Looking to start microbrewing my own beer, what's the best place to start?

Question

Is buying a kit the best way, what are the essential ingredients and tools, and which can i do without?

Answer 1

Beermaking demystified!

You can make your own beer with little effort and a fraction of the cost of commercial beer. This simple method uses just one fermenting process, so only one container is needed.

Large, reusable 2 liter plastic pop bottles are used to bottle the beer, saving the work of washing, bottling and capping 60 - 70 regular-size glass bottles.

And with every batch, you're sparing the environment the impact of manufacturing 60 - 70 aluminum cans or glass bottles.



What you need

Equipment
The few items you need to brew your own homemade beer can be found at your nearest beermaking supply shop, or at most hardware stores.
- One 10-gallon "food grade" plastic pail with lid. Cost: about $12.00
- Siphon hose. You'll need a 74" length of 5/16" "food grade" vinyl tubing. Cost: $2.00
- Hose clamp for siphon. Cost: $1.00
- Twelve 2- liter plastic pop bottles, with lids.

- Hydrometer. Cost: $8.00. A thermometer is also useful.
- Large pot, or turkey roaster.



Ingredients
- Malt Extract. One 40oz. can of any flavor you like ( light, dark, stout), or a 1.5kg "tall" can of same. The 1.5kg can contains more malt extract so you can make a larger batch or use the same method here to make a richer beer. You can also buy 'pre-hopped' extract which will impart more of a hop flavor to your beer.
- Yeast. 1 tsp brewers' yeast. Note: some malt comes with little packets of yeast included.
- Sugar. 6 - 7 cups of regular white sugar, or 8 - 9 cups of corn sugar (preferred).

For even better results, consider using two cans of the malt extract and not using any sugar. This adds to the expense, but greatly improves the taste of the beer.

These ingredients should cost between $10 - 15 depending on your choice of malt extract. The yield will be about 23 liters of beer, which equals 65 - 70 bottles or cans of beer, of the regular 345ml size.



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How to brew
Sanitize
It has been said that 75% of brewing is good sanitation. First, clean all equipment with warm, lightly soapy water. Rinse well to remove soap residue. Then sanitize using household bleach at a quantity of 1 tbsp/gallon of water. Or you can purchase a no-rinse acid sanitizer such as StarSan, which is effective and leaves no aftertaste.

Brew
1. Pour 10 liters of fresh, cold water into the 10 gallon plastic pail (carboy). If the pail is new, wash it out first with a mixture of water and baking soda to remove the plastic smell.
2. In your largest pot, bring 7 liters of water to a boil.
3. Add one can of malt extract. Stir and cook uncovered for 20 minutes.
4. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
5. As soon as the sugar is dissolved, pour contents into the carboy. Pour, or 'splash', the contents quickly, which adds air to the mixture. The more air the yeast get initially, the better. It allows them to rapidly grow and get things going.
6. Top up with bottled drinking water or tapwater until temperature is neutral. (If using tapwater, it is recommended to boil first to kill bacteria, then cool to room temperature.) Test using a clean, sanitized thermometer. The carboy will now be a little more than half full.
7. Sprinkle in the yeast, and stir well. Cover with lid. (Set lid on loosely; if capped too tightly, a carboy can explode from the carbon dioxide gas that is produced.)

Keep covered and avoid unnecessary opening. The beer will be ready to bottle in 6- 10 days, depending on ambient temperature of the room and amount of sugar used in the brewing. Room temperature should be 20-24 Celsius at the highest; 16-20 Celsius is better but it will take the beer a day or two longer to ferment.

Test for readiness with a hydrometer. Set hydrometer into the beer and spin it once to release bubbles which cling to it and give a false reading. The "ready to bottle" reading should be about 1.008 for dark beers and 1.010-1.015 for light beers. If you don't have a hydrometer, you can judge readiness by tasting a sample - it should not be sweet tasting. There should be little or no bubbling action in the beer.

Bottle
Set the carboy on a sturdy table and the 12 2-liter bottles on the floor, with newspaper underneath to catch drips or overflows. Using a funnel, put 2 level teaspoons of sugar in each bottle.

Siphon the beer into the bottles, trying not to disturb the sediment on the bottom of the carboy. (One method is to tape a plastic straw alongside the bottom end of the siphon hose with 1" projecting beyond the end. The tip of the straw can touch the bottom of the carboy without the siphon drawing up sediment.) Tip the carboy as you near the bottom.
It is important to not splash or agitate the beer too much when bottling as any oxygen introduced can lead to oxidation and a “cardboard” taste.

As you fill the bottles, keep the end of the siphon tube near the bottom of the bottle to avoid frothing. It is essential that the bottles ar not completely filled - leave an airspace. Screw the caps on tightly. Invert each bottle and shake to dissolve sugar on the bottom. Set bottles in a warm area for the first few days, then store in a dark, cool spot. You can drink the beer within a few days of bottling, but it will improve with age.


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Enhancements
Once you've made a few batches of your own homemade beer, it's fun to experiment with different 'enhancements'. When adding your own personal touch, however, caution is always a good idea; try things in small amounts so as not to over-do it.
Here are few suggestions:
Molasses. Add a cup or two of molasses to the malt while it's cooking. Cut back a bit on the sugar. This will impart a darker, more full-bodied taste to the beer. Blackstrap molasses is darker and richer; Fancy molasses is lighter.
Licorice. Throw a few sticks of licorice into the malt while it's cooking. Leave in for 5 - 10 minutes, then remove any unmelted pieces before pouring the brew into the carboy.
Hops. Put whole hops (dried) or hop flakes into a cheesecloth bag and add to the cooking malt. A handful is plenty. This will give a distinctive hop flavor to the beer.
Herb teas. Try adding 3 or 4 teabags of Celestial Seasonings "Bengal Spice" tea, or "Apple Cinnamon Spice" tea. Add to the cooking malt and remove after 10 minutes. This will add a bit of spice to the taste of the beer, a very interesting flavor.


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Enjoy!

Pour your beer carefully to avoid disturbing the sediment. Re-capped partially full bottles will retain their "fizz" for up to two weeks, so don't feel you have to empty the bottle (unless you're looking for an excuse!). After two weeks, unfinished bottles should be emptied.

Batches of homemade beer can vary in quality. Darker beers will work best with this recipe for the most consistent results. If your beer is a little short on "fizz" or falls a little short of your expectations, try mixing 50/50 with your favorite commercial beer.

If the empty bottles are rinsed out immediately, washing them later will be easy. Simply rinse with warm, lightly soapy water. Rinse well to remove soap residue. A mild bleach solution can also be used to clean the bottles.



Remember, your beer will continue to improve for months. It's a good idea to start a second batch right away so you can get well enough ahead to enjoy fully matured beer.


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Answer 2

Well. Not much I can add to the previous answer, exept that after a couple of batches of bottled beer( which was satisfactory) A freind suggested I use the Soda kegs to finish and keep the wort in. You can buy these from your supplier for about 20 bucks, and get the co2 bottle and fittings for about 50. It simplifies a lot of the racking proccess, and makes a uniform product, that hold 5 gallons, the same as the average wort quantity. After it has fished for it's suggested time, you simply chill it, and hook up the co2 to carbonate it. and then reverse the lines to dispense it. It is easy once you have done it a time or two, and it is portable and works well. After you have bottled a few times, or tried the above person's two liter method, if you can get your hands on the kegging equiptment, try it for a batch or two and see how you like it. It's all I ever do now, it is just a lot easier and less time consuming, I feel. and it makes a good, easily portable product. ask your supplier about it. Have fun and good luck. It's fun and entertaining! There is a good book
by Byron Burch, about homebrewing that explains this kegging process and regular bottling very well. Your supplier should have this book, too, well worth the 6 or 7 bucks it costs. And yes, those kits are fine, you get your fermentor, which you will need, any way, and all the basic supplies you need, plus a batch of the ingredients you need. sometimes, they come with that Byron Burch book, with it too, my first kit came with it, and caps for the bottles too. They are about 50 bucks at my store. There are many online suppliers, too, but it's good to find a local store if you can, because you will have questions, and a lot of the local stores have their own samples on hand, so you can taste the different styles. Plus you can go get a quick supply if you need it, or so you can get a different yeast or hops to try if you wish. If you can find a glass carboy, get one, and use a stainless steel pot to boil your wort in. It can be like, 3 gallons, and you can boil 2 more gallons of water to add, later, if you cant find a bigger stainless pot.

Answer 3

The best place to start is here:
http://howtobrew.com

Then do a google search for home brewing stores in your area. The people there are always helpful. They carry all the books you'll need, the ingredients, the tools, and so on.

If you don't have one near by, my favorite online supplier is http://morebeer.com There are tons of others, too.

Answer 4

Can't top that 1st answer, but I will say this: Beer making is fun. The process is generally repeatable. The general mistakes lie in contamination so make sure everything is as clean as you can possibly get it. Join a local brew club if you have one in your area and enjoy the fruits of your labor!!!!!!!!!

Answer 5

best thing to do is do alot of online reading to see if you want to use the syrups or go from scratch with all the grains...if you have access to a local brew supply shop they can tell you tons...that is what we did.