The Brew Process

This blog post is going to teach you the basics of what it takes to brew a batch of beer. There are so many different ways to brew so many different flavors. We suggest trying a few until you find what works best for you. We all come into homebrewing with different budgets, equipment, space, and preferences. It's important to keep trying until you feel comfortable with the process. We hope you find it rewarding and delicious!

Let's get started!

1. The first step is to gather all of your supplies and carefully read the instructions. Nothing is worse than getting halfway through and needing to run to the store because you're out of an ingredient. 

The four main ingredients that you will need are WATER, HOPS, MALT, and YEAST. 

You will need to gather a variety of brewing supplies. Because our readers may have different budgets and available space, we recommend visiting a few local homebrew stores and see what price ranges suit your needs. Most ingredients like saucepans, sugar, and measuring cups, you'll already have in your kitchen. You will also need two large brewing buckets, some bottles and some caps. 

2. The next step is to clean all of your brewing materials. Bad bacteria on your supplies can potentially harm your beer.

3. Boil 1 gallon of water. Once boiling, remove from heat and add the MALT extract. Stir until it is dissolved.

4. Return your new mixture of malt and water to a boil. Once boiling, add in your HOPS. 

NOTE: Hops will bitter your beer and add flavor. When you add it and how much you add will affect the taste of the batch. 

5. Congratulate yourself. Once you have boiled for 30 minutes, you've created WORT! That's the name for the unfermented mixture that ultimately becomes beer. 

REMINDER: Be sure to sanitize everything that the wort comes in contact with. If your wort gets infected, the batch is ruined!

6. This is where your brew vessel comes into play. You can use anything for your receptacle but we recommend a large bucket from the hardware store. Fill halfway with cold water after allowing the wort to cool a few minutes. Allow it to sit until the temperature reaches between 70-75° F.

7. Add the YEAST. Packets can be purchased online or at your nearest homebrew supplier. 

8. Seal the bucket. It is very important that the bucket is air tight! Your local homebrew store should sell supplies to help. Give the bucket a good shake to provide oxygen to the mixture. 

9. Store for one to two weeks in a steady temperature environment depending on the instructions on your yeast package. 

10. Celebrate! The hard part is over! You have successfully made your beer.

11. Now we need to add carbonation and bottle the batch. Boil 2 cups of water and 5oz. of sugar for about 10 minutes and add to bucket.

12. The next part is a bit tricky. We need to transfer the brew from our fermentation vessel to our bottling bucket. Now there are a variety of products available to make this process easy. If you don't want to spend the money, get some clean hose and siphon the mix the same way you see people siphon gas in the movies! The point of this practice is to get the mix into a new bucket and leave the ingredients in the fermentation vessel behind. This is very important for the quality of your beer.

13. Pour mix from bottling bucket into bottles. If you want to spend the money, get a bottling bucket with a spigot for easy transfer. Fill and cap the bottles and store in a dark room at room temperature. This allows carbonation to take place.

14. Enjoy! After sitting 2-3 weeks, you'll have perfectly fizzy beer.    

Woo, M. (30 March, 2011) Infographic. How to make beer at home. OC Weekly.

Here at The Craft Beer Aficionado, our favorite thing about brewing beer is that you can start small and work your way up. The process explained can be completed for under $100. It yields about 5 gallons of beer. From here you can try new recipes, upgrade equipment, and perfect your brew. 

If you get stuck or need any help, Tweet @CBeerAficionado, comment on our blog or our Facebook. We would love to help and hear your favorite recipes!

Until next time,

Cheers

TCBA