There are many home brewing myths (and misinformation) floating around. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about – especially as you become more of a seasoned brewer you can’t help but to look back on the information you were given or read and raise an eyebrow. So this week we are going to take a look at a few of the common home brewing myths out there and see if they hold any merit.
Beer Home Brewing Myth – You can’t make a good home brew beer
If you’re already a brewer I know you’ll be shaking your head at this one! But for the guys looking at getting into brewing, it is something we hear all too often. It’s absolutely possible to make a terrible home brew beer but just like cooking – start with clean equipment, follow the recipe, use good ingredients, don’t cook it too hot and it’ll come out great! Making a clone of a commercial beer is also really easy with our recipes – you can check them out here.
Spirit Myth – It’s dangerous and can make you sick
Note: Distilling in Australia is ILLEGAL if you do not hold an excise manufacturer licence. An excise manufacturing licence can be applied for through the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). It is ILLEGAL to own a still with a capacity over 5L. It is ILLEGAL to use a still with a capacity under 5L to distil spirits.
Ethanol and methanol are the two alcohols predominately produced when making spirits. Ethanol is the alcohol that we commonly drink, while methanol can have some pretty nasty effects on your health. The good news is that these two alcohols have different boiling points which makes them very easy to separate when stilling a basic sugar wash. The first 100-150mL your still produces from a 25 litre wash is predominately methanol and needs to be disposed of. The rest is safe once watered down and filtered.
Beer Home Brewing Myth – I’ve never temperature controlled and my beer is great
We all have different tastes and I’m not here to argue with anyone who say they brew at a steady 30˚C and it tastes fantastic. What I will say is most seasoned brewers are going ‘ohhh, no… please do not do that!’. Temperature control is very important and beer tends to like being on the cooler side. In saying that, if you can’t keep your brew cool check out the Kveik Yeast – it’s a win win! When you brew outside a yeasts optimal temperature range you will commonly see ‘off flavours’ coming through your beer. Brew within a yeasts temperature range if you want the best quality beer.
Spirit Myth – You can use any yeast to make alcohol
Regardless of the yeast you use, the by-products of fermentation are alcohol and CO2. However, yeasts specifically formulated for spirit making have been developed and isolated to optimise alcohol production and have a high ABV (alcohol by volume) tolerance. There are recipes out there that do not utilise spirit yeasts, but if you are looking to produce a quality spirit and a high yield, stick to the spirit yeast.
Beer Home Brewing Myth – Getting started is expensive and it takes a lot of time
I’m going to cut this one down at the knees straight away and call it a myth! You can get started with a Home Brew Starter Kit for under $100. A starter kit has everything you need and also includes your first brew (which will brew 2.5 cartoons of beer!). As for time, allow 20-30 minutes to put your brew down and 30-40 minutes to bottle.
Spirit Myth – There is no need to filter your spirit after stilling
Filtering (or polishing) is a necessary step post-distillation. It is used to “clean up” your spirit to ensure the purest possible flavour and remove any impurities left in your spirit. While unfiltered spirit likely won’t hurt you, filtering will give you the highest quality product. Still Spirits has a load of valuable resources on filtering and how to do it – check it out here.