Wines and SpiritsHomebrewing - Brewing Beer in a Coffee Pot
So are you somewhat interested in home brewing but unsure whether you want to invest in a home brew kit? It was recently brought to my attention that you can brew your own beer at home using a coffee pot.
Necessary Equipment (nothing that you wouldn"t normally find in the kitchen)
Coffee maker
Coffee filter
Wooden rolling pin
Saucepan larger than 2 quarts
2 1-quart canning jars with lids
cheesecloth
2 rubber bands
½ gallon of filtered water
Necessary Ingredients (can be bought at your local beer brewing retailer)
1 Âø cups of malted barley
5-7 Hop pellets (compressed hops)
½ packet of champagne yeast (or baker"s yeast)
If you are new to brewing, one of the most important things to remember is to keep everything sanitary. If any bacteria gets in your beer when you are brewing or bottling, it could ruin your entire batch. Brewing in a coffee pot is no different. Be clean.
First take your 1 Âø cups of malted barley and crack the grain with your wooden rolling pin. Don"t roll the grains too much; just make sure that all the grains are cracked. After cracking the grains, put them in the coffee pot. Pour two cups of water into the coffee maker and turn it on.
After about an hour the coffee maker will shut down. At this stage the "masking-in" process is complete. Strain the "mash" through a coffee filter. After straining, pour the liquid into the water-heating chamber of the coffee maker with one more cup of filtered water. Turn the coffee maker on again. When all the liquid empties into the coffee pot, take the liquid and put it back in the coffee maker with another cup of water. Repeat this step approximately 5 times, each time adding one cup of water.
After you have done this, pour the final liquid into a saucepan and boil. After boiling for 20 minutes, add the 5-7 hops pellets before boiling for another half hour. Remove from heat. Stir the liquid in the saucepan and pour it into a canning jar making sure not to splash. Immediately after you fill the jar, place it in a sink filled with ice.
After your wort, the expression for the beer at this stage, has cooled to about 65 degrees, put on the top to the jar and shake. Take off the lid, add yeast and stir. Next place cheesecloth over the jar"s opening and secure with a rubber band. Do not place the lid back on the jar.
Place the jar in a dark place about room temperature; wait one week, and your beer should be ready. This is a good way to make smaller amounts of beer if you don"t have a beer kit, but once you have mastered this, I strongly recommend investing in a homebrew kit. You will be able to make better tasting beer and much more of it at a time.