When it comes to beer, everyone knows that lager is the most popular style. After all, it’s the style most often consumed. But do you know what is the easiest type of beer to brew?
It’s the ale according to Hopster brewing company and other home brewers. Yes, this seems like a pretty obvious answer, but there are so many different types of beer that it’s easy to forget some of them.
Lager and stout are the most popular styles, in part because they’re easy to brew. If you’re just getting started, try Pale Ale or American Lager.
If you’re looking to maximize efficiency, go for IPA. But if you’re ready to take your brewing to the next level, you should definitely consider making an ale.
But what if you want to try your hand at brewing a different style? Do you know what type of beer is easiest to brew? Ale is the easiest. It’s also the most malleable of the common beer styles. So, if you’ve got a new brew kit and want to give the ale a try, you’ve got the right kind of beer for the job. Keep reading for all the details.
What is the easiest type of beer to brew?
Ale is considered the easiest beer to brew according to different homebrewers and from our experience. Among them, American amber ales from our experience are very easy beers to brew. Moreover, the combinations one can use to brew American amber ales are almost limitless. Other beers to try as a beginner are American Wheat Ale, American Brown Ale, American Pale Ale, and Porters.
Brewing any type of beer can result in mistakes for a beginner. Ales it is very easy to make up for any mistakes that may have occurred. Ales are very easy to salvage since ales brewing style is forgiving, making them the easiest beers to brew.
What is Ale?
Ale is the most common type of beer in the world. It’s a light-colored, fermented malt beverage that has a sweet flavor and is typically lower in alcohol than other beers. An ale is thus defined by the yeast that is used for the fermentation process.
Thus, an ale is a fermented malt beverage brewed using a warm fermentation method that is full-bodied and somewhat bitter, with strong, sweet, and fruity taste and aroma of hops.
The beer is brewed using a fast fermentation process with a quick-acting, top fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) at relatively high temperatures when compared to a lager.
An ale was until the late 17th century an alcoholic drink brewed without hops. However, currently, an ale is made from filtered water, sweet-tasting malted barley, top fermenting yeast, and often with hops, to balance the sweetness with a more bitter flavor.
How to Brew Ale
Ale is the easiest type of beer to brew. It’s a great way for new brewers to learn the basics without being overwhelmed. It’s also versatile, a good place to start and you can use almost any kit for it.
The first step in brewing ale is making wort, which involves boiling water and malt extract (found in most homebrew kits) until it reaches the desired level of sugar concentration. With this done, you add hops and cool them down before pitching yeast and fermenting the mixture. Ale takes about one week to ferment before you bottle it up and store it in a dark, dry place.
A couple of days after your ale has finished fermenting, you’ll need to bottle it. You can either use natural carbonation like champagne or store-bought carbonation tablets depending on how you want your ale to taste when drinking.
Ale brewing process
- The first step is to gather the brewing equipment. To brew an ale you will use the following equipment:
- Auto-Siphon
- Beer Recipe Kit (or individual ingredients)
- Brewing Kettle
- Fermenter + Air Lock
- Funnel (optional)
- Sanitizer
- Stir Spoon
2. Sanitize all the brewing equipment, especially any equipment that comes in contact with the brewing beer after the boil process. At Hopsters we use Star San or PBW to clean and sanitize.
3. Steep Grains by following the steps below:
- Using the five-gallon kettle fill it with 2.5 gallons of water and heat the water.
- Then steep the grains for 20 minutes. You can either do this or steep the grains until the water temperature reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the grains from the water and allow the water to filter out of the grain bag into your brewing kettle. However, do not squeeze the grain bag since this leads to the extraction of tannins that cause your beer to have unwanted flavors.
4. Bring your brewing kettle to a rolling boil and then remove it from heat and add malt extracts. Once you have dissolved all the extracts, boil the mixture again.
5. Add hops at different boil intervals. Ensure you do not boil over when adding the hops. The period for adding the hops depend on the recipe you are using to brew.
6. The process yields a wort which is also called sugar water. You need to cool it as quickly as you can either using an ice bath or wort chiller. We recommend using a wort chiller if you have it but even the ice bath gives you the desired wort cooling results.
7. With the sanitized equipment ferment your wort by pouring the cooled wort into the fermenter and then adding filtered water. The water should be added until the fermenter has 5 gallons of brewing wort.
- Then aerate the wort by stirring it or splashing it around the contained followed by adding the ale yeast. We recommend using dry yeast since it does not require prior preparation
- Thereafter, seal the fermenter followed by adding a fermentation air lock. Once this is done, store the brewing mixture in a dark cool place at a temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. After two weeks or when the fermentation is complete which you can check using final gravity of the brew, its time to bottle the beer using sanitized equipment.
- You will need bottles, bottle caps, a bottle filler, a bottling bucket, and transfer hoses. All these need to be cleaned properly.
- Start by boiling the priming sugar in 16 oz of water. Thereafter, let it cool down and then transfer it to the bottling bucket.
- Transfer the beer by siphoning it from the fermenter and into the bottling bucket. Ensure that you do not also transfer the sediments.
- Fill the fermented brew into the bottles. You can do this by attaching the bottle filler to the hose, which is attached to the bottling bucket spigot then using the filler to transfer the beer to the bottle.
- Using the bottle capper, cap all the filled beer bottles.
- To carbonate, let the bottles sit at room temperature for roughly two weeks.
9. Refrigerate and enjoy your ale when you need to.
Pros of Ale Brewing
- Ale is arguably the easiest type of beer to brew. It’s often easier than other styles of brewing because it doesn’t require a lot of time, equipment, or ingredients. For starters, ale doesn’t require a lot of hop pellets or any additional ingredients like malt extracts. You just need water, barley malt, hops, and yeast.
- It also requires fewer steps than other types of brewing, which means you can easily accomplish the entire process with much less effort. And since you don’t have to worry about adding hops, your brew should come out tasting smoother and sweeter than beers made from other methods.
- Finally, it’s easy to find recipes for ales that are tailored for novices. Considered the most popular type of beer in the world, it often comes with a variety of different tutorials so you can learn how to brew at your own pace.
- It’ll also take less time for the beer to ferment. The process of brewing an ale will take about 3-5 weeks from start to finish, which can be a little shorter than other beers like lagers and pilsners.
Cons of Ale Brewing
Ale is the type of beer that’s easiest to brew, but there are some cons to it.
- One downside is that ale has a shorter shelf life than other types of beer.
- Ales give you more calories in that each 12 oz serving will give you 250 calories, whereas lager has only 180 calories. This is because ales have a higher alcohol content than lagers since the top-fermenting yeast used for making ales thrives at higher temperatures.
But those downsides are worth it for a beer that’s easy to brew and versatile for all the occasions in your life. You might not be making the most complicated type of beer right away, but you’ll learn enough with this one to give yourself a challenge later on down the line. Plus, when you want to spice things up a bit, you can always experiment with other styles before returning back to basics with an ale recipe.
Is it easy to brew Ale?
Brewing ale is the easiest type of beer to brew. There’s a reason it’s the most popular type in the world. It’s versatile and simple, which means you have an easier time getting things right.
Ale is also made using just four ingredients: yeast, barley malt, hops, and water. This makes it easy to stick with this style of brewing for years on end without ever running into trouble.
One of the reasons why ale is the easiest type of beer to brew is because it doesn’t require bottom-fermenting yeast or any other special equipment. When we talk about types of beers that are easiest to brew, I think this might be your best bet.
How easy is it to brew Lager?
Brewing lager is a slightly more complex process than brewing ale. Lagers are brewed at colder temperatures and take longer to ferment, which means they can’t be rushed through the process like ales.
Ale is brewed at room temperature and has a pretty short fermentation time of about 2 weeks. It may take a little longer to brew because it’s not as cold, but it’s still relatively easy.
So if you want the easiest type of beer to brew, ale is your best bet. You don’t have to worry about giving up any of your precious free time for this one.
How easy is it to brew Pilsner?
Pilsner is not the easiest type of beer to brew, that’s for sure. Pilsner is a type of lager beer with a light, crisp taste. The style originated in the Czech Republic and was created because they were running out of malt. It’s not too bitter, but still has a strong taste to it.
The process takes around eight weeks and it is easy to make mistakes in the process. That’s why many people choose ale instead. They are more difficult to make but they also have less room for error.
How easy is it to brew Rauchbier?
If you are looking for another easy type of beer to brew, I would recommend Rauchbier. This is a smoked beer, which means it’s not for everyone. If you like bitter flavors in your beer, this will be right up your alley.
Rauchbier is fairly straightforward to brew. The ingredients are easy to come by and don’t require any specialized equipment. With just a few weeks of aging time, you can have your own batch ready to drink.
How easy is it to brew Honey Ale or Mead?
Making Mead is easier than making beer because Mead is not fermented. Making mead is easier than making beer because mead ferments without the worry of contamination. It’s made by combining honey, water, and yeast. The yeast turns the sugar in your honey into alcohol without the need for heat.
One of the most popular types of mead is called “honey ale” or “honey wine”. For this type, you’ll just need to add some honey and a packet of yeast to a gallon of warm water.
Stir it up well and pour it into a glass container with an airtight lid–like a mason jar or some other kind of jug–then put it out in a warm place for about two weeks to ferment.
There are also simpler ways to make Mead if you want something more straightforward than brewing beer. You can buy premade kits that come with all the ingredients you need, but they might not be as flavorful as other methods.
Making Mead from scratch can be easy too because you don’t have to worry about using too much heat while fermenting it, which is one reason why homebrewing beer at home can be difficult (you have to boil the wort).
If you are new to homebrewing and looking for an easy-to-brew option with minimal effort, making Mead is your best bet.
How easy is it to brew American Pale Ale or American Lager?
American Pale Ale or American Lager is one of the easiest type of beer to brew. This style of beer has a simple malt-hop balance that’s perfect for beginners. If you’ve never brewed before and are looking for an easy starter recipe, this would be a great choice.
It will give you the opportunity to get your feet wet without having to worry about any complicated brewing techniques. And with the low amount of hops used in this style, it won’t be too bitter-tasting.
However, you might need to buy some more equipment if this is your first time using a home brewing kit. The equipment needed for this type of beer is basic and can be found at most homebrew stores. If this was your first time brewing, it would also be a good idea to read up on the process beforehand so you know what to expect.
This is also true if you want to make another type of beer your first time out. Before starting, read through all the instructions from start to finish and make sure you have everything you need beforehand. You don’t want to get halfway through and find out that there’s something important missing and have no idea where to get it or how much it costs.
How easy is it to brew Bock beer?
Bock beer is a low in alcohol, medium-bodied, and dark German lager. It’s brewed with a decoction mash with a sweet malt flavor. This style also has a long history of being brewed in the winter months due to its popularity in Bavaria and other colder regions of Germany.
Bock beer is very easy to brew at home because there are few ingredients, it’s not an ale, and you don’t need any special equipment. However, you need to have good control of fermentation temperatures noting that it is one of the oldest beer styles.
You will need to invest in some malt extract (found on Amazon) to make your own bock beer if you’re looking for something easy on your first try. Otherwise, you can buy pre-made kits like these.
How easy is it to brew Fruit Lambic or Frambšguerreira?
It has the simplicity of the grain bill, but the process and ingredients can be a bit more difficult to get right.
Brewing Fruit Lambic or Frambšguerreira requires a complexity of the grain bill and the ingredients needed for brewing are more difficult to get right. It’s also a more advanced method that doesn’t taste good when done wrong.
How easy is it to brew German Hefeweizen or Weissbier?
Brewing German Hefeweizen or Weissbier is an easy style for extract brewers. These beers are made with a mix of wheat and barley malt, as well as yeast.
They typically have a cloudy appearance, thanks to the yeast that ferments in suspension. The result is a lighter-colored beer with flavors that are more fruity than most wheat beers.
Hefeweizens and Weissbiers have a relatively low alcohol content (roughly 4-5%) and can be brewed without any added sugars or syrups.
It’s also the perfect type of beer for someone who doesn’t drink alcohol but wants to experiment with brewing. It only requires water, some malted barley, wheat malt, hops, and yeast – all ingredients you might already have in your kitchen cabinet.
How easy is it to brew Stout?
It’s important to note that beer is easy to brew, but not always easy to make well. This is especially true with Irish stout. It can be tricky to get the right balance of flavors and it requires some time.
You have to wait for your beer fermenting in the primary fermenter for two weeks, then transfer it into another container for secondary fermentation, then bottle and wait another two weeks before you drink it.
If you don’t want to take months before you can enjoy your first brew, ale might be your best bet. It’s an excellent beginner type of beer and an easy one if you want to dive in head-first into brewing at home.
Final Words
Brewing beer at home is a fun hobby, but it’s also a rewarding process. There are so many different types of beer to experiment with and explore. You can make your own favorite beer by tweaking the recipe and adding new ingredients.
The world of brewing is expansive and complex, but, if you start with ale, it will be easier to ease into the process. Ale is easy to brew and has a lot of resources available for beginners. So, go ahead and pick up some ale yeasts.
FAQs
What is the best type of beer to start with when homebrewing?
This really depends on what you’re looking for. Some people like a hoppy ale which is a very bitter style, while others prefer a more London-style ale. There are plenty of beers that are easy to make, so you’ll have to figure out what you like.
Which is the easiest beer to make?
If you’re new to beer and want to take it slow, ale is a great place to start. It’s the most popular type of beer in the world and a good place to learn the basics. On top of that, ale is a versatile beer that’s easy to brew. It’s the most common type of beer in the world, which means there are plenty of resources to help you if something goes wrong.
