How to Brew Beer with Amaranth

Ingredients

- Malted barley

- Flaked amaranth (about 10-20% of total grain bill)

- Water

- Hops

- Yeast

- Optional: Spices (such as coriander or orange peel), fruits, or herbs.

Equipment

- Brew pot

- Mash tun or large container for steeping grains

- Lautering equipment (False bottom, colander, etc.)

- Kettle for boiling wort

- Fermentation bucket or carboy

- Airlock

- Sanitizer

- Hydrometer and refractometer (for measuring specific gravity)

- Thermometer

Instructions

1. Malted Barley: Begin with a standard malt-based beer recipe. Choose a base malt like Pale Ale or Pilsner malt and add specialty malts as desired.

2. Add Amaranth: Add flaked amaranth to your grain bill. Typically, amaranth makes up 10-20% of the total grain bill.

3. Mashing: Follow your preferred mashing procedure. Amaranth has a slightly higher protein content than barley, so you may need to adjust your mash temperatures slightly.

4. Lautering: After mashing, lauter to separate the wort (liquid containing sugars from grains) from the spent grains.

5. Boiling and Hops: Bring the wort to a boil. Add hops according to your recipe and boil for the desired time.

6. Cooling: Cool the wort quickly to a temperature suitable for fermentation (typically around 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit).

7. Fermentation: Pitch the yeast into the cooled wort and transfer it to the fermentation vessel (bucket or carboy). Seal the vessel with the airlock.

8. Fermentation: Allow the beer to ferment at the desired temperature for the specified time (usually 1-2 weeks).

9. Secondary Fermentation (Optional): After primary fermentation, you can transfer the beer to a secondary fermentation vessel for additional aging and clarification.

10. Bottling or Kegging: Once fermentation is complete, you can bottle or keg your beer. Ensure that any bottles or kegs are properly sanitized to avoid contamination.

11. Carbonation: If bottling, add priming sugar to each bottle to carbonate the beer. For kegging, force carbonate the beer by pressurizing the keg with CO2.

12. Maturation: Let your beer mature and condition for at least a week before enjoying.

Remember, brewing beer is a process that requires precision and patience. Adjust the recipe and techniques based on your preferences and the specific amaranth you use. Enjoy experimenting and creating unique amaranth-based beers!