I remember the day that I said that I want to give brewing beer a try. I was cliping coupons and thinking of ways to save money during the modern day depression (or whatever they are calling it.) I read an article on how to save money in gifts. One of the suggestion was to brew beer. I thought screw giving it as a gift, "What about for my own enjoyment."
This began my search in to what the process is. I came upon what seems to have been the guide that I think everyone has glanced over. "How to Brew," by John Palmer. This was a good introduction into the world of brewing. It was easy to understand and not as overcomplicated as many seem to think. Convert wort into fuzzy brew.
I will offer what I did because it has began with limited equipment and the very basics and has evolved to making the jump to All Grain and upgrading my equipment. This is laid back process and meant to not detail each steps or the whys and hows. I did this on a budget of about $100 Please read from other smart people who have detailed each step and process.
Here is what you need to get started:
Brew pot- I started looking at prices and was like a $100 for a brew pot was out of my reach. I also had to convince the wife that I could do this on a limited budget. I settled in on a $40 quart aluminum pot that was just under $30.
Carboy, cap, and "Bubbler"- I was lucky to find a glass carboy, cap and bubbler on Craigslist from someone getting out of the hobby (such a shame). I think I got it along with a few other items for like $40.
Hoses, racking cane- I bought these new because they didn't seem to be expensive and I know that they are new because sanitation seemed to be an important part in the whole brew process
Bottling buckets- I got some food grade buckets from a couple of restaurants. I made sure that it was a neutral food and not something like pickling. I know some will say spend money to get quality ones, but I rolled the dice and have not been disappointed.
Bottles and bottle capper- I drank my way and was lucky to have others donate the bottles. You need a little more than 2 cases (give or take) for 5 gallons of brew I got my bottle capper used for like $5.
Funnel- Buy the big one..trust me..I learned the hard way
Cleaning stuff- Star Sans and PBW- These are the basics that you will need to clean and sanitize your equipment.
Thermometer- You really only need this to make sure your wort has cooled to pitching temps
Here is the process:
1. Purchase an extract brew kit from your local beer supply store or online. They usually cost about $50. I actually looked through some forums for recipes and built a recipe on my own. It was about the same money as a kit.
2. Wait until delivery. This was the hardest part and I wish I went down to the store.
3. Brew day- Have your brew plan. Typically the kits will include this, so it is easy to follow.
4. Make sure to clean and sanitize whatever will touch your beer after the hot magma cools down. This includes funnels, carboys, filters, ladles, etc. I would do this before you start brewing or during the 60 min boil if you can multitask.
5. Bring your water to a boil and turn off stove.
6. Add extract and stir it until it is dissolved.
7. Bring to a boil again
8. Once the wort starts boiling, you will add your hops at specified times according to your recipe.
9. Burn yourself and make a mess on your stove when it boils over. It happens to everyone, so you learn to watch it.
10. Get your yeast ready. I have done this several ways and people will tell you that there is many ways to do this. I have tried them all. Yeast is yeast and its basic job on this spinning rock is to eat sugar and convert it to alcohol. Sprinkle it directly into the cooled wort or make some basic yeast starters by scoping some of the wort as it boils and cooling it. Like I said, no one ever complained about my beer.
11. Turn off stove after you completed the 60 min and added your hops or other fining agents (that is whole other topic)
12. Now you must cool the wort to at least 80 degrees (give or take). The aluminum pot made it easy to cool. I stuck it in my sink with just cold water and slowly stirred it with a sanitized ladle. Some will tell you not to do this. No one complained about my beer since I started. The idea is to get it to pitching temps as quickly as you can without too much work. I would then drain the water and add ice water to the sink to help.
13. Pour cooled wort into carboy using funnel. Add some more water if you didn't do a full boils. I was not going to be pouring 5 gallons of wort into my fermenter, so I settled on 3-4 gallons and added room temp water to bring volume up to 5 gallons.
14. Add yeast and shake the carboy like you mean it.
15. Place in a dark room temperature place. Basically, the yeast will need a certain temperature to perform at its best. Read the yeast package to figure out this temperature. Sometimes it is your upstairs closet or your garage. It really depends on the temperature.
16. Wait until you see the glorious bubbles. It takes at least 2-3 weeks. I am not going in to taking original gravity and final gravity readings, but those help.
17. Rack beer into your bottling bucket with some corn sugar
18. Bottle beer and cap
19. Wait some more with the bottles stored in room temperature. I moved a couple of bottles in the fridge after about 2 weeks and tasted.
20.Enjoy & repeat steps 1-20
This began my search in to what the process is. I came upon what seems to have been the guide that I think everyone has glanced over. "How to Brew," by John Palmer. This was a good introduction into the world of brewing. It was easy to understand and not as overcomplicated as many seem to think. Convert wort into fuzzy brew.
I will offer what I did because it has began with limited equipment and the very basics and has evolved to making the jump to All Grain and upgrading my equipment. This is laid back process and meant to not detail each steps or the whys and hows. I did this on a budget of about $100 Please read from other smart people who have detailed each step and process.
Here is what you need to get started:
Brew pot- I started looking at prices and was like a $100 for a brew pot was out of my reach. I also had to convince the wife that I could do this on a limited budget. I settled in on a $40 quart aluminum pot that was just under $30.
Carboy, cap, and "Bubbler"- I was lucky to find a glass carboy, cap and bubbler on Craigslist from someone getting out of the hobby (such a shame). I think I got it along with a few other items for like $40.
Hoses, racking cane- I bought these new because they didn't seem to be expensive and I know that they are new because sanitation seemed to be an important part in the whole brew process
Bottling buckets- I got some food grade buckets from a couple of restaurants. I made sure that it was a neutral food and not something like pickling. I know some will say spend money to get quality ones, but I rolled the dice and have not been disappointed.
Bottles and bottle capper- I drank my way and was lucky to have others donate the bottles. You need a little more than 2 cases (give or take) for 5 gallons of brew I got my bottle capper used for like $5.
Funnel- Buy the big one..trust me..I learned the hard way
Cleaning stuff- Star Sans and PBW- These are the basics that you will need to clean and sanitize your equipment.
Thermometer- You really only need this to make sure your wort has cooled to pitching temps
Here is the process:
1. Purchase an extract brew kit from your local beer supply store or online. They usually cost about $50. I actually looked through some forums for recipes and built a recipe on my own. It was about the same money as a kit.
2. Wait until delivery. This was the hardest part and I wish I went down to the store.
3. Brew day- Have your brew plan. Typically the kits will include this, so it is easy to follow.
4. Make sure to clean and sanitize whatever will touch your beer after the hot magma cools down. This includes funnels, carboys, filters, ladles, etc. I would do this before you start brewing or during the 60 min boil if you can multitask.
5. Bring your water to a boil and turn off stove.
6. Add extract and stir it until it is dissolved.
7. Bring to a boil again
8. Once the wort starts boiling, you will add your hops at specified times according to your recipe.
9. Burn yourself and make a mess on your stove when it boils over. It happens to everyone, so you learn to watch it.
10. Get your yeast ready. I have done this several ways and people will tell you that there is many ways to do this. I have tried them all. Yeast is yeast and its basic job on this spinning rock is to eat sugar and convert it to alcohol. Sprinkle it directly into the cooled wort or make some basic yeast starters by scoping some of the wort as it boils and cooling it. Like I said, no one ever complained about my beer.
11. Turn off stove after you completed the 60 min and added your hops or other fining agents (that is whole other topic)
12. Now you must cool the wort to at least 80 degrees (give or take). The aluminum pot made it easy to cool. I stuck it in my sink with just cold water and slowly stirred it with a sanitized ladle. Some will tell you not to do this. No one complained about my beer since I started. The idea is to get it to pitching temps as quickly as you can without too much work. I would then drain the water and add ice water to the sink to help.
13. Pour cooled wort into carboy using funnel. Add some more water if you didn't do a full boils. I was not going to be pouring 5 gallons of wort into my fermenter, so I settled on 3-4 gallons and added room temp water to bring volume up to 5 gallons.
14. Add yeast and shake the carboy like you mean it.
15. Place in a dark room temperature place. Basically, the yeast will need a certain temperature to perform at its best. Read the yeast package to figure out this temperature. Sometimes it is your upstairs closet or your garage. It really depends on the temperature.
16. Wait until you see the glorious bubbles. It takes at least 2-3 weeks. I am not going in to taking original gravity and final gravity readings, but those help.
17. Rack beer into your bottling bucket with some corn sugar
18. Bottle beer and cap
19. Wait some more with the bottles stored in room temperature. I moved a couple of bottles in the fridge after about 2 weeks and tasted.
20.Enjoy & repeat steps 1-20
