I have noticed many people coming to my website by entering search terms that relate to home brewing, so here is what I do;
Equipment, Ingredients, Preparation, Making, Bottling
Brewing container/fermenter. This needs to be a food-grade container of around 5 gallons (23 litres), if making your beer from a ready-mix tin. It can be a "bucket" style with an open top that you cover with a damp cloth (apparently makes the best tasting beer, but more prone to infection - and spoiling - of the beer), or from the more usual commercial fermenting container, with a screw lid and fermentation lock.
Bottles. Bottling the beer will improve the flavour and give
it fizz. You can use any bottles, but it is best to use PET plastic bottles
with a screw top. PET bottles are just plastic, the same that you get in any
fizzy drink bottle. You can use old fizzy drink bottles, it's
best to wash them immediately they have been used. You will need 30+ bottles,
so it is often better just to buy some.
You can also buy and use glass bottles too - the main benefit and drawback is
that you need to use metal single-use crown caps. This requires that you have
a capping press that pushes the cap onto the top of the bottle and then crimps
it over the lip of the bottle. Glass bottles can be easier to sterilise, but
during secondary fermentation (making it fizzy) they have a reputation of exploding
if too much priming sugar is added (or if there is still sugar left over from
primary fermentation). When glass bottles explode, they shower glass (and beer!)
everywhere, which can also damage surrounding bottles. Plastic bottles will
just split, and not explode if over-primed.
You can also purchase a pressure barrel - I won't say too much here about that.
Thermometer. You can use a food-grade immersion thermometer (that is, not one you would put in your mouth or a room thermometer), but I find it just as easy to use a stick-on plastic thermometer on the outside of the fermenter.
Teaspoon. Metal 5ml spoon for measuring sugar and cleansing agents.
Stirring spoon. It is best to get a long-handled plastic spoon to stir the mix with. If you use a wooden spoon, it must be sterilised 3 times as much as anything else, so it's more bother than buying a plastic stirring spoon.
Vaseline. For ensuring that all seals are air-tight.
Piping. This is for syphoning off the brewed beer into bottles. You can get clear plastic hose from garden centres that works very well. Don't use garden hose.
Jug. You will need a jug to mix the sterilising solution, about 1.5 litres
Large pot or bowl. To dissolve the sugar in water, you will need a large pot. If you are going to dissolve your sugar on the stove top, then use your largest pot. Otherwise you can use a large bowl or even a bucket. Make sure that it is clean and sterile.
Sodium metabisulphate. This is for sanitising (sterilising) everything that will come into contact with the beer, or ingredients that go into the beer. It is important to use this, as other sterilisation methods can leave a taste in the beer. You can use 5ml of bleach in 2 gallons of water, or milton baby sterilising fluid, but use the Sodium Metabisuplhate. When mixing the powder with water, don't breathe in the dust as it is a bit nasty. The made up fluid also smells really strong and can make you feel ill, so open a window when using.
Beer mix. This is often a big tin of jelly that is flavoured. It also contains some sugars, but you need to add more sugar. There are many available, and brewing shops tend to have a wider range than supermarkets. I use Brewcraft Mexican Cervesa from Stillspirits.
Brewing sugar. You can use 600g to 1.5kg of ordinary household sugar, but brewing sugar contains a mix of different sugars that can give the beer a better flavour. I use a sugar that has 75% dextrose and 25% maltodextrin, and I don't use the whole 1kg pack, only 700g.
Water. Just tap water will do, but I filter all my water with a Brita water filter. You can use any other type of filtered water, but I would avoid bottled water as it may already contain invisible infection that would kill the yeast.
Yeast. Either use the one that comes with your beer mix, or buy a sachet of brewers yeast. You can't use baking yeast or the yeast from an existing beer.
Finings. This is a small sachet that you can get from some of the more serious supermarkets and all home brew shops, and it is a powder that you can add in the last day of primary fermentation. When mixed with water, it makes a gelatinous mix that clings to the dead yeast and makes it settle to the bottom, giving a clearer beer. It has no taste and no effect, other than to make the dead yeast fall to the bottom of the fermenter. It also makes the bottled beer clear out.
Cleaning. Before anything, wash everything that is going to come into contact with the mix (wort) with hot water and minimal amounts of washing-up liquid. Make sure you get to the bottom of the fermenter and under the top. Don't use a scrubbing brush or scourer, as this can leave tiny scratches in the plastic, and bacteria and mould can (and will) grow there - and it will be impossible to clean. Only use a clean cloth or sponge (I recommend a new one).
Rinsing. Rinse vigourously - you don't want any soap or anything else ending up in your beer. You can use clean tap water, you don't have to worry about filtering it.
Sanitising. Use Sodium Metabisulphate solution on all parts that will be touched by the wort, including spoons and measures. Follow the instructions on the pack, and ensure that you have a window open for the fumes. Some packs recommend leaving the mixture in contact for an hour, others don't.
Rinsing. Rinse that Sodium Metabisulphate mix away. Don't leave it too long before the next stage...
Also known as Primary fermentation.
Warm the can. Place the can of beer mix into a sink of hot tap water. Leaving it in there for a while will make the gel/jelly inside move easier, so that you can pour it into the fermenter without it going everywhere. Plonk the can into the hot water whilst you get on with everything else.
Dissolve your sugars. You can either use water out of the
kettle, or put a pan on the stove to heat some water. I advise using filtered
water (such as a Brita filter), and if using a kettle - make sure you descale
or at least pour the boiled water through a sieve to avoid getting lumps of
mineral deposits in your wort which will re-dissolve.
Ensure that your pot is sterilised, and if you are not using a pot on the stove,
then pre-warm your bowl. If your bowl won't hold 4 litres, then do it in batches.
I only add 700gm of brewing sugar as I like a lighter beer - if you add more
sugar then it will have more alcohol.
Mix the sugar with hot water until it is all gone. If there are clumps of sugar,
stir well until everything is dissolved. If you are using ordinary domestic
granulated sugar, it may take longer to dissolve - keep stirring.
Fill the fermenter. Pour the warm/hot liquid that contains
your sugars into your clean fermenter, along with the entire contents of the
can of beer mix. Rinse the can out with clean warm/hot water to get as much
of the gel, and add that to the fermenter. Add cold water (I filter all my water
for improved flavour), and stir with a long-handled spoon.
Keep adding water until you reach about 70% of the level that your beer mix
recommends. That means that if your mix says it makes 22 litres, then stop when
you get to 15-16 litres. The mixture is now called wort.
Then, take the beer's temperature. If the wort is less than 18°C, then add
hot water. If the wort is more than 32°C, then add ice or cold water to
ensure that the temperature is between the ideal temperature of 21°C to
27°C (70°F - 80° F).
Timing is important at this stage, as the wort is at risk from spoiling from
air-bound infection. Mould spores and bacteria will take to the warm sugary
mixture and ruin your brew or kill the yeast - you could even end up with a
layer of growth on your ruined brew.
Once the wort is between 18° and 30°C, and up to the 22 litre mark,
I add an extra litre or two of clean water. This helps when syphoning the beer
off at the end, as you can leave this extra few litres at the bottom without
disturbing the sediment.
Then, add the packet of yeast, and any other enzyme that was included in your
mix. Sprinkle the yeast on to the surface, then stir it in. At this stage, you
need to put the lid on as soon as you can. I smear vaseline on the thread of
the lid, and over the o-ring to make a good seal. I also smear vaseline over
the junctions of the lid, the cork and the fermentation lock.
Take the specific gravity. If you want to accurately calculate
the volume of alcohol, you will need to take the specific gravity of the wort
(OG), plain water (WG) and the fermented beer (FG), and use this to calculate
the alcohol percentage ((OG - WG) - (FG - WG) / 7.46). Use the instructions
that come with your hydrometer / hygrometer.
I don't always measure the SG, as I don't care how much (or little) alcohol
is in my beer.
Leave. Once made up and the lid is screwed on, all you need to do is leave it alone for a week or so. Just check that the fermentation lock does not get bubbled out (just add a splash of sodium metabisulphate mix - make sure you don't get any in the wort!), and that the temperature is between 18°C and 30°C. If it is too warm then all you can do is spread wet cloths or tea-towels over it, but if it is too cool then you can get a heating pad or heating belt that you can plug in to warm the wort.
Clarify. I used to filter my beer with a wine filtering kit, but it actually ended up worse, and more cloudy. I now add a small sachet of finings, which collects the dead yeast and makes it fall to the bottom. You need to do this the day before you bottle. After adding finings mixed with filtered water, stir it in, but don't move the fermenter after adding it - put the fermenter in the location where you will be syphoning and bottling the beer from, such as on a chair over the bath tub.
Measure the specific gravity again. This can be a good way
to check the sugar levels have decreased sufficiently to indicate that primary
fermentation has completed. The SG (referred to as Final Gravity - FG) should
stay steady for around 24 hours to indicate that the yeast has done it's job.
If you don't measure the SG, you can just watch the bubbling of the fermentation
lock. When there are no bubbles for 3 minutes, you can assume that it's finished.
Primary fermentation will take around 5 days for 600g of sugar at 26 C, and
9 days for 1.2kg of sugar at 18 C
Also known as secondary fermentation. Used for giving the beer a head and bubbles, and also improves the flavour of the beer.
Cleaning. If using new bottles, rinse with water, then rinse with sodium metabisulphate solution, then rinse again. If using bottles that have been used before, then add another stage of rinsing with slightly soapy hot water first. I always rinse my bottles immediately after I have emptied them, as it makes it much easier to clean later.
Syphoning. Syphon in the beer mix to each bottle, leaving a space at the top of each bottle for expansion. When syphoning, ensure that you don't stir up the sediment or push the pipe too low into the beer - try to syphon from the top of the beer, moving the pipe down as the beer level drops.
Priming. I use carbonation drops, which are a mixture of fermentable and non-fermentable sugars. This gives me a better flavour of the beer, but you can use ordinary sugar - around 1 teaspoon for each 750ml bottle. If you add too much sugar, the bottles will explode, and if you add too little then the beer will be flat or have a small head.
No head. If you don't get a head on your finished beer, then this can be if too much sugar or water was added during the primary fermentation. It can also be caused by detergent or oils on any part of the fermenting or bottling equipment - or even a soapy drinking glass.
Sour taste or white skin on surface of beer. This is caused by infection from insufficient cleaning or sanitising. It can happen if the wort has been exposed to the air too long before the yeast was added, or if the finished beer was left too long before bottling.
Unpleasant smell. This can either happen due to infected beer (see above) or that the brewing happened at a very high temperature and the yeast has been unable to perform. Keep the wort below 27°C
Too much gas in bottled beer. This is a common fault when too much priming sugar has been added for secondary fermentation, or that there was residual sugar in the beer when it was bottled (primary fermentation did not complete, either because it was too cold or the brewer was impatient). Some infections can also cause excess gas production, and normally also cause a bad smell or taste.
Sediment in bottles. Not a problem really, as it's a natural process. The sediment can be safely consumed, and some people like the taste. I try to make the sediment compact by a combination of using finings and leaving the bottles for 2 weeks before drinking.
Exploding bottles. See "too much gas in bottled beer" above.
Light head, laughter, followed by headache and nausea in morning. This is the point of home brew - you got drunk. Did you enjoy it?
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