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An intro to making beer video
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How to Make Beer?
makingbeerisfun and EASY too! – 6 EASY steps - Beer is bottled in 3 weeks and ready in 5 weeks!
General Quick Reference Instruction
- SANITIZE – Use Easy Clean No-Rinse Cleanser - it makes sanitizing equipment and bottles easy.
- BOIL WORT – (Pronounced “Wert”) – unfermented Beer (malt, grains, flavorings, hops beginning & end of boil) – 1 HOUR - You want to think of your wort as a happy home for your yeast.
- COOL THE WORT – sink of ice (approx. 25 MINUTES) or cool rapidly with a Wort Chiller.
- FERMENTATION – (first measure Specific Gravity) – pour into Primary, add cold water to 5 gallon mark, Temp 70F – 90F, Pitch Yeast – Seal & air Lock – (1 WEEK)
- SECONDARY FERMENTATION - /Aging – Rack (transfer) to Carboy leaving sediment (AGE 1 WEEK)
- BOTTLING – Dissolve ¾ cup corn sugar in 2 cups water (boil 5 min.), Place in Primary – Rack to primary on top of sugar mixture in bottling bucket – then bottle by dispensing spigot – ready in (2-3 WEEKS), but if you hold off, it will only taste better. Try a bottle every few days and notice the difference as it matures.
In general, that's basically it in a nutshell, but below it is explained for you in some detail.
The home brew kits include everything you need to make your first batch of brew, except bottles. Below is a list of everything included in the equipment kits. Each batch makes about 2 cases (Approx. 48 bottles). After the initial setup costs, the ingredients for each subsequent batch run approximately $30, or $0.63 per beer.
Brewer's Best® Equipment Kit (Item #1000) Contains:
- 6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Primary Fermenter with Drilled and Grommeted Lid
- 6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Bottling Bucket with Bottling Spigot
- Easy Clean No-Rinse Cleanser
- Airlock
- Siphon and Bottling Set-up
- Home Beermaking Text
- Hydrometer
- Bottle Brush
- Twin Lever Capper
- Liquid Crystal Thermometer
- Bucket Clip
- Equipment Instructions
Deluxe Brewer's Best® Equipment Kit (Item #1002) Contains:
- 6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Primary Fermenter with Drilled and Grommeted Lid
- 6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Bottling Bucket with Bottling Spigot
- 5 Gallon Glass Carboy
- "Home Beermaking" Book
- Easy Clean No-Rinse Cleanser
- Twin Lever Capper
- Triple Scale Hydrometer
- Airlock
- Drilled Universal Carboy Bung
- Liquid Crystal Thermometer
- Siphon Hose and Shut-Off Clamp
- Fermtech Auto Siphon
- Bottle Filler
- Bottle Brush
- Equipment Instructions
Deluxe Brewer's Best® Equipment Kit with Better Bottle Carboy (Item #1002BB) Contains:
- 6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Primary Fermenter with Drilled and Grommeted Lid
- 6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Bottling Bucket with Bottling Spigot
- 5 Gallon Better Bottle Carboy
- "Home Beermaking" Book
- Easy Clean No-Rinse Cleanser
- Twin Lever Capper
- Triple Scale Hydrometer
- Airlock
- Drilled Rubber Stopper
- Liquid Crystal Thermometer
- Siphon Hose and Shut-Off Clamp
- Fermtech Auto Siphon
- Bottle Filler
- Bottle Brush
- Equipment Instructions
Beginning Homebrewing
makingbeerisfun - cares about helping you make the best beer possible, while minimizing first time confusion. So we’ve tried to remove some of the more time consuming trial & error, leaving you time to experiment where it really counts, with flavor. As you’ll see, making your own beer is fun and rewarding, so read this before you start, and then have fun!
1. Sanitation:
Sanitizing your equipment is the most important part of successful homebrewing. There are many proprietary products on the market designed specifically for this purpose, like Easy Clean, One-Step (environmentally friendly), Chempro, and iodophor. In addition, you can safely use chlorine bleach (1 tblsp per 5 gallons water), but you must rinse everything until you can’t smell the bleach anymore because chlorine is toxic to yeast.
There are lots of methods for sanitizing your equipment. Some people fill the primary fermenter (large plastic pail) with the sanitizing solution and let the equipment soak while they attend to other things, and some people sanitize their equipment pieces individually from a bottle of prepared solution. With practice, you’ll find the best method to suit your own style of homebrewing.
Important Suggestions
- sanitize every piece of equipment that has the potential to come in contact with the beer.
- equipment should have a minimum 10 minute contact time with the sanitizing solution.
- after sanitizing, rinse well with cold water. (One step doesn’t require rinsing, but it couldn’t hurt)
- you should rinse immediately before beer comes into contact with equipment.
At first, the sanitizing procedure may seem tedious. But once you establish a routine, it will become second nature and the excellent beer you make will be worth it. I’ve discovered that jet bottle washers, avinators, and bottle drainers save you a tremendous amount of time and sanity. Just say the word, and we’ll demonstrate them for you.
NOTE: The Instructions
All the malt extract kits come with their own set of instructions. Some recommend one-stage fermentation (fermenting in the pail and bottling right away), and others recommend that you don’t boil your beer. You can make passable beer by following the package instructions, but if you follow our instructions consistently, you’ll make excellent beer every time.
2. Boil Your Wort (unfermented beer)
In a medium-sized saucepan, boil a few cups of water, then turn off the heat after the boil begins. Remove the label on your can of malt extract, and place the can in the pot of hot water for 20 minutes to soften.
While the extract is softening, in a large pot bring as much water to a boil as you can comfortably fit (minimum amount of water to boil = 2.5 gallons). The pot should be stainless steel, copper, or enamel-covered aluminum, but you can use aluminum if you have to.
If you are flavoring/coloring your beer with crushed grains, put the grains in a sparging bag and soak in the wort pot as the water is heating. Remove the grains before the water boils, or you will release tannins which can make your beer too harsh.
After the water boils, and while stirring constantly, add the contents of the can of malt extract and the prepackaged bag of dry malt. We may have given you two cans instead, don’t worry. What you need is between 6 & 7 lbs. of malt.
Boil the wort (pronounced “wert”) for 1 hour. This is done to help coagulate soluble proteins that can make your beer cloudy, and to ensure that the hops are fully incorporated. Make sure you stir often during the boil, and watch the pot carefully, it can boil over unexpectedly. If you are adding bittering hops, stir them in near the beginning of the boil. You may also add hops during the boil for different flavoring and aroma effects. Add finishing hops for last five minutes of boil. Follow instructions on each pkg.
What you'll need to start
While your wort is boiling, you need to sanitize the equipment you'll be using for primary fermentation: - primary fermenter (large bucket and lid OR large glass carboy), - small measuring cup, -brewer's spoon, -airlock, -floating thermometer. Spigot for plastic primary fermentor should be mounted with gasket on outside of bucket. Sanitize a dinner plate to use as a tray to keep small pieces clean, or use clean paper towels. If fermenters are glass, mark larger one to 5 gallons with tape or marker. Other equipment to be sanitized, not included in these sets: wine thief for sampling the wort prior to adding yeast, and funnel.
3. Cooling the Wort
After the wort is finished boiling, cover the pot loosely, and immerse in a bath of cold water (ice water if possible) in your sink (laundry sinks are ideal for this). Let it sit for about 10-25 minutes as it gradually cools. A good target temperature to shoot for at this point is 90F. Use the sanitized thermometer to measure the temperature of the cooling wort. Remember, you’ll be diluting with cold water to reach a total volume of 5 gallons, so the water will finish the cooling process. When you’re ready to add more equipment, we carry immersion wort chillers to quickly cool your wort and achieve better beer clarity.
While the wort is cooling,
rehydrate yeast in 3/4 cup boiled and cooled (80 F) water with 1 tsp cooled wort in a covered and sanitized bowl for 15 minutes (you can sanitize the bowl by dunking it in the boiling wort with tongs, and it's a good idea to cover bowl with tin foil or a ziplock bag while yeast is in it).4. Fermentation
Pour the cooled wort into the sanitized larger primary fermenter. Next add enough cold water to the fermenter to equal a total volume of 5 gallons (up to the bottom ring on your 6.5 gal bucket). If both fermenters are glass, don't forget to mark the larger one to 5 gallons before adding wort. Stir the mixture well using the sanitized brewing spoon. Take a sample using the sanitized measuring cup (or wine thief if your set has one) and put aside. Place your sanitized thermometer in the sample and take a temperature reading of the wort.If the wort is below 90 degrees F, you're ready to pitch the yeast. If it's still too hot, cover it and let it cool. When cool, vigorously stir the wort again using the sanitized brewing spoon (this is important for proper yeast growth), then our the yeast on top. cover the fermenter tightly with the lid provided. You may have to put all sour weight onto one side of the lid rim to force the lid to lock onto the bucket. A tight fit is very important to avoid invasion by wild yeasts. (or insert airlock and large stopper into larger glass primary fermenter.)
Half fill the airlock with water, attach it to the stopper, and insert into lid. Gently place red cap on top to keep out dust. Place your fermenter in a dark, out of the way place, and maintain a room temperature of 65-75 degrees F. You should notice gentle bubbling in the airlock within 24 hours. Fermentation will last anywhere from 1 1/2 days to 4 days. Many factors affect the length of fermentation. If you see activity in the airlock, don't worry about the length of your fermentation.
NOTE: Specific Gravity
Measuring specific gravity before and after fermentation allows you to determine the alcohol content of your beer, and make sure fermentation is finished. To take a proper reading, pour the sample that you put aside into the hydrometer test jar (tube with hydrometer), filling it to the top (you should do this over the sink). Then drop the hydrometer into the test jar. Some wort will spill over the sides. Read the Specific Gravity scale by looking from the tube rim across to the hydrometer. Record the reading and tape it to your fermenter (or put it someplace obvious). Don't take the reading while the wort is hot, you'll shatter the hydrometer.5. Secondary Fermentation/Aging
After one week in the primary, transfer the beer to the second fermenter. If your primary has a spigot, attach hose and drain gently. (You may need to heat hose end to attach to spigot.)If your primary fermenter is glass, you'll need to transfer gently via siphon.
NOTE: Auto Siphon
If you have the Deluxe equipment set use your auto siphon to simply siphon the the beer. The auto siphon is perhaps one of the best products that now makes it easy to make beer at home.
If siphoning with equipment from a basic equipment set do the following: Before siphoning, sanitize and carefully rinse siphon tubing and the racking cane. Leave red tip on bottom of racking cane. To start the siphon, connect the flexible tubing to the racking tube, with the clamp at the opposite end of the tubing. Fill the siphon setup with running water into the end with the clamp. Watch to be sure all air bubbles leave tubing. While the water is still running into the tubing, slowly clamp it off. If done properly, the water will remain in the tubing setup. This is a good thing to practice before you actually have to do it (it's the hardest part of homebrewing). Alternately, you can fill racking/tubing setup by submerging under water and bending tubes to remove all air.
Elevate the primary fermenter to counter height. Now simply place the red racking cane end into the beer filled primary fermenter, lower the clamped tubing toward the floor and release the clamp. Drain the water into a bowl on the floor until you see the beer coming out. Clamp it off and move tube end to second fermenter. Release clamp and begin filling the second fermenter. When transferring, place the hose end at the bottom of the secondary, to minimize the amount of oxygen added during transfer. Gently siphon the beer, leaving behind as much sediment as possible.
After the beer has been transferred, carefully rinse the lid, add fresh water to the airlock and affix to the ferementer (or if you have a glass secondary, just rinse the stopper and airlock). You probably won't see further action in the airlock.
Now let the beer stand for another week (you can age it as long as a month if you wish, it only improves the beer). The main benefits of aging are: (1) you end up with much less sediment in the finished product, and (2) many volatile flavor compounds have a chance to escape. The main drawback of a long aging is that your beer may carbonate a little more slowly, but it's worth it!
After 1 week in the secondary (or as long as you want to age it), carefully take another sample using sanitized equipment. Take a hydrometer reading as before, and record it next to the first reading. continue to take samples and readings every day until the readings remain unchanged for at least 2 days. This is your signal that fermentation is finished. At this point, the beer should also be reasonably clear. Now it's time to bottle!
6. Bottling
There are several good sources for bottles. The best is simply collecting and saving your own. Friends can also be a good source for left over bottles - especially in exchange for beer! The best bottles are amber/brown for light protection, and non-twist off (these accept caps better). Of course, makingbeerisfun has glass bottles available, both 112 oz, 22 oz and "Grolsch" type. The Brewer's Best Kits we sell include crown caps and a capper.Gather and sanitize your bottles. If your bottles are free of sediments and molds, you can easily sanitize them in the dishwasher - just don't use soap, and run it through the full heat cycle. If the bottles have junk in the bottom, allow them to soak in a mild bleach solution for 1-2 days, then use a jet bottle washer or brush to rinse them out. If you don't have a dishwasher, you'll find that an avinator comes in handy when sanitizing your bottles, and it will pay for itself over and over (we'll be happy to show you one). You'll need approximately 48 standard 12 oz. bottles.
In order to carbonate you beer in the bottle, you'll need to add back some fermentable sugars (corn sugar or anything that ferments). The best way to do this is to prime the beer in bulk. Dissolve corn sugar included in 2 cups of water and boil for 5 minutes. Pour the solution into the sanitized large bucket. Let the sugar cool. While the sugar is boiling, count out 50 caps and boil those in enough water to cover for 1 minute.
Sanitize and carefully rinse siphon tubing and the racking tube. Next, gently siphon the beer from the secondary fermenter back to the primary, on top of the sugar. (If your fermenters are both glass, this is where you'll use the bottling bucket that came with your set). The siphoning action will automatically blend the beer and the sugar, so there's no need to stir.
After siphoning the beer into the bucket, attach the bottle filler to the spigot. The bottle filler is now ready to use. Insert the filler into each bottle and apply downward pressure to start flow. Fill to within 1 inch of the top, capping each bottle as it is filled. Store your bottled beer at room temperature (70F) for 14 days before moving it to a cooler area (65F). Don't refrigerate until you're ready to drink it.
NOTE: When is it ready?
You can drink your beer 2-3 weeks after bottling, but if you hold off, it will only taste better. Try a bottle every few days and notice the difference as it matures.
A small amount of sediment in each bottle is a good sign that your beer is carbonated. When serving, pour gently off sediment into a clean, soap-free glass, and enjoy!
Let us know how it turned out and don't hesitate to call if you have any questions.
* Shipping rates apply to any physical address (no P.O. boxes) within the 48 contiguous United States. Some heavy bulky items such as sacks of grain, dry malt extract (DME), glass bottles, carboys, large equipment , stainless steel fermenters, presses, destemers, crushers, refrigerated wine cabinets, and bulk are excluded and may require additional shipping charges after check out and processing. If so, you will be contacted by a representative and your order will be on hold for your approval of any additional required shipping (these products are shipped at actual UPS ground shipping rates, calculated after your order is sized and weighed.)
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