So you're a first time brewer starting off as most of us do with your basic equipment a big can of concentrated beer and bags of excitement...
...welcome to the fold!
Well just a little - it's still exciting. You'll probably be thinking that you are going to be drinking your own beer in about three weeks time that's pretty much what it says on the can. You *could* be drinking your own beer in three weeks time but it'll probably put you off home brewing! Bank on drinking your first brew in a couple of months time read on to understand why.
Brewing beer is one of the oldest culinary skills man possesses we've been doing it for millennia and there are eminent scholars who are happy to conclude that it was brewing not baking that drove civilisation and agriculture having discovered spent brewing grain far older than evidence of milled grain for baking.
So really we should be pretty good at it almost instinctive?
Actually yes! I doubt that we've got any innate genetic instinct to brew but brewing even from kits (I write this not yet having brewed from grain) does feel somehow primal.
In the intervening millennia man has become a bit more sophisticated in brewing having identified and cultured yeast strains specific to certain brews and refined processes to get the best from their ingredients not forgetting the evolution of recipes additional flavours and such that give us the fabulous range of beer styles available today.
The question of why beer was brewed is a difficult one to answer many have suggested that drinks with a moderate alcohol content were far safer in years gone by with the alcohol preventing the growth of pathogenic organisms found in watercourses of the day. This theory is exemplified by the little Fife Village of Celardyke which had at one time the highest ratio of pubs to people I can't quite remember the figure but it was something like one pub to 4 adults! Beer was the drink of choice but it wasn't as strong as that which we like to brew today at around 2% ABV - just enough to kill off any nasties!
The use of hops in the process isn't just for flavour the chemicals imparted from the hops also act as a preservative, IPA's brewed for export to India for example are heavily hopped supposedly to ensure they didn't spoil on the journey out to India (this turns out to be a popular myth - the heavy hopping of IPA appears to have been at the request of the East India Company for reasons unknown).
Advances in equipment ingredients and yeasts aside the brewing process is completely unchanged. Ancient and modern brewers simply get yeast to turn the sugar extracted from grain into alcohol.
What's in the tin?
You are brewing from a beer kit which simplifies for you at least the first stages of beer making. The sugars have been extracted from the malted grain for you the bittering and aroma hops have been added then the whole lot condensed down into a tin to be shipped to you.
ADV: Convenient access to ready prepared brewing ingredients.
DIS: The processes involved to get 23l of wort into a 1.7kg can do detract from the quality. Your control over what goes into your beer is diminished.
And sugar, spraymalt, LME, DME? What the...?
So you have to reconstitute your wort and (possibly) add extra fermentable products. To get 23l of decent strength beer from concentrated wort in a can you need upwards of 3kg of the stuff. You get that with a "premium" two can kit but with a single can you need to increase the amount of sugar to get that final ABV you want.
ADV: It's the cheapest way of getting more fermentable sugar into the wort.
DIS: Sugar will increase alcohol content but contribute nothing to flavour texture or body of the beer. In fact the alcohol it produces actually reduces all those things. In theory should give the worst result.
There are of course different types of sugar you can add such as granulated table sugar:
ADV: Cheapest possible.
DIS: As for all sugars. Also suggestions that it can impart "off flavours" possibily as it's sucrose which basically has two glucose molecules stuck together (well, one glucose and one fructose which are both simple "monosaccharides" which yeast like) and that's not the easiest for the yeast.
Then there's brewing sugar (or dextrose):
ADV: still cheap. Suggestions that it brews "cleaner" than granulated table sugar as dextrose is one of the simple sugars that yeast really like.
DIS: As for all sugars.
Then there are a world of exotics like demerara, molasses, honey, muscovado etc:
ADV: can still be quite cheap will impart potentially desirable flavour notes and colours to beers.
DIS: As for all sugars.
But in reality the best thing to be beefing up your one-can kit-brew with is malt extract. That's right, more of the same stuff that comes in your beer kit can. This time without the hops added. There are two types, spraymalt (also known as Dry Malt Extract or DME) which is used as a 1:1 replacement :
ADV: relatively cheap, adds body and depth on account of containing stuff that the yeast can't metabolise. Gives control over colour.
DIS: more expensive than sugar, can be a pain to dissolve fully.
...and Liquid Malt Extract (or LME) which comes in cans and is used as a 1.5:1 replacement for the sugar stated in the kit instructions:
ADV: adds body and depth, gives control over colour, easy to work with/dissolve. In theory should give the best result.
DIS: relatively expensive compared to sugar.
Yeast, the biological beer machine.
So that's the stuff for the yeast to work with. Think about what happens next. You need to get your yeast working on it and yeast are living organisms just like us (actually really quite like us believe it or not!). Here's what's going to happen...
...that little packet of yeast that comes with the kit is dried yeast, that really means dehydrated yeast cells and sporiforms (just a cell nucleus and wall and a couple of other important bits). There are a hell of a lot of them, but really when you consider the amount of sugar you've got there, there's not a lot at all! The first thing they will do is rehydrate themselves and become active, they'll now behave just like any other organism - they'll eat, poo and procreate... in your beer! But that's a good thing, they are procreating so there's more of them, if there's more of them they'll eat your sugar quicker and poo more... and that's the beauty of brewing - yeast poo = alcohol. Kind of...
There are loads of different strains of yeast (mostly of only a couple of species though) which have different habits which makes them more or less suitable for different beers. Your first beer kit probably has a very generic, safe, ale yeast hiding under that impossible-to-remove-with-fingernails-intact plastic lid regardless of what type of beer you are trying to brew. It will do what it is meant to do and produce beer:
ADV: no additional outlay, yeast good at room temperature.
DIS: lagers will taste "aley" or "beery"
The alternative is to buy a yeast more suited to the beer you are brewing, they range in price from not a lot to quite a lot:
ADV: specific strains will leave appropriate flavour notes for particular beer styles.
DIS: cost. Specific lager yeasts need fermentation at low and steady temperatures.
There is another way. Harvesting live yeast from commercial bottle conditioned beers:
ADV: free!
DIS: a bit of work to catch them. A fair bit of research to understand what they are and their attributes.
So if you are using dried yeast, some you don't do anything with, others say you need to get them started first, be guided by your kit instructions or your yeast packaging if you're using a different one. The basic idea of activating before using is that the yeast is ready to eat and reproduce as soon as it hits your wort.
So you have your sugar, you have your yeast. You need to turn that sugar into a happy place for yeast to be. That simply means making the sugar solution the right strength, getting lots of air into it and making sure that there is nothing else in there competing with the yeast. This is why we sterilise (well, sanitise really) our equipment - make sure the only living thing in the beer is yeast. With the aeration of the wort the concept is that while there is oxygen in your wort the yeast will just eat sugar like we do - turning it into water and CO2 - and as they do this they multiply very rapidly, this ensures that anything which survived the sanitation process is out-competed by the yeast and effectively neutralised. The oxygen runs out and that's when the magic happens. Now when they eat the sugar they metabolise it not to water and CO2 but to alcohol and CO2.
Fermentation Vessels, Airlocks and Taps.
So you probably have one of those big white buckets, with gallon and litre markings up the side and a clip on lid - your Fermentation Vessel or FV. They are cheap and really effective. They also come with lids that have a hole that fits a little grommet and an airlock.
ADV: you can create a properly sealed "exit-only" environment for your brew.
DIS: airlocks sometimes confuse.
These buckets sometimes have a habit of not sealing properly round the lid. It's not a problem and many brewers just use one of these buckets with a plain lid which is left unclipped a tiny bit to let the gas escape. All it means is that some brews you won't see any bubbling through your airlock. This doesn't mean its not fermenting, just that the gas has an easier way out than through the lock.
There are two basic types of airlock - your U-bend type and your top-hat type. I don't think there is much to choose between them and they both do the same job, letting gas out and keeping airborne nasties out. All you need to do is keep a little bit of water in them. U-bend ones, just enough to "seal" the u-bend, top hats, just enough to "seal" the bottom of the top-hatty bit...
Your bucket may or may not have a tap:
ADV: A tap (especially if it's a little bottler tap) makes bottling and/or racking easy.
DIS: Can harbour nasties in threads etc. Be extra scrupulous with cleaning and sanitising.
Make up your wort.
Into your bucket goes your tin(s), rinse it well with those 6 pints of hot water, dissolve any dry extra fermentable stuff in that hot water too and chuck that in on top. This is the point to make sure that it is really really really well stirred, leave sticky malt extract stuck to the bottom and you will get an inaccurate, low original gravity (OG) reading. More on that in a mo.
Once you are happy that you've got it all dissolved, top up* with cold to the appropriate brew length and make sure, again, that it's well stirred. You can also chuck your cold in from a height to make sure and get lots of oxygen through the wort - remember, your yeast need that oxygen to get going quickly.
* TAKE NOTE: Top Up to the appropriate brew length. At this point all beer kits will tell you to top up to a volume NOT ADD a volume. Get this wrong and you will still get beer but it will be weaker and thinner than it should be. You will, however, get more of it.
Hydrometers, here comes the science bit...
Hopefully you bought a hydrometer and trial jar along with your other equipment. Now you get to use it! The first thing about hydrometers is they are scientific instruments designed to measure the density of liquids. The second thing about hydrometers is that they are fragile. The third thing is (so I'm told) that they always get broken at the worst possible moment. Go buy another one as a spare at the earliest opportunity!
Your hydrometer has a scale which should read the Specific Gravity of the liquid and it depends on the temperature of the liquid you are measuring. Your hydrometer will be calibrated to a specific temperature, usually 15 or 20 degrees centigrade. So, to ensure that it's accurate pop it into your trial jar filled with room temperature water. It should read 1.000. If it doesn't make a note of what it does read over or under 1.000 and subtract or add that to any subsequent readings you make. Now, take a sample of your wort and measure it. Most hydrometers are designed so that you read the value at the bottom of the meniscus (the curvature you get when the liquid pulls itself up the side of something) - so basically you read the value through the wort lining the bottom of the curved surface with a mark on your hydrometer.
Failure to do this means you will only be able to estimate the alcohol in your finished beer, not really a problem but it's good to know!
Get geeky.
A good point to suggest that you keep a log of what you brew and how, the measurements you take along the way and what you think of the end result. That way you can learn from your own successes and failures and of course you'll have a record of modifications you try for future brews.
Fermentation Space and Time.
Right, in goes the yeast - dried tends to get sprinkled on the top and left, activated and liquid gets poured in and maybe a gentle stir. Lid on, airlock in.
Different styles of beer call for different care while they ferment but one thing remains the same, they all demand patience! The yeasts that come with kit brews tend to, on the whole, be ale yeasts and as such demand a fermentation temperature between 18 and 21 degrees centigrade. That's handy as that's the sort of range that our centrally heated houses tend to be! So all you need to do is find a suitable place, out of the way and at a pretty stable temperature (so avoid direct sunlight and radiators) and plonk your FV there. It's also worth noting that if you have a vinyl floor, that's good. Some of your brews will get a little too enthusiastic and try to escape, yeasty, beery stains on the carpet will seriously curtail your further brewing operations (if you have a SWMBO).
Heating devices
You don't really need them if you are brewing indoors with the central heating on. Ale yeasts will be happy to ferment at any temperature you find comfortable. You'll only really need such a thing if you are brewing in a shed, garage, outhouse or some other unheated part of your cave. If you like your house on the cool side, no problem:
ADV: You should get a "cleaner" brew with less off-flavours and less of the hangover-inducing fusel alcohol.
DIS: Your brew will take a little longer to ferment right out.
What do I do now?
You've done your bit for now. Just leave it alone for the yeast to multiply, eat, produce alcohol and clear up after themselves. Your kit will likely tell you that the party will be over in a week, forget it. Technically it might be, but time is the best ingredient in beer. Bank on two weeks in FV.
Don't open the lid, not even if there are no bubbles coming from the airlock (remember that these lids often don't seal - the gas will just be escaping through another route). You should see a nice foamy head form, it might grow and stick to the lid, it might even start to escape from the lid or your airlock. These are all great signs that your fermentation is going well.
If it does escape from the airlock, just remove it, clean it, put some water in it and stick it back in the hole. Repeat as necessary. There are other tricks if you really get a mental brew on the go in the future but don't worry about it for now.
Nothing's happening!?!?!
Yes it is! It's just getting started. That tiny little packet of yeast you sprinkled into your beer really isn't going to do a lot on its own! It needs to multiply many many many many times before a big old lump of a human is going to notice it! Wait 48-72 hours at least before wondering if there is something wrong.
To rack or not to rack, that is the question.
Racking is the process of taking your partially or fully fermented beer off the yeast and stuff in the primary FV to a second clean FV either to finish off the ferment or to batch prime for bottling. So should you have another FV to hand?
ADV: Allows batch priming. Suggestions that taking the beer off the yeast cake gives a cleaner result. Racking will help your beer to clear quicker for bottling.
DIS: Takes time. An opportunity to get infected beer.
There's stuff floating on the top of my beer?!?!
Relax! Remember that lovely foamy head? Chances are it's just bits left over from that. Different yeasts in different environments produce different weird stuff on the top of your beer. You'll get little snotty bits and islands of bubbles of all shapes, forms, shades and sizes. Assume they're fine and nothing to worry about.
Anything furry or skin-like, however, is probably not good...
It's stopped bubbling!?!?!
Yup, either fermentation has slowed or gas is finding another way out. I find that the airlock stops going (if it ever went in the first place) long before fermentation is finished. This does not mean that there is something wrong and it doesn't mean that your beer is ready to bottle. Let your instinct be your guide. If it has only been a few days in FV, chances are its just chugging along nicely, if its been over a week, chances are its pretty close to done. But how can you tell?
Time to test the gravity again...?
So your yeast have been "doin' they thang" for a week or so and everythings calmed down a bit, airlock has probably been dormant for a few days, the foamy head has all collapsed back into the beer and left some residue on the side of the FV, you wonder "is it ready yet?" What you do next is down to your equipment. If you have a tap, your life is easy, grab your trial jar and very carefully and slowly draw off a sample. If not, sterilise your weapon of choice - turkey basters and ladles are the favourites - (I just stick my ladle in boiling water for a bit) open the lid, just a crack, for the first time and firstly take a peek. If you can see lots of little streams of bubbles then just seal it up and leave it alone for another few days, if everything is quiet then take a sample and pour (or squirt) it into the trail jar - ladlers: you need a funnel!
Read the value as you did at the start and compare this to what the kit suggested your Final Gravity (FG) should be. If it is close then so are you! Now leave your beer alone for two whole days and test it again. Same reading? Well you are good to bottle or keg. Dropped a bit further? Leave another couple of days and try it again.
This is your first ever taste of your first ever brew (well it would be a shame to chuck that sample down the sink wouldn't it?). It will be cloudy, it will probably smell a bit odd and yeasty but, it will give you two vital bits of information:
1) you are going to get some clues about what it's going to taste like when it's done.
2) you are going to understand why brewing exactly according to the times on the instructions will put you off home brewing forever! Not that it will taste bad, many taste great at this point but always "not quite there yet"...
So how strong is my beer?
There is a calculator page on the forum - stick your starting (Original Gravity, OG) reading and your end (Final Gravity, FG) reading into the boxes and hit the button. Bingo! Your beer is now x.xx% ABV.
Conditioning - yup, more waiting around!
Your beer now needs to be conditioned to develop those flavour and aroma notes and lose that "not quite there yet" taste. You will either do this in a keg:
ADV: Quick, easy.
DIS: Takes up space. Difficult to chill for lagers.
Or in bottles:
ADV: Easy to store. Allows you to build up a cellar of different beers. Easy to chuck a few in a fridge. Suggestions that bottle conditioned beer is better...
DIS: Harder work, takes longer.
I've got a keg.
OK, so your basic process from here is, work out how much priming sugar you need for your brew, I think the going rate is around 85g for a 23l brew of ale and probably just short of double that for a lager style. You can either draw off a little beer (again, easy if you have a tap) and dissolve your sugar in there, add that to your sterile keg then syphon your beer on top, or just chuck the sugar into the keg and syphon, the yeast will still find the sugar even if it isn't fully dissolved.
When syphoning, make sure that your tube is long enough to reach the bottom of your keg and curl round a bit - this will ensure no splashing when you transfer your beer.Oxygen at this point in the process will make your beer taste like wet cardboard and there is no way to correct it. Avoid any kind of splashing at all costs!
Seal up your keg.
I've got bottles.
The process is similar. You need to sterilise your bottles, prime, and fill. You can prime in two ways, batch:
ADV: Can use sticky speciality sugars like treacle, muscovado etc. Gets the beer off the yeast before bottling which can make things easier. Quick to measure sugar.
DIS: Opportunity for infection, chances of oxygen ingress.
or bottle:
ADV: Don't need second free FV. Reduced infection and oxygenation risk.
DIS: Fiddly and labour intensive.
Batch priming is essentially the same as the kegging process, just add the priming sugar then the beer to your second FV. You must bottle immediately.
Bottle priming means setting out all your bottles and added a quantity of sugar to each, 1/2 tsp for ales and 1 tsp for lagers per 500ml or pint bottle is a good start point. Again, a good reason for keeping notes on your brewing, certain beers will like a bit more or less fizz than others. Quite popular at the moment are "Coopers Carbonation Drops", personally I haven't used them but they are just a sugar lozenge which gets dropped into the bottle.
Ask anyone who's used one and they'll tell you that the "Little Bottler" is one of the best bits of brewing kit out there. It's cheap as chips and makes bottling a breeze. I find a bottle tree is great for when I sterilise and rinse my bottles - it keeps them neck down which helps stop airborne nasties settling in there.
I don't like the sound of bottle bombs!?!?
Well, if you make sure that fermentation is down to around the expected FG for the kit, and stick to the sensible priming rates above then you shouldn't have a problem.
Another two waiting periods!
So, your beer is in a keg or bottles. It now needs to sit for a week or so somewhere at fermentation temperature until the remaining yeast (clear beer still has millions of yeast cells per millilitre!) gets to work on that new sugar and produces more alcohol - this will add around 0.2% ABV to your beer - and CO2. The CO2 this time can't escape and so builds pressure and stays dissolved in the beer. FIZZ!
By the end of this period, your beer in your bottles should be crystal clear. Take it somewhere cool and leave it alone for a good while. The general rule of thumb is, subtract FG from OG, multiply what's left by 700 and that gives you a rough idea of how many days your beer needs to wait in the cold to mellow out a bit. Darker styles will normally take longer, lighter styles maybe a bit less but again, your brewing logbook is a great way of keeping track of what you have to adjust for next time. It will just keep getting better and better over the course of months though, if you possibly can, leave it a full two months before you crack one.
That all sounds like way more work than the instructions!!!!
It is.
But, even with the most basic kits, following the same good brewing processes, taking your time and understanding what's going on, just like the extract and grain brewers do, will produce you a beer that will make you want to make another.
And another.
And another.
And try modifying kits.
And try brewing from extract.
And build an all grain nano-brewery...
hats off to you for getting me into my first brew.
