Adventures With Home Brew
(Page 3 of 4)
July/August 1970
By the Mother Earth News editors
During the summer and hot months, the brew works off rather rapidly. Four to six days and it's ready to bottle, but in the winter, the action takes twice as long. One rule never to ignore is: Count the bubbles. The fermentation time will vary with temperature but the bubbles will tell when the brew has reached the correct specific gravity to bottle. I went to the expense ($10.00) of buying a specific gravity hydrometer to exactly determine the bottling time but I found the bubble system just as accurate and more uniform. (To use the hydrometer correctly, you need a temperature correction chart for the temperature of the liquid in the jug.)
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At approximately that time, I got curious about the law and called the beverage commission to ask about my operation. The commissioner told me it was illegal. I thought he had made a mistake and continued my inquiries. I was soon convinced that the beverage commissioner was right. That gentleman did point out, though, that in order to convict me, they would need a search warrant to gether evidence that would hold up in court. He also pointed out that if I was drinking my output and not selling it, I was safe from arrest.
The basic mixture I've found best is built around one three pound can of Blue Ribbon Malt Extract. This sells in A & P and other supermarkets for $1.25. The cans I buy are labeled Light. I had never seen one labeled Dark. I am not sure what Dark would be like, since Light is about the color and consistency of chocolate syrup. Use whatever you can obtain
T his malt extract is added to five gallons of water. I tried distilled water and demineralized water, but I couldn't detect any difference between that beer and batches made with plain tap water. I even used water from a well a few times and the beer still came out exactly the same.
For the sugar, any granulated brand will do. Five pounds, or approximately one pound for a gallon of water. The yeast is dry Fleischmann's and is obtained in packets of 1/4 ounce. Five cents for a packet.
I had a chemist run an alcohol-content test on a sample of this brew. It came out an even 10% as opposed to the 3.23.9% of most commercial beer.
A bottle capper will cost about $7.00. If you can't find one at your local hardware store, go to the Sears Roebuck order catalog. The bottle capper will also be handy when putting up root beer for the kids and your wife can use it to can and preserve chili sauce made from fresh garden vegetables, so you'll get a good return on this investment. A hundred caps should cost about 40 cents.
On bottling day, throw the required number of caps into a pan of water and soak them. Most caps for home use are lined with cork and produce a much better seal if they are soaked.
On the day you start your first batch of beer, put the contents of one package of yeast in a cup. Add warm water. Not hot. Warm water. If you can't hold your finger in it, it's too hot. Add one spoon of sugar and stir the yeast, water and sugar together. After a short while, it will began to foam. It's important that you start the yeast before you add it to the mixture.
