
thing you want to risk when you’re handling a pot full of hot wort! will serve both your current and future needs.

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Just
Chill
By Dave Carpenter

RAPIDLY COOLING WORT FROM BOILING down to room

temperature or lower is no small task. But it’s a very important
one. A fast temperature drop is critical for several reasons:

Risk of contamination: There are plenty of airborne yeasts and

bacteria that would love to feast on your freshly boiled wort when
it’s in the range of 80-160°F (27-71°C). You want to be in this zone
as briefly as possible. Protein coagulation: A rapid cool-down
knocks proteins out of suspension and results in clearer beer in
your glass. More predictable hops utilization: Hops continue to
contribute bitterness even at sub-boiling temperatures. Letting wort COUNTERFLOW CHILLER
remain too hot for too long extracts additional bitterness you may A counterflow chiller is a tube within a tube. Hot wort travels
not want. through the inner tube, while cold water flows in the opposite
The most popular ways to chill wort are ice baths and wort chillers. direction through the space between the two tubes.
And of the latter, you have a few choices, all of them excellent. Pros: You’ll chill five gallons of wort to pitching temperatures in
10 minutes or less, and you’ll use a lot less water than you would
ICE BATH with an immersion chiller.
Most of us start out using an ice bath, and it’s not a bad choice if Cons: You need a pump or a healthy gravity drop to move wort,
you’re cooling down only three gallons or so for a small batch or and that wort needs to be clean and clear (no whole cone hops
concentrated boil. Simply fill a kitchen sink or bathtub with cold detritus) to keep from clogging the inner tube. These are also
water, dump in as much ice as possible, and add the pot of hot wort. harder to clean and keep sanitary than immersion chillers. And
Pros: This is a tried and true method that’s simple and effective, you’ll pay for it.
provided you wait long enough. And you don’t need any special
equipment, just a lot of ice. PLATE CHILLER
Cons: You need a lot of ice. And it can take half an hour or more, A plate chiller works on the same principles as a counterflow
making it impractical for full 5-gallon batches and more or less chiller, but instead of concentric tubes, wort runs over steel plates
unheard of for larger volumes. that contain cold water. More surface area means faster cooling.
Pros: Plate chillers are by far the fastest way to chill wort. It’s pos-
IMMERSION CHILLER sible to bring 10 gallons down to 65°F (18°C) in five minutes with
An immersion chiller is nothing more than a coil of copper or stain- one of these babies.
less steel tubing that you dunk into the boil kettle with 10-15 minutes Cons: You’ll need to pay extra careful attention to wort clarity so
left to go. Cold water goes in one end, gets heated by the wort as it as not to clog the lines. A good gravity flow or pump is needed to
spirals through the tube, and comes out hot on the other side. move wort, and sanitation requires special attention. And as with
Pros: Immersion chillers are easy to sanitize, readily available, counterflow chillers, you’ll pay for the pleasure.
and affordable. There are no moving parts, and they’re virtually
foolproof. Finally, if you live in a cold climate, avoid the temptation to place
Cons: These chillers work more quickly than an ice bath, but it a hot pot of wort in a snowbank and walk away. The heat merely
still takes 10-20 minutes, depending on the temperature of your creates a layer of ice around the kettle, which traps air and actually
water. And you’ll use a fair amount of water in the process, espe- insulates the kettle. If you really want to use snow to your advan-
cially in the summer months when supplies are warm. tage, throw a few handfuls into your cooling water.

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How to Use an
Auto-
Siphon
By Dave Carpenter

“RACKING” IS THE BREWER’S TERM for transferring beer

from one container to another. Each and every beer we make has
to be racked at least once during its lifespan. While professional
brewers typically rely on pumps to move beer between stainless
steel vessels, homebrewers usually employ a siphon.
We all intuitively understand the principle of a siphon. You
position a container of beer or wort above the carboy or bucket
into which you’d like to transfer. One end of a length of flexible
tubing goes in the upper container, and the other goes in the lower
container. Once the liquid starts moving, the siphon maintains
itself until all the liquid is transferred. But starting the siphon in
the first place can be awkward.
You could suck on the free end of the tubing to get the liquid
flowing, but this isn’t very sanitary. If you start a siphon this way, small space between the two concentric parts. Pulling up on the
you risk contaminating the batch with all kinds of hungry mi- cane and then plunging it down forces liquid to flow up through
crobes that live in your mouth. the cane and into your plastic tubing. One or two pumps is usually
You could also gently lower the tubing into the beer in the upper all it takes to start the siphon.
container so that the tube fills with liquid as you submerge it. The auto-siphon works well for most transfers, but it’s common
Then place your finger over the free end as you would a straw, put for hop matter to clog the siphon when you’re working with dry
the free end in the lower container, and take your finger off. This hops. While it’s possible to use the auto-siphon like a pump, doing
is effective in a pinch, but it can be messy, and you run the risk of so isn’t ideal because of the risk of oxidation. A better method
disturbing sediment on the bottom of the source vessel. is to sanitize a fine mesh bag and place it around the tip of the
Enter the auto-siphon. This handy gadget lets you start a siphon auto-siphon to keep particulates from getting into the siphon in
easily and sanitarily. It consists of two pieces, both of which are the first place.
made of rigid plastic and can be sanitized using standard methods: When you’re looking for an auto-siphon, spring for the model
with the ½” diameter racking cane instead of the smaller version,
A racking cane to which standard plastic tubing can be attached which is only 5/16”. The wider cane moves liquid 2.5 times as fast
A wider sleeve into which the racking cane fits as the smaller one, which means less time siphoning and more
time brewing.
The inner racking cane is free to slide within the plastic sleeve. The auto-siphon makes the chore of starting a siphon sanitary,
When the assembly is placed in wort or beer, liquid will fill the tidy, and painless.

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How to Make a
Yeast
Starter
By Dave Carpenter

BREWING THE BEST BEER POSSIBLE means using enough

yeast to get the job done. Unfortunately, a single vial or pack of
liquid yeast contains only enough cells for very low gravity ales, up
to about 1.030. Although you could simply use multiple packages,
this can get expensive if you make lagers or high-gravity ales.
But yeasts are living organisms, and given nutrients and a food » Aluminum foil
source, they’ll happily reproduce. Homebrewers can use this to » A funnel, if needed
their advantage by making a yeast starter. A properly made starter » A gram scale (optional)
lets you build up the number of yeast cells you need from just one » Sanitizer
package and can save you money.
A starter is simply a small volume of wort that’s used for the sole Brewers who own an Erlenmeyer flask can boil, chill, and ferment
purpose of growing yeast cells. It takes only about half an hour, the starter all in the same vessel.
but plan to make it at least 24 hours before you need the yeast.
This will give the yeast cells time to reproduce. THE PROCESS
Make your starter at least 24 hours before you need the yeast.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED » Remove your yeast from the refrigerator. If you’re using a
You can purchase or build specialized equipment for starters, or it Wyeast Activator, go ahead and smack the pack. It doesn’t need to
can be done quite economically with items you may already have. swell; you just want to release the nutrients in the internal pouch.
Here’s what you’ll need for a one-liter starter: Sanitize your fermentation vessel of choice, along with aluminum
foil and a funnel, if needed.
» A small vessel to hold the starter. Many brewers use a 64-ounce » Measure one gram of DME for every 10 milliliters of starter
growler jug, but a canning jar, a clean gallon-sized milk jug, or wort. So, a one liter starter will require 100 grams of DME. If you
even a vase will work. It just needs to be clean and large enough to don’t own a scale, you’ll have to eyeball the volume. 100 grams of
hold the starter wort with some room for headspace. DME is a little less than half a cup.
» Dry malt extract (DME). Dry extract is easier to measure than » Place the DME into a pitcher or water bottle with liter graduations.
liquid extract. » Add water to the pitcher or water bottle until the total volume of
» A saucepan with lid. For a liter starter, use at least a 1.5-quart DME and water is one liter, and mix well.
saucepan to avoid a boilover. » Pour the DME and water mixture into a saucepan and bring it

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to a boil. make the starter 24-48 hours before brew day, this is what you’ll
» Boil the wort for about 10 minutes to sanitize, then kill the heat have to do since it will probably still be fermenting.
and place the lid on top. Steam will sanitize the lid. » When the starter has stopped fermenting, chill it for 24 hours or
» Place the saucepan in an ice and water bath and chill until the more in the refrigerator to drop the yeast out of suspension. Then,
outside is cool to the touch. when you’re ready to use it, decant most of the liquid, then swirl
» Using a sanitized funnel if needed, pour the chilled wort into vigorously to re-suspend the yeast in the remaining liquid, and
the clean, sanitized growler jug or other vessel you’ll use to fer- pour into fresh wort. You’ll need to make your starter several days
ment the starter. in advance for this.
» Using a sanitized funnel if needed, pour the liquid yeast into the
fermentation vessel. The method you choose is up to you. Some brewers don’t want
» Cover the top of the fermentation vessel with sanitized aluminum spent starter wort going into their beer. Others don’t mind.
foil and place the starter in a location that’s 65°-70° F (18°- 21° C).
OTHER POINTS
That’s it! If you started with healthy yeast, your starter will begin Choosing the right-sized starter requires math that depends on
fermenting fairly soon. You may or may not notice Kräusen (foam) your ultimate batch size, the gravity of the wort, the age of the
on top of the wort, but you should notice the wort becoming yeast, and other variables. There are several good calculators
cloudy as the yeast gets to work. online to help you compute the appropriate size of starter for any
You don’t need to cover the lid tightly. In fact, oxygen is good for batch of beer.
yeast growth. If you remember, give the vessel a good swirl or two If you find that you don’t own a vessel large enough to make a
every couple of hours. large enough starter, you can do a two-stage starter. The first stage
is just as described above, but instead of pitching into fresh wort,
HOW TO USE THE STARTER you pitch into more starter wort to further build the yeast popula-
You can use the starter in one of two ways: tion. Again, online calculators can help.
» Pitch the entire starter, liquid and all, into fresh wort. If you Both ale and lager yeast can be propagated at room temperature.

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“Air” on
the Side of
Yeast
Health
By Dave Carpenter

IT’S OFTEN SAID THAT BREWERS make wort, and yeast sured the oxygen concentration using a dissolved oxygen meter.
makes beer: if you want a healthy fermentation, you’ve got to have Here’s what they found:
healthy yeast. One of the best things you can do to promote yeast
health is to provide plenty of oxygen at the start of fermentation. » Allowing wort to spray into the fermentation vessel during
Oxygen is vital for yeast growth and development. But how much siphoning achieves roughly 4 ppm.
do you need, and how do you get there? » Vigorously shaking a carboy of wort for 40 seconds will get you
Professional brewers and yeast manufacturers recommend that up to 8 ppm.
oxygen be present in wort at a concentration of about 10 parts » Injecting air into wort using an aquarium pump with a diffusion
per million (ppm), a bit higher for lagers and high-gravity ales. stone (see above) achieves 8 ppm in 5 minutes.
The pros usually inject pure oxygen through a diffusion stone as » Injecting pure oxygen into wort with a diffusion stone gets you
chilled wort passes from the heat exchanger to the fermentation to 12 ppm in 60 seconds.
vessel.
As homebrewers, many of us don’t own a diffusion stone and a So, if you routinely brew beers that can benefit from reliably high
pure oxygen source, but you can achieve surprisingly high levels of levels of oxygen (lagers and high gravity beers), then you may
dissolved oxygen with remarkably rudimentary techniques. need a diffusion stone and pure oxygen to get you there. But if you
The yeast experts over at Wyeast Laboratories have experimented mostly brew average strength ales, you can do just fine by shaking
with various methods that homebrewers commonly use and mea- the carboy for a minute or so.

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Keep a
Handle
on It
By Dave Carpenter

The sixth tip in our list of Ten Tips for Beginning Homebrewers Better Bottles, but be aware that the design makes them vulnera-
recommends investing in a carboy handle. A good handle prevents ble to slipping. Such handles snap on and off, but they don’t fully
your hand from slipping on a slippery carboy neck and offers your enclose the Better Bottle’s neck.
aching back a reprieve from awkward lifting. Consider the alternatives. There are a couple of alternatives to
Here are a few more things to know about these handy devices. standard handles that some brewers might prefer.

Don’t think handle: think handhold. Handle is a bit of a » The Brew Hauler wraps a carboy in nylon webbing, similar to
misnomer because you should never pick up a full carboy by the that used by rock climbers and slackliners. Twin handles help
handle alone: the neck just isn’t designed for that kind of stress. you lift the load.
Think of the handle as a more secure handhold. You still need to » Carboy in milk crate—Some brewers simply place their
support the bottom of your full carboy with the other hand, but the carboys in plastic milk crates. Just make sure it’s a real milk
handle makes this task less awkward. crate and can handle the weight. Faux milk crates are merely
One handle does not rule them all. Five-gallon and 6.5-gallon aesthetic and may break.
glass carboys require slightly different handles because the former
has a narrower neck than the latter. Be sure you buy the right Homebrewers may never fully settle the glass-vs-plastic debate,
handle for the job. but we all agree that keeping a handle on your carboy helps you
That goes for plastic, too. A special handle is available for plastic keep a handle on your hobby.

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When to Use a
Blow-Off
Tube
By Dave Carpenter

Most of the time, I do just fine with the standard-issue airlocks When that happens, I don’t even bother with an airlock and go
you find at homebrew stores nationwide. I prefer the 3-piece straight for the blow-off tube.
airlock for primary fermentation and the S-shaped model for sec- Original gravity: High gravity wort can ferment so vigorously
ondary and bulk aging. But sometimes, an airlock just doesn’t cut that the head of Kräusen grows faster than an airlock can possibly
it. And that’s when I bust out the heavy artillery. I’m talking about relieve the rising pressure. I start out with a blow-off tube for any
the blow-off tube. beer with an original gravity higher than about 1.060. There’s no
A blow-off tube is nothing more than a generous length of magic in that number; it’s just what works for me.
wide-diameter tubing. One end plugs into your fermentor in lieu of Yeast strain: Some yeast strains are more aggressive than others.
an airlock, and the other end is submerged in an adjacent container I’ve never needed a blow-off tube for lagers, and only rarely for or-
of sanitizer (I use a spare growler jug). This setup effectively relieves dinary British ales. But I always use one for German Hefeweizen
pressure within the fermentor and allows Kräusen (foam) to safely yeasts and most Belgian strains, regardless of starting gravity.
escape rather than clog the airlock, thereby saving you from a beer Temperature: A fermentation that starts too warm or isn’t in a
eruption and the embarrassment of having to mop the ceiling. thermally-controlled environment can easily get out of hand. Fermen-
So, how do you know you need a blow-off tube before you actu- tation produces heat, which encourages yeast activity, which, in turn,
ally need a blow-off tube? Here are a few criteria I consider when raises the temperature, and so on. If you don’t have good temperature
deciding to reach for the blow-off tube instead of a regulation control, a blow-off tube is good insurance, especially in summer.
airlock.
The goal of all of this, of course, is to prevent a mess. Another way
Headspace: If I exceed my anticipated volume for some reason, I to keep things clean is to leave the lid open and conduct an open
might end up with 5.5 or 6 gallons of wort in a 6.5-gallon bucket. fermentation. But that’s a topic for another day...

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Keep It
Warm
By Dave Carpenter

Because the fermentation process produces heat, homebrewers Heated belt: Specialized heating jackets that wrap around a car-
are far more likely to need to cool down a vessel of homebrew than boy are available at many homebrew stores. These usually supply
warm it up. There are certain circumstances, however, in which very gentle warmth and may be used alone or with a temperature
you may want to raise the fermentation temperature. controller.
Seed mats: Seed mats are used to sprout seedlings indoors and
» B rewers who ferment in a basement or garage may find that the give them a head start on the growing season before being trans-
ambient temperature is too cold. planted outside. A seed mat is similar to a dedicated heat belt, but
» S ome fermentation profiles incorporate a gradual temperature because it’s designed to lie flat, such a mat is best placed beneath
rise, for example, from 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C) over the course of the carboy.
seven days. Light bulb: A light bulb placed in an insulated chamber can
» C ertain yeast strains and bacterial cultures benefit from elevated supply enough heat to keep the temperature several degrees above
temperatures. Classic saison strains, for example, may require ambient. Using a light bulb and chest freezer together with a
temperatures as high as 95°F (35°C) to achieve full attenuation. dual-stage controller, the handy homebrewer can build a fermen-
tation chamber that maintains temperatures to within a couple
If you find that your fermentation could benefit from a little extra of degrees of a desired setpoint. Just don’t place the bulb next to
warmth, here are a few ways to bring the heat: anything flammable!

Blanket or sleeping bag: This low-tech solution relies on Good temperature control is a critical step toward brewing world-
the natural heat generated during fermentation. The trick is to class beer at home. When you can reliably maintain yeast within
insulate your fermentor when you think the peak temperature has its ideal temperature range, your homebrew will take a giant step
been reached. Adding insulation too early could warm things up in quality and consistency. Brew on!
more than you’d like.

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Dishwasher
Bottling
By Dave Carpenter

ASK HOMEBREWERS ABOUT THE NUMBER one consumer sufficient, and I haven’t had an infected batch in five plus years of
appliance on their wish lists, and you’re likely to get some varia- brewing and bottling. But your mileage may vary. Do this at your
tion on a refrigerator or freezer (assuming professional brewhous- own risk.
es don’t count). But there’s another appliance you probably already
have in your kitchen that’s sometimes overlooked. Dishwashers BOTTLE YOUR BEER
make bottling easy and painless. If you aren’t using yours, you’re Even if you don’t sanitize your bottles in the dishwasher, you can
probably working too hard. still use it to your advantage come filling time. Those little pegs
that stick up on the lower rack are spaced just right to hold several
SANITIZE YOUR BOTTLES rows of 12-ounce and 22-ounce bottles upright for filling. Put your
Tired of dipping all your bottles in sanitizer? You might be able to bottling bucket on the counter above the dishwasher, and knock
use your dishwasher instead. Many dishwashers feature a special your bottles out in no time. And when you’re done, any spillage is
sanitize cycle that is hotter and longer than the normal cycle and contained and out of sight when you close the dishwasher door at
meets NSF/ANSI 184 standards for food safety. Running your bot- the end of bottling day.
tles through this cycle is guaranteed to get you a 99.999 percent re- Sanitizing and filling bottles can be laborious, but if you have a
duction in bacteria. Just make sure your bottles are clean to begin dishwasher and use it to your advantage, you’ll gain valuable time
with, and don’t use any detergent when you run them through! -- time better spent enjoying a homebrew.
Truth be told, my dishwasher doesn’t have that specific sanitize
setting, but it does create a great deal of steam. In my book, that’s Pictured above: Kenmore 24” Built-In Dishwasher with Sani-Rinse™

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