Brewers scoop
VAST IMPROVEMENT OF HOME BREWS LEADS TO DIY CRAFT BEERS
The changes in the way we brew at home
Everyone has their reason for starting to brew their own beer. For some it’s the interest of making their own version of their favourite beer. For others it’s a desire to make a good beer for a fraction of the price of the beer that they buy at the local bottle shop.
Whatever the reason, many of us started brewing with a can of liquid malt and a kilogram of household sugar in a plastic barrel. While the quality of the kits and the range of different ingredients has changed over the decades, many new brewers still start out brewing the same way with a homebrew starter kit: a plastic barrel and a beer kit with some brewing sugar.
But the growth and evolution of craft beer in New Zealand has also seen an evolution in the way we brew. We have changed the type of beer we brew, the processes have evolved, and the quality of home brew has mostly improved.
A taste for craft beer
For years what we knew as beer in New Zealand was dominated by the beers made by the two main breweries, Lion and DB.
But the arrival of craft beer has seen home brewers enjoying the taste of all malt beers, modern New World hops, and a huge range of international beer styles rarely seen in New Zealand until recently. This has changed the way we home brew. While we may have started home brewing to make cheap beer, we have evolved and now we are brewing good-quality craft beer at a reasonable price.
Ingredients have evolved
Both the range and the quality of beer kits have evolved. Many kits are designed to cater for our changing beer tastes. Draught and lager kits are now lost among the range of beer styles.
From Mexican lagers to European Pilsners, New World IPAs, APAs to Dubbels and Triples, New Zealand Pilsners to Russian Imperial Stouts — whatever your taste, there is likely to be a beer kit right off the shelf to cater for your needs.
Hops have evolved
In the past hops were just added to contribute bitterness to the beer. More recently hops have been developed to contribute unique flavours and aromas. American-grown hops are imported for brewers to brew tropical flavours of mango and passionfruit for hazy New
World IPAs.
We have changed the type of beer we brew, the processes have evolved, and the quality of home brew has mostly improved
And our New Zealand–grown hops are unique and sought all around the world. There is no hop anywhere in the world that is like New Zealand–grown Riwaka or Nelson Sauvin. Gone are the days when the supply of hops was closely controlled by the main breweries — these great hops and others are readily available in home-brew stores.
New brewing equipment
While brewing equipment like plastic fermenters and bench cappers is still common in most brewers’ homes, new stainless brewing equipment is becoming more prevalent. In some cases breweries in Kiwi man caves now look like mini commercial breweries, and in many instances that’s just what they are. The internet has made information available to us all and it’s now easy to work out what is needed to build a home brewery. Blogs are full of recipes for people to clone their favourite commercial beer.
Electric all-grain brewing systems like The Grainfather and Brewzilla (formerly the Robobrew) allow home brewers to brew all-grain beers just like commercial breweries. By not using liquid malt and instead brewing with different malted grains and hops, home brewers have better flavour control of the beers that they produce. They are crafting their own beer!
Conical fermenters and temperature-controlled brewing
After the malt, hops, and yeast, the temperature that the beer ferments at is the next largest contributing factor to beer taste. Temperature-controlled brewing is an easy process that can improve your beer. At the simplest, an old fridge connected to a temperature controller and a heat belt can have you up and running with minimal effort. The temperature controller has a probe that sits in the fridge and both the fridge and a heat belt (or heat pad) are connected to the controller. The temperature set on the controller means the fermentation is held at that temperature by the controller turning the fridge and the heater belt on and off.
At the other end of the price spectrum, brewers can utilize a glycol chiller attached to their stainless conical fermenters to control temperature. Often this can also be connected to brew programmes so this can be monitored remotely on the brewer’s mobile phone.
Lastly, brewers have evolved
I remember judging a large national home-brew competition more than 10 years ago when a team of us judged more than 900 beers over two days. Among the good beers were many that were infected and faulted due to a number of brewing issues, including oxidization, diacetyl, acetaldehyde, crosscontamination, dimethyl sulphide (DMS), poor yeast health, and hygiene issues.
Last year I judged a similar homebrew competition with a team of around 30 other beer judges and the quality of beers has improved dramatically. Infected beers have dropped to less than one per cent and beer faults were also significantly reduced. And the best beers were stunning!
Brewers now understand the brewing process and are always looking for feedback on how they can improve their beers. Reducing the beer’s exposure to oxygen, healthy yeast-pitch rates, and ingredient selection to match the style being brewed are just some of the issues home brewers are locking into their brew processes. The result is a stunning home brew.