Brewing 101

Well, it's finally here. It's finally time to brew. You have no more excuses. You have all the necessary equipment. You have selected a recipe and acquired all of the ingredients. The kitchen is organized and everything is properly sanitized. Once you get going there's no turning back - it's just you and the brew.

Like anything else, brewing beer at home can seem daunting at first but if you take it one step at a time you can't help but succeed.  The first step in home brewing is to get 2 gallons of water boiling. [Author's note: You'd be amazed how long it takes to get 2 gallons of water to boil. In my early days of brewing I used to stand there like a dope watching the pot until things started to happen. It certainly lent a lot of creedance to that old saying, "A watched pot never boils". Nowadays when I brew, the brew pot is the first thing that gets sanitized so that I can get the water going while I finish up with everything else.]  If you are using cracked grains - you would start them (in a grain bag) in the cold water soaking like big tea bags and let them soak as the water comes to a boil. 

The main thing to keep in mind is that you want to be sure that all of your ingredients (with a few exceptions) get the full amount of boil time specified in your recipe and no more. To do this you should add all of the ingredients that will go the distance into the hot brew pot just before the water hits boiling. This way when the water finally does break into a boil you can immediately start your timer. Again, home brewers with those big cracked grain "tea" bags should pull them out (being sure to let all the liquid drain back into the pot) as the water hits the boiling point.

Once every thing is vigorously boiling your main job is to watch the timer and stir the wort occasionally to help prevent scalding on the bottom. You will want to keep a close eye on the brew, too, so it does not boil over. Try not to forget to add the finishing hops, if any, when the time comes. Another activity that can be completed while your wort is boiling is to fill your primary fermentor with three gallons of clean water. When the boil time has expired remove the brew pot from the heat and give it a little time to cool. Cooling is especially important if you are using a glass carboy as your primary fermentor. You really do not want the carboy to break as you poor your hot wort into the cool water it contains.

As I just mentioned, the next major step is to combine the boiled wort with the other three gallons of water in the main fermentor. This is a pretty easy process for home brewers using 5 or 6 gallon food grade plastic buckets for the job. Carboy users have a more difficult task. You will need to use a funnel (that is clean, clean, clean) to help pour the wort into the narrow neck of the carboy. Some home brewers feel it is also a good idea to try to filter out as many hop remnants as you can in this process. Some funnels are available that can take care of this but a lot of people use a (clean) piece of cheesecloth draped in the funnel to do the job. Removing the hops in this way is optional as it will affect the flavor of your finished product. The thing is, though, it really helps when you go to clean your carboy after fermentation.

With the wort in the fermentor the next step is to cover the fermentor. Bucket brewers can snap on the plastic lid (which is clean, clean, clean) while carboy brewers can insert a rubber stopper (do I need to say it?) in the bottle opening. This completes the major steps for the session (except for cleaning up your mess). You can not (should not) introduce the yeast to the wort until the batch has cooled to the proper fermentation temperature -  either 68 degrees Fahrenheit for Ale brewers or around 40 degrees Fahrenheit for Lagering. I am an Ale brewer and in my experience it usually takes at least 10 hours to get to the proper temperature. It is very important that you not pitch the yeast when the brew is too hot. this can actually kill the little yeasty guys and cause you problems aplenty.

When the desired temperature is achieved, it is time to add (pitch) the yeast into the solution. This process, though seemingly simple, is a topic of discussion among home brewers. There is a group that believes the yeast should be stirred into the wort with a fairly violent motion which serves to dissolve oxygen into the brew. Others, like me, prefer to skip the stirring in favor of not having to put a spoon into the wort and risk possible contamination. In either case, you must remove the cover you placed over the wort and pitch your yeast. If I am using dry yeast I simply sprinkle it on top of the brew. When I use liquid yeast I try to dump it in with a  pitching (that's where term comes from) motion to kind of compensate for my not stirring it in.  Once you are done pitching you can re-cover the mix with a lid that has a hole in it for an airlock. Insert your airlock after you have added the proper amount of water to it.

That's it. You have brewed! Clean up and relax. You now have the next week or so to contemplate preparation for bottling.