Beginners Guide to Home Brew

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Getting Started

Home brewing can be one of the most rewarding pastimes for the beer enthusiast. Getting started is easy and relatively cheap - there are several good homebrew shops in the UK that stock everything you'll need (see the links below).
This recipe shows you how to brew using malt extract. This is a fantastic way to start brewing, as it is much quicker and easier than using grain. Of course, there is a trade off. Grain brewing can produce superior brews, and allows the homebrewer more control.

The equipment and ingredients you'll need for your first batch of homebrew are listed below. Click on one of the links for mail order homebrew shops in the UK which will be able to deliver everything to your door:

The Homebrew Shop

Equipment

Plastic fermentation bucket
Stainless steel brewpot (at least 5 litres capacity, but the larger the better)
Sanatiser (e.g. chlorine bleach)
Plastic long handled spoon
3 Muslin hop bags
Siphon tubing
Thermometer
Approx. 40 brown bottles with caps or a beer keg
Bottle capper
Hydrometer and measuring cylinder (optional)
Bottle filler (optional)
Airlock and bung (optional)

Ingredients for approx. 40 pints / 20 litres

3kg Liquid malt extract (unhopped)
50g Bittering hops (e.g. Target or Northern Brewer hops)
30g Finishing hops (e.g. Kent Golding or Cascade hops)
1 packet Brewers' yeast
75g sugar

Outline (or 'How do you make beer anyway?')
Water, malt extract, and hops are boiled together for about an hour. The resulting mixture, called wort, is then cooled, and fermented by the addition of yeast. Primary fermentation may take about a week, and once complete, the beer can be bottled or kegged. Sugar is added which is broken down by the remaining yeast, carbonating the beer. After another week or two, the beer is ready to drink. Simple!

What can go wrong?
Brewing is, in fact, rather easy. That's lucky, because otherwise most of us beer connoisseurs wouldn't stand a chance. There is really only one thing that can go wrong, and that's bacterial infection. If your equipment and work area aren't clean and sanitised, then it's very likely that bacteria will invade your brew, and turn it into undrinkable swill. It is, therefore, vital, that you follow the guidelines for cleaning and sanitising, otherwise you could waste all those ingredients you just bought.

Step by step instructions for brewing a batch of beer

1. Sanitise sanitise sanitise. Everything which comes into contact with the cooled wort must be sanitised. Therefore the fermentation bucket, plastic spoon, thermometer, airlock and any plastic pots used to prepare the yeast must be sanitised using a suitable solution (available from any homebrew shop). Follow the instructions on the packet, but usually 30 mins soaking is sufficient. Your work area should also be clean and free of rubbish to ensure no nasty bacteria get into your brew.

2. Preparation. Fill the brewpot 3/4 full of clean cold water from the tap. Place on the hob and heat. While the water comes to the boil, divide your bittering hops into two equal portions, and place each half into a muslin bag. Fill the third bag with your finishing hops. Don't forget which bag contains which type of hops.

3. Addition of Malt Extract and the 'Hot Break'. When the water in the brewpot comes to the boil, carefully remove the brewpot from the heat and add the liquid malt extract. Stir with the spoon until all the thick syrup has dissolved, then move the brewpot back on to the heat. Bring to the boil; a white foam will form on the surface of the boiling liquid. This is known as the 'Hot Break', try to maintain the boil but be careful that the foam doesn't boil over - momentarily remove from the heat if the foam gets too high. When the hot break is over, the foam will die down.

4. Addition of Hops and the Boil. Add one of the bags of bittering hops and stir. Beware of the brew boiling over as you add the hops. Note the time or set your kitchen timer for 1 hour. As their name suggests, bittering hops give bitterness to the brew. Let the brew boil for 30mins, occasionally stirring. After 30 mins, add the second bag of bittering hops. Now is a good time to prepare a basin of cold water to cool the brew once the boil is complete. With five minutes to go on the timer (or 55 minutes after you added the first bag), add the bag of finishing hops. These hops release aromatic oils into the brew which give subtle complex flavours.

5. The 'Cold Break'. The wort is now ready, but must be cooled before the yeast is added (or the yeast will be boiled to death). Remove from the heat and remove all three bags of hops. Place the brewpot into the basin of cold water. Use the thermometer to take the temperature of the wort; you need to cool the wort to about 20�C as quickly as possible. This is the 'Cold Break'. Change the water in the basin when it becomes warm. Once the wort is cool, you must be very careful not to introduce any bacteria; only allow sanitised equipment to come into contact with the wort, and needless to say don't dribble in it.

6. Pitching the yeast and preparing for fermentation. Read the instructions on your packet of yeast. Some need to be reconstituted with water and sugar, some you can add straight to the wort. Follow the instructions to prepare the yeast (remember to use sanitised equipment) and leave it to one side. Pour about 1 litre of cold clean water into your sanitised fermentation bucket. Then pour in the cooled wort, and top up to the 20 litre mark (the now empty brewpot is useful for bringing water from the tap). It's a good idea to pour the water from a height to introduce oxygen the the wort, which the yeast will need to survive. Be careful not to splash wort everywhere though.

If you have a hydrometer then you can measure the density (often called specific gravity) of your wort by taking a sample (using a sanitised jug or pot) and pouring into the measuring cylinder. Float the hydrometer in the cylinder and read off the density.

Then add the yeast to the fermentation bucket according to the instructions on the packet.

7. Fermentation. Place the lid on the fermentation bucket. If the lid has a hole for an airlock, 1/4 fill your airlock with water and place in the lid. In this case, tightly seal the lid. If your lid has no hole for an airlock, just leave the lid loosely on top of the bucket. Leave the bucket for about one week out of direct sunlight, making sure it doesn't get too hot or too cold (10�C - 25�C will probably be OK). As a guide, if the temperature is comfortable for you, it's probably alright for your beer.

8. Bottling / Kegging your beer. After a week the beer is ready to bottle or keg. Boil a little water and dissolve the sugar. Carefully add the sugar solution to the wort and gently stir with a sanitised spoon. Wash and sanitise the siphon tube, bottles and caps / keg. If you are bottling, siphon the beer into each bottle (making sure there is no sanitising solution left in the bottles - it doesn't taste nice) leaving a 3-4cm gap at the top of each bottle. Cap each bottle using the bottle capper. Leave in a dark, warm place (i.e. not the fridge)

If using a keg, make sure the keg is free of any sanitising solution. Siphon the beer into the keg, trying to avoid any splashing (introducing oxygen now is bad), then tightly seal the lid.
Whichever method you use, the beer will be ready to drink in one to two weeks.

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