Getting Started Making your own Beer
The Fundamentals of Homebrewing

It is no secret that Americans now demand more quality from their beer than ever before.  While the large beer brewers and distributors still hold a hefty percentage of the American beer market share, there has been a marked increase in the amount of microbrew and imported beer consumption in the last decade and a half.  The early nineteen nineties saw a meteoric rise in the popularity of micro and home brewed beers and, while the growth has slackened somewhat, these custom brews still continue to gain in popularity as American consumers develop more sophisticated beer palates. 

Those who are interested in trying their hand at brewing their own beer are often surprised to learn how easy and inexpensive it is to get started.  An initial investment of a couple of hundred dollars is all that is required to purchase the necessary homebrew equipment along with the ingredients for the first batch.  Many homebrew supply shops sell kits that contain all of the necessary supplies along with enough ingredients to get started. 

Before talking about the process of brewing your own beer, it is necessary to introduce the basic equipment.  While different kits will come with different supplies, a complete kit should feature at least the following crucial pieces of equipment.  The most basic tool required for homebrewing is the brewing kettle.  This is a large kettle that is typically constructed from stainless steel that serves to create the wort (the unfermented slurry that contains all of the ingredients except for the yeast).  The brewing kettle should be large enough to accommodate both the water and other ingredients as well as to account for bubbling that can occur during the brewing process.  A general rule of thumb is to purchase a brewing kettle that can hold at least double the amount of beer you are attempting to brew.  Next, any beer kit should contain a fermenting container.  This container will serve to hold the brew while the yeast does its job.  It should be transparent or semi-transparent so that the brewer can monitor the fermentation process.  The fermenting container should be accompanied by an airlock, which is a one-way flow device that lets gases escape the fermenting container without allowing impurities to enter.  Another necessary device is a hydrometer.  This is a small probe that measures the specific gravity of your wort during and after the fermentation process.  Since the homebrew process involves both boiling and cooling steps, it is necessary to have a good liquid thermometer that can measure from approximately sixty degrees Fahrenheit to two hundred and twelve Fahrenheit (the boiling point of water).  Many kits come with specialized cleansers that serve to sterilize all of the homebrew equipment.  However, a mixture of water and bleach can do the job just as well if your kit does not provide such a cleanser.  Finally, any complete homebrew kit should contain a racking cane, associated tubing, and a racking bucket--these devices serve to transfer the fermented beer into a temporary staging base just prior to bottling.  Many kits do not include bottles, caps, and a capper, but you will need all of these devices to transfer your homebrew from the racking bucket to your bottles.

Now that you have an understanding of the basic equipment that is required to make your own homebrew, it is time to discuss the brewing process a bit.  Please note that this article does not attempt to provide a complete homebrewing guide--rather, it serves to describe the technique at a high level to give you the basic knowledge necessary to start researching on your own.

The homebrewing process can be broken down into four basic steps.  The first step is sanitization.  Indeed, sanitization is a necessary step before any of the other phases of the brewing process can begin and the overall brewing process will contain a sanitization step before any new container or device is introduced.  Since many microorganisms thrive on the ingredients that are in the wort, it is necessary to sanitize all equipment to ensure that only the yeast makes its way into the brew.  While these other microorganisms are not harmful to your health, their presence can destroy your beer.  Many kits come with sanitizers, but a solution of hot water and bleach works just as well.  It is important to thoroughly rinse the sanitized device before use since the sanitizing agents are also harmful to yeast.  The next step is the brewing process itself--this involves mixing your malt extracts, hops, and other ingredients with water in your brewing kettle and bringing the solution to a boil.  This step requires continuous oversight since the wort has a tendency to boil over.  The next step is to add the wort to the fermenting container along with more water and the yeast.  It is now time to let the yeast do their job, so simply store the fermenting container in a cool, dark place for a week to ten days.  After that time, the homebrew is ready to be bottled.  After a period of aging (typically around one month) your homebrew will be ready to enjoy!

Homebrewing is a great hobby for the true beer aficionado.  Nothing quite beats the satisfaction of enjoying and sharing your own homebrew.  Homebrewing is quite popular, so there are many places, both online and in the real world, that you can go to seek advice and share experiences. 

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The Final Steps of the Homebrewing Process-- Priming and Bottling

Bottling their first batch of homebrew is a big step in the lives of novice homebrewing enthusiasts.  While the beer still will not be ready to drink for several weeks after bottling, there is definitely a strong sense of satisfaction that can be gained from finally moving the brew from the fermentation container into the bottles.  While this step is often a great deal of fun, it is important to keep some basics in mind when priming and bottling to create the most successful final product possible. The first step in bottling your homebrew is, obviously, to obtain the bottles.  Many homebrew supply shops will sell bottles that you can use in homebrewing, and you can also obtain them from bars and restaurants.  Bottle caps can be picked up from homebrewing supply shops. Perhaps the most difficult part of bottling for the homebrewing novice is discerning when to bottle.  The bubbling that serves as a visible indicator of fermentation typically stops after only a few days, but fermentation is not complete at that point.  It is important to wait some time after the visible signs of fermentation have disappeared to ensure that the process has run its course.  A couple of bad things can occur if the beer is bottled before fermentation has completed.  The quality of the beer will certainly suffer, since many of the unpleasant tasting precursor compounds will not have been metabolized by the yeast and will remain in the final product.  Another, much more spectacular, problem that can occur is that the fermentation process may continue in the bottle which causes excess amounts of carbon dioxide to build up until the bottle finally explodes.  Many homebrewing veterans have at least one "exploding bottle" story from their early days of homebrewing.  The amount of time required for fermentation to complete varies according to recipe, strain of yeast used, temperature, as well as other factors.  It is therefore important to carefully follow fermenting instructions if you are using a recipe, or ask other homebrew hobbyists for advice. Once you are certain that fermentation has completed, it is time to begin the bottling process.  Since the beer will be left in the bottle to age and prime, it is important that all bottles and caps be thoroughly sanitized prior to use.  Be sure to thoroughly rinse with boiled water if you use a bleach based sanitizing agent. Once the bottles and caps are ready, it is time to prime and bottle the beer.  Priming is an important step since it adds a small amount of sugar which allows a limited amount of fermentation to occur in the bottle, thereby carbonizing the beer.  The best way to prime the beer is to boil sugar and water together in a sanitized container and transfer them to the sanitized bottling bucket.  After the primer sugar is in place, you can then siphon the beer from the fermenting container into the bottling bucket.  If you do not have a bottling bucket, you can also add the primer directly to the fermenter prior to bottling. Once the beer has been primed, it is time for that big final step--bottling.  It is important to fill the bottles slowly to avoid any aeration, which can destroy the flavor of the final product by adding too much oxygen to the beer.  After the bottle has been filled, it is time to add the sanitized cap and then repeat until all bottles have been filled. Of course, the real hard part comes next, which is waiting for the beer to age and prime.  This can take up to a month or more, depending on the type of yeast used.  However, if you simply must have a taste before then, the beer should be serviceable within one week, but you should wait at least a month before consuming more than a few bottles. Bottling and priming is the final step of the homebrewing process and great care should be taken to ensure that you don't destroy your hard work by allowing unwelcome microorganisms to contaminate the brew.  Be sure to sanitize every piece of tubing, every bottle, and every bucket that comes into contact with the beer.  If all goes well, you will be enjoying your creation in a few weeks.