How to Make Beer
There are as many variations on brewing as there are brewers. This way has worked for me with a minimum of effort or equipment. You'll need a few special items available from homebrewer suppliers.
1. Equipment and Ingredients
A. Large pot. At least 3 gallons. 4 or 5 is better.
B. Fermenter with rubber stopper and airlock. A fermenter is simply a large, sealed container which holds the beer during fermentation. Many beginner equipment kits come with a 6 1/2 gallon plastic fermenter which works well. Glass carboys work well but the 5 gallon water cooler size is too small for a 5 gallon batch of beer because of foaming during fermentation. The airlock is a small plastic device you fill with water which lets carbon dioxide gas (CO2) out as the beer ferments but keeps the container sealed.
C. Hydrometer. A device that measures specific gravity (density) of liquids. Looks kind of like a floating thermometer. This is needed to determine the alcohol level of your beer.
D. Thermometer. You need the floating type.
E. Large funnel. You will need this if you are using a glass carboy as a fermenter
F. Siphon Hose. You need 6-8' of food grade clear plastic hose.
G. Bottles. About 60 12-opunce pop-top beer bottles (the kind you need an opener for, not the twist-off kind).
Twist-offs don't always seal when capped by hand. The Grolsh-type beer bottles with the permanent clamp-on lids work. So do glass soda bottles (Coke, etc.). Plastic bottles can work, but beer ages poorly in them and overpressure is a problem in the larger sizes.
H. Bottle capper and caps. Most beginners equipment kits have a hand-held double-lever capper that works is fine. If you're using Grolsh or plastic bottles you won't need there.
I. Bottling bucket with spigot.
J. Sanitizer. Bleach works. Suppliers sell other kinds that rinse off the market.
A good starter equipment will have most of the above except the pots and bottles, and will cost roughly $60. Optional (but recommended) extras:
A. Bottle washer with sink adapter. Makes washing bottles MUCH easier.
B. Bottle filler and hose. Minimizes aeration when filling bottles. You can also bottle directly from the spigot on the bottling rack.
C. Bottle rack. At bottling time you will have a lot of wet, freshly sanitized bottles to deal with. The racks allow convenient stacking and draining.
D. Book. I highly recommend "The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by Charles Papazian.
E. Ingredient Kit. There are beginner kits for almost every beer style. The simplest beginners kit is a can of pre-hopped malt extract syrup to which you add corn sugar (NOT the cane sugar that the grocery store sells). After you have made a batch or two like this, a simple way to improve your beer is to use an all-malt kit instead of adding corn sugar. Some suppliers sell prepacked kits with extra malt, or you can buy dried malt to use with the syrup can in place of the corn sugar. That is, if the kit calls for 3 pounds of corn sugar, substitute 3 pounds of dried malt. Most kits are designed to make five gallons of beer. Prices range from about $12 to $20 or so for very heavy-bodied all-malt beers (stouts and such). Later, when you are ready, there are intermediate-level kits with whole hops, fresh grains, liquid yeasts and other complications. For your first few batches if you just stick with a simple beginners kit and keep everything sanitary, you'll be very satisfied with the results. The only variation I recommend from the start is that it is safer not to use the yeast that comes with the kit (its usually under the lid of the can). Unless these have been refrigerated, the may be stale. Buy a separate packet of yeast which has been kept refrigerated. There are many varieties of brewing yeast available from homebrew suppliers. Dried yeast comes in packets ranging from about 5 grams to 15 grams each. It is best to use the larger size or two of the smaller ones.
F. You will also need about 3/4 cup of corn sugar to add at bottling time in order to carbonate (pressurize) you beer. You can use dried malt for this, but corn sugar seems to work faster.
Homebrew suppliers can be found in most larger towns and cities. There are also many mail-order suppliers who will be happy to send you a free catalog. If you don't have a local source, try Alternative Beverage (800) 365-2739 or The Home Brewery (800) 245-2739.
2. Brewing Your Beer
Empty the syrup into your large pot along with 1 1/2 gallons of water. Soaking the syrup can(s) in hot water before opening will make pouring easier. If your kit has any dried malt extract (powder) or corn sugar add it now. Boil for 15-30 minutes. There will be some foaming (which is why you need a big pot) so be ready--DON'T leave this pot unwatched. If you have to, you can boil part in a second pot. Stir often. You don't want the thick syrup to scorch on the bottom. Now sanitize and rinse your hands, fermenter, stopper and airlock. If using bleach use a solution of 2-3 oz. in 5 gallons of water. Rinse thoroughly with hot water. Put three gallons of cold (tap) water in the fermenter. After the malt has boiled, add it to the fermenter. This should give you almost 5 gallons of wort (pre-beer). A useful trick is to mark the outside of the fermenter beforehand, if it isn't already marked, so you will know exactly where 5 gallons comes to. After adding the boiled malt and filling to five gallons, you need a hydrometer reading and a temperature check. There are two ways to do this: (1) Sanitize and rinse your hands, hydrometer and thermometer, put the hydrometer and thermometer in the wort and take the readings, or (2) Sanitize and rinse your hands and the siphon hose, siphon out a little wort, and take the readings on the sample (which you DON'T return to the fermenter). You will need enough sample to fill the tube the hydrometer comes in. Taking a hydrometer reading is about as easy as reading a thermometer. The hydrometer will come with complete instructions. By comparing readings taken before and after fermentation, you can determine the alcohol level of your beer. You will check the temperature in order to know when its safe to add the yeast. 70*F is ideal. Anything up to about 78*F will do. If your wort is hotter than this you need to wait before adding the yeast. High temperatures can kill the yeast or cause unfortunate off-flavors. The best way to help the yeast get started is to put it in about 1/2 cup of sterile (pre-boiled) water at about 100*F for 10-15 minutes (no longer) just before you add it to the fermenter. Once you've added the yeast, close the fermenter and add the stopper and airlock. Make sure the airlock stays about half-full of water for a good seal. Keep the fermenter in a dark place at around 70*F. You should see bubbles coming out of the airlock in a few hours. There are various stages in the yeast life-cycle but what is essentially happening is that the yeast is converting part of the malt into alcohol. CO2 is a by-product of this process and is what makes the bubbles. Congratulations! You are now a yeast rancher. Your yeast are hard at work making beer for you. The length of time of fermentation varies a lot. Expect it to take a few days. When the bubbles stop the beer is ready to be bottled.
3. Bottling Your Beer
Sanitize and rinse your hands, bottles, hydrometer, bottling buckets and siphon hose. If using metal caps, boil them for a few minutes. If using plastic caps (for plastic soda bottles) they will have to be sanitized and rinsed. Put 3/4 cup of corn sugar in 1 cup of water, boil it for a few minutes, and set it aside to cool (covered). Carefully move the fermenter to a location where you can siphon out of it down into the bottling bucket. There will be a large yeast sediment in the bottom of the fermenter which you don't want to disturb. Take a hydrometer reading now. Compare to the earlier reading. How alcoholic is your beer? Put the boiled and cooled corn sugar solution in the bottling bucket and then siphon your beer out of the fermenter and into the bottling bucket. You want as little splashing at this stage as possible. Some brewers fill the siphon hose with water to start it (rather than suction) to minimize contamination risk and aeration. Once the siphon starts keep the dispensing end at the bottom of the bottling bucket to minimize splashing. Keep track of the end in the fermenter. You don't want to suck up any more yeast sediment than you can help. With practice you will be able to get the most beer and the least sediment possible. Once you have beer in the bottling bucket with the corn sugar solution, cover the bottling bucket. You can add the corn sugar after the beer, but then you will need a sanitized and rinsed long spoon to mix it with. Mix thoroughly but slowly so as to not aerate the beer. Now you are ready to fill the bottles. There are bottle fillers available which go on the end of small siphon hoses which you can either connect to the spigot on the bottling bucket or insert directly into the beer in the bucket. A valve on the end of the filler allows the bottles to fill with minimum aeration. You can also fill the bottles directly from the spigot. By varying the flow rate and the tilt of the spigot and bottle, you can reduce aeration and foaming to acceptable levels. Fill each bottle to within about an inch of the top. Cap the bottles. Capping each one before filling the next is too much work unless two people are involved. Lay an uncrimped cap loosely on each bottle after filling, then stop filling and cap some whenever you want to. The capper is simple to operate. Place it over the uncrimped cap on the bottle, with the arm levers up. Press down as you lower the arms. Raise the arms and you're done. Bench cappers are available which make the process even easier (but which cost more, of course). There is active yeast still in suspension in the bottles beer. It will go to work on the small amount of corn sugar you just added. This will produce CO2 gas which, trapped in the capped bottle, pressurizes (carbonates) the beer. This takes a few days. Then, in a week or so, the yeast still in the beer will sediment out (collect at the bottom of the bottles). At this point your beer is finished but depending on the type it will need to age 2-4 weeks for best flavor. Don't refrigerate the beer until after the yeast has settled out. Always keep the beer in a dark place--light can cause an unfortunate chemical reaction.
4. Drinking Your Beer
Because of the yeast sediment in homebrew, you don't drink it straight from the bottle. Pour it into mug or glass, leaving the sediment in the bottle. The sediment won't hurt you, but it will detract from the flavor and appearance of the beer. With a little patience you will be able to separate all but about 1/2 ounce of the beer from the yeast. Pour slowly and don't tilt the bottle back upright until you're done.