Homemade Cilantro and Orange Beer

Preparation

• Preparing the Wort

  • In a large 20-cup (5 litre) pot, heat 8 cups (2 litres) of the water until it reaches 154°F (68°C). Remove from the heat. Add both types of crushed malt grains and cover. Wrap the pot in a dishcloth to keep in the heat. Let sit for 15 minutes.
  • Hook a fine sieve to the rim of a 32-cup (8 litre) pot and slowly pour the water and malt mixture through the sieve. Wash out the first pot to clean out any residue. Place the sieve holding the crushed malt over the cleaned pot and pour the liquid over the grains. Repeat this process four times, filtering the liquid over the grains from one pot into the other cleaned pot. Finish off by filtering the liquid into the larger of the two pots.
  • Add the remaining water (12 cups/3 litres) to the liquid in the pot. Add the malt extract and whisk until completely dissolved. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Gradually add the hops without letting the liquid boil over. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  • IMPORTANT: At this point, you must sterilize all of the equipment that will come in contact with the wort and eventually, the beer. To do so, wash and rinse all of your equipment, then spray with sanitizer.

• Cooling

  • Block the drain of your sink. Cover the pot of wort and place in the sink. Add the bag of ice cubes and enough cold water to the sink to come up to the same level as the liquid inside the pot. Remove the lid. Let cool until a thermometer plunged in the wort reads 68°F (20°C).

• Pitching the Yeast

  • Place a funnel into the neck of a fermenter. Place a fine sieve in the funnel. Slowly pour the wort through the sieve (see note 1). Add the yeast to the fermenter. Stir vigorously with a long spoon to dissolve the yeast.
  • Fill a fermentation airlock with water up to the indicated line. Close the airlock. Place the tip of the airlock firmly in a rubber stopper. Place the stopper into the neck of the fermenter.
  • Place the fermenter in a dark, dry spot at about 70°F (21°C) for 21 days.

• Adding the Aromatics

  • On the 18th day, place the orange peels in a small bowl. Cover with boiling water. Drain well. Open the fermenter. Add the orange peels and cilantro to the beer. Do not stir. Close the fermenter.

• Bottling

  • On the 21st day, in a small pot, bring the water and dextrose to a boil. Let cool.
  • Place a pot upside down on the counter and cover with a dishcloth. Place the fermenter on top of the overturned pot. Place another pot, right side up, on the counter beside your fermenter set up. Using an automatic siphon, transfer the beer from the fermenter into the empty pot. Transfer only the clear part of the liquid, avoiding any residue on the surface or at the bottom. Remove the siphon and sterilize again. Add the dextrose mixture to the beer. Mix well (see note 2).
  • Sterilize the inside of the bottles and the rubber parts of the lids by spraying them with the sanitizer. Let them drain on a clean, sterilized dish rack.
  • Using the sterilized siphon fitted with a spring-loaded bottle filler, fill the bottles with enough beer to come hallway up the neck of each bottle. Close the bottles, wipe them down and label them with the type of beer and bottling date. Place the bottles in a dark, dry spot at about 70°F (21°C) for 14 days. The beer will keep for 3 months.