Beer Kit Tips and Tricks From http://www.HopsAficionado.com

Congratulations, you’re the proud owner of new beer making kit and you’re ready to make your first batch of home brew. Well, before you do, there are some tips and tricks that will greatly improve the quality of your beer. Keep in mind that if you follow the instructions included in the kit, your beer will be perfectly adequate. However, doing a few things differently can produce much better results.

Storing Your Ingredients Many ingredients for making beer don’t keep well over long periods of time, but they can be stored for a few months. Try to keep all of your ingredients in a cool, dry location. If you have a liquid malt extract, keep it in your refrigerator. Any hops you have that aren’t going to be used in the near term should be stored in their unopened packaging, in the freezer. Also, it’s a good idea to buy a few extra yeast packets to have on hand, just in case you get a bad one.

Sanitize, Sanitize, Sanitize Regardless of which kit you purchased, the need for sterilization will be emphasized. However, we want to re-emphasize that point! Every piece of equipment that comes in contact with your beer at any stage of the brewing process (no matter how briefly) must be thoroughly sterilized. Even the tiniest bit of bacteria can ruin your beer. Before each item is used, it should first be cleaned of all visible dirt or residue. Cleaning can be done with a dish cleaning sponge or pad and plenty of hot water. Once all of the items are clean, fill the fermenter or racking bucket with your hottest tap water and mix in the appropriate amount of sanitizer. (Two

ounces in five gallons is the normal rate if you are using household bleach.) Then put all the other items that need to be sanitized into that bucket to soak. All items should soak for at least ten minutes, but longer soaking periods will generally not hurt them.

When you’re ready to use an item, take it out of the solution and rinse it under very hot tap water. If you won’t be using the item immediately, set it on a clean towel or back into a smaller container of sanitizer.

Having a 5-gallon bucket that is used for nothing but sanitizing make the process a lot easier. Whatever you do, don’t cut any corners when sanitizing!

Water

Water is the main ingredient in beer, so if your tap water tastes funny, so will your beer. To be on the safe side, buy bottled drinking water at your local store. It usually costs less than $1 per gallon, and can improve the taste of your beer dramatically. Don’t buy distilled or reverse osmosis water because they lack the minerals necessary for beer.

Also, some kits tell you to stir the malts into cold water without ever boiling the wort. This will work, but your beer will be improved if you boil it, at least briefly, during this step.

A Word About Sugar Regardless of what the directions say, do not use table, or cane sugar when making beer. All beer recipes call for “priming” which is adding a little sugar just before bottling. Priming is what gives beer its carbonation. Always use corn sugar (or dextrose) because it has a much cleaner taste. If you can’t find corn sugar locally, it’s readily available through online home brewing stores. If the bottling instructions tell you to add dry sugar to each bottle for priming, do this instead: Calculate the total amount of sugar they're asking

you to use for bottling. Boil a cup of water and add the entire amount of sugar into the boiling water. Boil it for 15 minutes, and then let the boiling sugar solution cool to room temperature. Once it has cooled, add it to your tank of beer and stir it very gently, but thoroughly. Once the sugar is incorporated, go ahead and bottle the beer. Doing it this way will avoid inexact measurements that lead to inconsistencies in the carbonation from one bottle to the next. It also makes priming much less tedious.

Patience is a Virtue Good beer takes time! Do yourself a favor and forget about the times the directions give you. Doubling the fermentation, lagering, and conditioning times is a good place to start (and in our opinion, even that should be viewed as the bare minimum). As your taste for homebrews develops, you'll find that beers are best when you let them take their sweet time. It may be difficult to allow your first batch sit for a month or two before giving it a test, but try to keep at least half of the batch until it has fully matured. Just keep in mind that the longer you hold out, the better your beer will be.

Get Rid of the Plastic Bottles and Caps Sure, the plastic bottles are easier to use and come with the kit, but good beer doesn’t belong in anything other than brown glass bottles. Start saving beer bottles before you start brewing your first batch. (You may need to ask your friends to save theirs, too.) Make sure the bottles do not have twist off caps. Pint bottles and wine bottles also work great. If you’re brewing 5 gallons at a time, you’ll need fifty-four 12oz, or forty 16oz, or twenty-six 750ml bottles. You’ll also need to buy a bottle capper and some caps, which can be found at any home brewing store. Another nice touch when bottling your own beer is to have custom beer labels made. When you have friends over to drink your brew, custom labels add a nice “wow” factor. For more information on custom beer labels, visit: http://www.hopsaficionado.com/beerlabel.html ** There is one bottling issue new brewers should be aware of. If your beer is over carbonated, tops can blow off of bottles, and in some cases, the

bottles themselves can explode. This is the reason why most kits come with plastic. They’re safer if you get it wrong. Most new brewers never experience bottle bombs, but if you’re concerned, bottle the first couple of batches in the plastic.

Storing Your Beer Once you’re bottled your beer, make sure you store it upright. Unlike a fine wine, you do not want to store your beer on its side. Also, when storing beer, do not allow it to be exposed to heat or light. Beer that has been exposed to light (including artificial light sources, such as fluorescent bulbs) can become "light struck", which gives beer a "skunky" taste. Brown bottles provide much more protection from light damage than green and clear bottles, which is why good beer is sold in brown bottles. However, beer in brown bottles still needs to be protected from light. Exposure to heat sources can cause oxidation in your beer, which will give it a "cardboard" taste. Store your beer between 35°F and 60°F. Keep in mind that if you store at the higher end of this temperature range, the yeast will remain active and accelerate any aging effects. If you live in a cooler climate, you can store your beer in a cellar, but for warmer climates, you’ll probably need refrigeration to keep your beer safe.

Don’t be Afraid to Experiment In the beginning, it’s probably best to stick to the recipes provided in your kit. However, once you have a grasp of what you’re doing, don’t be afraid to adjust the recipes to suit your personal taste, or even start creating your own masterpiece. If you like hoppier beers, add some more hops to the recipe, or pitch some hops just before bottling. Experiment with different types of hops. They each have distinctive flavors. Adding more malt typically creates a better beer. So, if the recipe calls for one can, try using a can and a half, or even two cans of malt. You’ll end up with a much heartier beer. Just remember that producing high quality beer is

generally about balance. If you have the hops to malt balance off, your beer will be sub-par. The biggest tip we can give you is to get out there and start brewing! Welcome to the obsession!!!

Where to Get Supplies, Ingredients, and Refills For home brewing supplies, equipment, and ingredients not included in refill kits, visit: http://www.hopsaficionado.com/brew_store.html To buy Mr. Beer refill kits, visit: http://www.hopsaficionado.com/mrbeer.html To buy Cooper’s refill kits, visit: http://www.hopsaficionado.com/coopers.html To buy Beer Machine refill kits, visit: http://www.hopsaficionado.com/beermachine.html For home brewing books and guides, visit: http://www.hopsaficionado.com/books.html