How is beer made? | Matt Gray is Trying: Brewing 

I thought I already knew quite a bit about making beer, but this proved me wrong! Have you ever tried brewing your own?

That brewery is so thorough that the only infectious agent they didn't control for was Matt's enthusiasm

21:45 The real question is, _Does It Soft Serve?_

I see what you did there, matt. Outstanding in their field

I love the total little kid energy you bring to everything you try in this series - your excitement is infectious

Matt is a master at threading the needle of being goofy, asking the right questions, and being really appreciative of people doing their thing.

12:11 I love how Matt thanked everyone he's worked with who are outstanding in their field, whilst he was out, standing in a field 😁

Matt, you've never driven a forklift until you've driven one with 72 inch forks trying to lift standard pallets... and put the blades through the wall on the other side. At an old job, my boss got tired of us forking the walls between us and the neighbors and chewed us out one day. Not five minutes later, he hops on the forklift to pick up a skid in order to place it on a delivery truck... and forked the walls. We all got one free stab at the walls after that.

I've got to say that even more than the rest of the series, this one really shows off how good you are at summarising knowledge. The number of times I was "I think I understand what he's saying...." only for you to clarify it perfectly was really noticeable. Great work conveying what's going on to the layman as it were. 😀

As a food scientist, i really appreciate episodes like this where you can see the importance of hygiene and knowing your process and product. I love how you caught on on how well controlled everything is, and that there's a lot of science behind making a consistently good beer. If you do get a chance to see a bottling plant at work, make sure to check it out because it looks really impressive. Yes, this is where the product gets made, but you can't see much happening, during filling and labelling you see a lot of incredibly finely choreographed movement.

I gotta say some things about Ben. Firstly he;s a pretty good teacher, dude was patient as hell and was able to explain it all very clearly and concisely while allowing you to actively do things as you learn, and he sounds like Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe).

I had lots of neat little aha! moments in here. “But if they use the same water for sterilizing and brewing won’t that mean the chemicals end up in the beer” … “Ohhhh it’s sterilized via temperature not chemicals!”

We need a follow up episode where you taste the beer and Ben tells us more about low alcohol beer and how that is different (significantly so I would imagine) from stronger beer that has been converted to lower (or no) alcohol. I have a weird taste in beers, I like the really strong Belgian type AND then some low to ultra-low alcohol. Alcohol free is seldom that good, but 0.5 to 2-3 % can be lovely. I fear the hype about alcohol free is killing many nice brews :-(.

Those hoses looking new is no accident, they have to be replaced regularly, as they also get sterilised in boiling water, so they do degrade. That is why every part is stainless steel, and you strip it all apart so that all the dead spaces get cleaned as well, so as to not trap anything that might contaminate the beer.

Matt drives a Fork lift was enough fun. Loved this

Yes, I did just watch a 23 minute video about a foodstuff I can't even drink. Great video Matt!

Ben seemed well in his element, both as brewer and teacher!

So does this mean we will get more Matt Gray Is Trying? I've been absolutely LOVING this series.

That dude was the perfect sidekick.. so enthusiastic but also explaining everything well, good energy.. amazing :)

Ben is great. Extremely knowledgeable and passionate about his craft. Love to see young people keeping old crafts alive. But I’m a bit disappointed you didn’t try the beer you made. I know that would have meant to wait a few weeks but it would have been a great ending to the video.

I used to sub contract (IT) to a very large Brewery company in Burton. It was really interesting to see all of the equipment being used by Small Beer is literally smaller versions of the equipment said larger brewer uses in their breweries (with the exception of the kettles, which were beautiful copper kettles). I am thoroughly looking forward to the future video titled "Matt Gray is Trying a Pint of His Small Beer."

6:19 Gotta keep the Copper Strike proprietary temperatures a secret!

I NEED a 'Full of Anxiety' t-shirt! 😂

Do not be alarmed, we are in the presence of certified forklift driver Matt Gray

Nice! Loved you going "Whee!" on the forklift. And Kölsch beer is surprisingly alright 😅

"The lightning rod comes later." 😂😂😂

So glad you've made another one of these! Its one of my favorite series right now! Really hoping it goes big so you can keep making them! You deserve to.

I find it genuinly heartwarming that everyone who participates in these videos is just such a delight to watch.

Great video Matt! I look forward to catching up on the series. Ps it was great seeing you today at makers Central, thank you so much for giving us the time and being so kind. Cheers J

We damn well better get at least a short on you tasting the pint of beer you helped make! :) I absolutely love the show, like others said, there's something inherently magical about seeing a grown man channel his inner child, AND inner nerd. Especially when you clearly share that energy with the craftsmen you visit, though that just might be the simple fact of working with people who Love what they do. :)

Great stuff, this is the best explanation of beer making that I have seen. What makes you so good at this kind of thing Matt, is that you are genuinely interested, you're not afraid to ask the 'stupid' questions, and you will keep asking things until you understand fully.

It is a crime that these videos are not getting millions of view...

Very nice that Matt grey was out - standing in a field for promoting his patreon and the outstanding people in their fields that he meets

I really can't imagine a video more comprehensively answering every question I had about beer. This entire series has been great, but Matt as interviewer was especially spot on - and credit to Ben for explaining things well. Nailed it.

The wholesomeness alone of Matt having fun is worth the tip!

Being a brewer looks like a fun job. Apart from all the physical labour and valve turning involved in the big industrial process, there are a lot of things in there that I as a chemistry student am very familiar with.

I don't know what's more fun, the look inside the proverbial kitchen with these videos, or Matt's cheerful vibes while he's there. 😊

My partner and I absolutely love "matt grey is trying"!!! such a good style of video ! !

The graphics are so helpful here! Such a well made video

The mutual enthusiasm in this is lovely, really enjoyed!

It’s a testament to both Ben’s explanation and your questions and video production that makes me feel like it could brew beer now. Very nice video :)

Matt Gray driving a forklift and making beer! Did all my dreams just come true?

One of the best videos I've seen for a very long time (possibly helped by drinking a beer whilst watching how they make beer!) so thank you Matt! Matt's super inquisitive nature and Ben's outstanding ability to explain something complicated in simple terms (seriously, I cannot understate how good Ben was in this video!) made this a real treat to watch, thanks again.

"are they salt with a capital S or other chemicals?" is such a Matt Gray-y question though! /pos

This one probably ticked off a couple of series items, I would think that driving a forklift would have been a thing Matt would have done an episode for all on its own.

I love this guys explanation of what beer is and how it’s made. He made it super accurate and simple. A kolsch is basically a German style that’s like a lager as an ale. 😮

ohh, I'd also thought malts were totally different from "other grains", but they're just processed! The part about the hops was also really interesting, they're almost like tea leaves... I thought I don't like beers that are "hoppy" because they're bitter, but maybe now I can look for ones that have more of the hops added to the cooled concoction and see if they suit me better. Floral and citrusy are adjectives right up my alley 😄

Thanks Matt. I probably owe you more for all of the entertainment you have provided over the years but it's a start.

Oh awesome stuff, it's always fun watching these videos.

I love this series so much :D

Love your videos, Matt. Perhaps as many, I've discovered you through Tom Scott (first, by seeing his videos a couple of years back, then viewing some (actually, quite a lot of the) Park Bench episodes, listening in to Tech Difficulties... Best of luck with what you do and wish to see more. All the best & greetings from LT. P.S. NordVPN/NordSecurity / Surfshark & others should definitely sponsor your content more frequently. You deserve viewership of millions! :)

Ben was very knowledgeable, its great listening to someone talking with skill and enthusiasm.

Matt never passes up an offer to taste whatever they are working with. Such enthusiasm and curiosity!

Your enthusiasm is amazing, gods I love that full smile all the time :) Also, you had a wonderful person to show you around :)

The small Beer guy is hypeeeeeer xD zagzagzag! I love him!

I absolutely love this series! I feel like Matt is the right person to present this type of content

oooh, I think this might be the first video you've done that is a topic I actually know about! Brewing beer is fun. Designing beers is also fun. Many years ago I designed a Hefeweizen called Badger. We used locally sourced honey in the boil and ferment to give it a little extra. Was super proud of that brew. Got a lot of comments from neighbors and friends who tried it. Biggest batch I ever made was 5 gallons. For a time my room mate and I were looking into opening a microbrewery, but unfortunately that didn't ever go anywhere :(

> It's like when you're at the zoo... And you see the animals taking care of their motions. > It is animal feed. > I was meaning it looks like poo. @ 16:40 Oh god I haven't laughed this much in quite some time!

Incredible how some parts of the process are so similar to coffee brewing!

I knew how to, (theoretically), make beer, but i heaven't seen it in action yet! This video learned me a lot about the process. Thank you Matt, (and your team), for producing, and Ben and 'Small beer' for sharing your knowledge!

Ben is very clear with the explanations! Fascinating stuff

What a phenomenal guest he was! I don’t even like alcohol and I was glued to my screen and taking notes!

Thanks for all you do.

As someone who also enjoys beer, this is delightful! It's so fun to see your excitement and interest!

This is such an amazing series. I never knew just how much effort goes into this shit!

21:39 Holy crap I have never seen a White Labs yeast pouch so big! They make some fantastic yeast strains. Their tasting rooms in Asheville and San Diego are great, they will do the same beer with 3 different yeasts to show off the flavor differences. Also they have some of the best pizza I have ever had. :)

Oh this is awesome! I love love love hearing about the behind the scenes and this seems like exactly something you'd do!

As I heard from Scott Manley (space youtuber): "Wine will happen by accident. Beer however needs to be crafted."

This was lovely to see, thanks :) Hope to see a follow-up sample session! FYI: the subtitles talk of 'molting' rather than 'malting', which (I thought) are two different things. ;)

Some fun facts about brewing raw materials- Barley is really well suited for malting due to the structure and enzyme content allowing for starches to be quickly broken down to fermentable sugars, the husk material is also really useful for filtration. This is one of the reasons why malted barley tends to make up the lion's share of grist composition. Cereal grains like malt barley also provide other nutrients for yeast like amino acids and phosphates, and flavour compounds such as maillard reaction products from malting and boiling. Some other cereal grains used in brewing include wheat, rye, maize, rice and sorghum. Ale yeast "Saccharomyces cerevisiae" is the same yeast used in baking and winemaking (as well as sake, cider, mead etc.), although a different assortment of strains with behaviours and characteristics more favourable to their applications are used for other activities. In some vessel shapes, ale yeast will rise to the top in fermentation, as opposed to sink to the bottom which lager yeast would do- nowadays cylindroconical vessels are widely used in which both yeasts drop to the bottom. Lager yeast "Saccharomyces pastorianus" is a different species from ale yeast, as it is a hybrid of ale yeast and another species. One of the different characteristics of lager yeast is it prefers lower temperatures. Water profile in brewing is important, amongst other things the content can impact pH, enzyme and yeast performance, different ratios of ions/minerals- sulphate to chloride for example can heavily impact beer flavour. Several historic places for brewing have distinct water profiles, which were preferable for certain beer styles. Today we can replicate those water profiles anywhere. Hop cones are actually fruits, and the hop plant is in the same phylogenetic family as Cannabis. Female plants are the only ones to bear fruit, and hop bines for harvest are widely grown from root cuttings. Hops provide an antibacterial effect in addition to their flavour/aroma and bittering properties. Before hops were used widely, a mixture of herbs and spices called gruit was used which included things like mugwort and sweet gale.

Here for the beer content! And the Matt Grey enthusiasm for the subject. Nicely explained process. Hope there is a follow up video tasting the beer made. Cheers and enjoy the beer #Disco

Just a little appreciation note for the editing/music/animation in this video! All makes for a very nice watch, never mind the subject content and very charismatic people on-screen! :3

It was so good that you could lend a hand. I guess in the case of small beer, many hands make light wort.

Holy hell I've never clicked on one of your videos faster 😂 you should try brewing mead next, it tastes better anyway

this should be a publically funded show helping kids pick a career (theres something similar in switzerland, but not with an unexperienced person trying to do the job)

Ha! They really make small beer! I actually did start drinking mostly low alcohol beer, as a colleague and I found ourselves being close to being drunks (alcoholics have more money and maybe style). So we investigated alternatives. We still enjoy a drink or five on occasion.

me watching this while drinking a store brand beer: hmm yes, the malt is very important

Great video as always. Great to see the enthusiasm and love of the topic from you and the experts in every video

The quality of everything I've just seen is outstanding! And your excitement is contagious, with every minute watched I got more excited for the next steps!

Kudos to Ben for explaining how different beers are made.

This looks a lot like how my brothers' brewery works! Even down to the slogan "brewing is mostly cleaning" 😂

I'm always wary about assuming someone's online persona lines up with how they really are off-camera, but either Matt is a surprisingly convincing actor or they're just genuinely one of the most delightful people I've seen ...now if only I could maintain anything close to that level of bubbly enthusiasm 😅

Matt Gray is Trying: Becoming Forklift Certified ✨

11:00 It's very fun to watch a professional switch from "showing you my job" to "hold on doing my job now" mode. One of Destin's Coast Guard videos also comes to mind, obviously a lot more abrupt. 12:30 Insert "you're not very good at negotiating are you" clip from National Treasure 😂

I've been on like 5 brewery tours but this was still a very interesting video.

I did not realise there were so many stairs involved in brewing

Indeed, you've got to illustrate the _pint_ before you start

I am now only going to refer to sodium chloride as "Salt with a capitol S" xD

I've often heard about dark beers in a sponsorship for a podcast (The Retro Hour), but at 1:45 was the first time I saw one!

The best bit about this series is Matt's infectious energy.

12:09 "...outstanding in their field." as you stand in a field 🤣🤣🤣

homebrewing for over 10 years, think this was the first time i saw a compleat brew from a professional brewery.

I wish you would get more views and then also sponsors, because this series is just so so fun and entertaining and I am learning stuff! I just love it

i don't drink but its still super cool to see how much effort goes into this and how so many things can change the flavor / characteristics

Perfect telly for me. I'll pay on the patreon as soon as I can. Thankyou Matt. Also, similar vibes from the helicopter lesson to the forklift driving; have you played a lot of forklift sims too? 😊

Wow, I think this is the best one yet, Matt. Loved all the details shared by Ben; not only does he have all this knowledge he was able to communicated it really well. I knew everyone used to drink beer because it was safer but hadn't heard the term "Small beer" before.

Pure joy, watching you have so much fun doing this.

A great student and a brilliant teacher. Thoroughly enjoyed this.

As a homebrewer, I always enjoy seeing different scales of brewing and different styles being made.

It always baffles me that anyone worked out that creating that stinky process with so many variables actually creates a pleasant drink.