Beer is not only the worlds oldest but it is also the most popular and consumed alcoholic beverage ever. The first recorded recipe for beer was found on a Sumerian excavation site and is about four thousand years old. Beer is rather easy to make at home with the right equipment and is a lot cheaper than buying from the store. So you could be a hobbyist or a grad student with no money, here is a basic recipe to get you started.
Ingredients required:
- Yeast
- Malt extract
- bottles
- clean siphon and bucket
- fermenter
- specialty grains
Step One ‘Preparation’:
First you will need to sanitize all your equipment. This step is extremely important as you do not want the beer to kill you. You can either heat everything that will com in contact with the beer in an oven at 350F or scrub it with hot water and soap. Make sure you use unscented soap or your beer will have a weird flavor. You could also use bleach or Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide in 1:2 ratio to sanitize your equipment. Wash with distilled water to get out any remaining scent or flavor.
Step Two ‘Brewing’:
Put the specialty grains, if you have any in a grain bag or tie it up in a cloth and boil it in about three gallons of water at about 70C for about 25-30 minutes. Remove the bag and let it hang for a while to allow the water to drip. Squeezing the bag is a bad idea as tannins extracted will give the beer a bad flavor. Add the malt extract and boil the water (the same water in which you boiled the specialty grains). You can add hops at this stage for flavor and bitterness and aroma. For a bitter taste add the hops early and for a more pronounced aroma and flavor add it towards the end. Once the liquid (called wort) is boiled it has to be cooled as quickly as possible, The best way to do this is to put the whole pot of wort into a mixture of crushed ice, salt and water. Gently stirring the wort will help in cooling it faster. Once the temperature is around 30C transfer the wort into the fermenter. Splash the wort as you pour it into the fermenter to allow oxygen for the yeast. Once done do not splash again and exposure to air must be minimized as it can lead to bad flavors or aromas. Use a good strainer to get the hops out, the hops have already done their job and aren’t required anymore. This will also avoid a murky solution. Add enough water to have about 5 gallons. Now you can ‘pitch’ that, add the yeast to the wort. Some yeast might require to stir with warm water (i.e bloom) before pitching. You can always ‘bloom’ the yeast which doesn’t require you to do so and achieve faster results. Put the lid on the fermenter and affix the air lock. Keep the fermenter in a dark and cool place with fairly consistent temperature. The air lock should start bubbling in about 24 hours. If no bubbling is observed within 48 hours, you might be facing a problem like dead yeast.
Step Three ‘Bottling’:
After about a week the airlock should cease most activity. You can now bottle the beer. If you have any priming sugar or dried malt extract add it to your fermented beer. Alternatively boil sugar in a little bit of water and let it cool. Then add this solution in your bucket. Using a clean siphon to transfer the beer, carefully, without any aeration, to the bucket. Stir it without disturbing the wort much. Get some clean bottles ready. Using the siphon carefully fill the bottles almost to the brim. Cap the bottle. Fill all the available bottles. Store the bottles for a couple of weeks at about room temperature and then transfer to the refrigerator. Congratulations!! You just made beer!! Drink the beer once chilled.