Beer brewing has become increasingly popular because it produces a large amount of beer for a very little amount of money. There are three things to consider when brewing your own beer from home - equipment, ingredients and procedure.
Equipment Needed: Ingredients
A 20 quart brew pot ? Water
Large stirring spoon ? Malted Barley
A basic tablespoon ? Hops
Measuring cup ? Yeast
Glass jar
Fermenter (plastic bucket)
Air lock
Sanitizer
Thermometer
Rolling pin
Procedure:
1. Preparing the Ingredients - Crush the malted barley into suitable sizes using your rolling pin. This will break the grain into pieces and will extract the goodness of the grain when its inserted into hot water.
2. Boil the Wort - The ingredients for the wort are mixed with the amount stated on the beer recipe. This is called the "mash". The mash is mixed together in the boiler and hot water is added. The mash is brought to a boil for approximately half an hour. Once its finished boiling, you must filter out the grains and add the hops. Boiling the hops will eliminate its bitter flavor. Boil the hops for approximately 10 minutes.
3. Fermentation - This is the most important step to beer brewing. Insert the yeast into the wort and leave it for approximately one week. If you use the correct amount of yeast, you will notice foam throughout the liquid within the first 24 hours. This foam indicates that the beer is fermenting accordingly.
4. Storage - Store your beer in tanks or package it in bottles or kegs until it is ready for consumption. Bill Kaplan spends most of his free time researching and practicing the art of beer brewing and wine making and serves as a contributing editor for the Beer Brewing and Wine Making website. The site offers information on different types of beer making supplies, supplies for making wine, the history of beer and more.
Written By: Bill Kaplan
