Many people drink beer, some drink it as a social drink, while others will want a cold beer to help them relax when they get home. A true beer enthusiast looks forward to the prospect of making the frothy brew right in their own home.
Home brewing is a great hobby that can be done inexpensively without buying a whole lot of equipment (although there is tons of equipment available to more enthusiastic beer brewers). Home brewing can be fun and relaxing, and there is nothing like the feeling of having that first glass of the beer you made yourself.
Getting Started: Equipment
When you are ready to start the beer making hobby, the first consideration the brewer will have is finding out what minimum equipment they will need in order to make their own home brewed beer. You can buy a beer making kit for approximately $75 - $50 or you can collect a small effective collection which should include:- A big Pot: A 3-5 gallon pot is the perfect size. With this size, you will get all the ingredients you need in it and you will prevent any chances of spilling.
- Tube (and possible a clamp): This is used for siphoning the beer and you can also use it to bottle the beer. The best tubing to use for beer is the 6 ft food tubing.
- Fermenting Bucket (Carboy): You will need a bucket (preferable 5 gallons) that has a lid or you may buy a glass carboy. The best option is buying the carboy, it is easier to clean and will not leak while it is aging.
- Air Lock: Ensure that it fits securely on your carboy, so that no air or bacteria enters the mix.
- Thermometer: This should be a floating the thermometer that can measure 0-100 C or 32-220 F
- Bottles: For this particular guide you will need 2 dozen, 12 ounces bottles or one 5 gallon jug. Try not to use the kind of bottles that have twisting caps. Cork capped bottles are a better choice.
- Bottle Caps: You will need to buy about 50 caps to ensure you have enough caps for your 2 dozen bottles
- Bottle caper- a device made specifically for capping your bottles
- Sanitation Solution €“ Bleach can be used, if you are on a budget or you can buy Iodophor
Ingredients
The next step is to gather the ingredients. Before doing this, it is best to find a really good recipe. Recipes are available in just about any beer type including light beer and will give you step-by-step instructions on how to make the beer. The minimum ingredients include.- 6 lbs of pale malt extract (un-hopped): Most times they are found in 3lbs cans. You may also is Dry Malt Extract is Pale Male extract is not available.
- 2.25oz Hops: For this guide we will use €œEast Kent Golding€™s Hops€ through there are many different types of Hops. Use of Hops is to give the beer its bitterness.
- Yeast: The recommendation is to use liquid yeast (for this guide, you will use, €œWhite Labs California Ale Yeast€) Using liquid yeast produces the very best beer.
- 2/3 cup Corn Sugar
The Process
- Step 1: You will need to boil the pale malt extract and the hops, in water. You will want to do this for about an hour.
- Step 2: You will need to cool the mixture until it reaches room temperature. You will want to then siphon the mixture to your carboy (Fermenter), add water to the mix, till it reaches the 5 gallon mark. When your mixture is at room temperature, then you will want to add yeast. Ensure that the area you are using is clean and everything is sanitized, this is important because at this point, the €œWort€ can be infected with bacteria. That will ruin the beer. Next seal your fermenter with an airlock. This fermentation process will take approximately 1 to 2 weeks
- Step 3: In this step, you will prime and bottle the beer. When beer is done with the fermentation process, you will first siphon it to another container to get it ready for bottling. Than you will add the corn sugar (or priming sugar) to the beer. Lastly, you will siphon the mixture into each of the bottles, and cap them using the capping device.
- Step 4: In this step you will need to bottle the beer and let it age for approximately 2 to 6 weeks. During this time the yeast will continue to ferment the beer, turning carbon dioxide and carbonating your bear. After a few months of aging it will be ready to drink.
