How to Homebrew Beer - Anyone Can Do It!

I'm not going to beat around the bush here. In other lenses I've written a lot about about the specific ingredients involved in how to brew beer, specific homebrew supplies and details of how beer is actually made.

But in this lens, I want to focus on what it is that you actually DO when you brew beer at home!

It's probably a good idea first to go over the homebrew supplies you'll need. Rather than repeat all the information here, why don't you just pop over to my homebrew supplies lens real quick, then come back here, OK?

Done yet?

OK, so now you are familiar with the variety of supplies you'll need. It may seem like a lot, but it's really pretty straightforward. Learning how to homebrew beer is easiest with one of the kits I talked about on the other page.

If you've already checked out the Mr. Beer brewing kits , you might want to check out the Cooper Microbrewery Kit as well. Both companies have everything you need to brew your first batch of beer at home...the only thing you'll need to add is water. Really!

The very first step when learning how to homebrew beer is to clean and sterilize all of your equipment. Sorry, but there is just no way around it. The wort that you will be creating is such a great environment for your brewing yeast to grow that it's a great environment for every other bacteria, yeast and mold spore out there!

Getting the wrong (or any) bacteria into your fermenting beer can turn it into vinegar at worst, and simply ruin the flavor at best.

So how do you sterilize?

There are a few ways to do it and it doesn't have to be painful. My preference is to use something like Mr. Beer One Step Cleanser. It's a no rinse powder that you mix with water, soak and rinse all your supplies with it, and let everything air dry on a paper towel. Because it uses oxidation to sanitize everything, there is no chlorine residue to rinse off, saving you one step in the process.

The other option is to mix up some bleach water and use that to soak and rinse everything. For bleach water, use 1 tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of water. Mix it up in the fermenting bucket or keg and soak everything in it, then rinse with boiled water.

It's not really possible to 100% sterilize everything, but by reducing bacteria and contaminants to a minimum level, the yeast that you add for brewing will be the dominant organism in your fermenting keg or bucket.

OK, by now, you should have your supplies (did you get a Mr. Beer kit?), your ingredients should be included with your kit, and all of your equipment for this step is cleaned and sterilized.

Ready to go?

The Mr. Beer basic recipe calls for water, 1 packet of maltodextrin (sugar), 1 can of malted hop extract, and 1 packet of brewing yeast. This is the most basic of recipes and will make a great ale if followed to a "T". Of course there are endless variations of this recipe, and one of my favorites is to substitute 2 liters of apple cider for water. This doesn't really create a cider beer, but it does give it a nice crisp flavor.

First begin by adding the proper amount of water to your stovetop stockpot. While the water is still cool, sprinkle in the malto-dextrin packet while gently stirring the water with a whisk. Maltodextrin is an added sweetener and every recipe may call for different or even added sweeteners.

When the maltodextrin is dissolved, begin heating the water to a boil. Open your can of malt extract and gently stir that in to your mixture.

This step in brewing is also an opportunity to add additional hops if you like...but for your first batch, just keep it simple. You may have read about things like the "hot break" and the "cold break"...with a kit like Coopers or Mr. Beer, you don't really have to worry about this, you just need to bring the mixture to a boil and let it cool down.

While the wort is boiling, you can start livening up your yeast. Always be sure that the yeast is still "alive" by checking any expiration date on the packet. Many malt extracts will come with a yeast packet specifically tailored for that style of malt, whether it's a pale ale, a stout, a lager or a wheat beer.

Prepare the yeast by adding a cup or so of boiled (not boiling) water to your a pyrex mixing bowl or measuring cup. Why pyrex? I like it because it's easy to see the yeast foaming action and it's very easy to clean. Opaque containers are difficult to tell if they are 100% cleaned, but with pyrex, it's pretty easy to tell.

Add the yeast packet and gently stir, letting it sit for about 15 minutes or so. Your yeast is now hydrated and is ready to pitch into the wort in the fermenting keg!

By now you've done all the tedious work of brewing, whether you are using a kit or brewing "from scratch". Your equipment has been sterilized, the yeast is hydrated, your wort has boiled and been mixed and any custom ingredients have been added to the wort and and boiled for sanitation.

Fill your fermenting bucket or keg with the recommended amount of water...this helps keep the boiled wort from heat shocking the plastic fermenter, and helps to cool the wort so that the yeast is not killed by the heat.

Pour your wort into the fermenter, and then add the yeast mixture. The yeast will float on the surface and in about 24 hours you should start to see foaming and bubbling action in the fermenter. In fact, the inside of the fermenting keg can get quite active with budding yeast and fermentation bubbles rising to the surface of the brew.

Fasten the lid to the fermenting keg (or bucket)...with the Mr. Beer kit, you don't need a special "airlock", you simply screw on the lid which both vents the gasses created as well as keeping bacteria out.

Now the hard work is done, and all you have to do is sit back and patiently wait. If you are like me, you'll be peering in through the side of your fermenting keg morning noon and night.

During the next week, those little yeast are budding and making alcohol byproducts. The crabon dioxide made at this stage is simply vented as a waste product. The actually bubbles that will be in the final beer get "added" in a week when you bottle your creation.

Feel free to sample a little bit of your brew out of the tap as each day goes by so you can appreciate how the alcohol content grows day by day.