Step-by-Step Beer Brewing

If you love beer, you may have entertained the idea of trying to brew your own at home. However, many aspiring homebrewers are intimidated by the amount of equipment needed to brew beer, as well as the high cost of ingredients such as hops and malts. While it may seem like a daunting task at first glance, these step-by-step instructions outline the basic process, as well as the materials you will need to brew your very first batch of handcrafted beer.

Things You'll Need

• Clean water, filtered
• Hops
• Malt extract
• Yeast
• Sugar
• Large stockpot/brewpot
• Large wooden or metal spoon for stirring
• Kitchen sink (filled with ice cubes)
• Fermenter
• Sterile beer bottles and caps
• Dishwasher
• Bleach
• Beer capper
• Funnel
• Mesh colander
• Flexible plastic tubing
• Airlock with stopper
• Digital or traditional thermometer

Instructions

1. Do some research. You should decide what type of beer you want to make (stout, pilsner, hefeweissen, etc.), and choose a recipe. You can find recipes for brewing beer online, as well as in beer recipe books available at any bookstore or brewing supply store.
2. Make your shopping list. Double check the list before you head out the door. It can be frustrating to have to drive back out to a brewing supply store to pick up any forgotten ingredients or brewing equipment, especially if you have a long way to drive.
3. Sanitize your equipment. Anything that will touch your beer must be sanitized, as surface bacteria can spoil the beer during the fermentation process. You can sanitize equipment by using your dishwasher's "sanitize" setting, or by preparing a solution of 1 part bleach to 10 parts cold water and allowing the items to sit submerged for half an hour. If using bleach, make sure to rinse the equipment very thoroughly.
4. Boil several gallons of fresh, clean water in your brewpot. While each beer recipe will be slightly different, the basic process is always the same. You can use bottled water, or water from your tap that has been filtered to remove any off-tasting particles. The water is the main ingredient in beer, and if you start with low-quality water, the final result may not be to your satisfaction.
5. Add about two gallons of cold water to your fermenter while the brewpot water comes to a boil.
6. Remove the brewpot from the heat, and add malt extract.
7. Return the brewpot to the burner, and boil until the malt extract is dissolved and has stopped foaming. Keep an eye on the pot--if it boils over, your stovetop will become covered in a sticky mess that can be really tough to clean up.
8. Introduce the hops into the brewpot. This substance is now called wort, and will ultimately become your beer. Continue to boil and stir for about an hour.
9. Remove the pot from the stove and place it in the sink. The ice bath will quickly bring down the temperature of the wort. When the temperature dips below 80 degrees Fahrenheit, you can remove it from the ice bath.
10. Using the funnel and strainer, pour the wort into your fermenter.
11. Check the temperature again. When it is between 70 and 80 degrees, add the yeast. Stir the yeast in gently to allow some oxygen to interact with the yeast.
12. Seal the fermenter with an airlock.
13. Store in a dark place with a stable temperature of around 75 degrees. Allow the beer to continue to ferment for about one week.
14. Prime the beer. To do this, you will combine a small amount of sugar (the exact amount depends on your recipe) and water over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Next, you will use the flexible tubing to siphon the sugar mixture into the beer fermenter. The sugar will help to feed the yeast, which in turn produces carbonation.
15. Siphon the beer into your sanitized bottles, and cap using a bottle capper.
16. Allow the beer to mature (condition) in the bottle for about one week. The beer will be ready when it fizzes when uncapped. The bottles should be conditioned at room temperature, and only moved into a fridge once they have reached the desired level of carbonation.
17. Serve the chilled beer in an appropriate glass, and pour the beer slowly so as not to disturb the yeasty sediment on the bottom of the bottle.

Tips & Warnings

• If you smell a vinegary or rotting smell, your beer may have spoiled during the fermentation process. Do not drink this beer, or you may become ill.
• Beer can only be made and consumed by those age 21 or older in the United States.
• Homebrewers are allowed by federal law to make 100 gallons of beer for personal consumption per year.

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