How To Brew

John Palmer is one of the most recognized names in homebrewing today. The author of three books and countless articles, he enjoys applying practical engineering know-how to the art and science of brewing beer. Through his bestselling Brewers Publications title, How to Brew: Everything You Need to Know to Brew Great Beer Every Time, John has helped hundreds of thousands of readers learn to successfully brew their own beer at home.Palmer co-authored two other books on brewing: Brewing Classic Styles: 80 Winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew with homebrewing legend and Heretic Brewing Company founder Jamil Zainasheff and Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers, the definitive guide to water chemistry for brewing with Colin Kaminski, former brewmaster at Napa's Downtown Joe's Brewery and Restaurant.Palmer is involved in many scientific and professional brewing associations. He left a career in aerospace research and development, and metallurgy in 2011 to found Palmer Brewing Solutions, Inc. He now focuses on brewery consulting and product development with key brewing industry manufacturers and serves as publications director for the Master Brewers Association of the Americas.When he's not brewing beer, writing about beer, or developing brewing equipment, John enjoys woodturning, blacksmithing, and reading sci-fi/fantasy. He lives in California with his wife, three children, and his cat, Shadow.

If a homebrewer were to have only one brewing book, it would have to be How to Brew by John Palmer. How to Brew covers it all—from beginner to advanced brewing and everything in between. For the beginner, the first chapter has you covered with all you need to know to start brewing. From there, you can read on to gain further knowledge at whatever pace you choose. For more experienced brewers, How to Brew is a reference book for just about everything you want to know about brewing beer at home, covering ingredients, equipment and brewing techniques. No homebrewer should be without this book.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Table of Contents List of Tips, Tables, & Significant Figures IntroductionSection I—Brewing Beer KitsChapter 1 – A Crash Course in Brewing What Do I Do? Brew Day Equipment Needed PreparationMaking Wort Fermentation Week(s) Bottling Day Serving Day But Wait! There's More! Chapter Two – Sanitation The Road to Good Brewing Preparation Sanitation Cleaning Products Cleaning Your Equipment Sanitizing Products Heat Cleaning and Sanitizing Final Thoughts Record Keeping Example Recipe Form Chapter 3 – A Short Discourse on Malting and Brewing A Brief Discussion of Barley and MaltThe Production of Malt ExtractCooking the WortFull Boil vs. Partial BoilBuilding a BeerChapter 4 – Malt Extract and Beer Kits Choosing a Good Kit Shopping for Extracts How Much Extract to Use Gravity vs. Fermentability Steeping Specialty Grains Chapter 5– Hops What Are They? Why Are Hops Bitter? How Are They Used? First Wort Hopping Bittering Flavoring Finishing (Whirlpool Hops)Dry Hopping Hop Forms - Pellets, Plug and Whole Hop Variety Types Bittering Hop Varieties Dual Purpose Hop Varieties Aroma Hop Varieties How to Measure Hops Hop Bitterness (IBU) Calculations Gravity of the Boil Utilization Hop IBU Nomograph Chapter 6 – Yeast and FermentationHow Yeast WorkDefining Fermentation ...................... 99Lagtime or Adaptation Phase ..... 100High growth or Attenuative Phase 101Conditioning Phase...................... 102Cold Conditioning / Lagering...... 103Building a Better Fermentation ........ 104Oxygen and Aeration ................. 105Nitrogen ...................................... 106Necessary Minerals...................... 107Nutritional Supplements ............. 108Open vs. Closed Fermentation ........ 109Chapter 7 –Managing Your Yeast Yeast Types Yeast Forms Yeast Strains Dry Yeast Strains Liquid Yeast Strains Yeast Nutritional Needs Nutritional Supplements Oxygen Aeration is Good, Oxidation is Bad Preparing Yeast and Yeast Starters Preparing Dry Yeast Preparing Liquid Yeast When Is My Yeast Starter Ready to Pitch? Using Yeast From Commercial Beers Support Your Local Micro Simple Yeast Ranching Chapter 8 – Water For Extract Brewing Two ThingsWhat is Good Brewing Water?How to Read a Water Quality ReportAdding Brewing SaltsChapter 9 – Brewing Your Second Batch First Recipe Beginning the Boil The Hot Break Hop Additions Kettle FiningCooling the Wort Water Bath Ice Copper Wort Chillers Choosing Your Fermentor Buckets vs. Carboys Airlocks vs. Blowoffs Transferring the Wort Conducting Your Fermentation Pitching the Yeast Fermentation Location Fermentation Racking Estimating the Alcohol Content Chapter 10 – Priming, Bottling, and KeggingWhen to Bottle Bottle Cleaning FiningWhat Sugar Should I Prime With? Commercial Priming AgentsBottle Filling Storage KeggingChapter 11 – Brewing Lager Beer Yeast Differences Additional Time Lower Temperatures Autolysis Lager Yeast Fermentation When to Begin Lagering Aagh!! It Froze!! Should I Add More Yeast? Maintaining Lager Temperature Priming and Bottling of Lager Beer Bottling Brewing American Lager Beer Recipe—Typical American LagerChapter 12 – Brewing Strong Beers Chapter 13 – Brewing Fruit Beers Chapter 14 – Brewing Sour Beers Section II—All-Grain Brewing Chapter 15 – Understanding Malted Barley & Adjuncts What is Malting?Maillard Reactions and Flavor Development Malt Types and Usages Base Malts Kilned Malts Caramel Malts Roasted Malts Other Grains and AdjunctsHow To Read a Malt Analysis Sheet Chapter 16 – How the Mash Works An Allegory Defining the Mash The Acid Rest Doughing-In and Beta GlucanaseThe Protein Rest and Modification Starch Conversion/Saccharification Rest Other Factors for Starch ConversionChapter 17 – Residual Alkalinity, Malt Acidity and Mash pHThe six concepts Source Water The Usual Suspects Residual Alkalinity is the Cornerstone of Mash pH Water Chemistry + Malt Chemistry = Mash Chemistry Mash pH Sets up the Beer pHChapter 18 – Adjusting Water for StyleFamous Waters and their BeersThe dogma of Virgin WaterAdjusting water for StyleSulfate to Chloride RatioTotal Dissolved SolidsAdjustment ExamplesChapter 19 – The Methods of Mashing Single Temperature Infusion Multi-Rest Mashing Infusion Calculations Multiple Rest Infusion Example Decoction Mashing Summary Chapter 20 – What to Expect When You are Extracting Extraction and Maximum Yield Efficiency and Typical Yield Calculating Your Efficiency Water to Grist Ratio and First RunningsPlanning Recipe Malt Quantities Chapter 21 – Getting the Wort Out (Lautering) A Good Crush Means Good Lautering Lautering What is Mashout? What is Recirculation? What is Sparging? Rinsing Versus Draining Water to Grist Ratio and First RunningsSparging Calculations Chapter 22 – Your First All-Grain Batch Additional Equipment Suggested Recipe Partial Mash Option Brew In A Bag OptionStarting the Mash Conducting the Mash Conducting the Lauter Variations on a Common ThemeSection III—Recipes, Experiment'g, and Troubleshoot'g Chapter 23 – Some of My Favorite Styles and Recipes Style Descriptions The Ale Styles Wheat Pale Ales English Special Bitter India Pale Ale American Pale Ale American Amber Ale Brown Ales Oud Bruin Porter Stout Barleywine The Lager Styles Pilsner Classic American Pilsner California Common (Steam-type) Bock Vienna Oktoberfest Chapter Summary Chapter 24 – Developing Your Own Recipes Developing Your Own Recipes Discretion Is the Better Part of Flavor SmashIncreasing the Body Changing Flavors Brewing Sugars Toasting Your Own Malt Chapter 25 – Is My Beer Ruined? Common Problems Common Off-Flavors Section IV—Appendices Appendix A Using Hydrometers Appendix B Beer Color Basis of Color Rating Other Color Factors Estimating Beer Color Appendix C Beer Clarity What is Haze? Fixing Haze in the Recipe Fixing Haze With Clarifiers Appendix D Building Wort Chillers Immersion Chillers Counterflow Chillers Plate ChillersAppendix E Lauter Tun Design For Batch SpargingChoosing A CoolerRinsing vs. Draining—A Re-Cap False Bottom, Manifold, Or Screen? Siphon Or Bulkhead?Building Copper Pipe Manifolds Building A Stainless Steel Braided Ring Home Mashing Setups Appendix F Lauter Tun Design for Continuous Sparging Fluid MechanicsDesigning Pipe Manifolds Designing Ring Manifolds How To Continuous SpargeContinuous Sparging Procedure Appendix G Brewing Metallurgy General Information and Cleaning Aluminum Copper Brass Carbon Steel Stainless Steel Galvanic Corrosion Soldering, Brazing, and Welding Toxicity of Metals Aluminum Cadmium Chromium Copper Iron Lead Zinc Appendix H Metric Conversions References GlossaryIndex