beer from scratch for beginners

[the big lebowski]

hi all i saw a thread started asking about grain (barley i think) to make beer with and it got me thinking id like to give it a try so as someone whose only ever made beer from homebrew kits before i was thinking what would i need to make a basic beer ,i like lager and ales and i have all the stuff to make the beer so can anyone recomend a type of grain to buy and any newbie mistakes i should look out for ,as its this time of year and im drawing up plans to plant diff things in diff places,i thought it was a good time to ask about this ,what time of year should i sow the grain ? ill prob order hops online to start with ,i hope others are interested in this too and we can start "the nutters beer club" maybe ,all thoughts welcome ,cheers

[Jimny14]

As you are going to grow your own grain it will require malting before using it to Brew. Also you'll be doing an all grain Brew rather than a kit so there's a bit more involved. You could do a small batch fairly easily on the stove top (often called Brew in the bag) but your extraction efficiency of the sugar is likely to be lower than a proper all grain set up.

[the big lebowski]

im not really sure on the method ill use to make the beer yet ,as ive said i`ve only made from kits and as its this time of year id like to start with the what to /when to grow part 1st but i have FV`s and a big cooking pot that santa bought me so i can cook it on my hob at home , i have plenty of books to read about the brewing methods its more the growing basics info im after at the mo ,cheers for the reply

[Jimny14]

https://cereals.ahdb.org.uk/crop-man...th-guides.aspx

Don't know if you've seen these but could be useful

[Owamya]

All grain brewing.

Owamya mate, I've looked in to all grain as I brew from kits myself, my local homebrew shop stocks all the grains egg and complete grain kits (shopforhomebrew) if you want a look. The biggest reason I haven't too all grain further is the time to make it, looking at least 4 hours. Looked at a grainfather kit which would make the process easier but it's £700 and that's a lot for beer kits.

[Jimny14]

Grain father makes cleaning and stripping down much quicker but pricey but you still need the time to boil the water and do the mash stage. If you're pushed for time you can do split Brew days. Can do mash and sparge one evening then drop the wort off and leave to one side over night then do boil in morning. It means you do have to heat the wort from cold which takes longer but that's the price. Also there are bits in the day where you can't do anything but wait, I often used to pop to do the shopping during the mash.

[the big lebowski]

jeez lads 6 posts in and your already having me spend £700.00 lol ,well ive been flicking thro the river cottage booze book and john wright has a good method that i could use and has some good ideas ,im stiil not sure what barley to plant so still looking for suggestions ,any thoughts welcome ,cheers

[Jimny14]

https://byo.com/article/grow-your-grains/

[Jimny14]

https://www.bluestonebrewing.co.uk/grow-your-own/

[Jimny14]

https://www.sprowtlabs.com/2017/01/1...growing-guide/

[Snadger]

Got my Son a beer making kit for Crimbo. He's into these high strength 'Craft' beers!

He gave me a couple ( a Bottle and a can) in a hamper, both of which were about 14 % proof.

It doesn't help that I am tee total but I thought I have to taste these to see what he is raving on about.

They were both minging and tasted of camp coffee to me. The can's contents went straight down the loo to be used as a de-scaler.!

[the big lebowski]

thanks for the links jimmy ,they look just the sort of thing i was after ,got some reading to do now ,cheers

[Jimny14]

Glad they're of help, it's got me reading up on it too a bit. It would appear two row would be more suited to English ale type beers if I've read it right. Marris otter was the grain I used for everything (English ales, wheat beers big c hop American style APAs) when I was brewing but looking back through old info halcyon, optic and pearl are also widely used.

[the big lebowski]

im really having trouble to track down these seeds to buy ,i ask the seed companys they say go to the homebrew people ,i ask the homebrew people they say try the seed companys ,i think ill go and see if i can find some local farmers to talk too next

[Jimny14]

Whole Barley

Doesn't say what variety etc but is likely suitable for brewing malted. It's whole and unmalted so should still be viable to grow. They're very helpful people (I used to get a lot of stuff from them) so if they know what it is they'll tell you.