How To Make Beer | Easy All-grain Munich Pilsner Homebrew Recipe
Ever wondered how to make beer at home? This recipe is for an absolutely delicious all grain - Munich styled lager pilsner. Better then most craft beer on the market and perfect for Oktoberfest. It’s an all-grain recipe made super simple which means whether you’re a professional brewer or beginner to homebrewing, this recipe is perfect for you.
The increase in popularity with craft beer has seen homebrewing quickly become more and more popular. It’s easy to see why, beer is tasty to drink and making beer seems like a fun and laid back experience. Not to mention at the end you get the proud moment of drinking and sharing your one of a kind home brewed beer. So it’s understandable why you might want to know how to make beer yourself. Talk about bragging rights.
At first glance it seems like a great idea. Get a couple of mates together on a brew day. Crack open a few cold ones and get malting, smashing and boiling wort ready for fermentation. Eagerly and impatiently watch your fermenting wort for a few weeks and then voila! You have a one of a kind beer to enjoy. Result.
The problem is, once you start looking into what equipment you actually need and how to exactly brew beer, you quickly realise its a lot less fun and a lot more serious then you first thought. Everything needs to be cleaned and sanitised within an inch of its life and everything needs to be specifically measured and weighed out. The whole process becomes less of a pleasure and more of a chore.
And that’s just the actual brew day. Don’t even get me started on surgical like sanitising, the fact that you can breath on your beer and the whole thing turns sour, problems with beer not carbonating and having to consistently check up on it for the next 2 week like its a baby. Is it too warm? too cold? I’ve not heard it burp in awhile? It seems extra lively today, is it going to explode?
You could go through all that hard work and at the end, be left with nothing but bacteria infected undrinkable liquid.
Which is why I’ve put together this recipe for an easy and cheap homebrew recipe. The latter we will talk about soon.
The Basics of Brewing Beer
Let’s cover the basics first, the needs to know of how to make beer so you realise what you’re getting into. Stripped right back, there are 2 ways to brew beer. One being deemed the “beginner method” and the other being the “professional way”
The basics of beer making is pretty simple on paper. All you need is grains, hops, yeast and water.
For any alcoholic fermentation you need yeast and sugar. Yeast turns sugar into alcohol and Co2. Meaning that even though you start with a high amount of sugar, you actually end up with a dry product because the sugars have been transformed into alcohol. Trapping that fermentation forces the Co2 into the liquid creating bubbles like in beer or sparkling wine. Allowing the Co2 to escape creates a still product like still wine.
In the case beer, the sugars are converted from starch in the grains. The water is added to add volume, hops are the flavourings of beer, that’s what you’re tasting and the yeast does all the heavy lifting, it was kick starts the fermentation.
Extract Brewing - Beginner Method
Extract brewing is basically the same as when you buy one of those cupcake making kits. To brew real beer from scratch involves converting starches into sugars and fermentables. This method cuts that whole process out. Everything you need has already been converted and made into either liquid or powdered extracts.
All you have to do is mix the extract with water. Boil it and ferment it for 2 weeks. At the end you have beer.
The problem with this method is its not really your beer. You’ve bought a kit, meaning essentially you’re just activating someone else’s beer. But, it’s easy and cheap. To get started with this method just buy something like this beer making kit. Its cheap and has everything you would need to brew beer. Your brew day will last a grand total of 2 hours at a push and in 2 weeks you will have a delightful IPA. However, its not your IPA, its St Peters IPA.
Not great considering the best part about making beer is the process. Another analogy I could use is that it’s much like a paint by numbers. You’re still painting and you still have a wonderful piece of art at the end. But all you really did was fill in the gaps.
All-grain Brewing - Professional Method
The second way to brew beer is all grain brewing. This is when you take the grains, mill them, boil them and convert the starches to sugars yourself. You then add a few hops for flavouring, ferment that mix and hey presto! You have beer.
This is how it works in professional breweries. However. This method is rather complicated. First of all is the list of ingredients. Your beer will be made up of 4 ingredients. Grains, hops, water and yeast. The water and yeast is easy enough to get but as for the other two… Well, they sound simple but believe me, they are not.
Lets start with grains. You will want more then one grain in order to make up your “grain bill” this will comprise of different varieties of barley and wheat that will create the base of your beer. You then need to find a mix of what could be 4-6 grains and mill them (just so you know, a grain mill will cost you about £220) then we get to the hops. What you will end up doing here is buying 5 different types of hops even though you will only need a small amount of each.
By the end of it you’ve spent all this money on ingredients which half of will go to waste because you needed to buy in bulk just to use a few grams of each.
And what’s worse is that you have so much room for error. Even when following a recipe step by step you could easily mess it up. You might not even like brewing beer, let’s face it, you don’t know until you try. So if this is your first time then with extract brewing at least if you don’t like it you only wasted a few pounds and hours. With all-grain brewing you’ve invested a small fortune into the equipment which will now be left getting dusty somewhere.
Cost of equipment
Then we get to the equipment. Just some of the equipment needed will include, a large pot, a large fermenter, thermometer, hydrometer, auto siphon, PH testing equipment and the list goes on.
By the end, you’ve spent damn near a grand for a hobby that you might not even like.
How to make beer easily at home
Now as I mentioned, my recipe is indeed an all-grain method. However, I only use 1 type of grain and 2 types of hops. Meaning the cost of ingredients is fairly low. Furthermore my recipe is only for a 1 gallon batch, which is about 4 litres. Meaning you don’t need a crazy amount of equipment. In fact, most of the equipment needed you will already have in your kitchen.
The problem with brewing beer is that when you first see the equipment list you’re like “a large pot, I have one of those, a bucket to ferment, I have a bucket” not realizing that the pot you need will need to hold about 30 litres. Not something you probably have laying around.
What I’m showing you is a small batch recipe. But why? Because if it turns out that you don’t enjoy the process or you mess up the recipe, you’ve only wasted a small batch. And if you’re new to all-grain brewing, you could use this as a tester, to kind of, get your feet wet if you will, to decide whether you want to invest on a larger batch.
Citra and Cascade hop pellets
Above is the entirety of the hop bill going into this batch of beer.
Who this beer recipe is for
One of the worst things you can do when you’re new to brewing is to jump into brewers forums and get lost in article after article of brew advice. Trust me, stay clear. There riddled with phrases, terminology and “must have advice” that you wont understand and isn’t really needed. You just end up more confused about the process which should really be simple.
This recipe is designed for people who have either;
Never brewed beer before
If this is your first time brewing beer then start with this one. You can learn all about grain bills, mash tuns and kegging later. For now. You just need to brew up one beer. Whether it fails or not. If not to try it out then to see if you enjoy the process. Which is what its all about. Homebrewing is not about saving money, because in the long run you will spend more money on fancy equipment cluttering up your house. It’s more about the process of brewing and enjoying your own homemade beer more then any craft beer you buy from Tesco.
Looking for something new to try
If you’re not serious about brewing and you just want to try it for the fun aspect, then this is your recipe. We will be leaving out all that serious jargon and the stuff that you need to know when brewing in larger batches. Due to the fact we are only brewing a small amount of beer here. Its not serious… Although it is seriously delicious.
We’re also leaving out a lot of the process that will involve expensive equipment and are building the recipe around substitutions and things you may already have in your kitchen. So you can try it out on a whim without having to break the bank or take up brewing full time.
Anyone moving from extract brewing to all-grain brewing
If you have been brewing with an extract kit and you now think you’ve got enough brews under your belt to move to all-grain, then start with this recipe. All-grain brewing can be a daunting step up. This easy single grain recipe is a great middle ground before you commit to a larger more serious recipe.
Oktoberfest Munich Lager
As I mentioned both in the intro to this article. This is perfect for Oktoberfest. And why is that? Did I just add that in because its currently September the 24th, Oktoberfest is seasonal and in full swing meaning I may get a few extra clicks from people googling Oktoberfest beer recipes? Maybe, I mean it definitely doesn’t hurt.
But more to the point, there is an actual connection here. Oktoberfest is a Munich festival. A festival where people drink specific beer. You see, a lot of people think that Oktoberfest is just about drinking any and all beer. But as a matter of fact, there are only 6 breweries consumed at Oktoberfest.
These are from the 6 official Munich breweries Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, Hofbräu and Löwenbräu. The beer must also follow the Reinheitsgebot. This "purity law" was enacted back in 1516 to control beer quality standards, and stipulates rules such as the recipe can only include barley, malt, yeast and hops
This beer we are going to brew, is actually going to be brewed in a way to taste very similar to the beers hailing from those 6 breweries. Perfect for your own Oktoberfest party.
In-fact, remember that single grain I spoke about so much. The grain we are using is Munich malt. Emphasis on Munich. This is a Munich beer through and through no matter where you’re from. So get your dirndl dress and lederhosen on and scream O'zapft is! At the top of your lungs. Because its time for that Oktoberfest Munich Malt All-grain Homebrew beer recipe you have been waiting for.
This beer is also perfect for accompanying any Oktoberfest party you may be attending or hosting. For more on Oktoberfest parties, check out my guide on how to throw the most epic Octoberfest party from the comfort of your own home.
British Measurements
Another thing you will pick up on when searching for homebrew recipes is that a lot of them are American. And even though I get a lot of american traffic to this website, I’m doing this one for my fellow brits (sorry Americans).
Reason being, all these popular forums on homebrewing are American measurments as standard. Home brewing is more popular in America so I guess its good for continuity. However, I’m looking to get more Brits involved in homebrewing. And if the terminology and sheer size of the ingredient lists weren’t enough to put of anyone interesting in brewing beer, having measurments you don’t understand sure do top it of.
And so, All the measurements are metric, and all the links to equipment and ingredients are UK based.
Easy Oktoberfest Munich Malt All-grain Homebrew Beer Recipe.
Ingredients / where to find
6.5L water
Equipment / where to find
Method - photos below
In a large stainless steel pot bring your water to 156ºF.
Dissolve the Campden tablet into the water.
Place the mesh bag or cloth into the pot, and slowly stir in the crushed Munich malt.
Cover the pot, and maintain 154ºF for 1 hour - wrap in blankets / towels if needed.
After 1 hour, remove the bag of grain and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Bring the pot to a boil.
Once boiling, add the Cascade hops and boil uncovered for 1 hour.
At the last 10 minutes of the boil, add in the Citra hops.
Remove from the stove, and chill the pot to 60ºF as quickly as possible.
Carefully transfer the wort to a cleaned and sanitised 5 litre jug, add the yeast, and seal with an airlock.
Leave at room temp for 2 weeks out of direct sunlight.
Clean and sanitise beer bottles.
Add 1 1/5 teaspoons of sugar to each bottle, and then carefully fill each bottle with beer.
Leave bottles at room temp for two weeks before transferring to the fridge to chill. Be careful, if the beers over ferment they run the risk of exploding. Box them up to avoid any damage in case this happens.
Campden tablet ready to add to the water.
Crushed Munich malt ready to be bagged and added to the boiling water.
Malt removed and ready to boil with the hop addition.
Top tip for rapidly cooling your wort without fancy equipment - Place in a sink with running cold water.
Brewday - Complete
After a 2 week ferment out of direct sunlight and at the temperature recommended (which will be on the back of your yeast packet) its time for bottling.
2 important notes for priming. Sanitisation is absolute key at this point to protect the flavour of your beer and don’t overload the sugar. Brewing sugar is preferred as its easier for the yeast to eat. However, caster will also work if you cant get hold of brewing sugar.
After that, all that is left is to label your beer and you’re good to go. Enjoy!
Notes
If you do brew this beer, I’d love to hear how you got on. Feel free to drop a comment below letting me know how you found the process and how your beer came out. I’d also love to hear from experienced brewers. Did you try this recipe? Did you not? Let me know what you think.
Munich Malt All-grain Homebrew Lager-Pilsner Beer (4L)
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large stainless steel pot bring your water to 156ºF.
- Dissolve the Campden tablet into the water.
- Place the mesh bag or cloth into the pot, and slowly stir in the crushed Munich malt. (into the bag)
- Cover the pot, and maintain 154ºF for 1 hour - wrap in blankets / towels if needed.
- After 1 hour, remove the bag of grain and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
- Bring the pot to a boil.
- Once boiling, add the Cascade hops and boil uncovered for 1 hour.
- At the last 10 minutes of the boil, add in the Citra hops.
- Remove from the stove, and chill the pot to 60ºF as quickly as possible. It helps to fill a sink up with cold water and ice, then leave your pot in the water for the fastest chill time.
- Carefully transfer the wort to a cleaned and sanitised 1 gallon jug, add the yeast, and seal with an airlock.
- Leave at room temp for 2 weeks out of direct sunlight.
- Clean and sanitise beer bottles.
- Add 1 1/5 teaspoons of sugar to each bottle, and then carefully fill each bottle with beer.
- Leave bottles at room temp for two weeks before transferring to the fridge to chill. Be careful, if the beers over ferment they run the risk of exploding. Box them up to avoid any damage in case this happens.
Notes
Once you've done. If you loved the process and love the taste, you can take this exact recipe and brew a bigger batch by multiplying the ingredients by however much you want.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
4.17Fat
0.01Sat. Fat
0Carbs
1.06Fiber
0Net carbs
1.05Sugar
1.03Protein
0.02Sodium
27.36Cholesterol
0.01The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Smartblend is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.co.uk and amazon.com. Smartblend does earn a small commission on goods purchased through the included links. Don't worry, it doesn't cost you any more, but we do appreciate your referral!