1) In 1125 they didn't make high alcohol, long shelf-life beer. Beer was brewed with rainwater or filtered river water. The yeast was lambic or baking yeast. It was barreled, bottled and drunk fairly quickly and as a result, 3.2 beer was considered strong. 2% alcohol was about the average.
2) He said yeast can't eat Sucrose. This is false. Many homebrewers use Sucrose. Honey, Dextrose, Lactose, Glucose, or Fructose are better, but Sucrose will work.
Wow, lots of errors in this video! You don't boil the grain!!! You should put it in a nylon mesh bag and remove the grains before the boil. You don't want to extract the harsh tannins from the grains when boiling. You also can't mash very much sugar out of grains in only half an hour anyway. Where did he get all his information? I wonder how his beer ended up tasting?
meddler69, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?? you NEVER boil the grains...EVER! Boiling the grains leaches out tanins and toxins which will not only make your beer taste bad, but also make you sick.
tomsinite, boiling the table sugar, a disaccharide, with water breaks the O bond and makes two monosaccharides, glucose, which the yeast can eat. The boiling is the important step to fix the problem.
In Alton's defense, beer brewing is a pretty esoteric business.
But yes, he does make lots of mistakes. If you want to start brewing, talk to people who know what they're doing, maybe join a brewing forum. They'll steer you in the right direction.
I've been brewing beer for 5 years, normally i would boil the grains unless i would be doing a decoction, and he could of used some irish moss, and its never good to strain things hot though a metal strainer it would oxidize the beer, and 2/3 of a cup of sugar would of been better 3/4 cup. i really think that prior to this video he never made beer before.
This inspired me and my dad to home brew, but to be honest his techniques are off in alot of places now that ive been brewing for a few years now.
One that noticed is that the gas valve he used in my experience are useless, a blow off tubing system is much more effective and wont explode on you (learned that one the hard way)
87 degrees is dangerously close to being hot enough to kill the yeast. Sparging actually means to sprinkle or rinse (not strain). Boiling the specialty grains with the wort will extract all kinds of tannins and give your beer a puckering tea-like after taste.
Good idea using ice. And I like using spigotted buckets to ferment. Makes the transfering much easier. You could actually add the priming sugar right into the fermenter and bottle from there, eliminating the need for the 2nd bucket.
so... the liquid in the pot is wort as soon as you add the ingredients. dry hopping occurs when you add hops to the fermenter, typically after primary fermentation has occurred and the beer is in a secondary fermenter. when he adds the speciality grains to the wort, usually you would want to put those in a grain bag to keep them together and not create such a mess in the wort. sparging only happens in all grain brewing, and is the process of running hot water over a mash to collect the wort.
I've just started homebrewing and I have a question about his procedure. Isn't the whole purpose of steeping the specialty grains defeated when he includes them in the wort that is eventually boiled?
I'd like to read the apology. I'm new to homebrewing but understand enough from what I've read to know that he is dead wrong on several things he said. For example, aerating the wort after pitching yeast is common, whether done via O2 injection or simply gently rocking the primary fermenting vessel (with lid on). I do like the use of powder free latex gloves though. A lot easier and less worrysome when sanitizing your hands.
He is teaching novices that haven't home brewed before. He told us the same thing 2 separate brew shop owners told me for my first batch, and it came out great.
Hahaha, watching this video was a constant facepalm and NO ONE should copy what Alton did or use this episode as a guide whatsoever. Semi-entertaining, but blasphemy to homebrewing.
Many people would say the same of beer. Many microbrewers are EXTREMELY picky on the grains used in their beer, and they're even more picky about the hops.
I have heard several people say to never use soap on any of these things. So my question is, before sanitation, how do you get everything extremely clean in order to be ready for brewing/bottling?
Soap will kill the head of your beer if there is any residue. You need to clean before you sanitize though. They are two different steps. You can clean with detergents but wash them well with HOT water.
Also, don't use bleach. Get some good no rinse sanitizer from a homebrew shop. Much easier and much harder to mess up with.
you can also use food grade iodine solutions. My dad and I brew(in fact we made an ESB last weekend). We used this stuff that dairies use for sanitation. You need to dilute the crap out of but it should come with instuctions. Also they make this stuff that looks like salt(you can get these things at any decent brew store) that you don't need to rise off and is very easy and safe and effective to use.Srry don't have the brand names in front of me right now. Personaly I'd never use bleach.
Thank you for posting this. We caught the original episode on foodnetwork, wanted to make beer, but didn't want to wait a month for a repeat. Thank you so much...
adding your wort, pronounced "wert", directly to ice you did not freeze yourself from boiled water is not a good idea. i would recomened either an ice bath or a wort chiller.
I doesn't matter how much you or dislike hops, a 10 min. boil isn't enough time for hop utilization. 10 min might very well make a MORE pronounced hop flavor since the hop oils have not isomerized correctly.
Considering this is NOT supposed to be a detailed documentary on the brewing process nor the history of brewing I would have to say Alton did an excellent job, he covered the basics and kept it simple.
totally disagree with what he does after adding yeast....the wort should be oxygenized.....DO shake the wort before adding yeast(or use an oxygen tank) MUST have o2 to convert!!!!
I make cider and I don't agitate after I pitch. So far I haven't had any problems with any of the several batches I have made. So I will continue to do what has worked so far.
I completely agree with fearthechin's comment. As a homebrewer and a former pro brewer, I can say his info is somewhat on track, but very vague. I understand he's trying to wrap things up in 30min, but he could have at least made sure his script was well researched and accurate. I definately lost some respect for Alton after watching this. He's always been a dork, but at least he's been full of facts, or so I thought.
how far off is alton in this episode. I have never home brewed but ave seen very different ways on youtube. If you look up homebrewing made easy on here, its also different from altons version. Is there a holy grail of easy beginner home brewing on youtube?
Alton has the basics down and did so very accurately. Brewing itself can be very simple, I recommend the book "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by Charlie Papazian. There are hundreds of methods and styles to homebrewing, and most work very well, its simply a matter of preferance.
A lot of people have made negative responses to his true brew series (such as the espresso, coffee & tea ones). i think the problem is these all are a bit out of his norm - with specialized equipment and complex, varied and "un-simplify-able" techniques. these episodes inspire me to go out and do my own research to make them, so i guess they're successful towards he main goal of do-it-all-yourself&better
As a home brewer myself, there are great inconsistencies in Alton's presentation and it is hard to believe he is an active home brewer. I would not follow what Alton does in this episode as the proper way to home brew. Alton only boils the bittering hops (as he calls flavoring hops) for 10 minutes. As most home brewers know, a full hour boil is recommended. Dry hopping, as Alton calls it, is not adding aroma hops at end of boil but rather adding hops to fermentor after fermentation has ended.
I have been home brewing for about three years now, and I don't think you are suppose to leave the barley in the water after you mash (although I could be wrong). I have always heard to take it out or strain it, then bring it up to a boil, otherwise you get a nasty taste to your wort.
You're not, boiling the grains brings out undesireable esters and resins. I think this was a last minute episode decision on the Producers part, Alton doesn't seem terribly convincing that he actually homebrews. He even refers to his addition of aroma hops as "dry hopping" which is incorrect, uses the amatuerish "partial boil" technique, and owns no carboys at all. Hard to believe from a guy with a fat wallet and a penchant for kitchen toys...
sorry, didn't mean to imply that hops contain thc, which they don't. it is proven fact however that hops contain alkaloids which do effect humans; obviously they aren't that strong or hops would be illegal. It is scientific fact however that hops do have an intoxicating effect; its also true that homebrew has a higher concentration of hops. Therefore, homebrew has a different effect on consciousness than commercials do. I drink my own homebrew, you can tell the difference.
To be fair, only a few people will actually want that level of hop flavor that you and fearthechin are describing. I'm among them--I love hops and think a pronounced hop flavor is great in beer. But most people aren't looking for that. General beer production should be done at the level Alton is describing unless you're planning to serve serious hoppy beer lovers like you and I.
as for prices - the only brew shop in baton rouge burned down a few months ago, they relocated but their prices are probably inflated. if you buy parts individually you can save at least 30%. im just lazy. the key to making decent home brew- be insanely anal about cleanliness. as long as no bacteriums skunk up your brew, it will be decent.
5 gallon ingredients kit - $30 US - makes 52 bottles!
i just finished my first batch. great beer. also, homemade beers contain more hops, and hops are closely related to cannabis sativa, which means, homemade beer gives you a much more relaxing effect than industrials. i definitely recommend home brewing.
sorry, but although hops are in the Cannabaceae family, Cannabis is a different genus, so no, "relaxation affect", it might be metal since you believe it contains THC.
Hops does provide relaxation. It contains Lupulin, which is a mild relaxant. Presumably lupulin is transfered into the beer. I know smoking hops works. I like putting hops in my cigarettes for the relaxing effect.
It isn't that difficult, I bought a kit and I'm going to give it a try-maybe make some pear champagne. It's very similar to beer-making, maybe easier! I'll write to him and suggest it. :D I really appreciate you uploading these episodes!
Mead is fermented honey, some call it "honey wine", but it is not technically wine. Wine is fermented grape juice, just like beer is fermented malt-o-meal...
Technically yes, and "just fermenting grape juice" will give you something akin to wine. But making good wine that people will actually enjoy drinking is quite a bit more involved, and it starts before there are even buds on the vine. You've got to prune the vines correctly, then care for them throughout the growing season, harvest them at exactly the right time...
Well, look, there's a LOT to making good wine, it's really not as simple as making hard cider, IF you want to do it "right".
This episode was one of the things that got me interested enough to try homebrewing myself. Now it's my favorite hobby. Once you have the brewing equipment AB mentions here, you can make other yummy things like wine, hard cider, and mead. It's fun!
About $65. You can get a kit with all the stuff Alton used for around that price. If you don't have a local homebrew shop, you can order them online from places like MoreBeer dot com, or NorthernBrewer dot com. Actually, the fancy flip-top bottles he used are extra. I just reuse bottles from commercial beer, and put new caps on them.
I make cider and I do it cheap. My fermenters are glass bottles that apple juice came in. You can then add stoppers with airlocks. Another secret. Plain old bread yeast is the same type of yeast as the ale yeast sold in brew shops.
thats not 100% true, but it really depends on what type of beer your going for and what bread yeast you buy...though bread making and beer brewing have a TON in common...i should know, i do sourdough starters and brew
Bread yeast and ale yeast are NOT exactly the same. There are some similarities, sure, but bread yeast is bred for producing CO2, not alcohol.
When I make cider, I prefer using a wine yeast, though I prefer a stronger product. It's not expensive, the most you'll EVER pay for the yeast is $1 a packet, though it is available much cheaper.
bread yeast and ale yeast are both Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It works great for producing both CO2 and alcohol. Which is good for making sparkling cider.
I haven't tried using other kinds of yeasts for making cider. I may have to drop by the brew shop and give it a try.
I guess you learn something new every day (or correct previously learned, incorrect knowledge, in this case). I had always heard they were different. After a little research, I have found that yes, they are both Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but there are different strains which produce different characters.
Like I said, I still prefer wine yeasts for producing ciders, because they usually give a crisper flavor, and a good champagne yeast can make a cider that will knock your socks off!
Woah, slow down a bit there. Just because they are the same species does NOT mean that they do the same thing! Consider that all e. coli (a bacteria rather than a yeast, but still a microorganism) are the same species, but there are strains that vary wildly from each other in how they behave. Some live happily inside you, others will kill you and eat your flesh, and others are so fragile they can't live outside of a lab.
Same with yeast - same species, very different characteristics.
Ale yeast and bread yeast are the EXACT same strain, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. The only thing that would be different is the packaging. I know active dry yeast is small pellets of live yeast encased in dead yeast. Where as ale yeast from the brew shop may come packaged differently. But, active dry yeast and pitchable yeast are both Saccharomyces Cerevisiae.
For making cider, I find that bread yeast works just fine.
S. Cerevisiae is the species name, not the name of the strain. Strain names are just letters and numbers, like "S4B" or "YPH499". There are over 650 strains of S. Cerevisiae worldwide, and while most of them will ferment sugars, very few will produce acceptable beer.
And the strains commonly used to make bread are quite different from those used to make beer, which in turn are different from those used to make wine. In fact different kinds of wine & beer use different strains of yeast.
I just made a few gallons of different fruit wines last year and I used bread yeast and my God they're just awesome! I'm just finishing them before I bottle and honest to goodness, they're better than any store-bought wine I've ever had. Maybe that's absolute wine-sacrilege, but I'm sticking to my guns. My wine seriously rocks. And it was made with bread yeast.
I actually made two kinds Pumpkin and Quince Pineapple. They were both awesome. I actually didn't buy anything fancy other than airlocks and some glass gallon jugs. My grandmother has a quince bush so that's where I got that fruit. We had the pineapple leftover. The pumpkin was a special pie pumpkin that the guy we get hay from grows.
I just chopped the fruit up in my food processor and poured boiling water over it. I got the recipe from Jack Keller's website. He's got a huge amount of fruit wine recipes. That's what I'm into.
The bread yeast made a really smooth, medium-bodied, pleasantly sweet wine. The alcohol content isn't real high, but that's ok with me. I leave the wine on its lees to ferment which isn't recommended because it cause additional flavor variables, but again, that's fine with me.
It makes each wine unique, and a lot of times with solely fruit wines you don't get a lot of depth of flavor or too many different levels of flavor which is something I expect out of a good wine, and I think leaving it on the lees really gives that to fruit wines. Also, I don't use any chemicals in my wines.
wow he really has no idea what he is doing.
mauser98k98 2 weeks ago
Question-did any of you who commented go to Culinary School?
WisdomIsEternal 4 months ago
@WisdomIsEternal most culinary schools are bullshit
azncrazy247 4 months ago
I know a lot of home brewers who boil their grains for 60 minutes. That's too long for me. Makes it bitter, but they are not too bad.
For better advice, download QBrew.exe.
MR2Davjohn 4 months ago
He makes 2 major mis-statements in this show.
1) In 1125 they didn't make high alcohol, long shelf-life beer. Beer was brewed with rainwater or filtered river water. The yeast was lambic or baking yeast. It was barreled, bottled and drunk fairly quickly and as a result, 3.2 beer was considered strong. 2% alcohol was about the average.
2) He said yeast can't eat Sucrose. This is false. Many homebrewers use Sucrose. Honey, Dextrose, Lactose, Glucose, or Fructose are better, but Sucrose will work.
MR2Davjohn 4 months ago
The only people I've ever known who have timed intervals more obsessively than homebrewers were nine months pregnant.
SimuLord 5 months ago
Wait...isn't the fermenter/bubbler a unitasker? Alton, you're disappointing me!
Jodabomb24 5 months ago
Oh i bet that beer was a harsh...not to mention nasty. I wouldn't drink it for at least 1-2mths in the bottle. If ever.
Celestyal22 9 months ago
Wow, lots of errors in this video! You don't boil the grain!!! You should put it in a nylon mesh bag and remove the grains before the boil. You don't want to extract the harsh tannins from the grains when boiling. You also can't mash very much sugar out of grains in only half an hour anyway. Where did he get all his information? I wonder how his beer ended up tasting?
pauswa1966 9 months ago
Pitching cold yeast at 87 degrees...nooo...poor yeast!
Ralelen 11 months ago
meddler69, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?? you NEVER boil the grains...EVER! Boiling the grains leaches out tanins and toxins which will not only make your beer taste bad, but also make you sick.
bg4078 1 year ago
tomsinite, boiling the table sugar, a disaccharide, with water breaks the O bond and makes two monosaccharides, glucose, which the yeast can eat. The boiling is the important step to fix the problem.
bg4078 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Did he just say table sugar doesnt work.... Is he fucking retarted
tomsinite 1 year ago
definitely should have consulted an experienced home brewer. he is mixing all-grain terminology with extract brewing.
wlr44 1 year ago
In Alton's defense, beer brewing is a pretty esoteric business.
But yes, he does make lots of mistakes. If you want to start brewing, talk to people who know what they're doing, maybe join a brewing forum. They'll steer you in the right direction.
yutzwagon2 1 year ago
I've been brewing beer for 5 years, normally i would boil the grains unless i would be doing a decoction, and he could of used some irish moss, and its never good to strain things hot though a metal strainer it would oxidize the beer, and 2/3 of a cup of sugar would of been better 3/4 cup. i really think that prior to this video he never made beer before.
meddler69 1 year ago
I'm shocked at how many things Alton got wrong or missed in this video.
lharrod 1 year ago
This inspired me and my dad to home brew, but to be honest his techniques are off in alot of places now that ive been brewing for a few years now.
One that noticed is that the gas valve he used in my experience are useless, a blow off tubing system is much more effective and wont explode on you (learned that one the hard way)
Bmarch08 1 year ago
Wow there were a lot of inaccuracies!
scooterunderwood 1 year ago
what if you don;t like the flavour of the brew all that work for nothing?
MrB7654321 1 year ago
@MrB7654321 You take notes, drink it anyways (How many people drink nasty piss beer anyways) get drunk, and try again.
I tell people all the time your first batch will probably suck, don't get discouraged.
MrFrostystorm 1 month ago
"no not a drive by shooting, breaking bottles."
youfail2009 1 year ago
not a drive by shooting, haha
outta910 1 year ago
87 degrees is dangerously close to being hot enough to kill the yeast. Sparging actually means to sprinkle or rinse (not strain). Boiling the specialty grains with the wort will extract all kinds of tannins and give your beer a puckering tea-like after taste.
Good idea using ice. And I like using spigotted buckets to ferment. Makes the transfering much easier. You could actually add the priming sugar right into the fermenter and bottle from there, eliminating the need for the 2nd bucket.
bgubser 1 year ago
@bgubser Not to mention the 87 degree pitch is going to make the beer taste like banana bubble gum
sm007thie 1 year ago
dry hopping is actually done during secondary fermentation
budblg 2 years ago
Beer sounds nice but it be nice to make
root beer.I LOVE root beer!
SkaldIduna 2 years ago
so... the liquid in the pot is wort as soon as you add the ingredients. dry hopping occurs when you add hops to the fermenter, typically after primary fermentation has occurred and the beer is in a secondary fermenter. when he adds the speciality grains to the wort, usually you would want to put those in a grain bag to keep them together and not create such a mess in the wort. sparging only happens in all grain brewing, and is the process of running hot water over a mash to collect the wort.
percyprep 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Alton Brown is an idiot......that is NOT how you BREW BEER!!!
KillerGX 2 years ago
I've just started homebrewing and I have a question about his procedure. Isn't the whole purpose of steeping the specialty grains defeated when he includes them in the wort that is eventually boiled?
truebe19 2 years ago
I'd like to read the apology. I'm new to homebrewing but understand enough from what I've read to know that he is dead wrong on several things he said. For example, aerating the wort after pitching yeast is common, whether done via O2 injection or simply gently rocking the primary fermenting vessel (with lid on). I do like the use of powder free latex gloves though. A lot easier and less worrysome when sanitizing your hands.
keys2heaven 2 years ago
it should be noted that Alton release a public appology for the numberous inaccuracies in this video.
gigalori1 2 years ago 10
He is teaching novices that haven't home brewed before. He told us the same thing 2 separate brew shop owners told me for my first batch, and it came out great.
TheGravel 2 years ago 2
Hahaha, watching this video was a constant facepalm and NO ONE should copy what Alton did or use this episode as a guide whatsoever. Semi-entertaining, but blasphemy to homebrewing.
kamuimusackie 2 years ago
@gigalori1
such as....
Koolaiddewz 1 year ago
Many people would say the same of beer. Many microbrewers are EXTREMELY picky on the grains used in their beer, and they're even more picky about the hops.
Flanning 2 years ago
Where's the best supply for this? The places I've looked total about $250 for the supply list he uses... that is not a small investment.
Wallace01 2 years ago
I was wondering something, on the video he uses milled barley, but on the recepie it says to use crystal grain, which one should i use?
ianandrewmclean 2 years ago
crystal grains are a type of grain, the crystal grains should be milled.
gigalori1 2 years ago
Why does he look disgusted when he takes a sip at the end
drunkfux1 2 years ago
That's just Alton's yummy face, he always does that.
KrahulikIsGod 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
perfect pour my ass, there was almost no head on that beer.
DarkAvatar1313 3 years ago
amount of foam varies depend on carbonation and hops. there's no universal standard for all beers.
BlueCrystalGem 2 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
dont use water in your air lock!! use above 50% alcohol so it stays sanitized.
mywootgarden 3 years ago
Theoretically speaking it shouldn't make a difference because the air goes out, not in so there is no way of causing contamination
Zaekk 3 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
is that a risk your willing to take?
mywootgarden 3 years ago
With my understanding of physics and the fact that its done on a relatively popular television show, (and the fact I don't like beer) yeah I'll bite.
Zaekk 3 years ago
Water in airlocks is how it is commonly done. There isn't spillage.
The truth is that when yeast has had a chance to establish itself, it crowds out (kills) other microbes.
recoil53 3 years ago
Oxygenated sanitizer. I've HEARD, heard, mind you, not know, that bleach can degrade your plastic fermenters.
vergeofchaos 3 years ago
I'm so sad to see that wedding ring on his finger! We could live happily ever after - me, Alton, and fabulous home-brewed beer!
rachelbee1 3 years ago
When did bleach become soap?
Farzack 3 years ago
I have heard several people say to never use soap on any of these things. So my question is, before sanitation, how do you get everything extremely clean in order to be ready for brewing/bottling?
FreeTibet97 3 years ago
Soap will kill the head of your beer if there is any residue. You need to clean before you sanitize though. They are two different steps. You can clean with detergents but wash them well with HOT water.
Also, don't use bleach. Get some good no rinse sanitizer from a homebrew shop. Much easier and much harder to mess up with.
Bigsnake486 3 years ago
you can also use food grade iodine solutions. My dad and I brew(in fact we made an ESB last weekend). We used this stuff that dairies use for sanitation. You need to dilute the crap out of but it should come with instuctions. Also they make this stuff that looks like salt(you can get these things at any decent brew store) that you don't need to rise off and is very easy and safe and effective to use.Srry don't have the brand names in front of me right now. Personaly I'd never use bleach.
satansaysdie 3 years ago
Thank you for posting this. We caught the original episode on foodnetwork, wanted to make beer, but didn't want to wait a month for a repeat. Thank you so much...
IllinoisCAN 3 years ago
I liked the refrence to a drive-by shooting.
jimmiejohnsonfan148 3 years ago 8
adding your wort, pronounced "wert", directly to ice you did not freeze yourself from boiled water is not a good idea. i would recomened either an ice bath or a wort chiller.
brewnut1 3 years ago 2
polysyllabic: 1 : having more than one and usually more than three syllables 2 : characterized by words of many syllables /// WHAT?????
Waboom1 3 years ago
I doesn't matter how much you or dislike hops, a 10 min. boil isn't enough time for hop utilization. 10 min might very well make a MORE pronounced hop flavor since the hop oils have not isomerized correctly.
Waboom1 3 years ago
"isomerized" is a polysyllabic word.
mchilese 3 years ago
Considering this is NOT supposed to be a detailed documentary on the brewing process nor the history of brewing I would have to say Alton did an excellent job, he covered the basics and kept it simple.
kjpomeroy 3 years ago 4
totally disagree with what he does after adding yeast....the wort should be oxygenized.....DO shake the wort before adding yeast(or use an oxygen tank) MUST have o2 to convert!!!!
luv2bbq 3 years ago
I make cider and I don't agitate after I pitch. So far I haven't had any problems with any of the several batches I have made. So I will continue to do what has worked so far.
purplemutantas 2 years ago
why do you tip it
hinder1312 3 years ago
I completely agree with fearthechin's comment. As a homebrewer and a former pro brewer, I can say his info is somewhat on track, but very vague. I understand he's trying to wrap things up in 30min, but he could have at least made sure his script was well researched and accurate. I definately lost some respect for Alton after watching this. He's always been a dork, but at least he's been full of facts, or so I thought.
brewmaster226 4 years ago
how far off is alton in this episode. I have never home brewed but ave seen very different ways on youtube. If you look up homebrewing made easy on here, its also different from altons version. Is there a holy grail of easy beginner home brewing on youtube?
aviewtodeath 4 years ago
Alton has the basics down and did so very accurately. Brewing itself can be very simple, I recommend the book "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by Charlie Papazian. There are hundreds of methods and styles to homebrewing, and most work very well, its simply a matter of preferance.
kjpomeroy 3 years ago 2
A lot of people have made negative responses to his true brew series (such as the espresso, coffee & tea ones). i think the problem is these all are a bit out of his norm - with specialized equipment and complex, varied and "un-simplify-able" techniques. these episodes inspire me to go out and do my own research to make them, so i guess they're successful towards he main goal of do-it-all-yourself&better
whitefire64 3 years ago 2
As a home brewer myself, there are great inconsistencies in Alton's presentation and it is hard to believe he is an active home brewer. I would not follow what Alton does in this episode as the proper way to home brew. Alton only boils the bittering hops (as he calls flavoring hops) for 10 minutes. As most home brewers know, a full hour boil is recommended. Dry hopping, as Alton calls it, is not adding aroma hops at end of boil but rather adding hops to fermentor after fermentation has ended.
fearthechin 4 years ago
I have been home brewing for about three years now, and I don't think you are suppose to leave the barley in the water after you mash (although I could be wrong). I have always heard to take it out or strain it, then bring it up to a boil, otherwise you get a nasty taste to your wort.
dsm4gsus 4 years ago 3
You're not, boiling the grains brings out undesireable esters and resins. I think this was a last minute episode decision on the Producers part, Alton doesn't seem terribly convincing that he actually homebrews. He even refers to his addition of aroma hops as "dry hopping" which is incorrect, uses the amatuerish "partial boil" technique, and owns no carboys at all. Hard to believe from a guy with a fat wallet and a penchant for kitchen toys...
OPE08 4 years ago
is it bad that the bag of barley reminded me of a bag of weed
jumpsteady567 4 years ago
No, everyone should know what weed at least looks like. Oh and BEER IS GOOD!
xeryph 4 years ago
sorry, didn't mean to imply that hops contain thc, which they don't. it is proven fact however that hops contain alkaloids which do effect humans; obviously they aren't that strong or hops would be illegal. It is scientific fact however that hops do have an intoxicating effect; its also true that homebrew has a higher concentration of hops. Therefore, homebrew has a different effect on consciousness than commercials do. I drink my own homebrew, you can tell the difference.
vatazar 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
You're a retard
brewmaster226 4 years ago
To be fair, only a few people will actually want that level of hop flavor that you and fearthechin are describing. I'm among them--I love hops and think a pronounced hop flavor is great in beer. But most people aren't looking for that. General beer production should be done at the level Alton is describing unless you're planning to serve serious hoppy beer lovers like you and I.
madman8199 3 years ago
Making your own beer is the best!!!
MartinsBrew 4 years ago
as for prices - the only brew shop in baton rouge burned down a few months ago, they relocated but their prices are probably inflated. if you buy parts individually you can save at least 30%. im just lazy. the key to making decent home brew- be insanely anal about cleanliness. as long as no bacteriums skunk up your brew, it will be decent.
vatazar 4 years ago
brewers starter kit - $130 US
5 gallon ingredients kit - $30 US - makes 52 bottles!
i just finished my first batch. great beer. also, homemade beers contain more hops, and hops are closely related to cannabis sativa, which means, homemade beer gives you a much more relaxing effect than industrials. i definitely recommend home brewing.
vatazar 4 years ago
sorry, but although hops are in the Cannabaceae family, Cannabis is a different genus, so no, "relaxation affect", it might be metal since you believe it contains THC.
elfgirl382 4 years ago
Yeah the THC thing couldn't be more off base, maybe he was hittin the bong when he thought that crap up
DougJ 3 years ago
Hops does provide relaxation. It contains Lupulin, which is a mild relaxant. Presumably lupulin is transfered into the beer. I know smoking hops works. I like putting hops in my cigarettes for the relaxing effect.
purplemutantas 2 years ago
Mr. Beer...thats all I have to say. Look it up.
vilense 4 years ago
HOMEBREW!!!! Mr. Beer is for amateurs!!!
shitgoose151 4 years ago
It isn't that difficult, I bought a kit and I'm going to give it a try-maybe make some pear champagne. It's very similar to beer-making, maybe easier! I'll write to him and suggest it. :D I really appreciate you uploading these episodes!
marasmius 4 years ago
That sounds really really good! :D I'll have to look into that.
grahambcp 4 years ago
Has Alton made wine on any of his shows?
marasmius 4 years ago
He has not. Would be really cool to see/drink but I'm not sure how one can pll it off in their own home. would love to see him make mead though. :D
grahambcp 4 years ago
mead is wine
shlnmastakilla 4 years ago
Yeah I guess technically. It's odd to think of wine without grapes though.
grahambcp 4 years ago
absolutely
shlnmastakilla 4 years ago
Mead is fermented honey, some call it "honey wine", but it is not technically wine. Wine is fermented grape juice, just like beer is fermented malt-o-meal...
I believe methiglin is a wine/mead mix...
OPE08 4 years ago
Isn't wine technically just fermented grape juice? So grape juice + yeast should = wine right? So it should be as simple as making hard cider.
purplemutantas 2 years ago
There are more complex recipes, but yes, I have made drinkable wine (not good...drinkable) from Welch's grape juice.
That said, you can make MUCH better wine by doing a little bit more work, and adding a few enzymes, and other chemicals.
recchiap 2 years ago
Technically yes, and "just fermenting grape juice" will give you something akin to wine. But making good wine that people will actually enjoy drinking is quite a bit more involved, and it starts before there are even buds on the vine. You've got to prune the vines correctly, then care for them throughout the growing season, harvest them at exactly the right time...
Well, look, there's a LOT to making good wine, it's really not as simple as making hard cider, IF you want to do it "right".
Oberon4278 2 years ago 2
haha "drive by shooting" haha
heathnugget 4 years ago 2
This episode was one of the things that got me interested enough to try homebrewing myself. Now it's my favorite hobby. Once you have the brewing equipment AB mentions here, you can make other yummy things like wine, hard cider, and mead. It's fun!
JephSullivan 4 years ago
how much did all this equipment cost you?
zhaneranger 4 years ago
About $65. You can get a kit with all the stuff Alton used for around that price. If you don't have a local homebrew shop, you can order them online from places like MoreBeer dot com, or NorthernBrewer dot com. Actually, the fancy flip-top bottles he used are extra. I just reuse bottles from commercial beer, and put new caps on them.
JephSullivan 4 years ago
thanks jephsullivan $65 isnt too much.
zhaneranger 4 years ago
I make cider and I do it cheap. My fermenters are glass bottles that apple juice came in. You can then add stoppers with airlocks. Another secret. Plain old bread yeast is the same type of yeast as the ale yeast sold in brew shops.
So making alcohol doesn't have to cost much.
purplemutantas 2 years ago
thats not 100% true, but it really depends on what type of beer your going for and what bread yeast you buy...though bread making and beer brewing have a TON in common...i should know, i do sourdough starters and brew
hudy23 2 years ago
Bread yeast and ale yeast are NOT exactly the same. There are some similarities, sure, but bread yeast is bred for producing CO2, not alcohol.
When I make cider, I prefer using a wine yeast, though I prefer a stronger product. It's not expensive, the most you'll EVER pay for the yeast is $1 a packet, though it is available much cheaper.
recchiap 2 years ago
bread yeast and ale yeast are both Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It works great for producing both CO2 and alcohol. Which is good for making sparkling cider.
I haven't tried using other kinds of yeasts for making cider. I may have to drop by the brew shop and give it a try.
purplemutantas 2 years ago
I guess you learn something new every day (or correct previously learned, incorrect knowledge, in this case). I had always heard they were different. After a little research, I have found that yes, they are both Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but there are different strains which produce different characters.
Like I said, I still prefer wine yeasts for producing ciders, because they usually give a crisper flavor, and a good champagne yeast can make a cider that will knock your socks off!
recchiap 2 years ago
I will have to try different yeasts. The brew shop here sells cider yeast. I may have to pick up some of that and some wine or champagne yeast.
purplemutantas 2 years ago
Woah, slow down a bit there. Just because they are the same species does NOT mean that they do the same thing! Consider that all e. coli (a bacteria rather than a yeast, but still a microorganism) are the same species, but there are strains that vary wildly from each other in how they behave. Some live happily inside you, others will kill you and eat your flesh, and others are so fragile they can't live outside of a lab.
Same with yeast - same species, very different characteristics.
Oberon4278 2 years ago 2
Ale yeast and bread yeast are the EXACT same strain, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. The only thing that would be different is the packaging. I know active dry yeast is small pellets of live yeast encased in dead yeast. Where as ale yeast from the brew shop may come packaged differently. But, active dry yeast and pitchable yeast are both Saccharomyces Cerevisiae.
For making cider, I find that bread yeast works just fine.
purplemutantas 2 years ago
S. Cerevisiae is the species name, not the name of the strain. Strain names are just letters and numbers, like "S4B" or "YPH499". There are over 650 strains of S. Cerevisiae worldwide, and while most of them will ferment sugars, very few will produce acceptable beer.
And the strains commonly used to make bread are quite different from those used to make beer, which in turn are different from those used to make wine. In fact different kinds of wine & beer use different strains of yeast.
Oberon4278 2 years ago 2
I just made a few gallons of different fruit wines last year and I used bread yeast and my God they're just awesome! I'm just finishing them before I bottle and honest to goodness, they're better than any store-bought wine I've ever had. Maybe that's absolute wine-sacrilege, but I'm sticking to my guns. My wine seriously rocks. And it was made with bread yeast.
dazigg 2 years ago
What kinds of fruit did you use? Did you buy juice or press the fruit?
I made some cider with martinellies apple pomegranate juice. It was tasty stuff.
Bread yeast is cheap and easy to find. So I am probably going to stick with that.
purplemutantas 2 years ago
I actually made two kinds Pumpkin and Quince Pineapple. They were both awesome. I actually didn't buy anything fancy other than airlocks and some glass gallon jugs. My grandmother has a quince bush so that's where I got that fruit. We had the pineapple leftover. The pumpkin was a special pie pumpkin that the guy we get hay from grows.
dazigg 2 years ago
I just chopped the fruit up in my food processor and poured boiling water over it. I got the recipe from Jack Keller's website. He's got a huge amount of fruit wine recipes. That's what I'm into.
dazigg 2 years ago
The bread yeast made a really smooth, medium-bodied, pleasantly sweet wine. The alcohol content isn't real high, but that's ok with me. I leave the wine on its lees to ferment which isn't recommended because it cause additional flavor variables, but again, that's fine with me.
dazigg 2 years ago
It makes each wine unique, and a lot of times with solely fruit wines you don't get a lot of depth of flavor or too many different levels of flavor which is something I expect out of a good wine, and I think leaving it on the lees really gives that to fruit wines. Also, I don't use any chemicals in my wines.
dazigg 2 years ago
It's not me, so it cost me nothing. Alton, I think says something about $50-75 dollars American or so ... I don't recall.
LikeTheHat 4 years ago
@zhaneranger i would also reccomen going to hoptech.com they have a number of stuff u can go organic to
thedruidherbalist 1 year ago
@zhaneranger There are stores and websites where you can get this stuff as kits
niceworkmicrosoft 1 year ago
Mmm. Good eats... I watched all of your videos... lol...
Jmbis25 4 years ago