Have you ever thought about brewing but were afraid it would take too much equipment to get started? I can tell you I was at that same point about 2 years ago. After several months of research and procrastination I finally did it and jumped right into the next phase of my beer journey – Brewing my own beer.
I started by purchasing a Starter Brewing kit from Northern Brewer.
https://www.northernbrewer.com/ https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/premium-craft-brewery-in-a-box-beer-making-starter-kit
I was like a kid at Christmas when the box arrived, tearing it open and wanting to start brewing that afternoon. I prepared myself over the next couple of days to make my own beer on the following weekend. The anticipation was like getting new snow skis in the summer waiting for snow.
The kit came fully ready for me to brew my first 5-gallon batch of beer.
What did I need to make beer? What equipment do you need to get started?
Beer is made up of 4 primary ingredients, Water, Grains, Hops and Yeast. Of course, it can get more complicated than that as you grow into your new hobby but in essence that is it.
Staring with the basic equipment you will need the following (all which was included in the kit from Norther brewer mentioned above)
- Boil kettle – large enough for 1 gallon more than the batch size you are making)
- Heat source
- Spoon for stirring
- Thermometer
- Fermentation vessel – Airtight to prevent spoiling of beer during fermentation.
- Air lock – allows escape if air during fermentation without letting air in.
- Hydrometer – to measure the gravity (this is where you can gauge the process of fermentation)
- Priming bucket – for bottling of beer after fermentation.
- beer bottles
- Bottling wand
- Bottle caps
- Bottle capper
We decided to start with the most basic form of brewing with an Extract recipe kit that already had all the ingredients necessary. The process of making “Wort” (unfermented beer) requires the extraction of fermentable sugars from the grain. In all-grain brewing, (we will talk about that in a later post) the homebrewer is responsible for extracting sugars from the grains. In extract brewing, the homebrewer uses malt extract (packaged dehydrated or condensed wort), skipping all those time-consuming steps.
The Extract can be either in a dry or liquid form depending on the recipe. The process all begins with adding the Extract to boiling water which now become the “wort”. The wort is usually boiled for 60 minutes with Hops added at different times to create bittering, flavor and aroma. Bittering hops are generally added at the beginning of the 60-minute boil, while the flavoring around the mid-point and the aroma at the end. These hop additions are all dependent on the beer being brewed.
First step and the most important to making great beer is get organized and clean. Clean everything and sanitize anything that will touch the beer after the boil. This is when the beer is vulnerable to spoilage.
Let’s start brewing
- Start boiling water of the batch size you are making. Add the Extract as per the recipe and keep a rolling boil for 60 minutes.
- During the boil, add you hops additions per recipe at the specific times.
- prior to and during the boil, the actual act of boiling will keep the wort sanitary.
- After the wort is finished with the boil it will need to be cooled down to the temperature that the yeast can be added as fast as possible. Remember, this is the time when the wort is vulnerable. This can be done as simple as putting the boil kettle in an ice bath. There are other methods, but we are just starting out here so let’s keep it simple. The temperature is dependent on the type of yeast used. See your recipe for what you want to cool the wort to.
- While the wort is cooling, sanitize everything that the wort will come into contact with from here out using something such as StarSan.
- When the wort is cooled, transfer to a sanitized fermenting vessel such as a glass carboy or plastic bucket. Make sure that the hoses that you may use to transfer through are also sanitized.
- Take a gravity reading and mark it down.
A gravity reading refers to the total amount of dissolved solids in water, in terms of beer, those dissolved solids are sugars. These sugars are consumed by yeast to convert the wort (unfermented ingredients) into beer.
The gravity reading taken just prior to yeast being added is referred to as the original gravity (OG). The OG will provide the brewer with a good idea of the potential alcohol percentage for that particular beer. Your recipe should tell you an expected original gravity. The specific range of beer style or type will let you know how the yeast has been working. This is referred to the Final Gravity and how you can measure when the fermentation is complete.
- Once transferred into a fermentation vessel, shake the wort around to add some oxygen to it. This will help the yeast get started. As a note, oxygen before fermentation is ok. Oxygen after the fermentation start is not good and can lead to problems spoiling or off flavors.
- Pitch yeast and seal the fermentation vessel. Insert an airlock to allow air to escape but not allow air back in. Move to a dark area that can maintain the temperature suggested for the yeast.
- Let the fermentation take place for the amount suggested in your recipe or when you have reached your final gravity for several days
- When the fermentation is complete your beer is ready to bottle. The carbonation of beer takes place when extra sugars are added back into the fermented beer for the remaining yeast to go after. This process will give off Carbon Dioxide. Because this will take place in a sealed bottle where no additional oxygen can get to the beer, the carbon dioxide doesn’t have anywhere to go, so it’s forced into solution with your beer.
- Transfer the fermented wort into a bucket where you can add your priming sugar (to create the bubbles). Try not to add any oxygen to the wort when transferring.
- Attached a sanitized bottling want to the bottling bucket and start to fill your sanitized beer bottles. Cap bottles using sanitized capper and caps.
You may think I have used the word sanitized too much, but this cannot be stressed enough that this is the make-or-break point in home brewing.
Let you bottle brew sit or condition for a couple of weeks in a cool dark place. You do not want to put in the fridge as this will slow down the process (remember the working temperature of the yeast).
I several weeks’ time you will be ready to taste your first home brew. Take your time in the process, pour into a glass and look at the color of the beer you have made, smell the aroma. take a small sample taste and really savor it.
As you hobby grows you will want to learn more and more about the process and making more complex beers. Right now, it’s all about getting started brewing.
For me it has been all about the journey that is still not complete.
Mike
