BABY'S FIRST RECIPE


As you probably know by now, I brew one gallon batches. The standard is 5 gallons.There are a lot of good reasons to brew this way, the main obviously being that it takes much less space. It also forces you to actually BREW more if you want more beer, each batch is cheaper, you get more practice, you can experiment more, and if a batch sucks you won't feel like you wasted all that time and money on 5 gallons of elephant piss (although you should never dump a batch). 


On a side note, if you have not read the "STUFF YOU NEED TO BREW BEER" post, you probably should.
      
This is my heffeweizen recipe. Its a super straight forward style. You cant frick it up, and the ingredients will run you maybe 8-10 bucks for the first batch since you have to buy hops. The hops will last you 3 or 4 batches! Ive made 2 batches of this, and both are better than any hef I have bought in a store.

HEF!
-1.2 lb German Wheat Malt
-1.2 lb German Pilsner Malt
-Hops - 60 min boil - Preferably Hallertau, but Liberty is a good substitute. (.2 oz) 4% alpha
-Yeast - Fermentis WB-06 

Primary for 3 weeks, then bottle and let it sit for 2-3 more weeks.




       Fun fact about German beer! For a really really long time, there was a law called the

Reinheitsgebot!!!      

       Basically it was a law stating that beer could only be made using water, barley and hops. They could litterally come into your house or brewery, and if there was suspicion of you using anything but these 3 ingredients, they could confiscate your beer and brewing equipment!

When Heffeweizens came onto the scene, since they use wheat in part of the grain bill, the law was actually changed. This style was so awesome to them that they changed the law to allow people to continue brewing it. I think that's rad.
 
         Now that you have your shopping list, you have to actually go out and BUY the stuff. Obviously, they don't sell this crap at your local market; you will have to find a local home brew shop (AKA LHBS). These places are freaking awesome. The first time I walked in one, I instantly got a boner and teared up at the same time. For the most part, the people that work there are awesome, and one that I go to sometimes offers me whatever it is they happen to be brewing at the shop! Its great.

       Buying this stuff should be pretty straight forward, but no one wants to walk in looking like a n00b and asking a bunch of questions (although that's perfectly acceptable!). Your first stop is going to be the grain. The shop will have 20 or 30 bins of different kinds of grains and malts... roasted barley, 2 row pale malt (UK and US!), and crystal malts to name just a few. Just find the stuff you need, scoop it out and weigh the amount you need. Then simply dump ALL of your grains into the grain mill and turn it on. Well, make sure there is a bucket underneath to catch it all first, or you might make a mess and be kicked out onto the street.

       All of the places Ive bought grain at have been totally fine with me milling them all together, sticking it into one bag, and then just telling them how much of each ingredient you got. Easy peasy.

       When you buy hops, they might not have the exact kind you need, but they WILL have a print out of all of the different kinds of hops there are in the world and their substitutes. The shops I go to even have the varieties that they carry circled.

       Yeast... I would suggest not buying liquid  yeast. From what I hear, you can't really save the extras, and they only make them in packets big enough for a 5 gallon batch. Also, they are literally 10 times more expensive than their dry counterparts, and take extra work to get them ready for pitching. Fermentis makes a bunch of awesome dry yeast, you only use half the packet and you can save the rest for later!

Sweet, you got your shiz... time to brew.

2 Response to "BABY'S FIRST RECIPE"

  1. Amanda says:

    This one was yummy!

    Anonymous says:

    Great blog. Can't believe it took me this long to find it. Just about to start my first 1 gallon batch and found this blog super helpful! gracias

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