Wheat beer at home: cooking features and a recipe

Beer is one of the most popular drinks known to people since ancient times. The exact date of its origin is unknown, but mention of it is found even in ancient Egypt. Today, on the shelves of shops, in cafes, bars and restaurants, dozens of varieties of this drink are offered. But the best is considered wheat beer, cooked at home. Many do not even assume that this is a simple process that does not require certain skills and equipment. So what does it take to make wheat beer at home? Let's talk about this in the article.

Product for connoisseurs

Some will decide that it's easier to buy a bottle of beer in the store and do not waste time preparing it. But true fans of a foamy drink will spare their time and energy to create a real, original and unique product. After all, for production will require only four ingredients, which can be bought in any specialized store, and a simple inventory. As a result, you get a wheaten beer, unfiltered, without preservatives.

Ingredients

To prepare the drink at home, only four basic ingredients are required: water, malt, hops and yeast. They are used in the basic recipe. In the future, you can introduce additional ingredients that improve the taste of beer and give it a special, original zest. These can be fruits, spices and various combinations of malt. The main thing is to use quality ingredients, adhere to the recipe and have patience.

Malt

Malt is a sprouted grain of cereal crops (not only maize and rice) that remain in the solid husks. It will serve as a natural filter. Wheat beer is made from wheat grains. Malt has a very strong influence on the taste and quality of the drink. Therefore, the preparation of this component is an important step. Malt has a slightly sweet taste, pleasant smell and white color. The grains are preliminarily ground in a special mill so that the husks remain intact. Light wheat beer is made from malt, which is naturally dried. To give the drink a dark color, this ingredient is pre-fried.

Hop

This is another important ingredient in a foam drink. You can buy it in the store or prepare it yourself. In the course go bumps only "female" plants. They should have a yellow or reddish tinge. After collection, they are dried and ground using a press. Their quality depends on the density of beer and the density of the foam. There are two types of hops: bitter and fragrant. If you want to give the drink a piquant bitterness, then use the first grade. To obtain a fragrant beer you need to choose a second kind of hops.

Yeast and water

Yeast is an important component. They should be only quality and, if possible, special, beer. Only dry and live yeast will provide an excellent result. Water is better to take a clean and soft. The best spring is suitable. But if there is no purified and filtered, then just boil it and cool it. Bad water will ruin the taste of beer.

Inventory

To prepare homemade wheat beer, no special equipment and inventory is required. Everything you need can be found in any kitchen. It will take a large (about 30 liters) enamel saucepan. In it, for convenience, you can make a drain cock for convenience. You will also need another container for fermenting beer. A necessary tool is a thermometer, since during cooking it is necessary to control the temperature regime. Also, you need to prepare a piece of gauze about 5 meters long. For bottling beer will need glass or plastic bottles, better than dark color, and a thin hose for draining the drink. This is all that is needed to make a tasty beer.

Basic recipe

You can start cooking with a basic recipe. Subsequently, on its basis, you can come up with new recipes and get a more intense taste and aroma, or maybe invent your own recipe. To begin with, fry the wheat and barley grains (500 grams) in a frying pan or in an oven. So we get dark wheat beer. Then grind the grains with a meat grinder and mix with a small amount of chicory (30 grams). Place this mixture in a large saucepan and pour 3 liters of water. We put the pan on the fire and bring it to a boil. This process is very important, since the quality of the obtained wort greatly affects the taste of beer. After that, remove the container from the fire and add sugar (5 glasses), hops (500 grams) and lemon zest. All carefully mix and leave for several hours in a warm place. When the temperature is equal to room temperature, filter the beer through several layers of gauze into the fermentation bowl. Leave it for three days, and then pour it into prepared bottles. We store the drink in a cool place.

Tsarskoye Beer

Wheat home beer can serve as an excellent basis for making other varieties of this drink. Take 7 grams of cinnamon and coriander, two glasses of sugar, three lemons, 15 grams of ginger, 25 liters of home beer and two handfuls of hops. Ready home beer poured into a saucepan. In a separate frying pan fry the sugar before turning it into caramel. You can not allow it to stick, so as not to spoil the taste of beer. Then fill the caramel with boiling water and mix. In a separate pot, pour a little water and add to it all the spices and spices, sliced lemon and cook for about 20 minutes. Separate boil the hops for 30 minutes. Filter the broths. Hot water with spices is mixed with burnt sugar. Then add a decoction of hops to them. All mixed and poured into homemade beer. Stir and send to a cold place. If the beer was fresh, then the drink will be ready in two weeks, and if it is aged, then it can be consumed in 1-2 days.

Aromatic beer

When preparing beer, there is always a place for creativity. Adhering to the main recipe, you can add different ingredients that will give the drink new notes. The main thing is to show imagination and not be afraid of experiments. You will need 35 liters of water, 6 kilograms of wheat malt, 5 kilograms of sugar, 200 grams of raisins, 200 milliliters of water, 200 grams of hops and a third of a glass of yeast. To begin with, mix in a separate pan of raisins, sugar and hops. Fill them with a small amount of water (300 milliliters) and wine. We put the container on the fire and boil for 30 minutes. After that, add the malt and water to the broth and bring it to a boil. Cool the beer to room temperature and put the yeast. Leave the drink wandering for a week. Further it should be simply poured into bottles, closed with lids and put in a cold place. Aromatic wheat beer is ready. It is better to sustain it within 10 days, so that it has its own unique taste. You can try other additives to your taste.

Beer from bread

Wheat beer will have a more intense taste if you use wheat and rye malt. In this recipe, we also add rye bread. For cooking, take 32 liters of boiled water, 4.8 kilograms of rye bread, 1.2 kilograms of wheat and 2 kilograms of rye malt, 200 grams of honey, 1 kilogram of molasses, 600 grams of raisins, 100 grams of yeast, 140 grams of hops and a little cinnamon. First you need to cut the bread into pieces, dry it and grind it. Hop pre-scalded with boiling water, and yeast diluted with warm water. Now mix the bread, yeast, malt, treacle, honey, hops, raisins and cinnamon and pour this mixture with warm water to the state of gruel. It must undergo a fermentation process within 6-7 hours. Then add 26 liters of water to this mixture and leave in a warm place for a day. After that, we pour the contents into clean dishes. In the remaining wort, pour in another 6 liters of water and leave for several hours. Then the contents are drained and mixed with most of the drink. We filter beer and bottled. We close them with lids and send them to a dark, cool place for ripening.

Conclusion

Trying once a wheat beer, reviews of which speak for themselves, you no longer want to buy a finished product. Drink prepared at home, natural, without preservatives. It can be made to your taste, using different ingredients and getting new flavors and flavors. The success of home brewing depends on the quality of the original products. If you strictly adhere to the technology and recipes, the result will exceed all your expectations. Of course, the drink will differ in taste from the store, but this does not mean that it will be worse.