Making Beer With Homebrew Beer Kits is Easy, Fun and Saves You Money
Brewing your own beer really is easy. This article explains just how easy. You can make 40 pints of excellent quality beer in just 3 weeks with very little effort. Most starter kits contain easy to follow instructions. Just follow them carefully and remember to keep equipment clean and you will soon be sharing your home made beer with friends and family. There is some equipment you will need to get you started. This can be purchased as a complete beginner’s kit or you can buy the items individually. Once you have made that initial outlay, your beer will cost you as little as 40p per pint. And it is as good as, if not better than any pub beer.
So, what do you need to get started? Well, you can either buy a complete starter kit, or the separate components. This list shows you what you need:
- 25 Litre brewing bin
- paddle
- Siphon
- Steriliser
- Beer kit (includes yeast sachet)
- 40 pint barrel or 24 1 litre bottles
I recommend a complete kit to start out with. This ensures you have all you need.
The first, and most important step, is to sterilise all of the equipment. The instructions are on the tub in which the sterilising powder comes. 3-4 teaspoons of powder are added to the fermenting bin onto which you pour about 10 litres of warm water. Add into this any other equipment you are using such as the stirring paddle, hydrometers and thermometers. Leave to stand for about 10 minutes swishing the solution over the inner sides of the bin a few times.
While you are waiting, stand the unopened tins of malt extract in a sink or bowl of hot water for 5 – 10 minutes. This softens the malt extract and should enable most of the contents to be easily poured.
Now open the tins and pour the contents into the clean fermenter. Once most of the malt extract has been poured, use a little boiling water to rinse the rest from the tin. Be careful, the tins will be hot.
Next add 3.5 litres (6 pints) of boiling water to the extract and mix thoroughly with the paddle to ensure that all of the contents are fully dissolved. Then top up with cold water to a total of 23 litres (40 pints) and thoroughly mix again. Now snip the top of the yeast sachet and pour in whilst stirring.
That’s it for now. Easy isn’t it! Fit the lid provided and leave to stand for 4 – 6 days in a warm place (between 18-20 degrees C / 66 – 70 degrees F). In colder months, you may want to consider buying a brew belt. These easy to use and economical heaters simply fix round the fermenting bin and keep your brew at a constant temperature until you are ready to start bottling, usually about 5 days.
After 24 – 36 hours you should see a thick crust forming on the top of the liquid as the yeast starts to eat the sugar. This means fermentation has begun. This process is complete when bubbles cease to rise through the liquid, usually between 4 – 6 days.
You can now transfer your brew to the barrel or bottles if you prefer. This is possibly the trickiest process but easy once you know how. You will need to siphon the beer from the fermenting bin to avoid disturbing the sediment. Using the siphon provided, place the tube so that it is fixed to the inside of the fermenter but not quite reaching the sediment. Now suck the tube to start the siphon process. Fitting a tap or a little bottler if using bottles makes this process so much easier and avoids messy floors and work tops. Add a little sugar to help condition the beer, about half a teaspoon per pint. This will use up the remaining yeast in the mix and provide some carbonation to result in a nice lively beer.
Now stand your bottles or barrel in a warm place for 2 days and then transfer to a cool place for at least 14 days or until it has cleared. Don’t worry if you see a little sediment. This may look like a thin whitish layer on the bottom of the bottles. This can be avoided with careful pouring when drinking.
So that’s it. Easy eh? Now drink your beer and start the next batch ready for when it runs out. And don’t forget that the second batch is so much cheaper without the starter equipment costs.
So what are you waiting for? Buy your starter beer kit today.
Author: Phil Agate
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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