TRENDS

How To Brew Your Own Beer

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26/07/2019


As more and more people realise how much money they can save, and how they can craft beer to their own taste (no more overpriced, unpalatable pints), homebrewing has evolved from a pastime of hobbyists in garden sheds into a passion for creating some seriously good beer. We went searching for master brewers who teach the art of beer brewing; Ireland seemed like the most logical place to start. The Irish poet Brendan Behan said that there are only two times when he drinks beer: “When I’m thirsty and when I’m not.” As much as they like drinking it, beer brewing is a central part of Irish culture. We spoke to the brewers at the Artisan Brew Academy about making the perfect homebrew.

 5 min read

Why beer?

Beer is the cornerstone of Irish culture. A pint of beautifully made beer is a joy. It gives you an insight into the people who made it, their history and community. In Ireland, beer is a sociable affair: enjoying a pint with a friend, or even a complete stranger, helps to form deep bonds. Beer is enjoyed at weddings, funerals, birthdays, Fridays after work, warm Sunday afternoons, christenings, in cosy corners on rainy December evenings – well, at any time really. There is a type of beer for every occasion: Pilsners, wheat beers, pale ale, lambic, Porter, fruit beer, Trappist, Scottish ale, Stout...

Find out more about the Artisan Brew Academy and their beer brewing workshop here. 

What is a life without beer?

"Where there is beer there is life" - Mahatma Ghandi

What are the things only an experienced brewer would understand?

Just like any other craft, you never stop learning about beer brewing. We are always picking up new ideas from our fellow brewers! As we have become more experienced, we have found that our awareness of detail has increased. Beer brewing, for example, is 90% cleaning. Great beer thrives in a clean environment. You also have to be very organised. Once you notice how much a slight difference in temperature changes the brew, you become very attentive of the small things. Time, volumes and temperatures all need to be monitored and recorded to the finest detail. It is a science, after all, and great brewing is great record keeping. It’s not all in the numbers, though. Beer brewing is a dance of science and art. Once you understand the basic ingredients, and what they give to a beer, you can get really creative. You can experiment with the colour, aroma, flavour, bitterness, sweetness, head, alcohol content, mouthfeel and carbonation level to create the perfect pint. 

Beer brewing is a dance of science and art

What is the difference between types of beer? 

The answer to this question could fill up the pages of multiple books, so I’ll keep my answer brief.

Most (98%) of beers have the same brewing process: mashing, sparging, boiling, chilling, then fermentation. Despite that, beers obviously have the potential to be very different in aesthetics and taste. These differences are created in the recipes and the brewing process. Each beer style has parameters defining colour, bitterness, alcoholic strength, etc. These modify the recipe, and maybe the brewing process in order to achieve the required outcome e.g. temperatures used, times for boiling, timing of hop additions, fermentation temperatures. By manipulating the temperature during the brewing process, we can change the rate or type of chemical reactions that occur.

The four ingredients in beer (water, grain, hops and yeast) can all be adjusted according to which style of beer is being made. Water isn’t pure H20; depending on where it is sourced, it can have different mineral compositions which allow for different chemical reactions. These variations in water composition are better suited for different styles of beer. We can also change our recipe, or as we would refer to it our grain profile. This is probably the most obvious way we can change our beer. By changing what grains we use, we can heavily influence colour and flavour. Hops are similar to grains in different hops contain different smells and different aromas. Lastly is the yeast. This is what determines ales, lagers, etc.

How can you add different flavours and textures to beer?

Other ingredients are added to the beer, for example, fruit, spices, herbs or plants. In the past,  we have used chillies, coffee, chocolate, ginger, pumpkin and oranges amongst others. Different grains can also be used to alter flavour, for example malted barley, wheat, or oats. Different hops are also used, inlcuding citra (citrus tasting), Cascade (bitter) or  Eastern Kent Goldings (typically used in stouts, porters etc.)

Why are some beers lighter or darker than others?

Grain profile: most grains in beer are malted. As part of that malting process, the grains are roasted. This roasting can be done at different temperatures. The higher the temperature during roasting, the darker the beer will be. The darkest malt, made famous by Guinness, is a roast malt which is created at 262 C.

Could you explain some beer lingo? 

ABV: Alcohol percentage

SRM: Colour of the beer

Ale: Beer brewed with ale yeast which is fermented at a higher temperature.

Lager: Beer brewed with lager yeast which is fermented at a lower temperature

IBU: International Bittering Units. How bitter or “Hoppy” a beer is.

Mouthfeel: Typically refers to the amount of alcohol tasted in the initial seconds of tasting a particular beer

Hoppy: A beer that has a lot of hops used in making it. However, this can translate into high levels of bitterness, hop flavour, or hop aroma.

Juicy or Juice Bomb: A beer with a heavy citrus taste. This has become popular recently with the rise of New England Style IPA’s

Whale: A very rare hard to find beer

What is the beer brewing process?

In a nutshell, malted barley is crushed and added to water at around 66 C, then left to rest for 75 minutes or so. This converts the starch in the barley into sugar. The sugary liquid is then strained off and brought to the boil. Hops are added at various times during the boil to give bitterness, flavour and aroma. The resulting hopped, sugary liquid is then cooled, and yeast added. Two weeks later you have beer, which is then ready for bottling. After a further two weeks in bottle, the beer is ready for drinking. 

What are the common mistakes people make when brewing beer at home?

Apart from using unsterilized equipment, which is a sure way to pick up a bacterial infection, many people mistakenly ferment at too high a temperature e.g. in a hot press. This stresses the yeast and ruins the flavour.

What is the basic equipment needed to brew your own beer?

To start with: 

  1. A plastic fermentation vessel
  2. A beer kit
  3. Some form of sterilizer

Homebrew shops sell beginner equipment sets for around €50. This will make 40 pints, so it quickly pays for itself. Beer bottles will be needed as well; these can be bought (or begged) from your local pub. To make more complicated beers, you will need extra equipment. Like many endeavors, you can pay highly for specialized equipment, however, my set-up at home cost around €100 and enables me to brew any style of beer.

Could you give me your no.1 tip for home brewers?

Make sure all equipment used is sterile and keep fermentation temperature steady. That’s two tips, but both are very important!


Molly is a content creator and writer at Dedico. From the U.K, she has studied in Norway and traveled in Europe where she found that learning new things is the best way to experience a country.

Why Learn Beer Brewing in Dublin?

  • Save money by learning to brew your own beer
  • Dublin is the home of beer brewing
  • Learn from master brewers with years of experience

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