Brewing beer during quarantine

Brewing beer during quarantine

Hop to it!

By Andy Chia The Daily

Before beginning my brewing journey, I found myself with little knowledge, a sizable order of brewing supplies, and a copy of “Brewing Microbiology” by Charles Bamforth, Ph.D.

This was a new venture into food science for me. Despite majoring in microbiology and taking courses in microbial ecology, I knew next to nothing about how to brew beer. I knew how to bake bread and ferment food in general from cooking daily meals, but beer and liquor always seemed like a pipe-dream for an amateur like me.

When the five-gallon pot, liquid malt extract, and specialty grains arrived on my doorstep, I thought that this was going to be an involved process. But actually, this assumption couldn’t have been further from the truth. Brewing beer is a lot simpler when done in small, non-industrial batches.

I start each brew looking at a spreadsheet I created to optimize my favorite brew. Right now I’m trying to work through a barley-oat beer, though I think

I prefer a pure barley beer.

When I start to pour the initial batch of water, I’m always concerned that I’ll burn myself. I’m clumsy, which means the 150 degree Fahrenheit water could easily scald me. But this temperature is the best to help start the brew, so I grit my teeth and pour the 2.5 gallons in anyway.

Afterward comes the steeping step. I’ve always been more of a fan of coffee myself, but the specialty grain (typically barley, wheat, and/or oats) gets bundled into a cheesecloth bag that ends up looking like a misshapen giant tea bag which my little sister posts to her Instagram to amuse her friends. At this point, I’m poking at the bag to make sure that the flavor comes out, but I’m always afraid that the solution will become bitter.

“Flavor town” isn’t something that I think suits my personal taste. While some people like to leave their bag of grains in for longer, I remove my bag after 30 minutes and let any remaining flavor drip into the solution.

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Reach writer Andy Chia at pacificwave@uw.edu. Twitter: @GreatBaconBaron.

Irika Sinha @guiltyviolet