Video by Michael Nowakowski

Brewing
Bad

Home-brewed beer makes chemistry class actually relevant.

by Miranda Cawley

Watch out, Solo cups: Glass bottles may be on the rise at Northwestern. Communication alumnus Ted Schwaba's hobbies include DJing, narrating podcasts and keeping family traditions alive as one of Northwestern's few home brewers.

Using the equipment and brewing guide passed down from his father and uncle, Schwaba and his roommates, Weinberg senior Jeff Bilik and McCormick senior Harry Poppick, recently bottled their first batch of beer — a Belgian stout called "Michael Jorda’s Wine," a name that allegedly took "a lot of workshopping." Schwaba and Bilik freely admit the science of brewing beer is not their expertise.

“My only understanding of the situation was that the yeast eats the sugar and poops out alcohol,” Schwaba says.

That’s basically true. Beer is made when a barley solution is boiled with hops, the female flowers of a hops plant, to create a wort, then fed to yeast, which produces CO2 and alcohol. The barley seeds are germinated and roasted. The hops add bitterness and flavor and sterilize the mixture so that other bacteria besides the yeast do not feed off of them. This mixture consists of broken down carbohydrates, or sugars, which are perfect food for the tiny yeast microorganisms.

As a byproduct of metabolizing the sugar in a low-oxygen environment, the yeast produces ethanol and carbon dioxide. This is why fermentation always happens in a closed container over the course of two weeks. Once the beer is fully fermented, extra sugar is added before bottling. The remaining yeast eats this sugar, creating carbonation after the beer bottle is sealed.

Shelby Hatch, director of chemistry labs at Northwestern, says there are limited variations home brewers can infuse into their beer.

"Most of the different colors and flavors come from roasting the barley,” she says, adding that brewers don’t often grow their own barley. Even professional brew companies buy different roasts to change flavor and color.

However, home brewers can mix hops, barley and water to create diverse types of beer. McCormick senior PJ Santos says making different varieties of beer at home isn’t too hard after some practice. Santos started brewing at the beginning of his junior year and has made everything from stouts to pumpkin beer.

"You have a whole lot of different variables to play with," he says. "The end result is really enjoyable."

Click icons below to see recipes

"PJ and Alex's Drinkable Coffee Stout"

Ingredients
  • 4 pounds two-row malt
  • 1 pound black malt
  • ½ pound flaked oats
  • 3⅓ pounds Traditional Dark Liquid Dark Extract
  • 1 pound Traditional Dark Dry Malt Extract
  • 2 ounces Fuggle Pellet Hops
  • 2 cups freshly brewed coffee
  • 1 package Northwest Ale Yeast
  • ⅓ cup sugar
Directions:
  1. Heat 2½ quarts water to 152°F.
  2. Pour two-row malt, black malt and flaked oats into mesh brewing bag. Steep in heated water.
  3. Increase temperature to account for addition of the room temperature grains until temperature stabilizes between 148°F and 152°F. Steep for one hour and taste water to ensure it is becoming sweet.
  4. Remove mesh bag. Pour 2-4 cups water over it to transfer as much sugar as possible. Add all malt extract and bring to a boil.
  5. Add half the hops and boil for one hour. Add second half of hops and boil for five more minutes. Then remove from heat and cool as quickly as possible to 70°F.
  6. During cooling, make coffee and add to hops.
  7. After room temperature is reached, transfer to sealable bucket with an airlock. Add yeast and ferment for 1-2 weeks.
  8. Add sugar dissolved in boiling water and siphon into bottles.
  9. Cap bottles and age for two weeks. Enjoy!

"Chocolate Rye Stout We Haven't Named Yet"

Ingredients
  • 3½ pounds two-row malt
  • 1 pound black malt
  • 1½ pounds chocolate rye malt
  • 3⅓ pounds liquid rye extract
  • 2 ounces Cascade Pellet Hops
  • 1 package English Ale Yeast
  • ⅓ cup sugar
Directions:
  1. Heat 2½ quarts water to 152°F.
  2. Pour two-row malt, black malt and rye into mesh brewing bag and steep in heated water.
  3. Increase temperature to account for addition of the room temperature grains until temperature stabilizes between 148°F and 152°F. Steep for one hour and taste water to ensure it is becoming sweet.
  4. Remove mesh bag and pour 2-4 cups water over it to transfer as much sugar as possible. Add all the malt extract and bring to a boil.
  5. Add half the hops and boil for one hour. Add the second ounce of hops and boil for five more minutes. Then remove from heat and cool as quickly as possible to 70°F;.
  6. After room temperature is reached, transfer to a sealable bucket with an airlock. Add yeast and ferment for 1-2 weeks.
  7. Add sugar dissolved in boiling water and siphon into bottles.
  8. Cap the bottles, and age for two weeks. Enjoy!

"Pumpkin Spice Latte Ale"

Ingredients
  • 1 pumpkin
  • Nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar and allspice to taste
  • 4 pounds six-row malt
  • ½ pound Caramel 90 Malt
  • ¼ pound melanoidin malt
  • 3 pounds Sparkling Amber Dry Malt Extract
  • 1 bottle "Pumpkin Spice" syrup
  • 1 ounce Liberty Pellet Hops
  • 1 ounce Vanguard Pellet Hops
  • 1 package American Ale Yeast
  • ⅓ cup sugar
Directions:
  1. Slice up pumpkin and coat in nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar and allspice. Roast in the oven at 350°F until brown.
  2. Heat 2½ quarts water to 152°F.
  3. Pour cooked pumpkin, six-row malt, Caramel Malt and melanoidin malt into mesh brewing bag. Steep in the heated water.
  4. Increase temperature to account for addition of the room temperature grains until temperature stabilizes between 148°F and 152°F. Steep for one hour and taste the water to ensure it is becoming sweet.
  5. Remove mesh bag and pour 2-4 cups of water over it to transfer as much sugar as possible. Add malt extract and the "Pumpkin Spice" syrup and bring to a boil.
  6. Add Vanguard hops and boil for one hour. Add Liberty hops and boil for five more minutes. Then remove from heat and cool as quickly as possible to 70°F.
  7. After room temperature is reached, transfer to sealable bucket with an airlock. Add yeast and ferment for 1-2 weeks.
  8. Add ⅓ cup sugar dissolved in boiling water. Siphon into bottles.
  9. Cap the bottles and age for two weeks. Enjoy!

Though Santos says he doesn’t know any other brewers on campus, he’s “not surprised that other people have decided that it’s a fun thing to do.”

And with good reason: Brewing beer is comparable price-wise to buying it yourself, and with home brew equipment shop Brew Camp Evanston, students can easily get started.

While Santos’s favorite part of the beer brewing process is the experimentation, Schwaba and his roommates relish the opportunity to share the beer with their friends. Schwaba says Michael Jorda’s Wine passed his friends’ taste tests and his father’s as well.

"My dad said that it’s better than all but two of the beers that they made in the ‘90s,” he says. “And a 55-year-old dad is an authority on beer."