Beer brewing following traditional methods Master Brewers: Dainis Raksti?? from "Kolnas?ta” and J?nis Ranc?ns Home brewed beer—a staple of Latgale's culinary heritage as well as a festive drink. Ingredients Water, barley grain for malt, hops, caramel sugar, yeast. Equipment Preferably, 3 wooden vessels (for mashing, wort tapping, and fermentation), a stirrer for mixing, a barrel for beer maturation, containers for the brewed beer. Preparation Malt preparation. Soak good quality barley grain in water and let it sprout (about 18–20 hours), then tear the barley to pieces and sieve it. Smoke-dry the grain in a black sauna (20–24 hours). Grind the dried malted barley shortly before brewing. Now the beer brewing can begin. Preparation of the mash. Pour 3 handfuls of hops into a vessel (tub), pour in a bucket of water at 85 °C (15 l of water per 50 kg of malt), stir thoroughly. Cover the container and leave it for 1 hour. Then add another bucket (~15 l) of water at 85 °C, stir well, cover again. Repeat the process for a total of 6 to 7 times, or until the stirrer, when placed vertically in the vessel, topples over. While the mash is being prepared, boil the hops. Hops work as a preservative that prevents beer from turning sour, as well as gives it its characteristic flavour and smell. Mash filtration and wort tapping. Put some straw at the bottom of the second vessel, press it, then pour the ready-made mash into it. Wait for about 30 minutes, open the tap, put a wooden dipper below, let the wort flow. Add burnt sugar caramel to the obtained wort. Fermentation. Pour the wort into a fermentation vessel and add crushed yeast. Cover the vessel and leave the liquid to ferment for about 2 days. When the fermentation process is coming to an end, pour the brew into barrels and let it mature for about a week. Fill in convenient packaging. Enjoy authentic home brewed beer!