How to brew 1

The Beginner’s Guide to Home BrewingThis module explains the basics of malt extract beer brewing in one’s home. The module takes the beginning brewer through an overview and step-by-step process of brewing beer, basic materials needed, a delicious recipe, and vernacular needed to help one develop their skills. Lager beers must ferment in a refrigerated environment, so the focus of this module is on ale beers, which can be made in a room temperature environment.

It is recommended for the learner to start off the module with an overview of the brewing process, and then review the step-by-step process of how to make homemade beer. Finally, the learner should review the appendix to them understand some of the basic intricacies of brewing beer.

We recommend the beginning brewer starts off buying a homebrew equipment kit and ingredient kit. Kits are a great way to start because it provides the beginner with everything needed to make their first batch of beer. Equipment and ingredients can both be bought online for as little as $100.

Get started by clicking one of the links below.

Step-by-Step AppendixOverview

Overview of the home brewing process.

The home brewing process typically produces 5 gallons of beer and can be done from the comfort of one’s kitchen. Contamination can ruin a perfectly good batch of beer, so the brewing process starts by cleaning and then sterilizing any hardware that comes into contact with the cool beer.

Beer is made with water, sugar, hops, and yeast. For sterilization and flavor, sugar in the form of malt extract is added to a pot of boiling water. Hops are added to the pot of boiling water for bitterness and flavor. Prior to fermentation this liquid is known as a the wort, pronounced wert. During the cooking process proteins coagulate and cause the wort to foam, which is known as a hot break. The wort’s cooking time depends on the flavors one wants in their beer.

The pot is transferred from the stovetop to a tub full of ice water until it cools to room temperature. The wort is then poured into another container, called a fermentation bucket, yeast is added (or pitched), and the fermentation bucket is closed for two weeks to provide an air-tight environment.

During this time the yeast takes in the sugars and emits alcohol and carbon dioxide, which turns the wort into beer. Once the fermentation process has finished a solution of priming sugar is added to the beer and then it is bottled and left for two weeks to carbonate and cure in a room temperature environment. Chill, drink, and enjoy!

Overview of the needed supplies.

Hardware:

• Fermentation bucket and lid• Bottling bucket• Airlock• Brewing Pot (3 gallon minimum)• Stirring Spoon• Thermometer• Hydrometer

• Bag for steeping grains• Racking cane• Siphon• Bottle capper• Bottle caps• Bottles• Bottle brush cleaner


Cleaner and Sanitizer:

• Unscented soap• Bleach


Ingredients:

• Malt Extract• Hops• Grains • Yeast• Water• Ice

The home brewing process separated into five stages.


1. Ingredients and equipment for the wort.

2. Clean and sanitize the hardware.

3. Make the wort.

4. Initiate fermentation.

5. Bottling day.


a) Ingredients: Water for the beer can come from a variety of sources: tap, boiled tap, bottled, etc.

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a) Ingredients: Malt extract is the sugar the yeast needs to make alcohol. It is available in either liquid or dry form. Extract should be picked based upon the type of beer one wants to produce.

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a) Ingredients: Hops provide bitterness and flavor for the beer. The type used depends upon the beer one wants to produce.

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a) Ingredients: Grains for steeping are not always used, but they offer the beer a better character by giving a fresh bold flavor, so this module shows one how to use steeping grains in the brewing process.

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a) Ingredients: Yeast converts the sugar from the malt into alcohol and carbon dioxide. It is available in dry or liquid form.

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b) Equipment: Brew pot should be a 3 gallon minimum. Pot that are smaller are much more susceptible to a messy boil over.

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b) Equipment: Stirring spoons should long enough so that one doesn’t too hot or dip their hand in the wort.

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b) Equipment: Fermentation buckets are used to provide an air-tight environment. This helps to prevent contamination and off-flavors from the beer.

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b) Equipment: Fermentation bucket lids have a hole and grommet for the airlock.

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b) Equipment: Airlocks are placed in the hole of the fermentation lid so that carbon dioxide can leave and air cannot enter the fermentation bucket.

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b) Equipment: Thermometers are tools to check the temperature of the water and wort.

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b) Equipment: Hydrometers are tools to check the alcohol and fermentation, but this is optional since one doesn’t absolutely need it to produce beer.

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b) Equipment: Nylon mesh bags are used for grains, but this is optional because some kits don’t call for steeping grains.

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a) Boil about a gallon of water for 10 minutes. This sterile water can be later used for multiple purposes including rinsing the hardware; however, some avoid this step and simply use tap water because the risk of contamination is low, and boiling extra water can be tedious.

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b) Clean all the hardware with an unscented soap so that there is no visible dirt or grime.

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c) Rinse off all of the soap with water.

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d) Sanitize the hardware that will touch the cooled wort. Fill the ferment buckets with a bleach solution—1 tablespoon of bleach to 1 gallon of water soaked for 20 minutes will sanitize the equipment. Soak all the plastic items, such as the airlock, in the ferment buckets.

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e) Rinse off the bleach with water.

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f) Stainless steel cannot be sanitized with bleach. There are different options to consider: sanitize with the dishwasher set on the drying cycle; sanitize with a different chemical; sanitize in the oven 60 minutes at 338 degrees Fahrenheit—let it cool in the oven… we think the drying cycle in the dishwasher is the easiest!

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3. Make the wort.

a) To make the wort, which will become the beer, one needs a recipe. There are thousands of recipes to follow, so the choice depends on the type of beer one wants to produce. Though recipes change, the procedure for making beer doesn’t change too much. This module follows a pale ale recipe:

Malaka Pale Ale:• 4 pounds of light liquid malt extract• 2 pounds of light dry malt extract• 1 pound of 4 G specialty grains for steeping• 1 ounce of Centennial Hops (Alpha Acid 9.5%) for bittering• 1 ounce of Cascade Hops (Alpha Acid 7%) for flavoring• 1 ounce of Wylamette Hops (Alpha Acid 4.5%) for finishing• 1 packet of ale yeast for fermentation

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3. Make the wort.

b) Heat about 2 gallons of water in the brew pot to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have a thermometer, heat until the water is just below boiling, which is 212 degrees Fahrenheit. This water control is done for the steeping grains, so if a kit comes without grains, then simply bring the pot to a boil.

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3. Make the wort.

c) Add the steeping grain bag, or bags, in the pot for 30 minutes at 160 degrees Fahrenheit. At this time the grain bag can be dunked like a tea bag to help improve its yield. Remove the grain bag. Note: a steeping grain bag is not used with some recipes and homebrew ingredient kits.

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3. Make the wort.

d) Add the malt extract. Malt extract has already been cooked and processed in the factory, so it really only must be boiled for sterilization purposes. Some boil it for an hour, and others boil it for 10 minutes. It really comes down to one’s style, taste, and preference. We suggest putting it in right after the steeping grains, when the water is not too hot, for when water lacks steam it lessens the clumping of the dry malt extract. Pour slowly and make sure everything dissolves by continually stirring the pot.

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3. Make the wort.

e) Turn the heat on and bring the wort in the pot up to a boil. The water is brought up to a boil to make sure the malt extract is sterilized and for flavor and bitterness from the hops.

3. Make the wort.

f) As the wort cooks toward a boil the malt extract begins to foam. Depending on the pot size, it may be necessary to turn down or off the heat in order to avoid a boil over. Some avoid this by cooking the malt extract until an absence foam before adding any hops.

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3. Make the wort.

g) For hops added, start a boil countdown from an hour. Bittering hops are boiled for an hour. Flavoring hops are added 30 minutes before the end of the boil. Finishing hops are added 15 minutes before the end of the boil. These times can change according to taste and recipe, yet they provide a good rule of thumb. Small pots, be careful and watch out for a boil over… especially when the hops are added be sure the pot. If necessary, turn down or off the heat!

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3. Make the wort.

h) Cool the wort as quickly as possible for optimum beer flavor. This is also done for pitching the yeast, which needs a temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Immerse the pot in an ice bath. Be sure to not let any water or contaminants in the pot. It should take about 30 minutes chill the wort to 75.

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3. Make the wort.

i) Stir the wort to speed up the cooling process; however, this poses a higher risk of contamination, so some just leave the pot with the lid closed in the ice bath.

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a) Rehydrate the yeast as soon as the pot of wort is placed in the ice bath. Pour 1 cup of cooled boiled water, about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, into a jar and stir in the yeast. Cover the jar with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Wait at least 20 minutes before pitching (pouring) it into the fermentation bucket with the cooled wort.

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b) Fill the fermentation bucket with about 3 gallons of water so that when the wort is poured in the liquid will come up to 5 gallons. To avoid risk of contamination and taste, some boil their tap water or use bottled water at this step.

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c) Pour the cooled wort into the fermentation bucket holding water. A sterilized strainer may be used to catch added hops. Pour the wort back and forth between the boiling pot and fermentation bucket, about three times, in order to aerate the wort for the yeast. Be careful to not contaminate the wort!

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d) Pitch the rehydrated yeast into the fermentation bucket. Some prefer using liquid malt extract due to its ease and customization. Shown is a California Ale Yeast used for an ale. The liquid malt extract simply needs to be at 75 degrees Fahrenheit and shaken prior to the pitch.

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e) Close the lid tightly, seal the airlock hole with a finger protected by plastic wrap and, gently move the fermentation bucket back and forth to mix in the yeast. Some don’t bother with this step, so this is a step for those who error on the side of caution.

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f) Put the airlock in the hole in the lid, and pour a sanitized liquid, such as water or vodka, in the airlock so that it is about half way filled.

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g) Store the fermentation bucket in a room temperature environment, which is about 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit—above 80 will change the flavor of the beer. The airlock will start to bubble when the wort starts to turn into beer. Leave the fermentation container undisturbed for 2 weeks.

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5. Bottling day.

a) Assemble all the bottling materials: Bottling bucket

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5. Bottling day.

a) Assemble all the bottling materials: Racking cane

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5. Bottling day.

a) Assemble all the bottling materials: Siphon

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5. Bottling day.

a) Assemble all the bottling materials: Bottle brush

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5. Bottling day.

a) Assemble all the bottling materials: Bottle capper

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5. Bottling day.

a) Assemble all the bottling materials: Bottle caps

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5. Bottling day.

a) Assemble all the bottling materials: Bottles—48 12-ounce, or 30 22-ounce; Bottle caps; Bottle capper; Siphon; Racking cane; Bottling bucket; Unscented soap; Sanitizer (bleach)

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5. Bottling day.

a) Assemble all the bottling materials: Bottles—48 12-ounce, or 30 22-ounce; Bottle caps; Bottle capper; Siphon; Racking cane; Bottling bucket; Unscented soap; Sanitizer (bleach)

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5. Bottling day.

b) Clean the bottles and bottling bucket to remove any dirt or grime.

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5. Bottling day.

c) Sanitize the bottles and bottling bucket. This can be done using a sanitizer, such as bleach. The bottles can be sanitized in the oven 60 minutes at 338 degrees Fahrenheit, but be sure the bottles are put in the oven while they are cold, and let the bottles cool in the oven before taking them out. The bottles can also be sanitized using a dishwasher’s drying.

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5. Bottling day.

d) Prepare the priming sugar by boiling a 3/4 cup of corn sugar or 2/3 cup of table sugar with 2 cups of water. Cover the pot and let it cool to room temperature. This solution will carbonate the beer.

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5. Bottling day.

e) Pour the priming solution into the bottling bucket.

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5. Bottling day.

f) Siphon the beer from the ferment bucket into the bottling bucket. Put the end of the siphon under the surface of the beer as it fills. The priming solution will evenly mix into the beer as it fills the bottling bucket. Care to not aerate during this step is taken due to possible contamination and off favors.

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5. Bottling day.

g) From the bottling bucket, fill the beer bottles by putting the end of the straw under the surface of the beer as it fills.

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5. Bottling day.

h) Use the bottle capper to cap the bottles.

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5. Bottling day.

i) Store in room temperature for 2 weeks.

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Appendix

This section adds some depth to the module. It helps the beginning home brewer better understand the different parts of the process.


HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Preparation: Check the recipe, ingredients, and equipment.

The beginning home brewer should follow an extract based recipe. One should learn about the homebrew process by using tested recipes. This much it is easier for one to learn how certain ingredients alter the taste of beer. Eventually, as the beginning home brewer gains experience they develop recipes based on their past experience.

Prior to brewing a batch of beer, one should look over a recipe and make sure they have all the necessary ingredients… wort isn’t any good if there isn’t any yeast to make it into beer! Also, it is good practice to measure all the ingredients and place them in bowls for immediate access during the brewing process.

Water is in every beer’s recipe. In fact, beer is 90% water, so the water should taste good. Homebrewers prepare there water in a variety ways: some boil their water to remove chlorine odor;some use campden tables to remove chloramine; some use bottled water. However, if yourwater tastes good, then it will taste good in your beer!

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Preparation: Check the recipe, ingredients, and equipment.

Make a checklist of all the necessary equipment. The last thing a home brewers needs is to be midway through the brewing process and realize they don’t have something that is needed in order to complete the job.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Preparation: Clean and sanitize the equipment.

Bacteria can spoil a perfectly good batch of beer, so it is very important to clean and sanitize the brewing equipment. Anything that touches the beer must be cleaned and sanitized.

Cleaning is the act of removing the dirt, grime, and stains from the equipment. This is done to remove bacterial safe havens and so the beer doesn’t end up with any unwanted ingredients. Perfumes can remain on equipment and later release into beer giving an off-taste, so cleaning is typically done with soaps that are low in perfume, such as Ivory.

Sanitizing is the act of reducing and killing microorganisms to levels that will not affect the outcome of the beer. Sanitizing is done after cleaning. Bleach is one the most typical sanitizers of the home brewer. A solution of 1 tablespoon of bleach to 1 gallon of water soaked for 20 minutes will sanitize the equipment. Rinse with boiled water to prevent any off flavors in the beer. Stainless steal should never soak in bleach, so some brewers prefer to use an iodine solution or acid sanitizer.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Preparation: Clean and sanitize the equipment.

Dry heat and steam are other ways brewers can kill microorganisms without using any chemicals. An oven will completely kill organisms, sterilize, if cooked for 60 minutes at 338 degrees Fahrenheit. A dishwasher’s drying cycle will sanitize equipment; however, be careful to not warp plastic and use a full cycle without any detergent.

Clean spent equipment immediately! Extract syrup can be very difficult to clean one it isdry, so at the very least throw your spent equipment in a bucket of water.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Malt Extract:

• is made from crushed barley soaked in hot water to convert it’s starch reserves into fermentable sugars.

• is the concentrated or dried sugars from malt barley.

• is boiled to pasteurize and coagulate proteins that otherwise might contribute to flavor problems.

• will sometimes produce foam on the surface, known as a “hot break.”

• variations require different cooking times due to hop flavors and factory pasteurization times.

• has a rough ratio of one pound of extract to one gallon of water for light beer and one and a half pounds of extract to one gallon of water for dark beer.

• is available in liquid syrup form, known as liquid malt extract (LME), and is available in powdered form, known as dry malt extract (DME).

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Malt Extract:

• in liquid form is the equivalent of .8 the amount in dry form, so 4 pounds of DME is equal to 5 pounds of LME—this is because LME is 20% water.

• has made all grain brewing unnecessary and thus made home brewing more accessible.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Hops:

• are a natural preservative, but mainly used to give beer aroma and flavor.

• provide a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt sugars.

• provide an aromatic refreshing taste and finish.

• are available in the form of pellets, plug, and whole.

• are added at the start of the boil for bittering.

• are added in the middle of the boil for flavoring.

• are added at the finish for aroma.

• induce a foam that rises to the surface once added to the wort.

• inhibit bacteria growth.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Hops:

• measure bittering potential in Alpha Acid Units (AAU) or Homebrew Bittering Units (HBU) and International Bittering Units (IBU).

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Hops are typically categorized into two categories: Bittering and Aromatic.

Bittering hops:

• are also known as kettle hops.

• are high in alpha acid—about 10% by weight.

• are added at the start of the boil process,and boiled for about one hour to isomerizethe alpha acids.

• have aromatic oils that tend to boil awayduring the bittering process.

Aroma hops:

• are also known as finishing hops.

• are low in alpha acid—about 5% byweight.

• are added toward the end of the boil process, typically with about 15 minutes left.

• are added when the heat is turned off, at “knockout”, and allowed to steep for 10 minutes.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Some other things you should know about hops...

Flavoring hops:

• are a mix between bittering and aromahops.

• are added midway through a boil,typically with about 30 minutes left.

• are typically lower alpha varieties;however, all varieties are used.

• can give a variegated character if severalvarieties are used.

Dry-hopping:

• is used to increase the aroma of the beer.

• is when the brewer adds hops later in the fermentation cycle, this is done after air-lock bubbling so that less hop aroma is taken away by carbon dioxide.

• is typically done in a secondary fermenter.

• is sometimes done with a “hop bag” to facilitate removing the hops.

• is sometimes done for weeks. • can produce a dry aftertaste.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Grains:

• are sometimes used to add freshness, flavor, and character to malt extract based recipes.

• are the first thing added to the brewing pot.

• are steeped the brewing pot water for 30 minutes at 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

• must be crushed using a rolling pin (or unopened can of malt extract) in order expose the sugars to the water.

• are often put in put in a grain bag for steeping, similar to a tea bag.

• are often used in 1/2 to 1 pound amounts for a 5-gallon batch of beer.

• are often sold prepackaged in brew shops.

• are not always used with some beginning brew kits.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Yeast:

• is a fungus that takes in sugars and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide as waste.

• attenuation refers to the percent of sugar that is converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide,which is typically 67% to 77%.

• attenuation is measured by a beer’s original and final gravities.

• attenuation depends on the types of sugars in the wort.

• is placed, or “pitched”, into the fermenter after the wort has cooled to room temperature.

• cells to add per volume of wort determines the pitching rate, which is typically about0.95 cells per 1 gallon of wort.

• lag time is the amount of elapsed time from pitch time to the airlock bubbles.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Yeast:

• flocculation refers to its ability to clump together and settle to the bottom of the fermentation bucket.

• likes an aerated wort.

• doesn’t like to be aerated once it is in the wort, for it will produce by-products as a result of oxidation.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Yeast types include ale and lager.

Ale yeast:

• is top-fermenting.

• likes warmer temperatures.

• goes dormant at below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lager yeast:

• is bottom-fermenting.

• likes doesn’t mind cooler temperatures,Such as 40 degrees.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Yeast comes in dry and liquid form.

Dry yeast:

• has been dehydrated so that it can bestored for extended periods.

• should be stored in the refrigerator and can last up to two years.

• packets are usually good for five gallonsof beer.

• should be rehydrated in warm water with limited exposure to oxygen.

• that is rehydrated and should be pitched to the fermenter within a half-hour of introducing warm water.

Liquid yeast:

• comes in pouches or tubes.

• is sometimes preferred because one cantailor the beer to a particular style.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Gravity:

• tells the concentration of sugar contained in the wort.

• is the thickness or density of the beer.

• refers to the strength or alcohol in the beer.

• of water is exactly 1.00.

• in most beers ranges from 1.035 to 1.050.

• of beer is found using a hydrometer, which is read by putting the cooled wort or beer in a hydrometer flask, putting the hydrometer in the flask so that it can float, and then the locating the number on the hydrometer at level of the beer. • can be used to determine a beer’s bottling time.

• that has not changed for 2 to 3 days after fermentation is ready to bottle.

HopsMalt Extract

Yeast Gravity

Preparation

Grains

Gravity:

• measured just prior to pitching the yeast (before fermentation) is known as the original gravity (OG).

• measured after fermentation is known as the final gravity (FG).

• can determine the potential alcohol content percent by subtracting the FG from the OG and multiplying by 105; however, some hydrometers additionally display the alcohol percent, and one only needs to subtract the final percent from the original percent.

• readings are the only way to be absolutely certain of a completely fermented beer.

• readings are not essential for the beginning brewer, for one can wait 2 weeks to be assured of a completely fermented beer.

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How to brew 1