On the 27th of September, we home brewed 10 liters of IPA beer for the BeerDEcoded project!
With Clemens’ lead, we first mixed the malt with warm water for mashing or breaking down the long carbohydrate chains of starch into short sugars which the yeast will later be able to ferment. After attaining the desired sugar concentration, we added the hops which is important not only for the taste but it also prevents bacterial growth thanks to its bitterness! The last step of the day was the most interesting component for us: the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae! From then on, we let the yeast devour the sugar and produce ethanol for several days until no sugar was left for the yeast to process.
In the end, we obtained 8.5 liters of (hopefully) delicious beer and filled them into beer bottles which we hand cleaned in the bathtub. Will there be enough beer left for sequencing after a beer tasting? We will see..
