Making your own beer in the privacy of your own kitchen has really grown in popularity over the last few years. Many people love experimenting with flavors, strengths, and mixtures that give completely different results. It can be a fun pastime that does not require extremely expensive equipment and ingredients. Some even go so far as to try their hands at Illinois homegrown hops instead of purchasing the fruit ready for brewing.
Hop rhizomes are fairly easy to grow yourself if you have a sunny place for them. You can purchase the roots online inexpensively. Once you get them, you need to find a space with room for a pole or trellis as the plants will shoot up thirty feet or so. They need soil with plenty of nutrients and a good drainage system to get them started.
Knowing exactly when the plants are ready to be harvested seems to require experience and a good sense of smell, touch, and sight. Once the fruit appears and is ready to be plucked, you will need a ladder to get to the top of the plants. If you don't have a ladder handy, you can pull the plants to the ground and pick the fruit that way. Commercial growers have equipment to remove the fruit, but most amateur growers don't go to the expense.
Drying them is the next step, and that must be done as soon as possible to keep the fruit fresh and viable. The easiest thing to do is to spread them out evenly on a piece of cloth or old screen. They have to be protected from the weather while they are drying. If you are processing them during warm weather, it should only take a few days for them to be ready.
The next step is to store the dried hops. You need to get them into a sealed container and keep them there if you are going to use them in the next few days. If you want to keep them longer, you should put them in zip lock freezer bags, deflate the bags to remove excess air, and store them in the freezer until you are ready to use them.
The next step can be the most difficult. You will have to determine the alpha acid content, and that can take some trial and error. If you have friends and family who are experienced in the brewing process, they may be able to give you some good advice.
Brewing your own beer is a fairly inexpensive hobby. It doesn't require specialized equipment or years of study to master it. Since you are not investing huge amounts of money in your batches, you can afford to try out different mixtures and flavors to see what works and what fails. Home brewers are not encouraged to try to sell their beers. You may get into a lot of unexpected trouble if you do.
Brewing beer can be a fun pastime and a good thing to share with family and friends. You can impress everybody with the fact that you grow hops yourself instead of relying on commercial nurseries.
Hop rhizomes are fairly easy to grow yourself if you have a sunny place for them. You can purchase the roots online inexpensively. Once you get them, you need to find a space with room for a pole or trellis as the plants will shoot up thirty feet or so. They need soil with plenty of nutrients and a good drainage system to get them started.
Knowing exactly when the plants are ready to be harvested seems to require experience and a good sense of smell, touch, and sight. Once the fruit appears and is ready to be plucked, you will need a ladder to get to the top of the plants. If you don't have a ladder handy, you can pull the plants to the ground and pick the fruit that way. Commercial growers have equipment to remove the fruit, but most amateur growers don't go to the expense.
Drying them is the next step, and that must be done as soon as possible to keep the fruit fresh and viable. The easiest thing to do is to spread them out evenly on a piece of cloth or old screen. They have to be protected from the weather while they are drying. If you are processing them during warm weather, it should only take a few days for them to be ready.
The next step is to store the dried hops. You need to get them into a sealed container and keep them there if you are going to use them in the next few days. If you want to keep them longer, you should put them in zip lock freezer bags, deflate the bags to remove excess air, and store them in the freezer until you are ready to use them.
The next step can be the most difficult. You will have to determine the alpha acid content, and that can take some trial and error. If you have friends and family who are experienced in the brewing process, they may be able to give you some good advice.
Brewing your own beer is a fairly inexpensive hobby. It doesn't require specialized equipment or years of study to master it. Since you are not investing huge amounts of money in your batches, you can afford to try out different mixtures and flavors to see what works and what fails. Home brewers are not encouraged to try to sell their beers. You may get into a lot of unexpected trouble if you do.
Brewing beer can be a fun pastime and a good thing to share with family and friends. You can impress everybody with the fact that you grow hops yourself instead of relying on commercial nurseries.
About the Author:
If you are looking for information about Illinois homegrown hops, come to our web pages online today. More details are available at http://hallowedhops.com now.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire