HOME BREWING IN BALI (a diversion)

HOME BREWING IN BALI (the alternative brews)

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What is BEER?  Simply, it is supposed to be a cheap libation for the masses made from water, barley malt, hops, and yeast. If  you are considering brewing your own for reasons that it is no longer cheap or else just for your own enjoyment, except for the water, you may find it very difficult to source the rest of the materials locally in Indonesia. Your only choices would be to import ( which could be prohibitively expensive and bulky on the small scale ), have a friend bring it in on their visit to Bali, or pick it up on your next visa run ( Have fun explaining at customs the non pelleted loose leaf hops. "Oh yeah, this is humulus lupus, a close botanical relative to c@nnabis $ativa." Duh! ).

 


For those experienced in traditional brewing techniques and or those who are just willing to explore the alternative brews possible in this difficult tropical climate, welcome.  If you are not so experienced but want to brew something simple and cheap, see the CHEAP SIMPLE RECIPES section.

First things first. Cleanliness. This is the most important aspect of any brewing procedure. Your efforts can be ruined with poor sanitation. I won't go into the details of the methods for proper sanitation or brewing techniques here. There are plenty of home brew websites that you can search to learn the basics.

OK, THESE ARE SOME OF THE ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS AVAILABLE IN INDONESIA.

ALTERNATIVE FERMENTABLES TO BARLEY MALT:
MILLET (bird food-can be found in animal feed shops. They sell by the kilo or 20 kilo sack). This you will have to germinate and malt yourself.  The procedure will be in MALTED MILLET BEER - THE BALI PROCESS .)
RICE (seed rice - you will have to germinate and malt yourself.). You will need this as a source for the alfa and beta amylase enzymes required to for saccharification of any of the starches you may wish to use. The procedure will be in the malting section.
STARCHES - The cheapest is Tapioca (locally known as Tepung Kanji). Others are corn, rice and wheat. These starches can be saccharified into a maltose-glucose solution or syrup with the use of the rice malt mentioned above. For procedure, see saccharifying tapioca starch.
FRUIT JUICES - Whatever fruits your fancy.
SUGARS - cane sugar, palm sugar, etc... (non fermentable sweeteners: sodium cyclamate-yuck, aspertame-ok).

ALTERNATIVES TO HOPS:
A long time before the advent of using hops in brewing beer, there was the use of gruits. Gruits were any vegetable matter, flower, bark, root, leaf, seed, or fruit used to give flavoring to ales.
SAMIROTO - a bitter weed that grows abundant in unattended road sides and fields. Used locally in stomach
bitters - jamu tea.
INTARAN LEAF (NEEM) bitter - this tree grows commonly around dry coastal areas. The use is not so common here, but is a widely used healing herb in India.
TONGKAT ALI ( euricoma longifolia)  very bitter. A local sexual stimulant jamu.
Other common flavorings or spices: ginger, turmeric, lemon grass, lime leaf, bitter lime skins, coriander, star anise, nutmeg, tea, pepper?..... be adventurous.

ALTERNATIVES TO IMPORTED SPECIALTY YEASTS.
There is not to much choice here other than the use of bakers yeast or the local ragi used for making tape or brem. The ragi would be suitable in producing a Sake type beverage. If you are familiar to making your own cultures, buy any of the local micro-brewery  unpasteurized bottle conditioned ales that are available for sale.
You could step up a culture from the viable live yeast sediment in the bottle. NOTE: If you are going to do this, don't contaminate your specimen  by drinking from the bottle.

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MALTED MILLET BEER - THE BALI PROCESS


Malting Millet ( for single batch - 19 liter water jug )


GERMINATION (3 days - 72 hrs.)

Day One

Take 3 Kg millet ( purchased from animal feed and seed shop. It is mainly used for
bird food and sold by the kilo. You are sure to to get a few raised eyebrows and a
lot of questions if you buy the 25 Kg sack - How many birds have you got?
Wash, rinse, and discard the seeds that float to the top. 
Soak for a couple of hours.
Put into a permeable sack ( those big poly-propylene rice sacks will do the trick).
Hang it up to let the excess water to drain.
Place it in a dark room on a clean floor. The bag should be large enough so as to be
able to spread the millet out (inside the bag) to a depth of between 1 - 2 cm.

Day Two

Rinse millet (in the bag) with your shower. Hang up to drain excess water.
and put it back in the dark as before.

Day Three

Same as day two.

Day Four

Rinse and hang up to drain.
Now you are ready to for the "solar malting"



SOLAR MALTING (OK - it's just sun drying)

In an open sunny area spread the millet out thinly on a tarpaulin.
Watch for the thieving birds.
When the sun goes down, bag it.
Repeat procedure next day.
2 - 3 days is sufficient.
Store in a dry place.
Do not store longer than 2 weeks in Bali's humidity.


MILLING

When you are ready to start a brew, take your millet to the local miller.
Most villages have a miller that grinds rice to flour. The malted millet
will be ground to a flour.



BREWING DAY
 
Equipment:
2 - 20 liter or larger stock pots.
1 - siphon hose and racking cane.
iodine solution for starch test (as you add a few drops of the iodine
solution to your wort sample, it will turn blue/purple if starch is still
present),
Thermometer.
2 - 19 liter carboys (water jugs)

Supplies:
3 Kg malted millet flour.
1 teaspoon citric acid.
500 g. sugar.
hops or gruits to your specs.
yeast.
water.

In a 20l. pot add 3 kg millet malt fine ground.

Add one teaspoon citric acid and stir in a total of 6 liters of controlled
hot water to make a 40 degree Celsius glucan rest for 20 min.
 
Stir in 3 liters of controlled hot water to make a 50 degree Celsius protein
rest for 20 min + 20 min settle.

remove top liquid layer supernatant (enzymes) to the other 20 l pot. Cover
and put aside.

Add 4.5 liter hot water to grist and boil for 20 min to geletanize the starches.

Cool the boiled grist to around 65+ degree Celsius.

Stir in supernatant and adjust temp to 63-65 C > rest and keep temperature for
at least 1.5 hr.
(iodine test at 1 hr. - 1/2 hr. - 15 min. until no positive test for starch).
 
Siphon top wort off to the other 20 liter pot.

To the remaining sludge add 5-6 liters hot water (I guess this would be in a
sense a form of batch sparging) > stir > settle > siphon.
Hint: when siphoning at this time, stick the tube to the very bottom at the
side of the pot and restrict outflow near top (highest level of the siphon hose)
so that clear wort comes through only-gravity and slow flow should keep the
sludge on the back side - the outflow end of the siphon should be immersed in
the collected wort). This will be painfully slow.

To the collected wort add 500 gr. sugar and boil for 1-1.5 hour (add you hops
or gruits regiment at 15 min intervals throughout the boil.
 
Cool wort

Transfer to 19 litre carboy

Top up with water to ~ 18 liter > aerate (shake the carboy)

Check ph and SG

Pitch your yeast (if you are in a pinch for brewers yeast, use 3 level table
spoons bakers yeast) > shake it all up again.

Wait.....

May 26
SG 1.037 ph 5 pitched yeast at 8:00 pm

 

May 29
Final SG 1.009 ph 4. Racked to new carboy on top of boiled solution of 180 g
sugar plus 500 ml water  to make ~18 l beer. Bottled at 12:00 pm

Note: this fermented out very quickly.

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CHEAP SIMPLE RECIPIES
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GINGER BEER

SIMPLE BREWING INSTRUCTIONS

 
ginger (grated or ground) 250 - 300 g.                          
sugar         1.5  kg.                     
citric acid   1 packet (25 g./pack)        
aspartame (nonfermentable sweetener - to your taste - optional)
yeast         2 table spoon                 
water         19l.             
                                           

sugar fo bottleing 170g          
                                         
                                           
   
insructions:
1. Grind or grate ginger.
2. Boil about 12 liters water in a 20 l. pot. when water is hot just before
   boilling add and disolve 25 g citric acid and 1.5 kg. sugar to the pot.
   When water has boiled add the ginger. Simmer this on small fire for 10 minutes.
3. cool the pots down to about 85 F (30 celsius).
4. prepare clean and steril 19 liter water galon. 
5. Put contents into the water gallon and add clean and steril water to make 18 liters.
6. add 2 table spoons yeast and close top with steril plastic
   sheet or small bag and fasten with rubber band.
7. let ferment till fermentation has stoped (about 7-11 days)
8. prepare clean and steril galon and add  sugar sirup (previously
   prepared.- 170 g sugar, (optional aspartame), and water to make 1 liter.
   this should be boiled and cooled.).
9. siphon of the fermented ginger beer into the new galon with clean
   and steril hose.
10. siphon into clean and steril bottles and cap with clean and steril tops.
11. let bottles ferment for about 9 days.
12. DRINK   

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SUPER SIMPLE in BALI - COOLERs

single batch 19 l.  


use NUTRI SARI brand drink mix -  30 satchets(all sorts of flavours- orange,
manggo, stawberry, etc...)    
sugar         1.50 kg.                      
yeast         2 table spoon                 
water         19l.
 
sugar for bottling 170 g

proceedure:

Bring to boil the water.
Add nutri sari and sugar to disolve.
Chill to ~ 30 celsius.
Add 2 tablespoon yeast.
Ferment.
At bottling add 170 g sugar.

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BALI SIDER ( cider )

19 l. batch

1.5 kg sugar
750 g tamarind pulp
Aspartame - to your taste
19 l. water
2 table spoon yeast

170 g sugar for bottling
 


proceedure:

Bring to boil the water.
Add tamarind, aspartame, and sugar to disolve.
Chill to ~ 30 celsius.
Add 2 tablespoon yeast.
Ferment.
At bottling add 170 g sugar.

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ICE T

sugar                   1.5 kg
citric acid             25 g
tea                     about 50 tea bags or equivalent
aspartame           to your taste
water                   19 l
yeast                   2 tbl spn

sugar for botteling     170 g

Instructions similar as per ginger beer recipie.

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TROPIK TONIK
single batch 19 l.  


chloroquin diphosphate 250mg x 6 (anti malarial tablets)          
sugar         1.50 kg.                      
citric acid   20 g                           
salt          1 level baby spoon
aspartame     to your taste
yeast         2 table spoon                 
water         19l.
 
sugar for bottling 170 g

proceedure:

Bring to boil the water.
Add crushed tablets, citric acid, salt, aspartame, and sugar to disolve.
Chill to ~ 30 celsius.
Add 2 tablespoon yeast.
Ferment.

At bottling add 170 g sugar.

NOTE: grape fruit flavour comes through from the bakers yeast used.

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BALI ASLI PALM WINE CHAMPGNE v1.0

buy some tuak manis ~ 19 litre (as soon as it comes from the tree -
this stuff starts fermenting right from the tree so time is of the essence.
pasturise or boil ASAP)
 


proceedure:

Bring just to boil and skim the foam and bugs off.
Chill to ~ 30 celsius.
Add 2 tablespoon yeast.
Ferment.
At botteling add 200 g sugar.

Note: This stuff came out horibly sour hence I named it BALI VIN AGA

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BALI ASLI PALM WINE CHAMPAGNE v1.1

3 kg Gula Bali (palm sugar)
500 g tamarind pulp
19 l. water
2 table spoon yeast

200 g sugar for bottling
 


proceedure:

Bring to boil the water.
Add tamarind and palm sugar to disolve.
Chill to ~ 30 celsius.
Add 2 tablespoon yeast.
Ferment.
At bottling add 200 g sugar.

NOTE: this worked out much nicer than version 1.0

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to be continued....