How to Homebrew Beer

Homebrewing beer has probably crossed the minds of almost all passionate beer enthusiasts at least once or twice. Most probably dismiss the idea as being too difficult. Well, I'm here to tell you homebrewing is not difficult. If you can make soup you can make your own beer. There are two basic ways to go about it: all grain brewing and extract brewing. All grain brewing is much more time consuming. But, in my opinion the rewards are greater. Extract brewing is significantly quicker. But, you don't have as much control over the ingredients. Both methods are outlined below.

Here is a list of basic equipment you'll need to start homebrewing using all grain. I didn't get fancy here, as there is a ton of stuff you can buy. These are just the basics. Your local homebrew store should have all of this. Another great online resource is Northern Brewer.

1. Mash Tun (all grain method only) - Basically, a container with a filter and spigot at the bottom for mashing grain and extracting the liquid (wort). I use a homemade mash tun. Mine is a converted cooler.

2. Primary Fermenter (plastic or glass - I prefer plastic) - You'll probably want two of these. Primary fermenters are just containers for fermenting beer. The plastic type is usually a 6 gallon bucket that have a removable lid with a hole for an airlock or blowoff tube. They're designed specifically for making beer. The glass type is usually a carboy style with a larger hole at the top for a blowoff tube or stopper and airlock. Please keep in mind the glass type are really easy to break.

3. Airlock or Blowoff Tube (OPTIONAL) - An airlock or blowoff tube allows CO2 gas to escape as the beer ferments. The airlock is a small plastic device that acts as a one way valve. The blowoff tube is just a 3/8" x 3' piece of plastic tubing with one end stuck in fermenter's lid and the other end stuck in a bottle of water. I like the blowoff because it's simpler and less prone to clogging, which is extremely important. If your airlock clogs, then your fermenter can blow up and leave you with 5 gallons of beer on your ceiling. Not pretty. Please note, this is all optional. I like it because it's reassuring to see those CO2 bubbles being released. However, you can just sanitize a piece of aluminum foil and place it over the opening in your fermenter.

4. Thermometer - For measuring water temperature. There are many styles out there. I use a cheap glass one. You can certainly use a battery powered probe type if you'd like.

5. Hydrometer - A device used to measure the density of a liquid.

6. Autosiphon - A siphon for getting the wort from the kettle into the fermenter.

7. Brew Kettle - Basically, a giant stock pot. You'll need one that's around 6½ gallons. And make sure it has a lid.

8. Iodophor Solution - It's an iodine solution for sanitizing all your equipment.

9. Plastic Tubing - Food grade vinyl tubing is essential. You can never have enough. 3/8" is a common diameter. Keep at least 10' to 15' on hand.

10. Tubing Clamps - These are just small plastic clamps for the vinyl tubing. They're just good to have around. Five or so should be plenty.

11. Wort Chiller - This is just a coiled piece of copper tubing designed to cool wort quickly. It's an optional piece of equipment, but one I highly recommend. You can make your own or you can buy one. Mine is homemade.

All grain brewing is my preferred method. I extract brew, too, but only when I don't have to time to do all grain. In addition to being more time consuming, all grain homebrewing is more involved in regards to the equipment needed. While still very easy, it's obviously not as easy as extract brewing. I much prefer it though, because it appeals to the chef in me. I have much more control over the ingredients I use. I am also able to experiment more.

Grain:
Marris Otter = 6½ lbs
2-Row = 5 lbs
Cara pils = 1/2 lb

Hops:
Perle = 1oz (60 minutes)
Cascade = 1oz (20 minutes)
Cascade = 1/2oz (2 minutes)

Yeast:
White Labs WLP001

The grain needs to be crushed or milled. This can be done by most homebrew shops. Online retailers usually offer milling as well. You can mix all the grain together, it's all going into the mash tun anyway.

Buy the hops in pellet form for now, as it's just easier. Follow the hop boiling schedule on the recipe. This one calls for 1oz of Perle to be boiled for 60 minutes. Add the 1oz of Cascade with 20 minutes left in the boil, and the last 1/2oz of Cascade with 2 minutes left.

The yeast should be brought to room temperature before pitching it into the cooled wort. You should shake it real good before you open it, also.

Just follow the all grain instructions and you should be all set.

1. Fill your brew kettle with water and heat to about 170 degrees Fahrenheit (170F).

2. Fill your mash tun with your crushed grain. Now would also be a good time to attach about 4' of tubing to the spigot on the mash tun. Make sure you use a clamp to seal off the tubing.

3. Add the 170F water to the grain in the mash tun. Stir well to distribute water evenly throughout the grain/water mixture (the mash). Continue adding water until the mash reaches about 152F. Close the mash tun lid and wait 1 hour. Essentially, you're extracting the sugars from the grain.

4. While you're waiting for the mash refill the brew kettle and heat to 170F. After 1 hour of mashing you're ready to sparge. The water in the mash tun is now, basically, sugar water. It's called wort and you need to separate it from the spent grain. This is what sparging does.

5. Put the end of the mash tun tubing into your fermenter. Open the clamp and drain the sugar water (wort) slowly. I usually set the clamp so the wort just trickles out. Add the heated water to the mash tun whenever you see the wort in the mash tun getting low or the grain sort of drying out. Your goal here is to keep a thin layer of water above the grain at all times. When the fermenter is almost full stop adding water to the mash tun. Just let the mash tun drain out into the fermenter.

6. You should have about 6 to 6.5 gallons in the fermenter. Empty the brew kettle of remaining water. Pour the contents of the fermenter into the brew kettle.

7. Place a lid on the brew kettle and begin to boil. Once boiling, remove the lid. Follow the beer recipe's hop addition schedule when adding hops. Allow the wort to boil for 1 hour.

8. While the wort is boiling all items that come into contact with it after the boil should be sanitized with the iodophor solution. Rinse out the fermenter. Add about a tablespoon of iodophor to the fermenter and fill with warm water. Water should be an amber color. Put the airlock or blowoff tubing, autosiphon, wort chiller, hydrometer, and fermenter lid into the iodophor water. Let sit for about 15 minutes and then drain. Let everything air dry.

9. When the wort is done boiling and the hops have been added, it's time to cool. You should now have about 5 gallons of wort. Cool the wort with the wort chiller. Cool it to around 70F.

10. After wort is cooled use the autosiphon to siphon wort into the fermenter. When the fermenter is full add the yeast. Use the hydrometer to determine the specific gravity. This will determine the density, and ultimately, the alcohol potential of your beer. Place the lid on the fermenter and shake the heck out of it. You want as much air in the wort as possible. This will help the yeast work. If you've decided to use an airlock or blowoff tube put it into the fermenter lid. If not, just put a piece of sanitized aluminum foil over the hole.

11. Now you're done. Put the fermenter in a cool dark area of your house for about two weeks. The temperature should be around 70F. After about two weeks, you should be ready to bottle or keg. More on that below...

Like I said before I prefer the all grain brewing method. But, that doesn't mean I don't do a lot of extract brewing. I use this method when I'm crunched for time, which seems to happen a lot more these days, especially having kids and all. The beer comes out almost as good as all grain. Most homebrewers start with extract before moving to all grain, as it's easier and there's slightly less equipment to buy.

Malt Extract:
Marris Otter Dry Malt Extract = 4 lbs
Light Dry Malt Extract = 3 lbs

Hops:
Perle = 1oz (60 minutes)
Cascade = 1oz (20 minutes)
Cascade = 1/2oz (2 minutes)

Yeast:
White Labs WLP001

Buy the hops in pellet form for now, as it's just easier. Follow the hop boiling schedule on the recipe. This one calls for 1oz of Perle to be boiled for 60 minutes. Add the 1oz of Cascade with 20 minutes left in the boil, and the last 1/2oz of Cascade with 2 minutes left.

The yeast should be brought to room temperature before pitching it into the cooled wort. You should shake it real good before you open it, also.

Just follow the extract instructions and you should be all set.

1. Fill your brew kettle with about 6 gallons of water and bring to a boil.

2. When water begins to boil add all the malt extract that your homebrew recipe calls for.

3. Wait for the wort to resume boiling before proceeding with hop additions. Add hops according to your recipe. Let wort boil for one hour.

4. While the wort is boiling use the iodophor solution to sanitize all items that come into contact with it after the boil. Here's how - Rinse out the fermenter. Add about a tablespoon of iodophor to the fermenter and fill with warm water. Water should be an amber color. Put the airlock or blowoff tubing, autosiphon, wort chiller, hydrometer, and fermenter lid into the iodophor water. Let sit for about 15 minutes and then drain. Let everything air dry.

5. When the wort is done boiling and the hops have been added, it's time to cool. You should now have about 5 gallons of wort. Cool the wort with the wort chiller. Cool it to around 70F.

6. After wort is cooled use the autosiphon to siphon wort into the fermenter. When the fermenter is full add the yeast. Use the hydrometer to determine the specific gravity. This will determine the density, and ultimately, the alcohol potential of your beer. Place the lid on the fermenter and shake the heck out of it. You want as much air in the wort as possible. This will help the yeast work. If you've decided to use an airlock or blowoff tube put it into the fermenter lid. If not, just put a piece of sanitized aluminum foil over the hole.

7. Now you're done. Put the fermenter in a cool dark area of your house for about two weeks. The temperature should be around 70F. After about two weeks, you should be ready to bottle or keg. More on that below...

I'll be honest. Bottling is, by far, the worst part of homebrewing. It's just very tedious. I now keg all of my homebrew for that reason. Below is a list of necessary bottling equipment.

1. Bottles - Obviously you'll need bottles. Five gallons of beer will yield about 50 12oz bottles. You can get larger bottles, however, which should make the bottling process a little quicker. You can use commercial beer bottles, too. Just make sure you wash them well. You can't use the twist off type either.

2. Bottle Caps - Get a big bag of these at your local homebrew store or online.

3. Bottle Capper - You need a way to put caps on those bottles right?

4. Bottling Bucket w/ Spigot - This will look like your fermenter except there's a hole in the side near the bottom. Most bottling buckets come with spigots. If it doesn't have a spigot, you'll need to get one. Again, your local homebrew shop or online retailer will have these.

5. Bottling Wand - This is just a hard plastic tube with a stopper at one end.

So now you've got your bottling equipment. Make sure you sanitize everything before you begin to bottle using the same method described in the brewing instructions. You'll need your hydrometer, autosiphon, and a piece of plastic tubing a few feet in length. Sanitize those along with everything else. Keep reading for bottling instructions...

1. Boil 2/3 cup of sugar (regular table sugar is fine) in a small amount of water (a few cups). Continue boiling for 5 minutes, then let it cool to room temperature.

2. Attach spigot to the hole in your bottling bucket. Attach one end of tubing to the spigot and the other end to your bottling wand.

3. Pour the sugar water into the bottling bucket.

4. Use the hydrometer to take a gravity reading of the beer. You can use this reading and the reading you took on brew day to determine the alcohol content. The formula is: (original gravity - final gravity) x 129 = alcohol by volume. Example (1.055 - 1.012) x 129 = 5.5% alcohol.

5. Siphon beer into bottling bucket to mix with sugar water. Siphon carefully, avoiding the huge amount of yeast that's caked on the bottom of the fermenter.

6. Open spigot and push bottling wand all the way into the bottle. The wand needs to make contact with the bottom of the bottle to work properly. Fill bottle to the very top. When you remove the wand there will be a little headspace. Now cap it. Repeat about 50 times. Yes, this is tedious. Ultimately, it's worth it though.

7. When you're done bottling and capping place all the beer in a dark place for about two weeks to carbonate. Just make sure it's room temperature. The remaining yeast will ferment the sugar water and produce just enough CO2 to carbonate. Now drink one. Is it fully carbonated? Good, now put the rest of the bottles in your fridge. You've successfully made beer with your own two hands. Enjoy it!