HOMEBREW 101How to Get Started Making Your Own Beer

We’re going to talk about...

What exactly is beer, anyway?

What kind of beer can you make at home?

What equipment do you need?

How do you actually make beer?

Cool! How do I get started?

What to do after my first batch?

What is beer, anyway?

What is beer, anyway?

Besides delicious, beer is...

Malted Grains

• Contribute fermentable sugars, flavors, and color

• Typically barley, but also wheat, oat, rye, etc

• Base and specialty malts

Hops

• Add bitterness, flavor and aroma to beer

• A natural preservative

• Lots of variety in level of bitterness and types of aromas

Yeast

• Convert fermentable sugars to alcohol and CO2

• Two types, ale (top fermenting) and lager (bottom fermenting)

• Ale yeasts can add flavors

Water

• Cleaner water leads to better beer

• Home brewers often opt for bottled drinking water

What is beer, anyway?

In addition to the four main ingredients, you can brew with... just about anything! Fruit (raspberries, cherries, watermelon, etc) Chocolate Coffee Spices (vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon zest,

etc) Sugars (like brown or beet) Honey Chili peppers (no really)

What kind of beer can you make at home?

Answer: Anything but Bud Light

What kind of beer can you make at home?

Most home brewers start with ales They ferment best between 65 and 75

degrees

Some common ale styles: India Pale Ale (IPA)

Stout Porter Barley Wine

Brown / Red / Amber Ales

Wheat Beers (Hefeweizen)

Belgian Dubbel and Trippel

What kind of beer can you make at home?

Sounds a little intimidating... that’s a lot of options Home brew stores sell recipe kits with

everything you need As a beginner, just decide what you want to

brew

What kind of beer can you make at home?

We’re going to talk about making: An ale recipe kit using

specialty grains With a single-stage

fermentation Using a technique

called Extract Brewing and a Partial Boil

What kind of equipment do you need?

Hint: Not this much...

What kind of equipment do you need?

Brew Pot Stainless vs.

Aluminum $40 - $300+ Lots of sizes (4 to

30+ gal.)

Fermenter Bucket or Carboy 6 gal. min. capacity Both require an

airlock

What kind of equipment do you need?

Brewing Accessories Long Handled

Spoon (plastic or stainless)

Strainer Thief (Turkey

Baster)

Auto-Siphon 6 foot hose Cheap ($11) and

super easy to start a siphon

What kind of equipment do you need?

Bottling Bucket Plastic bucket with

spigot Short length of hose Bottle filler

Bottling Accessories Bottles – New or Used Caps Bottle Capper

What kind of equipment do you need?

Measurement Devices Thermometer Hydrometer Test tube

Cleaning Supplies Powdery Brew Wash StarSan Sanitizer Brushes

How do you actually make beer?

Made (not so) painstakingly by YOU!

How do you actually make beer?

Step 1: Clean Everything Mix up a solution of your cleaner, per

instructions Thoroughly clean everything that will touch

the beer

Step 2: Assemble Equipment and Ingredients You’ll need the brew pot, fermenter, airlock,

long spoon, strainer, turkey baster, hydrometer, thermometer

Recipe kit + 6 gallons of bottled drinking water

Set the yeast out at room temperature, up to 24 hours

How do you actually make beer?

Step 2: Assemble Equipment and Ingredients

How do you actually make beer?

Step 3: Soak the Specialty Grains Bring 2 to 2.5 gal. of water up to approx. 155o

Once heated, place the grain bag in the water Typically steeps for 20

to 30 minutes, per recipe When finished, lift in and

out like a tea bag Let it drip, then discard

Return the pot to the heatand bring to a boil

How do you actually make beer?

Step 4: Add Malt Extract Remove the heat

source and slowly add the extract Add slowly, and stir; it

can scorch and needs to dissolve

Return to heat, bring to a roiling boil Watch it! It contains a

LOT of sugar and can boil over...

How do you actually make beer?

Step 5: Boil the Wort and Add Hops Once you get to a roiling boil, reduce heat

and set timer 60 minutes: Add bittering hops 15 minutes: Add flavoring hops 5 minutes: Add aroma hops

While the wort boils, sanitizethe fermentation equipment Bucket, airlock, turkey baster, strainer, ladle Just don’t go too far...

How do you actually make beer?

Step 6: Cool the Wort Need to get the wort below 75o as fast as

possible

Your Kitchen Sink

• Submerge the brew pot in an ice bath in sink or cooler

• Will need to stir the wort to circulate

• Replace the cold water as necessary

Wort Chiller

• Passes cold water through a ring of tubing for heat exchange

• Connects to faucet with adapter

• Place into wort for last 15 min of boil to sanitize

Ice Cold Top-Off Water

• Put 3 gallons in the freezer when you start

• When you’re ready to ferment, it will be ice cold

• Some brewers frown on it, and it’s not entirely effective

How do you actually make beer?

Step 7: Strain & Aerate the Wort Straining remove

grain and hop fragments

Aerating introduces O2 which helps start fermentation

Check specific gravity with sanitized hydrometer

How do you actually make beer?

Step 8: Pitch the Yeast Shake the yeast vial

and pour into fermenter

Give a good stir with a sanitized spoon

Seal the fermenter with sanitized lid, and add airlock

How do you actually make beer?

Step 9: Clean Everything Take good care of the

equipment, clean after every use

Step 10: Wait Beer ferments for between

2 and 3 weeks

In the third week, take three specific gravity readings at 24 hour intervals; stable gravity = time to bottle

How do you actually make beer?

Step 11: Prep for Bottling Soak and scrub all bottles the night before Day of, clean bottling bucket, spigot, bottle

filler, siphon

How do you actually make beer?

Step 12: Prime and Transfer to Bottling Bucket Sanitize everything, let

bottles drip dry Boil and dissolve priming

sugar into 2 cups of water Add sugar water to bottling

bucket Using the sanitized auto-

siphon, transfer the beer from primary to bottling bucket

How do you actually make beer?

Step 13: Bottle and Store Fill each beer to top

and put sanitized cap on top

Seal all bottles with capper

Store in a cool dark place for 3 weeks

Cool! How do I get started?

Don’t take my word for it Keep reading, there’s a ton of info out there

The Complete Joy of Home Brewing HomebrewTalk.com (Forums) TastyBrew.com (Recipe Database)

Purchase an equipment kit and recipe I buy from AustinHomebrew.com

Tons of recipes, $7.99 flat rate shipping

What to do after my first batch?

Get another fermenter and try two-stage fermentation Transfer from primary to secondary after 7-10

days Gets away from dead yeast, and allows for

clarification

Come up with your own recipe Software available to help build recipes

Mini-Mash and All-Grain brewing Mini-mash is all-grain technique for a small

amount of grain All-grain is using nothing but grains

Resources

Equipment / Recipes AustinHomebrew.c

om NorthernBrewer.co

m

Knowledge HomebrewTalk.co

m TastyBrew.com

This Presentation slideshare.net/

mlamb2005

CHS Homebrew Club? If interested, email me

at:matthewlamb@gmail.com