The weather this weekend isn't good for brewing, so I'm making some sterile starter wort. Knowledge of basic canning procedures is helpful, but not necessary if you have never done it. It is very easy, and you can do it on the stove top. Beats dragging out the burner!
3lbs light extract (DME or LME, your choice)
.5 oz low-alpha hops. I have some leftover Tettnang I'm using.
The hops are not absolutely necessary, but since hops are somewhat anti-bacterial, the hops provide an extra measure of protection, just like in beer.
12 1-quart canning jars with rings and lids. Ball is the major manufacturer of jars.
5 gallon boil kettle. I have a cheap thin-walled kettle that I use only for heating sparge water, and of course this purpose as well.
Oven mitts or gloves. You are going to be handling extremely hot jars, so be safe. One of those canning jar grabbers is helpful too; they are usually right next to the canning supplies in the store.
Wash the jars, rings, and lids. You do not need to sanitize them. Canning has been around a lot longer than Star-San.
Add extract to 3.5 gallons of water and bring to a boil. Add hops and boil for 15 minutes. This step is no different than brewing an extract beer. I use a metal-mesh reusable coffee filter for drip coffee makers to skim the hop debris from the surface of the wort. Your finished wort will have a specific gravity of around 1.040.
Fill the jars with hot wort. You do not need to cool and whirlpool. Place the lids on the jars, and screw the rings on to just barely snug. Wash your kettle, place the jars inside, and add enough hot water from the tap to bring the level of water to just under the rings on the jars. Bring the water to just just under a boil, and simmer the jars for a minimum of 15 minutes. Remove the jars from the simmering water bath, and tighten the rings finger tight.
As the jars cool, the decreasing temperature will cause the wort to decrease in volume, creating a vacuum that will cause the lids to pop inward. Make absolutely sure that each lid pops. Store at room temperature. As with all canned products, they do not need to be refrigerated.
Please note that you cannot simply add the wort to sanitized jars. Canning requires sterilization, hence the need for a minimum 15 minute simmer after the jars are filled. This step will kill any little critters that might be hanging out in the jars. If you don't do this step, the wort will spoil within a week.
Shazam! 12 quarts of sterile starter wort ready to go, ready to make from 6 to 12 starters! When you are ready to make a starter wort, simply remove the rings and pop the lids off with a bottle opener or the back of a butter knife. Pour into your starter flask or what have you (I use a 1 gallon glass jug), and add yeast. There will be a little bit of trub on the bottom of the jars, and that's ok. Pour it all in the starter vessel. Remember that you are making yeast starter wort, not brewing beer, so the little bit of trub and hops are not going to have any effect.
Mistakes can happen on your first couple of tries, just like anything else. Do not under any circumstances use a jar of wort that has a lid that has popped outward! This is a sure sign of spoilage and botulism, a killer.
The jars and rings are reusable. Do not reuse a lid. They are single-use only.
Just as a side note, this little project is unusually fun for me. When I was young, my grandmother used to can all kinds of stuff, especially strawberry jam. There is a song on Michelle Shocked's album Arkansas Traveler called "Strawberry Jam," and that song is an accurate description of Saturday morning jam making. I learned how to can when I was only 10 or 11, with adult supervision of course.
Topic: What's Brewing this Weekend? (Read 423290 times)
