Once you have assembled the necessary home brewing equipment and home brewing supplies, including ingredients, you'll be prepared to make your own beer. Should you have any questions about specific equipment or supplies you'll want to click on the web page link after this post in order to read more about home brewing equipment and home brewing supplies.
One of the more important steps to making top notch beer is always to make sure all your equipment that will actually come in contact with the beer is adequately cleaned. All of the equipment that's going to come in contact with your beer following the boil MUST also be sanitized. If this equipment is not effectively sanitized unwanted microorganisms could possibly spoil the beer, making all of your hard work a complete waste of time.
Take some time to arrange the brewing space. Ensure that all of your equipment and ingredients will be easily accessible. For those who choose to use liquid yeast, take it out of the fridge so it can warm up to room temperature. One more beneficial step is documentation, always have a notebook handy for recording all your brews. It's important to record your ingredients and exactly what portions were used and also times of each step. You will want to be able to duplicate your good batches as well as learn from the ones which aren't so good. Let's begin.
1. Sanitize Equipment. There are lots of sanitizers available. Among the standard selections are B-Brite, Star San, and 5-Star. You may also use standard, unscented household bleach at 1 oz. per gallon of water. If you choose to use bleach make sure you rinse the equipment because it could cause undesirable flavors in your beer. Personally I like working with Star San. Add the specified quantity of sanitizer to your fermenter and then fill to the top with water. Also fill the bottling bucket or some other appropriate container with sanitizing solution for sanitizing additional equipment. Put all of the equipment that is going to come in contact with the unfermented beer following the boil in your sanitizing solution. These items should include: airlock, rubber stopper, funnel and strainer.
2. Water For Brewing. Add water to the brew kettle. Do not forget that there needs to be space for your boil. Assuming you have a 5 gallon kettle, just fill it with approximately 3.5 gallons of water. The quality of the water is extremely significant to the finished beer. If your plain tap water tastes all right at room temperature, it will probably be ok for brewing. You might want to consider filtering the tap water using a standard household water filter if you have access to one. You can also buy bottled water from the supermarket. After you have put the water in the brew kettle place it on your stove top and turn on the burner. Also at this point put the unopened can of malt extract in hot tap water. It will warm the extract up and make it less difficult to remove from the can when it's needed.
3. Steep Specialty Grains. This step is optional. Utilizing specialty grains will improve the control you have over the color and flavor of your finished beer. If you decide to utilize specialty grains put them in the grain bag provided in your home brewing kit. When the water gets to 150 degrees F place the grain bag in the water and steep it for around 30 minutes holding the temperature constant. When 30 minutes has gone by take out your grain bag and allow the liquid drain. Do not squeeze the bag, this can extract tannins from the husks of the grain and give the beer an astringent flavor. 4. The Boil. Gently bring the liquid in your kettle to a boil. After the liquid has come to a boil add the container of malt extract. Be sure to continuously stir while slowly adding the malt extract making sure that none of it sinks to the bottom and gets scorched. As soon as the liquid is again boiling it is time to add the bittering hops. Slowly add the hops, sometimes the kettle will boil over as soon as the hops are added. Generally the hops will be in a pellet form and are added directly to the boil. They will settle out following your boil. Note the time of your hop addition. Continue to boil for a total of 60 minutes. You should never leave the boil unwatched. It will have a tendency to boil over just when you least expect it! When there are 20 minutes remaining in the boil put in the Irish Moss. The Irish Moss helps the proteins coagulate after the boil. Don't worry if you don't have the Irish Moss, your beer is going to be all right without it however, I would recommend it for your next brew. Aroma hops are generally added any time from 15 to 0 minutes before the end of the boil. Refer to the instructions in your recipe. The aroma hops will add an additional hop flavor and aroma to the beer but are not going to add any significant bitterness. After you have boiled for 60 minutes remove the kettle from the burner. You should probably have a pair of hot mitts ready for moving the hot kettle. The liquid in your kettle is now referred to as wort (pronounced wert).
5. Cooling The Wort. The wort should really be cooled down as quickly as possible. The easiest way is to put the kettle in the kitchen sink or bathtub containing a cold bath of ice water. Leave the kettle in your ice water bath until it is about 80 degrees F. Put more ice to the cold bath as necessary. Adding ice directly to your wort isn't recommended. Any type of flavor from the ice will be also added to the beer. You may slowly stir your wort in a clockwise motion to help it cool but remember to keep the spoon sanitary. Let the wort sit around 10 minutes after the last time that it was stirred before transferring to your fermenter. This rest will permit the particulate matter to settle to the bottom of the kettle. 6. Prepare The Fermenter. While the wort is cooling empty the sanitizer out of the fermenter. If you used bleach be sure you give it a rinse. Many of the other sanitizers tend to be a no rinse solution. Just turn your fermenter upside-down and all of the solution to drain. If your brew kettle only has 4 gallons of wort in it you'll want to add 1 gallon of water to your fermenter. The goal is to have a total amount of 5 gallons in the fermenter. Also remember the water should be the same kind as you previously used in the kettle.
7. Transfer The Cooled Wort Into The Fermenter. Use the sanitized funnel and strainer to steadily pour the wort into the fermenter. It's acceptable to leave a minor amount of wort behind along with the trub (hops and proteins) in the bottom of the kettle. It is much better to lose a little bit of wort and keep the trub out of the fermenter. The ONLY period of time that splashing the wort is recommended is during and right after this particular transfer. Yeast needs oxygen to correctly ferment the wort. You can also carefully shake the fermenter once all the wort is in it. A stick on thermometer positioned on the fermenter is a handy piece of equipment that will allow you to know when your wort is at the correct temperature to pitch the yeast.
8. Take A Hydrometer Reading. After the wort has cooled to approximately 70-75 degrees F it is time for you to take a hydrometer reading. If you're utilizing a bucket to ferment it will be easier to get a sample than when using a carboy. In any case do not forget that anything that comes in contact with the wort MUST always be sanitary. Home brew supply shops sell a sample-taker to get the wort out of the carboy or you may use something like a turkey baster. This hydrometer reading is referred to as the original gravity. It'll be used with a final gravity reading obtained after the beer is fermented to determine the alcohol percentage. Skip this step if you do not have a hydrometer. It isn't essential to take these readings but you will surely want to consider getting one if you continue to make your own beer.
9. Pitch The Yeast. The time has come to pitch (add) the yeast. Make sure that your wort is 70-75 degrees F if you are pitching an ale yeast. For beginners I wouldn't suggest using lager yeast since it necessitates cooler fermentation temperatures and will take a lot longer to ferment. When you are using dry yeast follow any instructions for hydrating the yeast on the package prior to adding it to the fermenter. If you are using liquid yeast, shake it in the tube and then add it directly to the fermenter. After the yeast is added put the rubber stopper along with the airlock in the top of the carboy or put the lid on the bucket and insert the airlock. Gently agitate the fermenter to mix the yeast around.
10. Fermentation. Put the fermenter in a location that's between 65-70 degrees F. It's also important to keep it in a place that is dark or covered with a towel to keep light out. The airlock should be continuously bubbling in about 24 hours. Fermentation periods may vary but it typically takes 3 to 7 days for ale yeasts. When your initial fermentation stops allow another 7 days for settling for a total of approximately two weeks before bottling the beer.
I hope that these directions were helpful to you. Once you have completed these steps you will be on the way to having your own home brewed beer to drink and enjoy!
One of the more important steps to making top notch beer is always to make sure all your equipment that will actually come in contact with the beer is adequately cleaned. All of the equipment that's going to come in contact with your beer following the boil MUST also be sanitized. If this equipment is not effectively sanitized unwanted microorganisms could possibly spoil the beer, making all of your hard work a complete waste of time.
Take some time to arrange the brewing space. Ensure that all of your equipment and ingredients will be easily accessible. For those who choose to use liquid yeast, take it out of the fridge so it can warm up to room temperature. One more beneficial step is documentation, always have a notebook handy for recording all your brews. It's important to record your ingredients and exactly what portions were used and also times of each step. You will want to be able to duplicate your good batches as well as learn from the ones which aren't so good. Let's begin.
1. Sanitize Equipment. There are lots of sanitizers available. Among the standard selections are B-Brite, Star San, and 5-Star. You may also use standard, unscented household bleach at 1 oz. per gallon of water. If you choose to use bleach make sure you rinse the equipment because it could cause undesirable flavors in your beer. Personally I like working with Star San. Add the specified quantity of sanitizer to your fermenter and then fill to the top with water. Also fill the bottling bucket or some other appropriate container with sanitizing solution for sanitizing additional equipment. Put all of the equipment that is going to come in contact with the unfermented beer following the boil in your sanitizing solution. These items should include: airlock, rubber stopper, funnel and strainer.
2. Water For Brewing. Add water to the brew kettle. Do not forget that there needs to be space for your boil. Assuming you have a 5 gallon kettle, just fill it with approximately 3.5 gallons of water. The quality of the water is extremely significant to the finished beer. If your plain tap water tastes all right at room temperature, it will probably be ok for brewing. You might want to consider filtering the tap water using a standard household water filter if you have access to one. You can also buy bottled water from the supermarket. After you have put the water in the brew kettle place it on your stove top and turn on the burner. Also at this point put the unopened can of malt extract in hot tap water. It will warm the extract up and make it less difficult to remove from the can when it's needed.
3. Steep Specialty Grains. This step is optional. Utilizing specialty grains will improve the control you have over the color and flavor of your finished beer. If you decide to utilize specialty grains put them in the grain bag provided in your home brewing kit. When the water gets to 150 degrees F place the grain bag in the water and steep it for around 30 minutes holding the temperature constant. When 30 minutes has gone by take out your grain bag and allow the liquid drain. Do not squeeze the bag, this can extract tannins from the husks of the grain and give the beer an astringent flavor. 4. The Boil. Gently bring the liquid in your kettle to a boil. After the liquid has come to a boil add the container of malt extract. Be sure to continuously stir while slowly adding the malt extract making sure that none of it sinks to the bottom and gets scorched. As soon as the liquid is again boiling it is time to add the bittering hops. Slowly add the hops, sometimes the kettle will boil over as soon as the hops are added. Generally the hops will be in a pellet form and are added directly to the boil. They will settle out following your boil. Note the time of your hop addition. Continue to boil for a total of 60 minutes. You should never leave the boil unwatched. It will have a tendency to boil over just when you least expect it! When there are 20 minutes remaining in the boil put in the Irish Moss. The Irish Moss helps the proteins coagulate after the boil. Don't worry if you don't have the Irish Moss, your beer is going to be all right without it however, I would recommend it for your next brew. Aroma hops are generally added any time from 15 to 0 minutes before the end of the boil. Refer to the instructions in your recipe. The aroma hops will add an additional hop flavor and aroma to the beer but are not going to add any significant bitterness. After you have boiled for 60 minutes remove the kettle from the burner. You should probably have a pair of hot mitts ready for moving the hot kettle. The liquid in your kettle is now referred to as wort (pronounced wert).
5. Cooling The Wort. The wort should really be cooled down as quickly as possible. The easiest way is to put the kettle in the kitchen sink or bathtub containing a cold bath of ice water. Leave the kettle in your ice water bath until it is about 80 degrees F. Put more ice to the cold bath as necessary. Adding ice directly to your wort isn't recommended. Any type of flavor from the ice will be also added to the beer. You may slowly stir your wort in a clockwise motion to help it cool but remember to keep the spoon sanitary. Let the wort sit around 10 minutes after the last time that it was stirred before transferring to your fermenter. This rest will permit the particulate matter to settle to the bottom of the kettle. 6. Prepare The Fermenter. While the wort is cooling empty the sanitizer out of the fermenter. If you used bleach be sure you give it a rinse. Many of the other sanitizers tend to be a no rinse solution. Just turn your fermenter upside-down and all of the solution to drain. If your brew kettle only has 4 gallons of wort in it you'll want to add 1 gallon of water to your fermenter. The goal is to have a total amount of 5 gallons in the fermenter. Also remember the water should be the same kind as you previously used in the kettle.
7. Transfer The Cooled Wort Into The Fermenter. Use the sanitized funnel and strainer to steadily pour the wort into the fermenter. It's acceptable to leave a minor amount of wort behind along with the trub (hops and proteins) in the bottom of the kettle. It is much better to lose a little bit of wort and keep the trub out of the fermenter. The ONLY period of time that splashing the wort is recommended is during and right after this particular transfer. Yeast needs oxygen to correctly ferment the wort. You can also carefully shake the fermenter once all the wort is in it. A stick on thermometer positioned on the fermenter is a handy piece of equipment that will allow you to know when your wort is at the correct temperature to pitch the yeast.
8. Take A Hydrometer Reading. After the wort has cooled to approximately 70-75 degrees F it is time for you to take a hydrometer reading. If you're utilizing a bucket to ferment it will be easier to get a sample than when using a carboy. In any case do not forget that anything that comes in contact with the wort MUST always be sanitary. Home brew supply shops sell a sample-taker to get the wort out of the carboy or you may use something like a turkey baster. This hydrometer reading is referred to as the original gravity. It'll be used with a final gravity reading obtained after the beer is fermented to determine the alcohol percentage. Skip this step if you do not have a hydrometer. It isn't essential to take these readings but you will surely want to consider getting one if you continue to make your own beer.
9. Pitch The Yeast. The time has come to pitch (add) the yeast. Make sure that your wort is 70-75 degrees F if you are pitching an ale yeast. For beginners I wouldn't suggest using lager yeast since it necessitates cooler fermentation temperatures and will take a lot longer to ferment. When you are using dry yeast follow any instructions for hydrating the yeast on the package prior to adding it to the fermenter. If you are using liquid yeast, shake it in the tube and then add it directly to the fermenter. After the yeast is added put the rubber stopper along with the airlock in the top of the carboy or put the lid on the bucket and insert the airlock. Gently agitate the fermenter to mix the yeast around.
10. Fermentation. Put the fermenter in a location that's between 65-70 degrees F. It's also important to keep it in a place that is dark or covered with a towel to keep light out. The airlock should be continuously bubbling in about 24 hours. Fermentation periods may vary but it typically takes 3 to 7 days for ale yeasts. When your initial fermentation stops allow another 7 days for settling for a total of approximately two weeks before bottling the beer.
I hope that these directions were helpful to you. Once you have completed these steps you will be on the way to having your own home brewed beer to drink and enjoy!
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