When to add 'rice hulls' to the mash

Using Rice Hulls in Your Mash The Secret to Avoiding a Stuck Sparge

Have you ever had a stuck sparge when there's simply no wort exiting the tun? What a way to slow down your brew day! Sure, you can give your mash grain a bit of stir and try and remove the blockage and get going again, but what if you could add something to the mash to prevent another stuck sparge? Enter the use of rice hulls.

🌾What Are Rice Hulls?

Key Takeaway:A Natural Filtration Aid

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Rice hulls are the hard, protective exterior layers of grains of rice. When rice is harvested for food, the hulls are cast off. Once these hulls have been washed and dried (which removes any potential flavor and color), they can be used as a natural, inert filtration agent for getting the wort out of the mash.

They work by creating physical space around the otherwise sticky and clumpy mash particles, especially those from wheat, oats, or rye. This creates a more porous filter bed, allowing the sweet wort to flow freely out of the mash tun during the lauter. Given they do not add any flavour to the wort and are pretty cheap to buy, rice hulls are an excellent solution to a brewer's need to prevent a stuck sparge.

🤔Why Use Them in High Gravity Beers?

Key Takeaway:To Combat Gummy Mashes

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High gravity beers are beers with a higher concentration of fermentable sugars in the wort, which results in a higher alcohol content. These beers require a larger amount of grains, which can lead to a thicker mash that is more prone to compacting.

Furthermore, specialty malts like wheat and rye, which are common in many beer styles, have higher levels of protein and beta-glucans. These beta-glucans are gummy, long-chain polysaccharides that significantly increase the viscosity of the wort, making it thick and difficult to filter. Rice hulls, being an inert material, can be added to the mash to physically prevent the grains from compacting and clumping together, thereby improving the filterability of the wort.

⚖️How Much Rice Hulls Should I Add?

Key Takeaway:~5% of Your Total Grain Bill

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Many brewers seem to use hulls at a percentage no greater than 5 percent of the total grain bill. In reality, a common and reliable measure is **1/2 lb (about 227g) per 5-gallon batch**, especially if that batch contains a significant amount of wheat, oats, or rye.

You generally can't use too many, as they are inert, but adding an excessive amount can lead to issues with mash volume in your equipment. Sticking to the 5% rule is a safe and effective bet.

⏰When Do I Add The Hulls?

Key Takeaway:Mix with Your Dry Grains

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When using rice hulls, it is important to add them at the appropriate time to ensure maximum effectiveness. Generally, rice hulls are added to the mash before the hot water infusion, along with the dry grains. As the dry grains and rice hulls are mixed together, the rice hulls will help to create channels within the mash bed, which will improve the flow of water through the grains during the infusion process.

This will help to prevent clumping and ensure that the water is distributed evenly throughout the mash, allowing for proper conversion of the grain starches into fermentable sugars. Adding the rice hulls before the infusion also ensures that they are evenly distributed, which will improve filtration efficiency during lautering.

💡Can I Use Oat Hulls Instead?

Key Takeaway:Yes, They Work the Same Way

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You sure can. Like rice hulls, oat hulls are the shell of the oat grain. Given they are pretty much inedible and no good for making porridge with, they have found other uses as filters. They act in just the same manner as rice hulls and do not impart anything into the wort. They are commonly used when brewing rye or wheat beers, or oatmeal stouts, just like rice hulls.

💧Do Hulls Absorb Water?

Key Takeaway:Yes, So Pre-Soak Them

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Worry? Perhaps that's the wrong word, but if you are the kind of brewer who likes their beer exactly as the recipe demands, then yes, the hulls can absorb water and throw off your mash water volume calculations. So, what to do? Soak them in hot water for a few minutes prior to use so you don't have to even think about it. Given there can be the odd bit of dust in them, it's also a good idea to give them a quick rinse in a colander before soaking.

🦠Do I Need to Sterilize Them?

Key Takeaway:No, the Boil Will Do It

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Some people do, but I really can't see the point. The entire mash, including the hulls, is about to be boiled within an inch of its life in the brewing kettle on top of a gas burner with masses of BTU. This boiling step will effectively kill any bugs or wild yeast that were hiding on the grains or hulls. Rinsing them to remove dust is a good idea, but full sterilization is unnecessary for anything that goes into the mash tun before the boil.

Leave a Comment mash, rice hulls, sparge, wort

How to pitch yeast correctly into beer wort

How to pitch yeast into homebrew beer

Newbie beer makers may have heard the expression “pitch your yeast” and wondered what the heck it meant.

I myself was horribly concerned that I had missed a trick when making my first brew after learning this phrase.

Had I missed out on a step?

Had I ruined my beer?

Nope, of course not (but there are ways to do that).

‘Pitching yeast’ is just homebrewer lingo for adding yeast to the wort. It's called pitching because you throw it, kinda like a baseball pitcher...

Without yeast, your wort will not turn into beer. The yeast is an active living organism that feeds on the oxygen and sugars in the wort and as a bi-product produces carbon dioxide and the sought-after alcohol.

Yeast is a sensitive cell-based life form and needs the correct conditions in which to thrive and help make really good beer.

That’s why pitching your yeast is more than simply adding it to your beer – it needs to be done at the correct time in the brew so that it can 'activate' properly. And it's not just for beer, it's cider and mead and seltzer too!

What temperature to pitch yeast into the beer wort?

The short version is if you pitch your yeast when your brew is too hot (say you’ve just boiled it), you will kill the yeast with the heat and fermentation will not occur. Which would be a waste of time and money.

This is why the cooling process can be so important.

That said, pitching yeast too cold means the yeast won't start its job.

Your fermenter might have a temperature gauge on the side, else you might need to get your hands on a thermometer.

Ale fermentation temperatures commonly range from 68 to 72 °F (20 to 22 °C) Lager fermentation temperatures will range from 45 to 55 °F (7 to 13 °C).

If you are using a beer kit, the ideal temperature should be written on the can or pouch - trust what the manufacturer brewer says!

I’ve noticed that some brewers can be super sensitive about yeast and the preparation and pitching of it. There are arguments about the best method but the casual homebrewer should not get caught up too much in it.

If you follow some good beer making instructions, you shouldn’t have any problems with the yeast.

A key tip to remember is that if you do ferment outside of the intended yeast range, your beer will have different qualities than you may be expecting - and by this we mean your beer will probably not taste like you intended.

The easiest way to pitch your yeast is by 'dry pitching'

If you are like me, once you have prepared the wort in your  30 litre fermenting drum and it is at the ideal temperature, you are ready to add your dried yeast. The easy way is to simply open up the packet that came from the beer kit, and drop it into your wort. I like to cut the packet open so that the yeast cells and efficiently exit the packet.

I also like to give it a shake to pack the yeast on one side and cut it on that side.

When you do this, you are pitching your yeast 'dry'.

Maybe give it a gentle stir with a clean spoon. Close off your fermenter securely and place your beer in a good spot for a week or two to let the yeast do its job. Put some blankets around it. Maybe use a heat pad, especially during winter months.

If you want to give the yeast the best chance to do their job really well:

Re-hydrate your yeast before you pitch it

A handy method that many earnest brewers follow is to hydrate the dry yeast in water before pitching. The reasoning behind this is that it gives the yeast a good chance to get started properly.

Rehydrating yeast in a glass

The theory is that there can be a concentration of sugars in the wort which means it is difficult for the yeast to absorb water into its membranes so that they can begin to activate/metabolize and thus commence the fermentation process.

Based on that, I imagine that if you have made a high gravity wort that's full of sugar and fermentables for the yeast to eat, hydration is a good step to take.

In my experience, I’ve never had the yeast fail with a simple beer kit but if you are keen to cut the potential problem out, feel free to re-hydrate your yeast.

Do this by boiling some water and letting it cool. You can then add your yeast packet (or two!) to the water and let it begin to absorb – you shouldn’t do this too far apart from when it is time to pitch the yeast.

Cover and leave for about 15 minutes and then inspect. It should have begun to smell like you are making bread and 'bubbled' a bit (see the above picture). If so, it’s ready to be pitched.

Once you've added the yeast to the wort, there will likely be some left in the glass - I have a 'waste not want not' kind of view so I add some water to the glass, give it a swirl and add it to the yeast as well.

If there is no churning or foaming or sourdough or bread like smells, it could be your yeast has died from old age or environmental damage such as being left in the sun.

You may need to use a new packet of yeast...

How many packets of yeast should I use?

Generally speaking, brewers will use one packet of yeast however if you a trying to make a very high-alcohol beer where the yeast is expected to do a lot of work, you might want to consider using two packets - this works well when brewing with two kit cans.

You may want to use two packets if your yeast is fairly old as the older it is, the less potency the yeast will have as the yeast cells will have slowly died off over time.

The 'denser' or thicker your wort, the more yeast you will need.

There's also a difference when making an ale or lager. Yeast becomes slow to ferment when it’s cold. Given lager ferments at a much lower temperature than ale, it's reasonable then to use more yeast with the lager to finish the job properly.

Some brewers use the rule of thumb to pitch about twice as much yeast for a lager as for an ale.

Using liquid yeast for brewing

If you intend to use a liquid yeast it should really be pitched to a starter wort before THEN pitching to the main wort in the fermenter. Here's a handy guide to making the starter from one of the true industry legends, John Palmer. 

That said, many liquid yeasts can simply be pitched as normal so check the instructions that come with your unit.

What are some good yeasts to brew with?

If you do not wish to use the yeast that comes with the beer kit you have, you could try what a gabillion brewers use, the American ale yeast, Safale -05. I've used it personally and it goes great guns and is tried and true.

The Safale - 04 is a handy English ale yeast too.

A quick summary of pitching yeast 

• Pitching yeast is simply adding it to the beer wort.
• Add it when your wort is the recommended temperature – check your beer kit’s recommended temperature.
• You can pitch dry yeast straight into the wort.
• Or you can add it to water just prior to pitching.
• Dry yeasts have a longer storage life than liquid yeasts. 
• Liquid yeasts must be stored by refrigeration means.
• The older the yeast, the more of it you will need to use. 
• You can even use baker's yeast to pitch into your beer!

Extra for experts: should you use a ph Meter?

Image credit to Justin Knabb via Creative Commons Licence

1 comment alcohol, home brew, john palmer, pitching yeast, wort, yeast

Using Amylase Enzyme to reduce starch in beer

Mashing enzymes such as Amylase powder convert the starch in beer malt into soluble sugars

With this knowledge, the home brewer can manipulate enzyme activity to can control the fermentability of their wort.

Amylase enzymes are proteins. Their specific role is to 'catalyze biochemical reactions', which means that they enable a reaction to occur quickly and crucially at the temperature of living organisms (talking yeast here).

While we are talking about brewing, it should be understood that enzymes are vital for human life as they significantly speed up the rate of virtually all of the chemical reactions that take place within the body's cells. Along with lipase, they are crucial for having a healthy digestive system and for metabolism. 

There is amylase in human saliva - digestion starts in the mouth after all!

So, brewers use amylase to ensure an efficient breakdown of the malt into maltose and sugars - meaning there is more food for the yeast to eat, meaning you get more alcohol - this is called attenuation.

I'm a hungry enzyme...

The one-two punch of alpha and beta amylase in starch digestion

In a brewer’s mash, we are concerned with the activity of two main enzymes, alpha and beta amylase, and their effect on starch.

A starch molecule, as a basic description, is a group of glucose molecules linked together. Enzymes will break those links allowing yeast to better ferment.

Alpha-amylase contributes to the digestion of starch by breaking internal bonds between the glucose molecules. As the starch molecules are opened up, they break into a range of intermediate sizes.

In comes beta-amylase which further digests these newly sized molecules mostly into maltose—a sugar of two glucose units—but also to glucose itself and to the three-glucose molecule maltotriose. You can add glucoamylase instead of beta as it does the same job on starch.

This will occur effectively when the wort is properly pH balanced and the ideal temperature has been realised.

These two compounds are also great for breaking down corn-type adjuncts when making spirits (just watch that methanol production eh?)

When to add amylase enzyme to the wort

The temperature of your mash is key to how effective amylase.

In terms of timings, some brewers will add amylase immediately after adding strike water or about 30 minutes or so into an extended all-grain mash taking longer than 60 minutes.

If you increase the temperature immediately after adding amylase you're working against yourself.

Amylase works best at 150-155°F. Much higher than that and the enzyme is destroyed by the heat. 

A common practice is to hold it at its activation temperature for an hour to allow full conversion of starch, then cool it rapidly to your fermentation temperature once the gelatinization of the malt/starch is complete.

This wiki advises:

The ideal situation you want is to attain is one in which your mash rests at a temperature between 66° and 70° C (150°-158° F) to allow the amylase enzymes to do their work. The colder the rest, the more fermentable sugars will be available for fermenting, and therefore the higher alcohol content in the final beer. The hotter the temperature, the more unfermentable sugars will reach fermentation, and thus the fuller the mouth-feel. This is, of course a comparison of otherwise duplicate mashes. Remember, the enzymes will work outside their optimum temperatures, so given an adequate amount of time, all starches can be converted to fermentables.

We suggest you read the whole wiki as it gives a very sound scientific description of mash temperatures and the various methods use you can use enzymes with. This page is a great read too.

Why ph of the mash is important for enzyme action

The pH level of your beer (both mash and wort) affects the way your beer turns out in several ways. Enzyme function is affected by an out-of-whack pH level, the efficiency of your hops can be manipulated and it affects how well your yeast ferments your brew.

Brewers test for pH using meters - a sample is taken from the work and an electrode is used to take the reading - pH is then adjusted accordingly using chemicals like calcium chloride or lactic acid.

This video gives a really great introduction in to using alpha and beta-amylase and its relationship to beer mash:



Extra for experts: Does adding enzyme to the mash influence the taste of the beer?

Leave a Comment amylase, enzyme, glucose, malt, mash, starch, wort

↠ Making beer wort

Guide to make really good beer wort for home brewing

When I first started making beer I was totally confused by the word 'wort' that I kept seeing everywhere. 

"Cool your wort quickly!" the internet said. 

Um what?

Well know I know, it's clear that 'beer wort' is the starting point for making beer. It is the amber liquid extracted from malted barley.

In the most basic sense, you can describe the wort as unfermented beer.

Beer makers use the wort as the basis to which start the beer. 

Think of the wort as the base contents of the potion in a witch's cauldron.

As the witch adds 'eye of newt' and other goodies to her potion, the beer maker does the same by adding flavourings and hops to the wort to prepare a solution ready for fermenting. Like a painter needs a well prepared canvas, the wort is the same building block for making great beer. 

So basically then, the wort is just flat beer. 

It's kind of true....

Kinda 

Like making a cake, if you don't use the correct ingredients in the right proportions your cake fails, a wort needs to be properly prepared.

If you are making beer using a beer kit, then your wort is easily made simply by adding the content of the can to the required volume of hot water.

Boom, you have wort. 

You then add to your beer potion, hops, and sugars such as dextrose or a beer enhancer. 

If you're boiling your own wort, it's more complicated. You the one who is in charge of making sure you have all the ingredients and that you boil the hops at the right timings - this is crucial if you are trying for a specific kind of bitterness  - so make sure you have the right gas burner to get your wort to a hot temperature. 

Mashing is required to turn the grains into sugars. The grains a mixed with malt and hot water for an hour or so in a mash tun. When the liquid is ready, it is 'sparged' from the mash and ready to be boiled. 

This is to extract the bittering, flavour and aroma from hops. This is critical if you want your beer to have the characteristics of beer!

The bittering hops are usually boiled in the wort for approximately one hour to one and a half hours. This long boil extracts resins from the hops which provides the bittering.

Near the end of the boil, flavouring hops can be added. Then, if you're fully on your beer brewing game, finishing hops are added last. This part of the wort boil extracts the oils which provide flavour and aroma.

Chill out, man

Once your wort is boiled it's now time to sparge the wort - that means to drain it from the grain mash.

and everything has gone to plan, the wort is chilled very quickly using a wort chiller.

Due to the temperature requirements of yeast, it needs to be at a temperature which will allow it to thrive. If you put your yeast into the extremely hot boiled wort, you will kill the yeast and get flat beer.

It might taste nice but there won't be any alcohol in it either!

Brewers have a tough enough time trying to work out if their beer has fermented properly, so make sure you get that part of your beer brewing right!

Here's some New Zealand classic beer clone wort recipes you might like:

• Steinlager Clone
• Panhead Supercharger Clone

Image credit to Alan Levine via Creative Commons Licence

Leave a Comment hops, making beer, wort

Best wort aeration pump systems

The best aeration pumps provide an efficient and inexpensive way to aerate the wort in your primary fermenter.

An aquarium pump forces room air through a properly sanitized tubing. The air is delivered then delivered the wort through a diffusion stone. This promotes rapid absorption into the wort.

So what pumps do this the best?

Smarter brewers than I have worked out that your wort should ideally have an oxygen level of 8 ppm (parts per million) before pitching the yeast.

The reality is that many brewers only achieve between 2.5 - 4.5 ppm if they do not aerate with a pump.

By using this wort aeration system you can probably easily double the oxygenation you might normally be getting.

A brewer who brought this unit on Amazon left this genuine review:

“Works great! Bubbles quite a bit, and foamed out of the top (mainly because I didn't leave enough room), but I didn't have any issues at all. My yeast took off like a bat out of hell when I pitched, which seemed to be better than when I didn't oxygenate in the past. I would highly recommend this to any homebrewer looking to improve fermentation.”

What are you waiting for?

Incomplete fermentation to occur?

Check out the price on Amazon:

Eagle Brewing FE380 Aeration System

The Eagle Aeration System does what you want it to do, quietly and effectively.

Attach the ⅜-inch transfer tubing to the unit and your stone and you will be aerating in no time. 

There’s not much more to say about this unit, it’s basically 'plug and play' once you’ve submerged the stone at the base of the fermenter.

Just bear in mind that the tubing (as with all pumps) will be wound up on arrival due to packaging constraints so you may want to stretch it out a bit so it settles on the bottom of the fermenter.

Check out the price on Amazon:

Using diffusion stones to oxygenate beer wort

Here’s a funny thing we learned.

Diffusion stones are not actually made of stone.

How about that eh?

They are actually made of stainless steel which is added to a porous mold.

They do work a treat in making bubbles get that oxygen into your beer. You’ll want your stone to have a micron level of between .5 to 2 microns. This is pretty standard for brewers.

When using a diffusion stone you’ll want to ensure that you’ve sanitized it in an appropriate sanitization solution (don’t forget the tubing as well!).

I’ve read some punters warn that your hand can leave natural oils on the unit which can then clog it up - I say if you’ve washed your hands prior to use, then you should be fine.

It can be hard to attach a diffusion stone to the tubing. Instead of trying to force it in, place the end of the tubing in some near boiling water for a short time. This should soften the tubing enough so you can insert the stone’s connector part.

When placing your stone in the wort, you want it to get to the bottom of the fermenter, not near the top. If your tubing is a bit curly, you may want to try and straighten it out.

If this continues to be a problem, you may wish to consider using an oxygenation wand which will sit quite nicely in the fermenter, ensuring the oxygen bubbles start at the bottom and filter into the whole wort.

Learn more about oxygen wand kits here!

Leave a Comment aeration, oxygen, pump system, wort

>> Best mash tuns for sparge & lautering

Tuns.

Not tons.

Nor tonnes.

But tuns.

Mash Tuns.

Though it's pronounced ton.

What the heck is a mash tun and why do I need one for brewing beer?

The mash tun is the vessel in which the mashing of the grain is conducted. The 'grain bill' is heated with hot water.

This process of mashing causes the enzymes in the malt to break down the grain's starch. The starch is reduced into the sugars which form the malty liquid we all know as 'wort'.

So how is important in preparing a good wort is a mash tun?

If you want the efficient extraction of the wort from your grains, you need to be able to sparge efficiently, and a well set up mash tun will do just that.

Many brewers like to make their own mash tun from manufactured coolers and simply add a false bottom to assist with the lautering process (removing the wort from the mash) but if you just want to get on with, here's a few mash tuns that we recommend:

• Northern Brew's lauter ton  
• Igloo mash tun
• Brewer's Edge Mash and Boil

Northern Brewer's tun

• Argiuably the most affordable mash/lauter tun in all-grain brewing
• Loaded with brewing power for superior sparging and exceptional efficiency
• Featuring Fermenter’s Favorites™ Cooler with an expanded full capacity of 11.7 gallons
• Includes the new Titan Stainless Steel 11.5" False Bottom
• Includes Bronze Ball Valve Cooler Kit with Barbed Hose Fittings, plus tubing

Reviews of the Northern Brewer tun:

"This is a nice product for the money. I've moved from extract brewing to all grain and didn't want to break the bank when it came to purchasing a mash tun. This one fit the bill! The size is decent and it's easy to put together and tear down. This makes cleaning a snap. It's light and easy to more around, and it holds its temperature quite well. I've brewed four batches of beer with it and look forward to using it for the next batch."

"Just finished my first brew. Everything was straightforward to assemble and easy to use so long as you know what you're doing. Excited to brew more with these."

"Got to use this for the first time last weekend while brewing my first all grain batch with my brew club. I have never produced a better beer than what I have with this. I would highly recommend this for anyone looking to take the next step in their brewing adventure."

If you think these reviews from real brewers have merit, check out more on Amazon.

Igloo Mash Tun

An almost iconic mash tun, due to the Igloo's almost universal recognition amongst brewers and Powerade drinkers alike and maybe the fact it kind of looks like a Baywatch lifeguard?

The Igloo comes as the following specs:

• 10 gallon mash ton
• Perfect for 5 to 10 gallon batches
• All metal is stainless steel
• 12" false bottom
• Upgraded leak free design

While it's no Pamela Anderson, Igloo boast you "will notice barely any temperature loss throughout your 1hr+ mash" which seems the whole point of having a quality mash tun and this reviewer confirmed it "It works perfectly. I've used it twice with no temperature loss in a 60 minute mash at 152 degrees."

Check out the price on Amazon.

Brewer's Edge' Mash and Boil

Listen up fellas, Big Jim just rode into town so pay attention.

The Brewer’s Edge Mash and Boil transforms brewing day, making all grain brewing easy and affordable. If you want to compare this to

No need for an outdoor gas burner, a complicated brewing stand, or a 220 volt special circuit - the unit plugs into any 110 volt GFI household outlet.

Constructed with a double wall stainless construction, it is designed to conserve heat to achieve a rolling boil with only 110 volts and 1600 watts.

The precise thermostat and internal sparging basket let you mash and boil in the same vessel saving you a fair whack of time in your brew day. The thermostat may be switched from Fahrenheit to Celsius and features an adjustable run time preset at 3-1/2 hours to allow for safety in case you get distracted by the Big Game!

A handy function is the delayed start timer, which allows you to program the Mash and Boil to turn on up to 24 hours after setting. For example, load it with strike water, and have it set to be hot when you come home from work to save even more time!

Here's some reviews from actual brewers who have used the Mash and Boil:

"Son and I wanted to step up to all-grain home brewing and this looked like a perfect way to do it: It is. So much easier from start to finish. Wort chiller fits in kettle and temperature display shows when ready: We’ve done 3 batches and love it!

"The time it takes to get to brewing temperatures is rather good. I use the low wattage setting to get to mash temperatures and the time it took was to my liking. To get to the boil temperature was rather slow but I am accustomed to a propane burner."

What are you waiting for, permission from your partner? Check out the price and delivery arrangments on Amazon.

Why do mash tuns need to use false bottoms?

If you simply extracted the wort from the tun using the exit valve the spent grain would quite likely collect at the exit point and block the extraction.

A false bottom is effective acts a filter or sieve to prevent the crushed grains from causing a blockage. The wort drains through the mash, past the sieve and into your draining vessel.

What are some good mash tun tricks?

• Limit your outflow from the tun to a trickle.
• It can take an hour to properly sparge your wort. Be patient.
• To help avoid a stuck sparge, make sure you mill your grain properly.
• Adding rice hulls can assist with preventing a blocked sparge.
• Fun fact: a hot sparge will kill any weevil in your grain

Leave a Comment all grain, beer brewing, lauter, mash, mash tun, sparge, wort

Review of Te Aro's Obligatory fresh wort pack

My beer making success with Te Aro Brewing Co's 'Obligatory' fresh wort pack

I was lucky enough to catch up with Nathan from Te Aro Brewing Company (we used to be workmates at a fairly well known internet company some years back) and to meet the brewery's founder Karl Kayes.

The brewery has a front-of-shop known as Brewtopia, wherein they shared with me a taste of some of their wares.

Nathan offered me a sample of their Oligatory pale ale beer. A fine tasting beer, I offered my compliments. He then blew my mind by offering me one of Te Aro Brewing Company's 'Obligatory' fresh wort packs to try out and review.

Such is my sophistication when it comes to beer making, I'd never heard of a fresh wort pack before but soon enough I was lugging around 20 litres of ready made Obligatory wort back home.

On arrival my wife looked at me with some suspicion.

What had  I brought home in this mysterious black container.

Petrol? Insecticide?

No darling, beer!

So, I grabbed the fermenter and gave it a clean and then sanitized with some sodium percarbonate.

I was extra particular about this process and I rinsed it all out with boiling water. There was no way I was going to let this special treat from Te Aro get ruined by poor preparation! This took me about 10 minutes.

Before I started this cleaning process I actually got the yeast going by adding it to a glass of warm water. The yeast was the popular home brewer's choice of Safale US-05.

So, now it came time to prepare the beer.

I emptied the 20 litres of wort into the fermenter, making sure it splashed around quite a lot to ensure the wort got some oxygen into it (this helps with fermentation).

It was a nice light brown colour and not as thick as I imagined it would be (probably as I'm so used to making brews with beer kits).

And then less than a minute later, I was ready to pitch the yeast.

It was almost too easy.

I put the lid on the fermenter and added the airlock.

I did not add any hops at this stage. Not my normal approach, but I intended to follow Nathan's instructions as best I could so I added the hops at day 5.

So straight away I was able to see the benefit of using a pre-made wort - you save a lot of time, there's no need to go and buy a beer enhancer or DME and it's a lot less messy than dealing with a beer kit.

Indeed, there's no mess with a wort pack!

You can actually recycle the wort pack container by taking it back to Brewtopia on a brewing day for a new wort and a wee discount as you are using your own storage device!

Nathan recommended that the brew is stored in a dark place with an average temperature of between 14 to 22 degrees centigrade and that 16 - 20 is best. I'll be frank, I have no idea what the temperature was but I left it in my warm kitchen for 48 hours.

I then transferred it to my man shed outside and covered it with a whole pile of old sheets and towels.

Classic move eh?

At this point I noted that no bubbles were coming out of the airlock, nor did I observe any scum or residue lining the inside of the fermenter, early days though and the lack of bubbles after two days does not mean I have a brewing disaster on my hands!

At day 5 I added the hops - a combination of some delicious smelling Nelson Sauvin, NZ Cascade and Motueka. On opening the fermenter's lid I was now able to see a great layer of bubbles and scum so clearly something good had been occurring.

So now it was a waiting game to let the brew do its thing.

Bottling day

I prepared the Obligatory on the 27th of September and bottled two weekends later on the 9th of October. This was a couple of days shy of the time recommended by Nathan but whatever, close enough!

Bottling was a straightforward exercise and I was very diligent with sanitizing the bottles.

Now it's an even longer wait!

So while I wait, let's talk about the ingredients of the beer and whether fresh wort packs are worth it.

Wort pack ingredients

Malt: Gladfields American Ale Malt, Gladfields Pale Crystal, Gladfields Toffee Malt,
Hops: Nelson Sauvin, NZ Cascade and Motueka

I gotta tell ya, that combination of hops was one of the most delicious smells. I kept them in the fridge until it was time to add them and everytime I opened the fridge, I got the most delightful whiff of them.

Pricing and whether a fresh wort pack is wort(h) it

So what's the cost? Let's be clear, this is not a cheap product. It's a quality product so expect a quality price of $70 for the wort.

This also includes the Safale yeast and the hops which should make your wallet feel a bit better.

There is no need for an enhancer because Te Aro Brewery has made the wort such as they would make their Obligatory to sell to their keen punters and the local Wellington bars which want quality craft beers to serve their fickle* patrons.

If you compare that to a using a beer kit, fresh yeast, extra hops and an enhancer, you're looking at approximately $40 a brew (that is if you use a lower range beer kit). So that $30 odd dollar difference is buying you a beer quality well above what may be achieved with a standard beer kit.

It's also buying you time.

It took only a few minutes to get the fermenter clean and the yeast pitched into the wort. And that was the longest part of the whole brewing exercise.

So if you are time sensitive, a fresh wort pack is the way to go.

Let's be clear, I'm not knocking beer kits, I think they are great!

The verdict. How did the Obligatory taste?

I'm not a patient man, I could hardly wait a week, let alone three to try the Obligatory.

So, I tried one a week after bottling.

I gotta tell you, I had some high expectations around this brew and I was not disappointed.

This was a most excellent tasting beer, even only after a week of conditioning. It possessed a bold, hoppy taste.

It felt oakey in some way, which sounds pretentious but it's not.

It has an excellent mouthfeel with some good body.

It's a very easy drinking beer and I look forward to enjoying it further with the first BBQ of the summer season.

I firmly recommend this to any beer maker who is looking for a quick way to make genuine quality home brew beer.

Update - after a two week conditioning period I had another crack and the flavours were even more amazing. This is probably the best tasting beer I have ever brewed. 

I'm sold Jimmy, where can I buy the wort kit?

Brewtopia sell their wort online, so grab yourself one today - you can always visit and have a yarn with the brewing team.

You can also sign up to Te Aro's Wort Pack email list so you'll be in the know when batches are ready.

*fickle, yes I said that. Beer drinkers can be the worst snobs. 

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