Brew Belgian Beer
Belgian beer is really rather special. Whether it is the fruity Lambics or the Abbey or Trappiste beers that you prefer, there are certainly hundreds from which to choose.
Don’t think that the Stellas, Jupiler and similar Interbrew mass produced draft beers are typical of the region. When you drink a real Belgian beer, you will know the difference. The trouble is, although becoming increasingly popular, it is still not too easy to find a pint of Belgian beer being sold outside of Belgium. Well, now you can brew your own and they are surprisingly good.
Several homebrew companies now produce beer kits which produce very good imitations of the more well know Belgian style beers. Belgian beer kits generally take a couple of weeks longer to brew than the average beer kit to achieve a higher alcohol content and subtle Abbey beer style flavours.
Brewferm now produce 13 different styles of Belgian beer kits, each of which will make between 7 and 20 litres of beer. As well as the more common Pils, Gold and Wheat beer styles, you can also try the more adventurous Gallia, Diabolo, Abbey, Ambiorix, Triple, Old Brown, Grand Cru and not forgetting their rather superb Christmas ale. Or, if you like a fruit beer, then the Lambic Kriek or Framboise may be for you. I have known a lot of women who thought they didn’t like beer, who then tried a Kriek cherry beer or a Framboise raspberry beer and quickly changed their minds.
Be warned though. Some of these beers are not for the faint hearted, such as the Grand Cru and Triple at about 8,0% abv, although this isn’t exceptional for a Belgian beer. Having said that, the Pils and Wheat beers are a more everyday tipple at 4,5% and 5,0%. These kits are reasonably priced and very straightforward to brew at home.
Milestone Crusader is another increasingly popular Belgian style beer kit. This is a blond style Beer with a zesty clean finish and at about 4.4% very drinkable. The kit makes up to 40 pints, and at less than £20, makes a very reasonably priced pint.
Finally, I want to mention the Beers of the World kits. The Trappist Tripel is pale and strong with a fruity character. Although high in alcohol its body remains light due to the inclusion of genuine Belgian “candi sugar”. They also make a Belgian Witbier. Wheat beers, whilst deservedly popular all over the world, have until now been rather difficult to brew at home. This kit puts that right.
Beers of the World kits are really designed as refills for the Brubox starter kits. However, there is nothing to stop you from making it up as a normal beer kit. It will make 10 litres of excellent beer for the price of about £13. Try finding a Tripel for that price in your local.
So that gives you a quick overview of the Belgian beer kits which you can try at home. It’s a lot easier than you may think and the results drink for themselves. And if this is your first time trying homebrew, remember that your second batch will be much cheaper without the start-up equipment costs.
So what are you waiting for? Show your friends and family what a real Belgian beer tastes like.
Visit the Brew Belgian Beer page now
How to use a little bottler
The Little Bottler
The easy Little Bottler connects straight on to your fermenting bin with a tap which is supplied. It allows you to easily fill bottles with no mess and more importantly no help.
It takes all of the stress and mess out of syphoning your homebrew and you can bottle solo, no need for an assistant bottler.
It is really just a small tube which extends from the end of the tap by about the length of a 1 litre PET bottle or a wine bottle plus an inch or so. In the bottom end of that tube is a needle valve which, when free, stops any fluid passing through it. As soon as the valve is pushed upwards, such as when it touches the bottom of the inside of a bottle, fluid flows freely.
So you can see, push a bottle upwards with the tube inside of it pressing the needle valve upwards and the bottle starts to fill. When the bottle level reaches your preferred level, simply lower the bottle to close the needle valve and the flow ceases allowing you to cap the bottle and get the next one ready.
OK so that helps but now listen to the best bit. Why not ferment your beer in a standard bin and then transfer it to a second fermenting bin. For this you can use either an ordinary syphon tube or one of the excellent automatic syphons on the market. Doing this means that you leave all of the sediment behind in the first bin.
Now, if you connect the little bottler to the tap on your second bin, you can forget all the hassle of tipping the bin up carefully to avoid the sediment for the last few bottles. You just bottle away until it’s all gone.
Of course if you add your priming sugar to the second bin before you transfer your brew, then you won’t even need to prime each bottle with sugar individually!
Bottling sorted – Buy a Little Bottler here.
Using A Brewbelt
Are you finding it hard to get the right temperature for brewing beer or wine?
Fermentation for most home made beers should take place at about 20 degrees Centigrade, 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature needs to be maintained for 4 – 6 days in order for successful fermentation to take place.
During the colder months, it can sometimes be difficult to keep a steady temperature. Placing the brewing bin near to a radiator or in the airing cupboard can help, but then temperatures will vary and unless your heating is on all of the time, you may still have a big problem. Without a constant heat source, the fermentation will either not start at all or it may even stop part way through and ruin your brew. Not good news.
Brewbelt
Enter the Brew Belt. This simple device is simply a plastic coated wire heating element that forms a kind of lasso which can be drawn tightly around the fermenting vessel. On the free end, there is an electric plug. All you do is slip the belt over the brew bin or demijohn(s), tighten it up in the required position and plug it in. That’s it. Your beer or wine will begin to ferment in no time.
Although the Brew Belt isn’t thermostatically controlled, the temperature can be altered a little by simply adjusting the height at which the Brew Belt surrounds your fermenting vessel. The lower the belt, the more heat will be supplied into the fermenting bin.
It’s perfectly safe and can be left for a few days until the fermentation completes. Then simply loosen off the belt, remove it and it is ready for next time.
It’s suitable for any beer and wine making, fitting around a 5 gallon (23 litre) fermenting bin or two 1 gallon demijohns.
It isn’t expensive, is very easy to use and economical to run, using just 25W of electricity.
So go on and try a Brew Belt? Instead of fermenting the beer next to a radiator indoors, or messing up the airing cupboard, you can ferment it in the shed or garage all year round. It not only saves space but saves you worrying about that precious brew as well.
Brewing your own beer is easy
Fancy brewing your own beer? Well, you can and should because it is really easy. Did you realise that you can make 40 pints of very good quality beer in about 3 weeks. In fact most starter beer kits contain very easy to follow instructions. So long as you follow them closely, remembering to keep your homebrew equipment clean, then you will soon be enjoying your own home made beer with your mates.
There is some starter homebrew equipment you will need up front. This can be bought either as a complete beginner’s kit or as individual items. Once you have got them though, your beer will cost you as little as about 40p per pint. And it tastes as good as (better in some cases) any pub beer.
So, what do you need to start off with? Well, you can either buy a complete beer making starting kit, or the separate bits below: -
- 25 Litre brewing bin / bucket
- paddle / stirrer / big spoon
- Siphon tubing
- Steriliser powder
- Beer kit (includes yeast sachet)
- 40 pint barrel or 24 1 litre bottles
OK, so have your equipment. This is how easy it is: -
Firstly but very importantly, sterilise all of your brewing equipment. The instructions should be printed on the tub the sterilising powder came in. 3-4 teaspoons of powder are added to the fermenting bin. Add about 10 litres of warm water. Place into this any other equipment you are using such as the stirring paddle, hydrometers and thermometers. Leave to stand for about 10 minutes. It’s best to swish the solution over the inner sides of the bin a few times.
While you wait, stand the unopened tins of malt extract in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes. This softens the malt and enables most of the contents to be easily poured out.
Then open the tin(s) and pour the malt into the clean fermenting bin. You can use a little boiling water to rinse the last bits out but be very careful, the tin(s) will be hot.
Next add 3.5 litres (6 pints) of boiling water to the extract and mix with the spoon, ensuring all the contents are completely dissolved.
Now top up with cold water to a total of 23 litres (40 pints) and thoroughly mix again. Then snip the top from the yeast sachet and pour in whilst stirring.
That’s all for the moment. Easy isn’t it! Fit the lid on the bucket and leave it to stand for about 4 to 6 days in a warm place (between 18-20 degrees C / 66 – 70 degrees F). In colder months, you should consider buying a brew belt. These are easy to use and economical heaters that simply fix round the fermenting bucket and keep your brew at a constant temperature until you start bottling, usually about 5 days.
After a day or two you will see a thick crust forming on the top of the liquid as the yeast starts to eat the sugar. This means fermentation has started. Fermentation is complete when bubbles cease to rise through the liquid, usually between 4 – 6 days.
You are now ready to transfer your brew to the barrel or bottles, whichever you prefer. This is maybe the trickiest part of the process but easy once you are used to it. First siphon the beer from the fermenting bucket, avoiding disturbing the sediment. Using the siphon provided, fix the tube to the inside of the fermenter but not quite reaching the sediment.
Then suck the tube to start the siphon process. Fitting a tap or a little bottler if using bottles makes this process a lot easier and will also avoid messy floors and work tops or maybe a divorce! Next add a teaspoon or two of sugar to each litre of beer. This will condition the beer, using up the remaining yeast in the mix and provide a little carbonation to result in a nice lively beer.
Now the hard bit. Yes you have to wait! Stand your bottles or barrel in a warm place for 2 days and then transfer to a cool place for at least 14 days or until it has cleared. Ignore any sediment in the bottom. This may look like a thin white/ brown layer on the bottom of the bottles. This can be avoided with careful pouring when drinking although it won’t hurt you anyway.
So that’s it. How easy is that eh? Now you just need to drink your beer. Oh and don’t forget to start the next batch ready for when it runs out. And of course don’t forget that the second batch is so much cheaper without the starter equipment costs.
So what are you waiting for? Buy your starter beer kit today.
Welcome to the homebrew blog
Welcome to beerinthemaking’s homebrew blog. This is the first of many posts where I will add news of anything new or interesting going on in the world of homebrewing beer. Making beer at home is an age old tradition and the method used doesn’t change very much. However the equipment available is always improving.
I will post news on anything I find that is new on the market and also any special offers available to help you save even more money.
Happy brewing.