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Backyard brew: Making beer from scratch

WTOP Staff | WTOP_Web_Team@wtop.com

May 28, 2013, 12:24 PM

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Arlington resident and homebrewer Rob Fink is making a crisp, summery IPA for the season. A typical brew day takes between six-to-eight hours and involves several pieces of equipment and a series of chemical reactions. Here, Fink boils 10 gallons of a wheat and barley-infused liquid. The mixture boils for approximately 75 minutes before the next step of brewing begins. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The beer Fink is brewing contains 52 percent barley, 40 percent red wheat and 7 percent victory malt. Approximately 25 to 30 pounds of grain go into a 10-gallon batch, like the one Fink is making. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Here, hops are added to the boil. Fink purchases his hops and grains from a local homebrew store. The liquid in the boil is referred to as "wort." (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Here, Rob Fink (left) sets up some of his equipment while friends and brew helpers keep a watch on the boil. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink, who has been brewing for five years, uses dried hops for this batch. Fink also grows his own hops in the backyard, but opted for this variety, which possess a bitter, grapefruit taste. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink measures out the hops, which will be infused with the wort using a piece of equipment called a "hop rocket" after the boil and during the cooling process. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink takes a smell of the hops, which infuse the beer with a very forward flavor. For this beer, Fink adds approximately 2 pounds of hops to the 10-gallon brew. "Even on the homebrew scale, that's quite a bit. It's somewhere between an IPA and double IPA intensity," he says. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink grows three different kinds of hops in the backyard. One type is called Zeus, which Fink explains can be used as a bittering hop or dry hop. He says this hop is especially good in an American-style IPA. The second type of hop Fink grows is Centennial. However, this hop doesn't grow very well in Virginia's climate. The third hop, Cascade, grows especially well in Northern Virginia. "It's the ubiquitous American craft beer hop," Fink says. The hops bud in early August and are harvested in early September. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
After the grain and hops are boiled to make the wort, Fink strains the grain and adds it to a compost pile in the backyard. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A brew day is not complete without a few things on the grill. Fink and his wife, Kate, make burgers and hotdogs, which pair perfectly with Fink's last brews, which he serves to his guests. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
During the boil, Fink places drops of the wort on this tool, which measures the potential alcohol volume of the beer. This beer is going to be 7 to 7.5 percent alcohol per volume upon completion. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The tool measures the pre-boil gravity, which gives Fink an idea of the alcohol content of the beer. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A table of tools and tubes wait for the next steps of the beer process. One very important part of making beer successfully is sterilization of the brewing equipment. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink moves the wort off the boil and begins to start the cooling process. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Not everyone in attendance helped to make the beer. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink uses a piece of equipment that helps to cool the wort after the boil. Water-in and water-out hoses are attached to help reduce the heat of the wort. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink loads the second batch of hops into the hop rocket for the next part of the brew process. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink removes the old hops and the grain, which will go into the compost pile. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
After the boil, Fink stirs the wort. He explains that all of the particulate settles out and forms a dense cone in the middle. This also gets discarded and is thrown into the compost pile. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink attaches the tube that will bring the boiling beer to the chiller. The beer will then filter into two five-gallon buckets. The beer will be ready to drink -- at the earliest -- in three weeks. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A view of the tubes and equipment required for Fink's homebrew process. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The filtered wort pours in from the chilling equipment. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink and a friend hold up the wort tube and the hop rocket to ensure that all of the liquid makes it into the five-gallon buckets. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink tastes the wort, which has a sweet flavor. Essentially, it tastes like beer without the alcohol. The yeast Fink adds to the wort will feed on the liquid's sugar and release carbon dioxide as a bi-product. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink mixes the yeast before adding it to the wort. "One bi-product of fermentation is ethanol, which is the alcohol present in the beer, which makes everyone happy. The other product is carbon dioxide," explains Fink. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Fink adds the yeast to the wort, prior to sealing the buckets. "The yeast is not just taking a backseat to the hop flavor. It's there to compliment and amplify," Fink says. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The sealed buckets sit until the second fermentation process. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Equipment from the day must be sterilized before it is used again. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
After the brew process, guests enjoy one of Fink's previous brews, a crisp saison. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
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