How to Homebrew
How to Make Up a Beer Kit
Kits require very little equipment to make up, all that is required is a fermenter (25L food grade bucket) preferably with tap and transfer tubing, a mixing paddle/spoon, a hydrometer, a thermometer and a regular kettle.
Left hand picture.Back:Fermenter with lever tap and
1/2" pvc transfer tubing.
Back Left: Siphon Tubing (not required if fermenter has a tap).
Middle: Stirring Paddle.Front Center. Thermometer and Hydrometer.
Right Hand Picture: Thermometer and Hydrometer.
Clean and
Sanitize. Everything that comes into contact
with the ingredients should be cleaned and sanitized as wort is an ideal
breeding ground for bacteria which if it takes hold, will make your beer taste of
vinegar . The equipment can be cleaned using a soda crystals solution (found in
supermarkets and hardware stores), it should then be sanitized using bleach (use
thin unscented cheap supermarket bleach only). The bleach is diluted in
cold water at a rate of 3ml per Litre and the equipment soaked for 20 mins. It
should be rinsed thoroughly in cold water.
Alternatively a proprietary
homebrew combination cleaner/sanitizer like VWP can be used.
In both cases a rinse in a sodium
metabisulphite solution (available from homebrew shops) is also useful as this neutralizes
the chlorine found in bleach and proprietary cleaners. It prevents growth of bacteria and kills wild
yeasts meaning your equipment will stay sanitized for longer. 1 tsp of sodium
metabisulphite should be dissolved in 1 pint of hot water and swilled round the
equipment. The solution can be kept in an old 500ml fizzy pop bottle which is
also useful for keeping your hydrometer in.
Firstly, for a healthy fermentation the yeast which comes in a dried granular form should be re-hydrated. Pre-boil around 100ml of water, cover it with foil or a sanitized plate and allow to cool to 30-35 deg c. Once cool, cut open the yeast sachet and evenly sprinkle the granules over the surface of the water. Cover once more with foil or a plate and allow the yeast to re-hydrate for 20-30 mins.
dried yeast freshly sprinkled on preboiled water
Meanwhile wipe the can(s) off with a cloth soaked in your
sanitizing solution and place it (them) in a container of boiling water to
soften up the contents making it easier to pour. Leave them to warm through for
5 mins then open with a sanitized can opener and pour the contents into your
fermenter. Rinse out the tin(s) with boiling water and add this to the fermenter
also, mix well.
(Take care when handling the tin(s), use oven gloves as they
will be very hot).
If DME (dried malt extract) is being used, replacing sugar in a single can kit recipe, dissolve it in a couple of litres of luke warm water in a saucepan first to avoid clumping the bring it to the boil to fully dissolve and sanitize it. Add this to the fermenter and mix well.
Now all you have to do is top up to the appropriate volume (stated on the kit) using cold water and stir. Stir vigorously for a good 5 mins to introduce oxygen into the wort, this will help the yeast get off to a good start and produce a healthy fermentation which in turn will produce a great beer.
aerated wort
Once you have aerated your wort check its below 30 deg c and add your re-hydrated yeast which should look like this.
rehydrated yeast
Due to an increased risk of stuck
fermentation, yeast that fails to re-hydrate and sinks to the bottom of the
container should be discarded and a fresh sachet used, its always useful to store
a spare sachet of yeast in the fridge for just such an occurrence (dried yeast
keeps for longer when refrigerated).
If after preparing, the wort is above 30 deg c, snap on the lid and allow to cool; putting the
fermenter in a sink of cold water will help speed the process and as long as
your sanitation has been good and you keep the wort covered it will be quite
safe for a few hours. Once cool, pitch (add) the yeast and stir it in well. Snap on the
lid then crack open a small section to allow the co2 gas that will be produced
to escape.
After 12-24hrs it should look something like the picture below. Once fermentation has started the beer must not be disturbed, any splashing could cause oxidation which results in an unpleasant off flavour. The temperature of the room should be within the range of 18-26 deg c, too cold and the yeast could become dormant, too hot and harsh unpleasant alcoholic flavours can develop.
healthy, fermenting yeast head
After 3-5 days this yeast head will have subsided and fermentation will have slowed. The specific gravity of the beer can now be checked, and once you get two stable hydrometer readings within a 24hr period it can be transferred to a barrel or to bottles. Alternatively this can be left for around 10 days (total) to produce a cleaner tasting beer, this also has the advantage of allowing the beer to clear a little and reduce the sediment in the barrel or bottle.
Before transferring to a homebrew barrel, dissolve 50-80g of brewers sugar or dme in around 100mls of boiling water and then zap in the microwave to bring back to the boil, wait a few moments before removing and take great care as disturbing may cause a boil over due to uneven heating, Pyrex jugs are useful for doing this purpose. Add this sugar solution to the homebrew barrel before transferring the beer. This is known as priming sugars and will ferment in the homebrew barrel (or bottle) giving your beer sparkle.
The transfer of the beer must be done as smoothly as possible to avoid aerating the wort, transfer tubing attached to the tap or siphon tubing should be used and the outlet of the tubing should be directed to the bottom of the receiving vessel, once high enough, the outlet should be submerged below the liquid level. The fermenter can be gently tipped to get as much of the wort out as possible but the sediment or slurry at the bottom should be left behind (although don't worry if a little slurry gets carried over, it will settle out and is quite harmless).
When bottling, ideally a bottling bucket should be used, this is a fermenter with a tap fitted with tubing long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle. Optionally a bottling attachment can be fitted to make the process easier. Priming sugars are added to the bucket before transferring the beer, this allows thorough mixing and allows the bottles to be filled with minimal disturbance to the beer.
Whether homebrew barrels or bottles have been used to store the beer they must be left in a warm place (18-24 deg c) for a week so the priming sugars can ferment, causing the beer to condition or carbonate. After this they should then be left for a minimum of two but ideally four weeks to clear and mature. The longer it is left the better the finished product will be.
Additional Tips for Homebrewing Beer CLICK
Links to other parts of this site.
Home How to Make Up a Beer Kit My Brupaks Kit Instructions DaaB's False Bottom Mash Tun Clean and Sanitising Site Contents
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