Many beer lovers have considered brewing their own beer at home. While it sounds intimidating, it’s a fun hobby and you can enjoy the rewards of creating it yourself. While it may be cheaper to just go out and buy beer, there is nothing like the satisfaction of drinking something you put time and effort into. With the proper equipment, you can start crafting your own beer in no time.
Equipment
You will need some basic equipment to brew your own batches of beer. You can start with some cheaper and simpler supplies to see if you enjoy the process or even dive right in by buying a beer crafting kit. Some of the equipment you can do without, but it makes the whole home brewing process easier.
siphon hose or auto-siphon
bubbler
brewing bucket
bottles
carboy (large glass jug that is used for long term storage)
hydrometer (helps you calculate the alcohol content)
kitchen thermometer
strainer
large funnel
rolling pin
freezer bag
2-3 gallons of filtered water
It is important to sanitize all equipment before you start the brewing process as bacteria could ruin the taste of your beer, making all that hard work for nothing.
Craft Beer Ingredients
There are many recipes on the internet. A good starting one I found on Instructables starts you with a 2.5-gallon batch (just double it if you want the standard 5-gallon batch).
Simple Ale
3 lbs light dried malt extract
8 oz crushed crystal malt
1 oz Northern Brewer pellet hops
1 pkg brewers yeast
3/8 cup sugar for bottling
Make sure the yeast is brewers yeast. Regular cooking yeast WILL NOT work.
Directions
IF THE MALT IS NOT ALREADY CRUSHED: Place the crystal malt into the freezer bag, seal it and use a rolling pin to crush the grain into a coarse texture of broken grains. Don’t beat it down to a flour-like texture.
Place the malt into a pot of hot water. Use the kitchen thermometer to make sure the water temp is between 67-70 degrees. Add the barley malt for 90 minutes, stirring to make sure there are no lumps.
OR
Use a steeping method. Heat 2 gallons of water to 160 degrees using the kitchen thermometer, place the grains in a steeping bag or cheesecloth that is tied off (like a teabag) and let it steep in the water for approximately 20-30 minutes. You can use a wire mesh strainer to pick out as much grain that has escaped the bag as possible.
Bring the pot to a boil, then immediately remove it from heat and add the malt extract.
Bring the pot to a rolling boil (don’t let it boil over) and add 2/3 of the hops pellets and keep it boiling for about an hour.
Add the remaining pellets, cover the pot and let it steep for 10 minutes.
Cool the boiled water down to 70 degrees by steeping the pot into a sink full of ice water as it turns into what we call wort (or unfermented beer).
Pour the contents of the pot into the carboy (or a bucket) and add 2-3 gallons of filtered water.
Add the yeast, stirring the contents thoroughly before placing the bubbler or airlock on top.
Place the carboy or bucket in a dark, cool location. Now it’s time to let the beer ferment for approximately 1-2 weeks! You will know the beer is ready once you’ve seen foam or bubbles escape when you open it (like carbonation).
Add priming sugar to 2 cups of boiling water and let it boil for a few minutes before adding it to the beer (or it will taste flat).
Bottle the beer by carefully pouring it into beer bottles and place the cap on. Let them age for at least a few days to a few weeks before drinking to allow fermentation to complete. Again, keep them in a cool, dark place (not the fridge!). Want to get fancy? You can even design your own labels on a site like Canva!
What is Craft Beer?
While you wait for your home beer to ferment (which takes 1-2 weeks), pass the time by trying out other top-quality brews, like Melvin Brewing, to see what you might like. Craft beer has a huge following because you get higher quality ingredients, you can use your senses when tasting the craft beer (sort of like when people taste wine), and you can try out different styles and base ingredients to see which is your favorite.
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