FAQ

Brewing beer is easy. If it was hard, brewing supply stores would not exist. Brewing your own beer may sound hard when you see the commercial breweries but don’t panic. Home brewing is not much different. The equipment is scaled down to 19L (or more). To start home brewing, you don’t need a lot of equipment. Most of you have a big enough pot to make a one gallon batch of beer. Beer Grains sells a 1 gallon starter kit which contains all you need to ferment and bottle your beer. You get your choice of recipes to match your beer style. Try it out, it doesn’t cost much and you will have fun doing it. We also offer brewing workshops. These workshops are designed to introduce you to the world of brewing. You will brew your own beer, ferment and bottle at our store.

Getting started in home brewing can be overwhelming. We always suggest that you start with our 1 gallon starter kit to see what the brewing process is all about. This is low cost to you in case you don’t like to brew. If you want to skip ahead to 19L batches that is fine. Beer Grains has all the equipment you need to start brewing your first 19L or more batch of beer. We have many options to chose from. You can buy all the pieces your need: kettle, mash tun, chiller, pump, fermentation kit, kegs and/or bottles. Our expert staff can help you get started. We also recommend you look into an all-grain brewing system like the Grainfather or Brewzilla. These all in one systems will cost you more at first but you get a complete brewing system which will fit in a cupboard instead of a closet. We also offer brewing workshops. These workshops are designed to introduce you to the world of brewing. You will brew your own beer, ferment and bottle at our store. Try our workshops before you decide on what type of brewing system you should get.

Beer Grains does sell ingredient kit. We have all-grain kits (5 gallon and 1 gallon) as well as extract kits. All our kits have different options to choose from like milling grains and different yeasts. Our kits come with the instructions needed to brew the perfect craft beer. Have a look at our kits, we are sure that you will find one that will fit your style.

Beer Grains is offering different brewing workshops. We are offering 1 gallon and 5 gallon brewing workshops. For the 5 gallon workshop we are currently using the Grainfather all in one brewing system. We offer the possibility of brewing, fermenting and bottling on site. So for those of you who want to live the brewing experience, this is the perfect workshop for you. Remember ladies, it makes a great gift. Your spouse will love it. We welcome businesses as well. We have different options available for businesses who want to do team building or just have fun.

We offer the opportunity to brew on site. We offer workshops to those new to the brewing world. If you just want to use our equipment and bring your wort home, it can be done. Anybody can use the brewery. We also offer the possibility of fermenting and bottling on site.

Yeast can be tricky. White Labs has their Vault and Wyeast has their Private Collection. Both of these yeast laboratories have special collections that come out from time to time. Some recipes out there, call for yeast that are from those collections. We can’t keep every yeast in stock. If the yeast you are looking for is not in a special collection, we can order it for you the next time we order our yeast. Contact us by phone or e-mail.

If you are brewing a beer that is 7% ABV and above, it is recommended to use 2 or even 3 yeast packs. You can also make a yeast starter to increase the cell count of the yeast to what you need.

When planning to brew a new beer, it is important to make sure that the yeast you are using is healthy. If you are using an expired yeast, it is recommended to make a yeast starter. If the yeast is just past the expiry date, you should be fine pitching it in a 5% beer (but don’t take our word for it).

Yeast starters are for intermediate to expert brewers. If you are just getting into brewing, stick with healthy yeast packs (not expired). If you are brewing a high gravity beer, get 2 or 3 yeast packs. Once you are comfortable with the brewing process, then add this step to your brewing routine. Now, yeast starters are use to increase the viable cell count to what is needed to ferment your latest brew. Making starters, requires a flask and stir plate. You will need to make the starter 12 to 24 hours before your brew day. Liquid yeast contains about 100 billion viable yeast cells. If the package is not expired or close to the expiration date, it is good to ferment a batch of 19L (5 gallons) with an original gravity (O.G.) of 1.048. If you are brewing more than 19L or the O.G. is higher, it is recommended to make a yeast starter so that you have a viable cell count. Remember that liquid yeast will loose viable cells with time. The older the yeast the less viable cells there are, so a starter may be required.

Dry yeast and liquid yeast do the same thing; ferment your latest brew. Dry yeast is more stable than liquid yeast. Dry yeast are much less problematic when it comes to temperature variations while in storage. Liquid yeast has to be kept in a cold area. This is why we recommend a cool yeast shipping pack when you order liquid yeast. The advantage of using liquid yeast is that there are more choices. Don’t think dry yeast doesn’t make great beer, it does. With liquid yeast you can get a lot closer to the style of beer you are brewing. You get more versatility and control over the taste of your beer.

Brewing water is always a hard subject to get into. Most city water is good for brewing. If you are using well water, you should get your water tested. Sulfur in water can ruin your beer. If your water is bad for brewing, you can use spring water or distilled water. With these types of water, you will need to adjust the mineral contents to make it better for brewing. If you are just getting into brewing and on city water, don’t bother with water adjustments. Some recipes will talk about the minerals and pH level, don’t bother for now, get comfortable with brewing and then look into water adjustments.

Bottling and kegging achieve the same goals; making your beer drinkable. This is a personal choice. Some people like to bottle while others like to keg and some do both. Bottling is simple and low cost for beginners; although expert brewers bottle as well. Kegging is even simpler but is more costly at first. You will need to make yourself a kegerator (refrigerator with beer taps) or a keezer (freezer with a temperature control and taps). You will need to figure out how many kegs your system can hold and purchase the necessary equipment. Our staff can help you determining what you need. Making a keg system can be confusing at first. Let us build you a kit.

Brewing other beer is exactly the same. The difference is that lagers need more temperature control. You need to be able to control the fermentation temperature at different time during the fermentation process. Ales are easier to make for novice and intermediate brewers who don’t have a fermentation chamber. You can ferment ales at 18oC to 22oC. Room temperature is fine for most ales.

There is a few hundred types of grains out there. Beer Grains has over 85 different types of grains. Unfortunately we can’t carry a couple of hundred types in stock. Lucky for us and you, many malts are very similar. We have a substitute for just about any grain you may find in a recipe.

Beer Grains has of 45 different types of hops in stock. We can’t carry every hop available on the market. We have substitutes for just about every hop that exists.

Accessing your account info is easy.  With the launch of our new site, we were not able to transfer the passwords or credit card info.  You will need to reset your password to grain access to your account.  Click the link below to reset your password. Reset your password

If you had a store credit on our old site you will be able to access your store credit on this new site.  You probably got an e-mail telling you you where given a store credit of a certain amount.  You will be able to access your store credit on our new site.  You will need to reset your password to gain access to your account.   We were not able to transfer passwords or credit card information to the new site.

Your gift card will work on the new site.  If you encounter any problems please contact us.  Don't worry, we will get you going.