How to brew your first batch of Beer

Written By: Jacob Mehnert
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How to brew your first batch of Beer

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

14

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

Welcome to the wonderful world of beer brewing! Naturally, there are many different ways to start brewing and many different recipes to brew. One of the easiest recipes to begin learning how to brew is Northern Brewing's Block Party, Amber Ale. This recipe only requires 4 weeks to brew (2-week fermentation and 2-weeks for conditioning).

Ingredients

Crushed Grains

  • 0.5 lbs Caramel 80
  • 0.125 lbs Light Roasted Barley

Extracts/Additional Fermentables

  • 6 lbs Gold Malt Syrup

Hops

  • 1 oz Willamette (60min)

Yeast

  • Muntons Dry Ale Yeast (Optimum temp: 57° - 77° F)

Priming Solution

  • It is highly recommended that Corn Sugar is used. (Use 5 oz of sugar per 5 gallons)

Additional Materials Needed

  • 5 Gallon Stainless Steel Brew Kettle
  • 2 x 6.5 Gallon Food Safe Buckets w/ Spigot Assembly
  • Gasketed Lid
  • Bubbler airlock
  • Spring Tip Bottle Filler
  • 21" Stainless Spoon
  • Food Safe Rubber Tubing
  • Cleaner/Sanitizer (Ideally a No-Rinse Cleanser)
  • Bottle Brush
  • Bottle Capper & Bottle Caps
  • 2 x Cases of either 12 oz or 22 oz pry-off style beer bottles (48 Bottles in total)
  • Mesh Brewers Bag

    • Collect 2.5 Gallons of Water in your 3.5 Gallon Kettle and heat the water over a medium flame.

    • Pour your crushed grains into your Mesh Brewers Bag, and tie off the open end.

    • Be careful not to tie your bag too tight. You want there to be some amount of free room in the bag so the grain can move around.

    • Steep for 20 minutes or until the water reaches 170°F. Remove the bag, allowing for the bag do drain into the kettle, and discard.

    • Bring the kettle to a boil and add your 6 lbs Gold Malt Syrup. Mix in completely.

    • This mixture of grain water and Syrup is called "wort", the brewer’s term for unfermented beer.

    • Once the wort has returned to a boil, add 1 oz of hops and boil for 60 minutes.

    • Once the Wort has boiled for 60 minutes, cool it to 100° F as rapidly as possible.

    • Do this by placing the whole kettle in an ice bath, or by using a wort chiller.

    • As the wort cools, you are going to want to start sanitizing your fermenting equipment. This includes your fermenter, the fermenter lid or stopper, fermentation lock, and funnel, along with the yeast pack and a pair of scissors.

    • Not all brewing sanitizers are created equally. So be sure that you are following the instructions that come with your specific sanitizer and dry accordingly.

    • Once everything has been properly sanitized and dried, fill your primary fermenter with 2 gallons of cold water, then pour in the cooled wort.

    • Leave any thick sludge in the bottom of the kettle.

    • Add more cold water as needed to bring the volume to 5 gallons.

    • Once you have filled your bucket to 5 gallons, seal the fermenter and rock back and forth to splash for a few minutes

    • This aerates the wort, which helps the beer with oxidation and evaporation. Some brewers use an aeration system and diffusion stone.

    • Using your sanitized scissors cut off a corner of the yeast pack, and carefully pour the yeast into the primary fermenter.

    • Add 1 tablespoon of sanitized water to the sanitized fermentation lock and insert the lock into the rubber stopper lid, and seal the fermenters lid.

    • Move the fermenter to a warm, dark, quiet spot until fermentation begins.

    • Active fermentation begins within approximately 48 hours of Brewing Day. Typically, there will be a cap of foam on the surface of the beer, and you may see bubbles come through the fermentation lock.

    • Active fermentation will normally end after 1–2 weeks after brewing day.

    • Typically when the active fermentation ends the cap of foam falls back into the new beer, and bubbling in the fermentation lock slows down or stops.

    • Sanitize your siphoning and bottling equipment. This includes your tubing, bottles, bottle caps, bottle filler, and your bottling bucket.

    • If you are using 5 oz of Corn Sugar as your priming solution then you are going to mix the sugar in with 16 oz of water. Bring the solution to a boil and pour it into the bottling bucket.

    • Using your rubber tubing, siphon the beer into the bottling bucket and mix it with the priming solution.

    • Stir gently to mix, you don't want to splash your beer.

    • Once your fermentation bucket is empty, detach the tube from your fermentation bucket and attach it to your bottling bucket.

    • Attach your bottle filler to your free end and begin filling your bottles, leaving around 1 in of space from the top of your bottle. Once filled you can bottle your beer.

    • Keep your filled bottles at room temperature for 2 weeks. This will give our beer time to carbonate.

    • This final process is called Conditioning, and it can drastically affect the final outcome of the entire brewing process.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have finished your first batch of beer. Once your beer has been conditioned it is ready to drink, although it is highly recommended to refrigerate your beer for an hour before opening and pouring.

Please drink responsibly

Author

Jacob Mehnert

Member since: 18/10/21

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