Homemade Beer: A Quick Guide

All the needed beer supplies can be purchased for under $200, and the equipment is readily available at your local brewing supply store or an online brewing site will have everything to get you started which includes:

A brewing pot, plastic hose material, fermenter, a bucket for bottling, an airlock and a stopper, a bottle brush, a bottle capper, a thermometer, a small bowl, a saucepan, a spatula, dome oven mitts and some wooden mixing spoons.

For the beginning home brewer, picking up beer brewing kits is the best way to get started in the hobby.
Beer brewing kits contains all the required ingredients, which include yeast and hopped malt concentrate.
Additionally you will need to buy fermentables, which are what add the different flavors to your homemade beer. Of course you can buy your ingredients separately, but beer brewing kits are the best way to start out with in home brewing beer.

Before you can begin producing homemade beer all your equipment needs to be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized . This is actually the most important step in home brewing!
Clean everything with hot and soapy water. Then sanitize all the equipment by using either the iodine solution or chlorine solution that are included in your beer brewing kits. Once everything is sterilized, you are ready to start creating your very own homemade beer.

Before you start be sure to familiarize yourself with the instructions and ingredients provided with your beer brewing supplies.

First, add two quarts of water in your brew pot and heat it to 180F or until it steams; then remove it from the heat.. Add your beer kit ingredients and the fermentables.
Stir until everything is dissolved; then put the lid on and leave everything on low heat for 20 minutes.

Now add the mix, which is called the wort, to the fermenter which should be filled with four gallons of water. Stir everything for 4 minutes to oxygenize the mixture.

When the wort has cooled to the touch you can add the yeast. Now it's time to let the wort ferment. This process starts immediately and continues for 5 days. During this time it's important to keep the temperature constant, around 65F, and to keep the wort in a dark place. You'll be able to tell that the wort is fermenting because of the small air bubbles rising to the top. On day 5 you need to start checking your beer frequently! The fermenting process is complete when there are no more air bubbles. Your homemade beer is now ready to be bottled.

Be patient and make sure you'll wait for the fermentation process to complete, or you'll ruin your beer's taste.

Before you can begin bottling your homemade beer you have to prepare what is referred to as a "primary solution". The primary solutiont carbonates the beer.

Add 2 cups of water and ¾ cup dextrose to a saucepan and bring this to a boil over medium heat. Then let it cool for 30 minutes. Pour the solution into the bottling bucket, attach the hose to the spigot on the fermenter and put the other end of the hose in your bottling bucket. Open the spigot and transfer your homemade beer over to the bottling bucket. When done, detach and clean the hose and set aside the fermenter.

Fill each bottle leaving 1" of air at the top. Cap the bottles securely and make sure there are no leaks.

Before it is time to enjoy your homemade beer you will need to store your bottled beer in a cool
dark place for the second fermentation process to take place. Do no refrigirate the beer as that would be too cold for the process to complete successfully. A basement would be an ideal place for storaget.

It now needs to sit for 2 more weeks and then it will be time to enjoy your own homemade beer!