How to Brew Beer

Do you love beer? If so you may want to try brewing this golden elixer yourself. There are kits to easily get you started and once you get the hang of it you can make your own unique brew from scratch. Here are some simple steps for creating your first home brewed beer

Things You'll Need

• Brew kettle
• 1 1/2 gallons of water
• 2 cans of malt extract
• Hop pellets
• Primary fermentor
• 1 oz. bleach
• 4 gallons of water
• 1 package dehydrated yeast
• Beer bottles
• bottle caps
• bottling bucket
• siphon hose
• racking cane
• bottle filler
• 1 to 2 ounces of bleach
• 5 gallons of water
• 1 cup of water
• 3/4 cup of corn sugar
• vodka

Boiling Beer

1. Soak your malt extract. Soaking your malt extract cans in hot water for 20 minutes will soften the malt extract and make it easier to pour.
2. Boil your water. Bring 1 1/2 gallons of water to a boil in your kettle.
3. Mix the malt extract and water. Once the water has come to a full boil, add the malt extract and stir thoroughly until all the malt extract has dissolved. This mixture is known as wort.
4. Return the kettle to the stove top. Boil the wort for an additional 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Five to 10 minutes before boiling is finished add your hop pellets to the wort.

Sanitizing

1. Sanitize your primary fermentor. Use a mixture of 1 ounce of bleach to 1 gallon of water and, with a new sponge, sanitize the fermentor and its lid thoroughly.
2. Fill your sanitized fermentor with 3 gallons of fresh, cold water and place the lid on.

Cooling and Fermenting Beer

1. Add wort to fermentor. Carefully pour the boiled wort into the fermentor, being careful not to splash yourself. Let the wort cool to room temperature.
2. Rehydrate yeast. Follow the direction on the yeast package and hydrate your yeast.
3. Quickly add yeast to wort. As quickly as possible remove the lid on the fermentor and pour in your hydrated yeast. Do not stir. Replace lid and attach the fermentation lock onto the fermentor.
4. Add enough water to the air lock to fill it half way up.
5. Leave your beer alone. This is the fermentation stage. During this stage your beer should remain in a dark, room temperature area where it won't be disturbed. Look for rapid bubbling of carbon dioxide in the fermentation lock as a sign of good fermentation. This stage should take 14 days to complete.

Bottling Your Own Beer

1. Sanitize your bottles and caps. Mix one to two ounces of bleach into five gallons of water and soak your beer bottles for a minimum of fourty-five minutes. Use either vodka or a very weak solution of bleach and water to sanitize your caps.
2. Rinse your bottles and caps thoroughly. Be sure there is nothing left in the bottles before filling.
3. Sanitize your tools. Use the bleach and water mixture to sanitize your bottling bucket, siphon hose, racking cane and bottle filler.
4. Dissolve corn sugar into one cup of water. Place on the stove and boil for ten minutes.
5. Place fermentor on your kitchen counter. Place the bottling bucket on the floor under the fermentor.
6. Pour the corn sugar solution into the bottling bucket.
7. Slowly siphon the beer from the fermentor into the bottling bucket. Leave some beer at the bottom of the fermentor so you don't siphon the sediment. Put the bottling bucket up on the counter when full.
8. Attach the racking cane, siphon hose, and bottle filler to the bottling bucket.
9. Begin filling each beer bottle. Leave some room in the neck of the beer bottle when filling. Cap each bottle as you fill it.
10. Place beer bottles in a cool, dark place. Let them sit for two weeks if possible. After that you're ready to enjoy the rewards of brewing your own beer.

Tips & Warnings

• When you brew your own beer, everything that comes in contact with your beer must be sanitized. This makes for a much better beer.
• Watch your kettle to be sure the wort does not boil over.
• It's very important that you don't disturb your beer during the fermentation stage. Keep it somewhere quiet in the house where anyone (especially children and pets) won't bother it,
• When siphoning from the fermentor to the bottling bucket it is essential not to expose your beer to outside air any longer than necessary.

CB Blogger