how to brew beer?

Answer 1

There are many good books on homebrewing currently available, so why did I write one you ask? The answer is: a matter of perspective. When I began learning how to brew my own beer several years ago, I read every book I could find; books often published 15 years apart. It was evident to me that the state of the art had matured a bit. Where one book would recommend using baking yeast and covering the fermenting beer with a towel, a later book would insist on brewing yeast and perhaps an airlock. So, I felt that another point of view, laying out the hows and whys of the brewing processes, might help more new brewers get a better start.

Here is a synopsis of the brewing process:

Malted barley is soaked in hot water to release the malt sugars.
The malt sugar solution is boiled with Hops for seasoning.
The solution is cooled and yeast is added to begin fermentation.
The yeast ferments the sugars, releasing CO2 and ethyl alcohol.
When the main fermentation is complete, the beer is bottled with a little bit of added sugar to provide the carbonation.

Sounds fairly simple doesn't it? It is, but as you read this book you will realize the incredible amount of information that I glossed over with those five steps. The first step alone can fill an entire book, several in fact. But brewing is easy. And it's fun. Brewing is an art as well as a science. Some people may be put off by the technical side of things, but this is a science that you can taste. The science is what allows everyone to become the artist. Learning about the processes of beer making will let you better apply them as an artist. As my history teacher used to chide me, "It's only boring until you learn something about it. Knowledge makes things interesting."

As an engineer, I was intrigued with the process of beermaking. I wanted to know what each step was supposed to be doing so I could understand how to better accomplish them. For instance, adding the yeast to the beer wort: the emphasis was to get the yeast fermenting as soon as possible to prevent unwanted competing yeasts or microbes from getting a foothold. There are actually several factors that influence yeast propagation, not all of which were explained in any one book. This kind of editing was an effort by the authors to present the information that they felt was most important to overall success and enjoyment of the hobby. Each of us has a different perspective.

Fortunately for me, I discovered the Internet and the homebrewing discussion groups it contained. With the help of veteran brewers on the Home Brew Digest (an Internet mailing list) and Rec.Crafts.Brewing (a Usenet newsgroup) I soon discovered why my first beer had turned out so brilliantly clear, yet fit only for mosquitoes to lay their eggs in. As I became more experienced, and was able to brew beer that could stand proudly with any commercial offering, I realized that I was seeing new brewers on the 'Net with the same basic questions that I had. They were reading the same books I had and some of those were excellent books. Well, I decided to write an electronic document that contained everything that a beginning brewer would need to know to get started. It contained equipment descriptions, process descriptions and some of the Why's of homebrewing. I posted it to electronic bulletin boards and homebrewing archive computer sites such as Sierra.Stanford.edu . It was reviewed by other brewers and accepted as one of the best brewing guides available. It has been through four revisions as comments were received and I learned more about the Why's of brewing. That document, "How To Brew Your First Beer" is still available and free to download and/or reproduce for personal use. It was written to help the first-time brewer produce a fool-proof beer - one they could be proud of. That document has apparently served quite well, it has been requested and distributed world-wide, including Europe, North America, Australia, Africa, and Asia- the Middle East and the Far East. Probably several thousand copies have been distributed by now. Glad I could help.

As time went by, and I moved on to Partial Mashes (half extract, half malted grain) and All-Grain Brewing, I actually saw requests on the 'Net from brewers requesting "Palmer-type" documents explaining these more complex brewing methods. There is a lot to talk about with these methods though, and I realized that it would be best done with a book. So, here we go...

Oh, one more thing, I should mention that Extract Brewing should not be viewed as inferior to brewing with grain, it is merely easier. It takes up less space and uses less equipment. You can brew national competition winning beers using extracts. The reason I moved on to Partial Mashes and then to All-Grain was because brewing is FUN. These methods really let you roll up your sleeves, fire up the kettles and be the inventor. You can let the mad-scientist in you come forth, you can combine different malts and hops at will, defying conventions and conservatives, raising your creation up to the storm and calling down the lightening...Hah hah HAH....

But I digress, thermo-nuclear brewing methods will be covered in another book. Okay, on with the show...



Welcome to How To Brew! In this first section of the book, we are going to lay the groundwork for the rest of your brewing education. As with every new skill, it helps to learn to do things the right way the first time, rather than learning via short cuts that you will have to unlearn later on. On the other hand, when you learn how to drive, it is not necessary to learn how an internal combustion engine works. You just need to know that it does work when you keep it supplied with air and gasoline for fuel, oil for lubrication, and water for cooling.

To learn to brew beer, you don't need to learn how the yeast metabolize the malt sugars. But, you need to understand that metabolizing is what they do, and you need to understand what they need from you to get the job done. Once you understand that, you can do your part, they can do theirs, and the job should turn out right. Once you gain some familiarity with the brewing processes, you can delve deeper into the inner workings and make your beer better.

So, in Brewing Your First Beer With Extract, you will learn to drive. Chapter 1 - A Crash Course in Brewing, will provide an overview of the entire process for producing a beer. Chapter 2 - Brewing Preparations, explains why good preparation, including sanitation, is important, and how to go about it. Chapter 3 - Malt Extract and Beer Kits, examines the key ingredient of do-it-yourself beer and how to use it properly. Chapter 4 - Water For Extract Brewing, cuts to the chase with a few do's and don'ts about a very complex subject. Chapter 5 - Hops, covers the different kinds of hops, why to use them, how to use them, and how to measure them for consistency in your brewing. The last ingredient chapter in Section 1, Chapter 6 - Yeast, explains what yeast are, how to prepare them, and what they need to grow.

From there, Section 1 moves into the physical processes of brewing. Chapter 7 - Boiling and Cooling, walks you thru a typical brew day: mixing the wort, boiling it, and cooling it to prepare it for fermentation. Chapter 8 - Fermentation, examines how the yeast ferments wort into beer so you will understand what you are trying to do, without going into excruciating detail. Chapter 9 - Fermenting Your First Beer, does just what it says: takes what you have just learned and walks you through the practical application.

Everybody wants to brew their favorite beer that they buy at the store, and it is usually a lager. So, Chapter 10 - What is Different for Brewing Lager Beer? examines the key differences of lager brewing, building on what you have already learned about ale brewing. Section 1 finishes with Chapter 11 - Priming and Bottling, explaining each step of how to package your five gallons of new beer into something you can really use.

It is a long section, but you will learn to brew, and brew right the first time. Later sections of the book will delve deeper into malt and malted barley so you can take more control over the ingredients, and thus, your beer. The last section, Section 4 - Recipes, Experimentation, and Troubleshooting, will give you the roadmaps, the tools, and the repair manual you need to drive this hobby to new horizons. Have Fun!

What Do I Do?

If you are like me, you are probably standing in the kitchen, wanting to get started, your beer kit and equipment on the counter, wondering how long this will take and what to do first. Frankly, the first thing you should do is read all of Section I - Brewing Your First Beer With Extract. This book is going to teach you How To Brew, from the fundamentals to the advanced methods; you won't be confused by conflicting instructions on a beer kit, and you will have an outstanding first batch.

But if you are like me, you probably want to do this right now while you have some time. (It's going to take about 3 hours, depending.) So, in this first chapter, I will walk you through the steps necessary to get your first batch bubbling in the fermentor, and give you an overview of what you will do to ferment and bottle your beer.

The instructions in this chapter may not explain why you are doing each step or even what you are doing. To understand the Whats and Whys of brewing, you will need to read the rest of this book. Each of the chapters in Section I discuss the brewing steps in detail, giving you the purpose behind each step. You will know what you are doing, rather than doing it that way because "that's what it said..." You will know how long to boil the wort, how to really use hops, why to bother cooling the wort, why to bother re-hydrating the yeast, why to wait two weeks before bottling... Get the picture?

But, if you can't wait, this chapter should see you through. Beer production can be broken down into 3 main events: Brew Day, Fermentation, and Bottling Day. If you have questions about terminology or equipment, be sure to review the Glossary and Required Equipment sections via the links at the top of the page.

Equipment Needed
Let's review the minimum equipment you will need for this first batch:

a 20 qt. brew pot (large canning pot)
large stirring spoon (non-wood)
ordinary table spoon
measuring cup (preferably Pyrex glass)
glass jar (at least 12 oz)
fermentor (food-grade plastic bucket or glass carboy)
airlock (get from homebrew shop)
sanitizer (chlorine bleach or other)
thermometer (optional)

Recipe
Cincinnati Pale Ale
Ingredients for a 5 gallon batch

3-4 lb. Pale malt extract syrup, unhopped
2 lb. Amber dry malt extract
12 AAU of bittering hops (any variety) For example, 1 oz. of 12% AA Nugget, or 1.5 oz. of 8% AA Perle
5 AAU of finishing hops (Cascade or other) For example, 1 oz. of 5% Cascade or 1.25 oz. of 4% Liberty
2 packets of dried ale yeast





Preparation (45 Minutes)
1. Assemble ingredients. Gather together the ingredients for the brew. You may have purchased a brewing kit at the homebrew shop and it will contain the ingredients needed to brew a particular style of beer. A kit usually consists of malt extract, yeast, and hops. The extract may already be "hopped" and the kit may not include any hops.

If you don't have a kit, then head to a homebrew supply store and buy the ingredients outlined in the recipe here. You will notice that the recipe calls for various quantities of hops measured in AAUs. AAU stands for alpha-acid units. Briefly, an AAU is a unit obtained by multiplying the alpha-acid rating of the hop (a percentage value) by the weight (ounces) that you intend to use. For example, 2 oz of a 6% alpha-acid hop equals 12 AAUs. Every package of hops you buy will list the hop's alpha-acid rating. To figure out how much of a hop you will need for this recipe, just divide the AAU target by the alpha-acid percentage on your hops. For example, 12 AAUs divided by 12 (Nugget hop's alpha-acid rating) equals 1 oz; 12 AAUs divided by 8 (Perle hop's alpha rating) equals 1 1/2 oz. (See Chapter 5 - Hops, for more info.)

2. Boil water. You will need at least a gallon of sterile water for a variety of small tasks. Start by boiling about 1 gallon of water for 10 minutes and let it cool, covered, to room temperature.

Table 1 - Cleaning and Sanitizing Checklist Brewpot
__ Clean

Stirring Spoon
__ Clean

Tablespoon
__ Clean
__ Sanitize

Measuring Cup
__ Clean
__ Sanitize

Yeast Starter Jar
__ Clean
__ Sanitize

Fermentor and Lid
__ Clean
__ Sanitize

Airlock
__ Clean
__ Sanitize

Thermometer
__ Clean
__ Sanitize



3. Clean and sanitize. It may seem strange to the first-time brewer, but probably the most important thing in brewing is good cleaning and sanitization. Clean all equipment that will be used during the brew with a mild, unscented dish detergent, making sure to rinse well. Some equipment will need to be sanitized for use after the boiling stage. You can easily make a simple sanitizing solution by filling the fermentor bucket with 5 gallons of water and adding 5 tablespoons of chlorine bleach (a concentration equivalent to 1 TBS/gallon, or 4 ml/L). Soak all items that need to be sanitized in this bucket for 20 minutes. After soaking, dump the sanitizing solution and pour in some of the pre-boiled water for a quick rinse to remove any excess sanitizer. Place the small spoon and the thermometer in the yeast starter jar and cover it with plastic wrap. Cover the fermentor with the lid to keep it clean. (See Chapter 2- Preparations, for more info,)

Making Wort- (1 1/2 Hours)
Now we begin the fun part of the work, creating the wort. Wort is what brewers call the sweet, amber liquid extracted from malted barley that the yeast will later ferment into beer.



4. Boil the brew water. In the brewpot, bring 2 gallons of water to a boil. Pour this water into the fermentor and leave it to cool. Now bring 3 gallons of water to boil in the brewpot. You will be boiling all of the extract in just 3 gallons and adding this concentrated wort to the water already in the fermentor to make the total 5 gallons. (See Chapter - Water for Extract Brewing, for more info.)

Note: If your beer kit includes some crushed specialty grain, you will need to steep that first before adding the extract. (See Chapter 13 - Steeping Specialty Grain, for more info.)



5. Rehydrate the dried yeast. Although many people skip this step with fair results, re-hydrating it assures the best results. While you are waiting for the brew water to boil, rehydrate two packets of dried ale yeast. Put 1 cup of warm (95-105°F, 35-40°C), preboiled water into your sanitized jar and stir in the yeast. Cover with plastic wrap and wait 15 minutes.



Next, "proof" the yeast. Start by adding one teaspoon of malt extract or table sugar to a small amount of water (1/4 cup, for example) and boil it to sanitize. (A microwave oven is good for this step.) Allow the sugar solution to cool and then add it to the yeast jar. Cover and place in a warm area out of direct sunlight. Check after 30 minutes, it should be exhibiting some signs of activity - some foaming and/or churning. If it just seems to sit on the bottom of the jar, then it is probably dead. Repeat the rehydration procedure with more yeast. (See Chapter 6 - Yeast, for more info.)



6. Add malt extract. When the water in the brewpot is boiling, turn off the stove and stir in the malt extract. Be sure the extract is completely dissolved (if your malt extract is the dry variety, make sure there are no clumps; if the extract is syrup, make sure that none is stuck to the bottom of the pot). Next, turn the heat back on and resume the boil. Stir the wort regularly during the boil to be sure that it doesn't scorch.

7. Add hops. If you are using unhopped extract, add the first (bittering) hop addition and begin timing the hour-long boil.(See Chapter 5 - Hops for more info.)



8. Watch for boilovers. As the wort boils, foam will form on the surface. This foam will persist until the wort goes through the "hot break" stage . The wort will easily boil over during this foaming stage, so stay close by and stir frequently . Blow on it and turn the heat down if it begins to boil over. Put a few copper pennies into the pot to help prevent boilovers.(See Chapter 7 - Boiling and Cooling for more info.)

9. Add finishing hops (optional). If you are using unhopped malt extract or want to add more character to hopped extract, add finishing hops during the last 15 minutes of the hour-long boil. (See Chapter 5 - Hops for more info.)

10. Shut down the boil. The boil time for extract beers depends on two things: waiting for the "hot break" (See Step 8) and boiling for hop additions. In a nutshell, if you are using hopped extract without any added hops then you only need to boil through the hot break stage, about 15 minutes. With some extracts, the hot break will be very weak, and you may have little foam to begin with. If you are using hopped extract but adding flavoring or aroma hops, then you will probably want to boil for 30 minutes. If you are using unhopped extract, then you will need to add hops for bittering and should boil for an hour. (See Chapter 3 - Malt Extract and Beer Kits, Chapter 5 - Hops, and Chapter 7 - Boiling and Cooling, for more info.)

go on site to finish


11. Cool the wort. After the boil, the wort must be cooled to yeast pitching temperature (65-90 °F [18-32 °C]) as quickly as possible. To do this, immerse the pot in a cold water bath. A sink, bathtub, or a handy snowbank all work well. Be sure to keep the lid on the pot while cooling to prevent any cooling water or other potential contaminants from getting in.(See Chapter 7 - Boiling and Cooling, for more info.)

Answer 2

First of all, you need to have a fundamental idea of the
process. Truthfully, you could print out Jackie R's response
and keep it as a guide, she gave a great answer.

As mentioned, websites are a fine source of info also.

My advice would be to go to the bookstore and purchase a copy of "The New Complete Joy of Home-brewing" by Charlie Papazain. This book has helped tens of tousands of home-brewers in their quest to produce the perfect pint.
It breaks all you need to know down into simple, straight-forward directions and explains the brewing process in plain English. There are also many time tested recipes.
Every home-brewer I know has this book.

Answer 3

Soak the two cans of malt extract syrup in hot water for at least twenty minutes. This makes the syrup easy to pour. While they soak, bring 1 1/2 gallons of water to boil in your brewkettle.

Remove the kettle from the heat, add the malt extract to the water, stir until it's all dissolved and return the kettle to the burner.

Boil the mixture, called wort ("wurt"), for at least 30 minutes (watch out for boilovers!). Stir occasionally if you want. 5 or 10 minutes before you are finished boiling, add the hop pellets. These hops will give your brew a nice hop aroma.

Sanitizing
While you are boiling your beer, sanitize your primary fermenter with a solution of 1 ounce bleach to 1 gallon of water. Sponge all the surfaces of your fermenter with the sanitizing solution and rinse well with hot water. From now on, everything that comes in contact with your beer must be sanitized -- either with a clean sponge, or by soaking it in a bleach solution. This is very important. In fact, it's one of the secrets to making good beer.

Fill your fermenter with 3 gallons of fresh cold water, and cover with the sanitized lid.

Cooling and Pitching
When you are finished boiling, carefully pour all the wort into your water-filled fermenter. It's boiling hot, so be careful! Put the lid on tightly.

When the wort has cooled to near room temperature, follow the instructions on the yeast packet for rehydrating the yeast, open the lid and pour yeast into the wort. (This is called "pitching" the yeast.) Work quickly, so that the wort is exposed to air as briefly as possible. There is no need to stir. Cover again, and attach your fermentation lock. Add water to half-fill the airlock.

Fermenting
Fermentation should start within 24 hours, but it could take longer. A sure sign of fermentation is the bubbling of carbon dioxide throughout the fermentation lock. The bubbling should be rapid and vigorous for a couple of days then gradually slow down. Keep the beer at room temperature, away from light, and in a place where children and animals will not disturb it. Fourteen days after fermentation has begun, you're ready to bottle.

Bottling
Sanitize your bottles by soaking them in a solution of 1 to 2 ounces of bleach to 5 gallons of water. Or you can fill each bottle with the same solution. Let them soak for at least 45 minutes. Rinse each bottle with hot tap water. Make sure the bottles don't have any gunk in them.

Sanitize your bottling bucket, siphon hose, racking cane, bottle filler, and anything else that's going to come into contact with your beer with the bleach solution like the one you used on your fermenter. Sanitize your bottle caps with either vodka or a very dilute bleach solution.

Dissolve 3/4 cup of corn sugar (4 ounces dry weight) in a cup of water. Boil for 10 minutes.

Put your fermenter on the counter and your bottling bucket on the floor. Pour the sugar solution into the bottling bucket. Siphon beer from the fermenter into your bottling bucket. Do this carefully, without splashing or agitating the beer and leave the sediment in the bottom of the fermenter behind. (This is called "racking".) Don't expose your beer to the outside air longer than you have to and make sure all surfaces the beer comes in contact with are sanitized.

Put the bottling bucket on the counter, hook up the racking cane, siphon hose, and bottle filler, then begin filling up your bottles. Bottling can be messy, so have some paper towels or rags handy. Newspaper or a shallow backing pan can be used to catch spills. Cap each bottle.

Aging and Testing
You're done! Store your bottles in a cool, dark place. Wait at least two weeks (if you can), uncap the bottle and pour into a nice, clean mug or glass, leaving the sediment in the bottle. The sediment won't harm you, but it can change the flavor and appearance of the beer.

Taste the fruits of your hobby. Congratulations! You're a homebrewer! We hope you learn to love this hobby as much as we do!

Answer 4

wow....next time just ask for a website....it looks like some one cut and paste...!

Answer 5

http://www.gofundme.com/t4m6xd98

Answer 6

http://howtobrew.com

Simple, to the point...the name says it all.