There are several different brewing methods, and for a beginner, all the strange terms can be very confusing. In this article, we'll go through the most common methods.
Extract Kit
Many people start their brewing journey with an extract kit. This is a simple and inexpensive brewing method that doesn't require much equipment. In short, this is ready-made wort, including all hops and any additives. This means all you need to do is mix hopped malt extract with water and add yeast.
The quality of these kits has improved significantly in recent years and can often be a perfectly viable alternative to brewing with fresh ingredients. The only downside to this solution is that the kits are pre-made as they are. You can, of course, add more hops or other flavors, but you cannot remove anything from the finished base.
Beer Brewing with Malt Extract
Brewing with malt extract has a lot in common with extract kits. Unlike a complete kit, liquid malt extract (LME) usually only contains malt. This means you have greater freedom to combine different varieties of malt extract, hops, and, not least, yeast. This way, you create your very own recipe.
With this brewing method, you simply skip the mashing step. Therefore, you don't have to worry about malt, milling, or dust, and you can be sure of getting a correct yield every time.
Note! Make sure you boil the hops to achieve the correct bitterness.
Partial Mash
Many also use malt extract as a base, which they combine with specialty malt. In short, this means you create a "mini-mash," often on the kitchen stove, using only specialty malt. You still need to mash/steep the specialty malt, but with significantly smaller quantities.
After you've done that, use the liquid to dilute the malt extract. This saves you space, mess, work, and minimizes the risk of a poor yield. At the same time, you can experiment much more with several malt types.
BIAB – Brew In A Bag
Now we move on to brewing beer with real grain instead of malt extract. BIAB, or Brew In A Bag, is exactly that: brewing in a bag. The crushed malt is placed in a fine-mesh bag, often made of nylon or similar material, and lowered into a kettle with water for mashing. After the mashing time is over, the bag is lifted out, and rinsed to extract the last of the sugars. This is a very simple and, not least, inexpensive brewing method that many beginners start with.
You don't need an expensive brewing machine, and you can use a very simple stew pot. If you want to make your brew day easier, you can invest in a proper brewing kettle with a ball valve for easy tapping. These can be modified as you wish with valves, thermometers, and cooling systems. If this sounds like the method for you, take a look at our brew in a bag starter kit.
Brewing Machines: Compact Brewer, Terrace Brewer, and All-in-One Brewer
A beloved child has many names, but compact brewer, or simply "brewing machine," is probably the most recognized. These machines are fully or semi-automatic brewing machines. Essentially, these machines work in the same way as BIAB, but with several upgrades that make brewing easier and take up less space.
Characteristics of a brewing machine:
- Stainless steel malt pipe instead of a bag, which can be placed on top of the brewing machine for rinsing.
- Most have built-in pumps for recirculation during mashing and wort transfer.
- Built-in heating element.
- Digital control of temperature and pump.
Popular Brewing Machines
Brewing machines come in different price ranges and sizes. Additionally, they have various solutions with their own advantages and disadvantages. For beginners, the most affordable machines are a good first step into the brewing world. Then, one can upgrade as they gain insight into which functions and sizes they desire.
Here are some of the most popular brewing machines, which we consider favorites among homebrewers:
- Brewster Beacon is our most affordable model, available in both 40 and 70-liter sizes. This is a very cost-effective machine with a built-in pump, and it's a perfect place to start your homebrewing career.
- Grainfather are our most popular brewing machines, available in 30, 40, and 70-liter versions. These are durable machines with the option of control via Bluetooth/Wi-Fi. With the app, you can also enter recipes that allow the Grainfather to tell you what to do and when to add what during the brewing process. This also includes a counterflow chiller in the package.
- Speidel #Braumeister Plus comes in 20 and 50-liter sizes, in addition to 200, 500, and 1000 liters for craft breweries. This is German quality at its best, with integrated Wi-Fi and a cooling jacket for easy cooling of your finished brew. The new machines are even so precise in temperature that you can purchase a "fermentation kit" to perform the fermentation process directly in the brewing machine.
- Camurri CB100 is truly Italian premium, with a capacity of over 100 liters of beer. Camurri has a built-in motorized stirrer, which no other compact brewers have. This is the same solution many professional breweries have, providing temperature control and yield that few can match.
- Brewtools is a Norwegian-made, relatively new high-quality machine, available in 40, 80, or 150 liters (B40Pro, B80Pro, and B150Pro). The latter has also become a popular brewing machine for pilot brewing at many breweries. The biggest advantage of Brewtools is that they are highly modular. This means you can build and use them exactly as you want. The selection of accessories is enormous and constantly growing. These are the machines for those who have been brewing for a while, and for those who like to make their own modifications and find smart solutions.
HERMS - Heat Exchanged Recirculating Mash System
HERMS is the brewing system for advanced users, and for many homebrewers, it's the ultimate dream. One of the major advantages of this system is that the wort never comes into contact with the heating element. This means you have full control over the temperature during mashing, and you avoid anything getting scorched. Hence the name HERMS, or Heat Exchanged Recirculating Mash System.
The HERMS brewing system is a highly modular system that you can build exactly as you want, making it as expensive or inexpensive as you desire. Alternatively, there are also ready-made systems, like our system from Craft Hardware, which you can assemble yourself. There is no single correct way for the process to work here, but we can try to explain the concept in a simple way:
HERMS typically consists of three kettles and usually one or more pumps. These kettles – mash tun, boil kettle, and hot liquor tank (HLT) – each have their own function.
The mash tun is usually well insulated to maintain temperature during the mashing process. As the name suggests, this is where the mashing takes place. This kettle does not have a heating element, but rather a HERMS coil (spiral) that extends out of the mash tun and through the hot liquor tank (HLT) to maintain the temperature there. A false bottom is typically used, instead of a malt pipe or bag that needs to be hoisted. Here, the wort is transferred to the kettle, then rinsed directly in the mash tun, before being pumped over to the boil kettle.
The hot liquor tank (HLT) usually has a heating element that can heat water quickly and efficiently. This water maintains the temperature of the mash throughout, and it is this water that is used for sparging after the mashing process is complete.
The boil kettle is mainly used to boil the wort after mashing. Since the boil kettle is not in contact with the mash, it can have very powerful heating elements.
RIMS Recirculating Infusion Mash System
RIMS functions almost identically to HERMS. Instead of a heating element at the bottom of the kettle (as in compact brewers), or circulating in a separate kettle (as in a HERMS system), the wort is pumped through a separate tube with a built-in heating element. This means you heat the wort while it recirculates in a tube outside the kettle.
The difference between RIMS and HERMS – simply put:
- The HERMS system adjusts the temperature by turning the pump on and off.
- In the RIMS system, the pump runs continuously, while the temperature is controlled by turning the heating element on and off.
Similar to HERMS, there are many possibilities for how to build your system here, allowing creative builders and brewers to express themselves.
We hope this short guide has given you an insight into the different brewing methods and can help you find the one that suits you best. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
