Next, prepare your wort. Bring 1-1.5 gallons of water to boil in your brew pot, and then add the malt extract and four pounds of sugar. Allow the wort to boil for at least an hour, so that the chemicals in the malt and hops can react properly with one another. Stir the wort regularly and, during the last 10 minutes of the boil, add 1-1.5 ounces of hops pellets for aroma.
While the wort is boiling, stir the yeast powder into a cup of warm tap water and cover it with a piece of foil. The yeast will immediately begin to propagate. Then place your fermenter on a counter, table, or floor and fill it about half full of water. When the wort is boiled to your satisfaction, put the funnel in the top of the fermenter and carefully pour in the wort. If necessary, fill the fermenter to within about 8 inches from the top with cold water.
Cap the fermenter and wait until the wort has cooled to just over room temperature, then open it and use the funnel to add the yeast solution. This is called "pitching" the yeast. (Don't pitch the yeast while the wort is too hot, or it'll die.) Stir the wort with your racking cane, then immediately attach the blow-off tube to the top of the fermenter and place the fermenter in a cool, dark place (a closet works great). For more details visit to www.greateducationonline.com .You should fill a pot or large bowl with water, and place the free end of the blow-off tube below the surface of the water. Once fermenting begins, which should be within 24 hours, the yeast will begin to reproduce so exuberantly that yeasty foam called "blow-off" will flow out of the fermenter, down the tube, and into the water container. This is normal, so don't worry.
After fermentation slows a bit, remove the tube, add the fermentation lock assembly, and let the mixture sit in the dark for 6-14 days. When it stops bubbling, it's ready to bottle.
How Do I Bottle My First Batch?
Have these items sanitized and waiting: racking cane, siphon hose, bottle filler, bottle capper, bottle caps, and bottles. Then boil three cups of water in a saucepan, and add one cup of corn sugar. Why? Because the yeast in the wort is now dormant, and you need to reactivate it so it can make more CO2. In a closed bottle, the CO2 will remain in solution and, voila! your beer will be naturally carbonated. This is called bottle conditioning.
Place the fermenter on a cabinet or table, and prepare a bottling spot, complete with towels or newspapers to catch spills, on the floor nearby. Once the sugar has melted completely, remove the fermentation lock assembly from the fermenter and use the funnel to pour the sugar solution into the wort. Mix it with your racking cane. Then rinse off the cane and attach it to one end of the siphoning hose; the bottle filler should be on the other end. Remove the fermentation lock from the lid, insert the cane into the hole the fermentation lock has just vacated, and attach the whole assembly to the top of the fermenter. Slide the cane down until it's within two inches of the base of the fermenter.
The fermentation lid will have a stem into which you can blow to increase the air pressure inside the fermenter. Gravity should take care of the rest. Get a bottle, remove the lid, and rinse it out. Then kneel, place the bottle on the floor, and insert the bottle filler. This device will be long enough to reach to the base of the bottle; press down, and the beer should start to flow .When the bottle is filled to within one inch of the top, release the pressure, cutting off the flow of beer. To know more logon to www.ebook-secrets-revealed.com .Then cap the bottle, put it aside, and then proceed to fill your bottles until the wort level is within 3-4 inches of the bottom of the fermenter. Your five gallons of wort should make 48-60 bottles of beer. You'll want to avoid the dregs, which are thick with yeast and, though palatable, can cause digestive problems. Toss the dregs and clean up after yourself. Then put the beer away in a dark place for at least a week so that it can age and carbonate properly. When it's ready, pop it in the fridge for an hour before enjoying it.
You'll notice that your beer will appear cloudy at first, due to the presence of hops, yeast, and a few other minor impurities, but in nearly all cases these particles will settle out of the beer after a few days. As long as you use a glass and are careful when you pour, your beer should retain its clarity. If it doesn't, no matter: the haze won't affect the taste.
What Next?
Once you're done with your first batch, you can start another. The ingredients should cost less than $20, which is way cheap for two cases of good beer. You've got a lot to learn -- there's a whole universe of brewing out there, and kit beers, while a good starting point, merely scratch the surface. So grab a homebrew, and get to it!
So How Is Beer Made?
To put it in simple terms beer is a fermented combination of water, barley, yeast and hops. The various beers on offer in the licensed establishments across the world are mainly determined by the yeast that was used during fermentation.
So let's take a beer apart and examine the different properties that make up a "pint".
Water
The chief ingredient in beer is of course water, in the old days the purity of the water is what mainly affected the outcome when brewing beer. Beer production in this time was specific to a particular this would have been mainly due to water quality. This is no longer the case with the purification technology that we have available today.
Malt Barley
Malt barley is essential to beer brewing as the barley contains the highest amount of fermentable sugar. A lot of breweries today have moved to wards powdered or instant barley malt as it ferments far faster and therefore the beer brews quicker. The barley malt powder also contains extra minerals that help the yeast to grow.
Yeast
Yeast is crucial to beer production and without it there would be no beer. Yeast is a single celled organism which consumes all the sugar from the barley during fermentation. After the yeast has consumed all the sugar it then expels two familiar chemicals you know as carbon dioxide and alcohol.
There are several different variations of yeast used to make beer, but the 2 most common yeast strains used are lager and ale. Now if beer was brewed using only water, yeast and barley it would be almost too sweet to stomach, this is where hops come in to the mix.
Hops
Hops are the flowers that grow on a climbing vine plant; these vines can be found in various different regions through out the world. Hops are used to make beer because of the bitterness of the flower, adding bitterness to beer helps to balance out the sweetness as well as acting as a natural preservative. When more hops are added to the beer mix it then has a very bitter taste, this brew is a favorite in England and has been given the appropriate name "bitter".
For those of you who want to start brewing your own beer at home, there are plenty of resources available in the form of home brewing kits. Home brewing kits are fun to use but as always you must read the packet before use to ensure that you get the optimum beer desired. The only point I should stress to you is when home brewing, USE FRESH WATER!
Many have often sought information on how to make beer and the basic home brewing equipment can be bought for as little as $100
In order to start making your own beer the following items are needed:
A Brew Pot Primary Fermenter Airlock and Stopper Bottling Bucket Bottles Bottle Brush Bottle Capper Thermometer
To make beer is quite easy even from your home kitchen. A breakdown of all the equipment is as follows.
Brew Pot
A brew pot is usually made from stainless steel; some of the newer brew pots are made from enamel coated metal and can hold up to 15 litres. For brew pots you need to steer clear of aluminum or chipped enamel coated as these 2 pots will make the beer taste strange, the brew pot is used to cook the beer ingredients and therefore start the fermentation process.
The Primary Fermenter
The primary fermenter is where all the action starts; this is where that amazing stuff that makes you so charming all begins. The primary fermenter has to hold at least 26 litres and must have an air tight seal; the airlock and rubber stopper. Make sure when you are buying one it is made of food-grade plastic, this will ensure nothing gets in or escapes.
Airlock and Stopper
The airlock is a handy gadget that allows for C02 to escape this is a must or it would blow up; at the same time it doesn't let in any fresh air. The airlock fits into a rubber stopper and this stopper then fits into the top of your primary fermenter. The stoppers are numbered according to size, so make sure you use the correct stopper for the correct hole
Plastic Hose
This hose must be over 5 feet in length and made from food grade plastic, there must also be no holes or clogs and must be kept clean at all times, this hose is used to shift the beer from one system to another.
Bottling Bucket
This is a large food grade plastic bucket with a tap for drawing water at the bottom, this bucket needs to equal in size to your primary fermenter so your beer can be transferred over for bottling.
Bottles
After the fermentation stage, you then siphon the beer in bottles for the secondary fermentation and storage. The best types of bottles to use are solid glass with smooth tops that use bottle caps and not the twist-off caps. You can use plastic bottles with screw on lids but with these bottles the beer does not ferment as well and does not look anywhere near as good as the glass bottles. A quick point to remember, when making beer use dark bottles (brown or green) this is essential as bright light damages the beer.
Bottle Brush
This is a thin, curvy brush which is used to clean bottles; because of the shape of the brush it does a superb job at cleaning the bottles. The bottle brush is specially designed for cleaning the bottles before and after brewing and it is a must for keeping up your bottle kit.
Bottle Capper
If you buy glass bottles for the fermented beer, you will need some sort of bottle capper and of course bottle caps, you can buy them from any brewing supplies store. The best bottle capper is one which can be affixed to any surface and worked with one hand while you hold the bottle with the other.
Thermometer
This is a thermometer which can be attached to the side of your fermenter; it is just a thin strip of plastic which is self adhesive these temperature strips can be found in any store or shop.
Household Items
In addition to the above specialized equipment, you will need the following household items:
Small bowl Saucepan
Rubber Spatula
Oven Mitts/Pot Handlers:
Big Mixing Spoon
So there you have the ingredients and the method to make your own beer, all you need now is to get yourself a beer making kit and you're on the way to beer heaven.
Both Raj20442 & Mario Oreilly are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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