Extract Brewing
We started with extract brewing, like a lot of those new to brewing. We have since advanced to all grain brewing. Extract brewing is simple enough, if you can follow directions and know how to sanitize, you'll have beer in no time. Every brew will be different, but the fundamentals are the same. Below are the basic steps to making your own beer at home!
My plan is to redevelop this website and to hopefully have a more centralized source of information for those starting out to find information on the different processes. While extract is easier to start out, All Grain brewing is far better with regards to control over every facet of your beer and better quality and taste. It is still easy to create problems with all grain, but overall it is a better way of producing beer, in my opinion.
My plan is to redevelop this website and to hopefully have a more centralized source of information for those starting out to find information on the different processes. While extract is easier to start out, All Grain brewing is far better with regards to control over every facet of your beer and better quality and taste. It is still easy to create problems with all grain, but overall it is a better way of producing beer, in my opinion.
Sanitize
Sanitizing is a hugely important step. If your equipment is not properly sanitized it could ruin the entire batch of beer!! Clean your primary fermenter with a sponge, don't use any abrasive pads that could scratch the inside of your bucket, these scratches may hold bacteria that could affect future batches. Do not use soap; it can ruin the head of your beer. Use a separate container such as a bucket or another pot to soak your smaller equipment during the appropriate stages of brewing, fermenting and bottling. Remember: After the boil, everything that comes into contact with the wort needs to be sanitized.
Steeping the Grains
If you did not have your grains crushed then use a rolling pin or an empty beer bottle to lightly crush the grains. Next, put the crushed grains into a boiling bag (if you buy a kit they usually come with a muslin bag, but you can also buy reusable ones). Add a minimum 1.5 -2 gallons of tap water to your pot. If you have a larger pot and can boil a larger volume, do so. Boiling a larger volume will result in better hop utilization, less darkening of the wort and better tasting beer. Boil overs are messy (and very hard to clean!) - be sure to leave a gallon or two of headspace in the kettle. Set the grain bag into your pot and turn the heat to high. Steep your grains at 155 degrees for 10-30 minutes. You'll need a thermometer for this stage. If you don't have a thermometer, make sure you don't boil the grains. Remove the pot from the burner and let the grains steep for another 5-10 minutes.
The Boil
Before returning the pot to the burner add the malt extract (some kits contain liquid {LME}, dry {DME} or both). Some recipes could also have you add brown sugar or the like at this point as well. Make sure to stir the water so the malt extract does not scorch on the bottom of your pot. When the extract is fully dissolved, return the kettle to the burner. As soon as you see a boiling bubble, add your bittering hops and boil 60 minutes for optimal hop utilization and bittering. Hops can be added directly to the kettle or placed in a nylon boiling bag in order to keep hop sediment out of the fermenter. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR POT UNATTENDED! A boil over is messy and should be cleaned up immediately. Towards the end of the boil you will add aroma hops, spices, or any other ingredients your recipe calls for, i.e. pumpkin for pumkin beer.
Cooling and Aerating the Wort
There are three ways you can cool the wort. 1). You can set your brew kettle (sanitized top on, if available) in a sink full of ice, stirring the wort with a sanitized spoon every 15 minutes. 2). You can use ice as part of your top up water (8 lbs. of ice is approximate 1 gallon of water) or 3). THE BEST: Use a wort chiller immediately after boiling. The faster you cool the wort and add the yeast, the less chance you'll have of any contamination. The temperature must be below 80° before adding the yeast.
After cooling the wort pour the cooled wort into the primary fermenter and top up with water to just over the 5 gallon mark. Make sure you have cooled your wort below 80º. If you want to take a hydrometer reading, do it now. Do not return any samples back to the fermenter. At this point you need to aerate the wort. You can stir vigorously or pour back and forth between two sanitized buckets. Yeast need oxygen in order to do their job, so try not to skip this step.
After cooling the wort pour the cooled wort into the primary fermenter and top up with water to just over the 5 gallon mark. Make sure you have cooled your wort below 80º. If you want to take a hydrometer reading, do it now. Do not return any samples back to the fermenter. At this point you need to aerate the wort. You can stir vigorously or pour back and forth between two sanitized buckets. Yeast need oxygen in order to do their job, so try not to skip this step.
Fermentation
If you are using dry yeast, you can re-hydrate the yeast in lukewarm water (90º-100º), let it stand for 10 minutes and pour into the wort, or you can just sprinkle the dry yeast over the top of the beer. If you are using liquid yeast, follow the directions on the packet. Approximately 1-3 days after adding the yeast you should start to notice a healthy fermentation taking place. A head of foam (called krausen) will have formed and CO² should be bubbling out of the airlock. After 5-7 days of fermentation, transfer into a glass carboy. If you are using a single stage fermenting system, then leave the beer in the fermenter for two weeks total. You can be sure that the yeast is done by taking a hydrometer reading three days in a row and getting the same reading, a gradual lowering of the reading will indicate a slower or unfinished fermentation, Be patient. A good rule of thumb is to allow 2 weeks for fermentation and every thing will be fine. Dry yeast has been known to ferment very fast while some liquid strains can take longer than expected. Use your hydrometer to tell you where your beer is at, it is your window into what is going on in the fermenter.
Bottling
At bottling time, heat 1 cup of water and add 3/4c (5 oz.) of corn sugar. Bring the solution to a slow boil for five minutes, then cover with a sanitized lid and let cool. Sanitize your bottling bucket, tubing, bottle filler, caps and bottles. You will need to sanitize 48 - 54 twelve oz. bottles, or 24-28 twenty-two oz. bottles. The dishwasher may be used for sanitizing the bottles by using the heat of the dry cycle (don’t use any soap or sanitizer in the dishwasher). Sanitize caps in a sanitation solution. After everything is sanitized, add the corn sugar mix to the bottling bucket, siphon beer from your fermenter into your bottling bucket and fill the bottles using a bottle filler. Cap your bottles and you're done. Store your beer in a cool (60º-70º), dark place for 2 to 4 weeks (not on a cool basement floor in winter). If there is no carbonation, get the beer in a warmer location, swirl each bottle to rouse any settled yeast and test again in a couple of week.
Partial Mash Brewing
Partial mash brewing is used by intermediate brewers who want the extra flexibility of being able to include certain malts and other
ingredients, but lack the equipment or time needed for all grain brewing. Partial mash offers some of the simplicity of extract brewing while offering some of the flexibility of all grain brewing. Partial mash brewing follows the same steps as all grain brewing, but only specialty grains are mashed with a small amount of pale malt to provide enzymes. After mashing, extract malts are added to provide the bulk of the fermentable sugars.
ingredients, but lack the equipment or time needed for all grain brewing. Partial mash offers some of the simplicity of extract brewing while offering some of the flexibility of all grain brewing. Partial mash brewing follows the same steps as all grain brewing, but only specialty grains are mashed with a small amount of pale malt to provide enzymes. After mashing, extract malts are added to provide the bulk of the fermentable sugars.
Partial mash brewing includes the following steps:
Selected crushed malts are mashed in either the brewpot or a separate mash tun by heating them with either hot water or an external source.
The grains are held at a temperature of 148-158 F for 45-90 minutes to allow sugars to be converted.
The heated grains are lautered by running hot water through them and using a screen filter to extract the hot liquid called wort
Syrup malt extract or dry extract is added to the wort
Hops are added, and the wort is boiled for 45-90 minutes
Cold water is added to bring the volume up and the wort is cooled to room temperature as quickly as possible
Yeast is added, and the beer ferments for 14 days or longer
Priming sugar is added to the finished beer and it is bottled or kegged for consumption
Selected crushed malts are mashed in either the brewpot or a separate mash tun by heating them with either hot water or an external source.
The grains are held at a temperature of 148-158 F for 45-90 minutes to allow sugars to be converted.
The heated grains are lautered by running hot water through them and using a screen filter to extract the hot liquid called wort
Syrup malt extract or dry extract is added to the wort
Hops are added, and the wort is boiled for 45-90 minutes
Cold water is added to bring the volume up and the wort is cooled to room temperature as quickly as possible
Yeast is added, and the beer ferments for 14 days or longer
Priming sugar is added to the finished beer and it is bottled or kegged for consumption
Kegging
Kegging is a great way to store and serve beer without the complicated and time consuming methods of bottling. While bottling is a great way of packaging your beer and is obviously much more portable and for some, a prefered method. Kegging is an ideal setup for a bar and for a quicker and bulk way of storing and serving your beer.
Instead of going through all the different steps to explain the procedure and equipment used. I suggest following this link and read up as to all the ways to get your kegging started: Kegging
Instead of going through all the different steps to explain the procedure and equipment used. I suggest following this link and read up as to all the ways to get your kegging started: Kegging