For the past few months, my brother-in-law and I have been diving into the world of beer brewing. Let me tell you, brewing beer is an art! It demands cleanliness, meticulous preparation, precision, and a whole lot of patience.
I always thought I had the patience of a saint, but after brewing a few batches, I realised that I might not be patient after all. Brewing can easily take 4 hours or more. A major time-sucker? Preparing the wort.
Without getting too geeky, this is where you extract sugars from grains by heating them to specific temperatures with water, malted grains, hops, and other flavour enhancers. Depending on the recipe, this can influence the beer’s alcohol content, foam, and sweetness. Now, I’m not a huge beer fan mainly because of its bitter taste. Plus, drinking beers is a ticket to fat accumulation on the belly and I’ve been there and now try to avoid that.
On a recent trip to Odin, one of Amsterdam’s top health food stores, I stumbled upon a jar of barley malt syrup. A light bulb went off: “Is this like condensed wort?” Why not swap out traditional wort for this syrup, add water, and brew a quick beer?