2torial #0726:
Learn2 Brew Your Own Beer

Something's brewing

Next time you're frustrated over the price of beer, or wishing your local market offered more of a variety, consider brewing your own. After an initial investment for equipment, the ingredients run less than buying beer, and with practice, you'll be able to create any style or flavor you desire. What's more, you don't even have to like a good brewski to get involved--if you enjoy cooking, beer making can be a fun activity to add to your repertoire. We'll get you started with a simple malt-extract ale.

Look in the phone book for a home brew supply store where you can purchase equipment and ingredients and get advice from experienced brewers. Libraries and bookstores offer publications about brewing, and typing "brewing" or "beer" into an Internet search engine will yield more information, including ways to obtain supplies via mail order. If you're looking for a community of brewers to join, find one by asking at your home brew store or by searching online.

Also, consider visiting a BOP (brew on premises) store, where you pay a fee to brew your own beer using their equipment and ingredients. Some even offer instruction. This way you can get some experience before you purchase your own supplies.

Finally, keep in mind that brewing beer is an art that takes practice. This 2torial provides the basics to get you started on your first batch, but it won't turn you into a brew master overnight.

Gather your supplies

Many home brew stores sell all-inclusive startup kits, or you can improvise much of the necessary equipment by using household items you already own. Here's a rundown of what you need:

A brew pot. Use a stainless-steel or enamel-coated metal pot with a lid and at least a 4-gallon (15-liter) capacity.

A brew spoon. Use a stainless steel or plastic spoon with a handle that's at least 18 inches (45 centimeters) long.

A fermentation vessel with airlock. This is a 7-gallon (26-liter) plastic bucket with a spigot and an airlock (this "fermentation lock" is crucial, as it allows carbon dioxide bubbles to escape during fermentation). You'll most likely have to buy one from a home brew specialty store.

Bottles. For this recipe, you'll need 54 twelve-ounce (355-milliliter) bottles. Either buy them new from your home brew supplier, find a local recycling bin and pick them up for free, or buy nine six-packs and empty out the beer (if you decide to drink the contents, please don't do it all at once!).

Note: Plastic is oxygen-permeable, and oxygen is bad for your developing brew, so don't substitute plastic bottles for glass ones. Also, while some brewers recommend green or dark brown bottles to help filter light during the fermentation process, they're really only necessary with more advanced brewing techniques than those described in this 2torial.

A bottle brush. A narrow, soft-bristle brush will help you clean inside the bottles before filling them.

Crowns. Also called bottle caps, crowns are usually sold in batches of 60.

A bottle capper. This affixes the crowns to the bottles. It's possible to rent one, although you can purchase a bottle capper for only about $20 (U.S.).

A bottling bucket. Use a 5-gallon (19-liter) food-grade bucket. It doesn't need a lid, but it does need a spigot at the bottom.

A bottling tube. This is a hard plastic tube used to transport beer from the bottling bucket into the bottles. It should be long enough to reach from your work table almost to the floor and should fit inside a bottle's mouth.

A flexible plastic hose. Used to transfer beer from the fermentation vessel to the bottling bucket, this hose needs to fit the spigots on both those receptacles and reach from your work table to the floor.

Obtain your ingredients

Now that you have the hardware, gather your ingredients. Many of the previously mentioned all-inclusive brewing kits come with ingredients as well as equipment, but if yours doesn't--or if you're assembling your own--it's time to go shopping at a home brew supply store. You'll need:

Hopped malt extract. Get two 3.3-pound (1.5-kilogram) cans of malt extract with hop bittering already added. Unhopped malt is for more advanced brewing.

Yeast. Use 1/2 ounce (10 grams) of brewer's yeast, which you should buy fresh.

Corn sugar. For a 5-gallon (19-liter) batch of beer, you need 3/4 cup (178 milliliters) of corn sugar.

Water. Buy 10 gallons (38 liters) of bottled water. Tap water may have a high chlorine content and can also be high in sodium, either of which could potentially contaminate your brew.

Note: For more information on the ingredients, see 2torial #0815: Appreciate Beer.

Say "no" to germs

Unfermented beer is warm and sweet, the ideal breeding ground for bacteria and fungi. To keep these microscopic beer lovers from enjoying your beer before you have a chance to, sanitize all your equipment before starting the brewing process. Check your home brewing store for brand-name sanitizers and follow the manufacturer's instructions, or try these remedies:

Use unscented household bleach. To sanitize your fermentation vessel, fill it with water (tap water is fine). Mix in 2 ounces (60 milliliters) of unscented bleach, and let it soak for 15 minutes. To clean your spoon and plastic hoses, add them to the bleach and water solution. After the soaking process, wash all equipment thoroughly with dishwashing soap and water, and rinse everything off extremely well.

Boil water. To sterilize your brew pot, fill it with water, bring the water to a boil, and empty the water.

Note: Wait until after your brew has finished fermenting to sanitize your bottling bucket, bottles, and crowns. See Step 6 for details on how to do this.

Create the brew

This is when your love for mixing comes in.

• Heat 3 gallons (11 liters) of bottled water in your brew pot.

• Next, add the malt extract. To make it easier to scoop from the can, fill a bowl with hot tap water, and place the two cans of malt extract in it. After 3 minutes, open the cans and scrape the contents into your brew pot. Use your brew spoon to mix the extract and water.

• Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, regularly stirring the pot but leaving it uncovered. If the water threatens to boil over the top, reduce the heat slightly. After an hour, turn off the burner and put the lid on the brew pot.

What you have now is a malt and water mixture called wort, which must be cooled before you add yeast. Empty your sink and put a stopper in the drain. Place the covered brew pot in the sink and fill the sink with cool tap water, making sure no water gets into the brew pot. After about 3 minutes, check the sink water. If it's warm, empty the sink and refill it with cool water. Repeat the process until the sink water remains cool. To speed the cooling process, add ice to the sink water (but never to the cooling wort).

• While the wort is cooling, fill a bowl or cup with lukewarm water (about 95F, or 35C), open the yeast packet, and sprinkle the yeast into the water. Don't stir. Instead, cover the mixture with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 10 minutes. This activates the yeast, preparing it for addition to the wort.

• Make sure the spigot on the fermentation vessel is closed, then pour in the cooled wort. Add 3 gallons (11 liters) of bottled water. Finally, pour in the yeast mixture and seal the lid onto the vessel. Let the fermentation begin.

Note: While you may be tempted to simply mix your bottled water with the wort as a means of cooling, it's better to reduce the wort's temperature gradually instead of shocking it with an abrupt addition of cool water.

Ferment the brew

During fermentation, the yeast starts consuming the wort, which produces carbon dioxide and alcohol. To foster this process, you should:

• Store the vessel in a cool, dark location, such as your basement or a closet. Don't put it in direct sunlight.

• Put the fermentation lock in place on top of the vessel. Directions for how to use the lock will differ depending on what kind you purchase. Basically, the lock's job is to let carbon dioxide out, but not allow any air in.

When fermentation is at its peak (after about 2 days), the airlock may make a gargling sound as carbon dioxide bubbles rapidly exit the fermenting vessel. Even when beer-scented bubbles are escaping from the lock, don't open the vessel. If you open it too early, you can contaminate the beer.

• After 7 days, measure the amount of time between bubbles escaping from the lock. When at least a minute elapses between bubbles, plan to bottle your beer the next day.

Bottle your concoction

After your beer has finished fermenting, it's time to bottle it.

• To sterilize your bottling equipment, fill your bottling bucket three-quarters full with cold, bottled water and 2 ounces (60 milliliters) of unscented bleach. Submerge as many of your bottles as will fit. Also add the bottling hose and bottling tube. If you run out of room in the bucket, mix a similarly proportionate solution of bleach and water in your sink and soak some items there. Let everything soak for 30 minutes.

• While your bottles are soaking, combine 3/4 cups (178 milliliters) corn sugar with 2 cups (470 milliliters) of bottled water in a saucepan. Cover the pan and place it on the stove over medium heat.

• To sterilize the crowns, put as many of them as will fit into a frying pan, add enough bottled water to completely cover them, and place on the stove over high heat.

• Once the contents of both pans have come to a boil, remove them from the heat and let them cool to room temperature.

• After the bottles are finished soaking, use your bottle brush to wash each one with warm water and dishwashing soap, then let them air dry. When all the bottles are cleaned, empty the bottling bucket and rinse it thoroughly with fresh water. Rinse the bottling hose and tube, too.

• Place the full fermentation vessel on a table or countertop with the spigot facing you. Note: As the vessel will now weigh over 50 pounds (22 kilograms), you may need a friend to help lift it.

Place the bottling bucket on the floor directly below the spigot. Connect your plastic hose to the spigot on the fermentation vessel; the other end of the hose should hang down inside the bottling bucket.

• Pour the boiled sugar and water mixture into the bottling bucket.

• Open the spigot and let all the beer drain into the bottling bucket. Then close the fermentation vessel's spigot and move the now-empty container away from your work area, replacing it on the table with the now-full bottling bucket. Remove the plastic hose from the fermentation vessel and attach it to the spigot on the bottling bucket. Attach the bottling tube to the other end of the hose.

• Place your bottles on the floor beneath the bottling bucket. One bottle at a time, insert the bottling tube, open the spigot, and let beer fill the bottle. Repeat the process until the bottling bucket is empty or all your bottles are full.

• Use your bottle capper to place a crown on each bottle. (It will come with instructions for use.)

• Store your bottles in a warm, dry place away from direct sunlight for another 2 weeks. This will give the remaining yeast time to eat the sugar you added and carbonate your brew. After 14 days, chill a bottle and perform a taste test.

You may have to brew a few batches, making adjustments along the way, before you're fully satisfied. Ask someone at a home brew store to sample a bottle and offer suggestions. Eventually, you'll sit back and quench your thirst with a cold beer of your own design.

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