Self-Sufficiency: Home Brewing. John Parkes
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Published 2016—IMM Lifestyle Books
IMM Lifestyle Books are distributed in the UK by Grantham Book Service.
In North America, IMM Lifestyle Books are distributed by
Fox Chapel Publishing 1970 Broad Street
East Petersburg, PA 17520
Copyright © 2009, 2016 text: John Parkes
Copyright © 2009, 2016 illustrations: IMM Lifestyle Books
Copyright © 2009, 2016 IMM Lifestyle Books
John Parkes has asserted his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders.
Print ISBN 9781504800396
eISBN 9781607659716
CONTENTS
Brewing from malt extract, hops and adjuncts
Hydrometer temperature correction chart
INTRODUCTION
Over a period of thirty years, I have progressed from a home brewer brewing from kits to owning my own microbrewery, and every day I still learn something new about brewing.
My first job after leaving University was working for a large retail chemist in the chemical production department. Other factories on the same site manufactured home brew kits and some of my friends were fortunate enough to work in product development within these departments.
Purely in the cause of science, I would also help out the product development department by testing new recipes for the home brew kits. This involved brewing and then drinking the beer. Difficult as this task was, I carried on manfully and tested many recipes of every imaginable combination: those for bitter, stout and lager made with malt extract, with a combination of malt extract and grain, and using dried and liquid yeasts. I developed a taste for home brewing and a desire to brew beer that was like the stuff I drank in the pub.
I later turned to brewing beer at home using malted grains and hops – a full day’s work that did not always make me a family favourite! I even went as far as culturing yeast from the dregs at the bottom of certain commercial bottle-conditioned beers. True dedication to the art!
No book can, in my opinion, claim to be the complete guide to brewing because it is an enormously complex subject that requires years of study to fully comprehend. I have spoken to several head brewers in large organizations who have left me dazed and confused with their elaborate explanations of the mashing and fermentation processes.
I have tried to offer brewing styles to suit as many people as possible. For those with little time but a keen desire to start home brewing, there is a chapter on brewing from kits. For those with more time, you can try to develop the craft by using either a combination of malt extract, grain and hops, or by really going back to basics and using just malt grains and hops. Some aspects of brewing are common to all of these styles, and these are described in the pages on brewing from kits, which those moving on to more advanced styles of brewing will be guided back to.
The chapter on cleanliness, in particular, should be read carefully before attempting any type of home brewing. Cleanliness is crucial to every form of home brewing, so ensure you always maintain a high standard of cleanliness across your brewing activities. No matter how much time and effort you put into brewing beer, putting it into a container that has not been sterilized correctly will result in it being ruined and all your efforts going to waste. I hope you will find the text easy to read and that this book will help you produce beers that you will enjoy both making and imbibing.
John Parkes