How to make beer at home, step by step guide

It usually takes 2 to 3 weeks to from the time you put a brew on until you can pull your first pint.  If your beer barrel has a float which draws beer from the top of the barrel first you can probably sneak a crafty pint or two a little earlier though.  Patience is the key though, the longer you let your beer mature (within reason) the better it will taste.  If you can wait 3 to 4 weeks you'll be pleasantly surprised I think.

Okay here goes, this is the interesting bit.  Apart from your brewing equipment and your kit you'll need one or two other bits and pieces, namely some sugar (1kg or 1.5kg depending on the kit), a kettle and something to sterilise the equipment.

Sterilise your brewing equipment

You can buy special sterilising solution but I have found that the stuff for baby bottles works well.  Actually, at a push you can use a few drops of regular bleach as it's basically the same thing.  Remember to rinse thoroughly though.

I generally put everything I'm going to use in the 5 gallon fermentation bin and leave it for half an hour at the start.  Note, you don't need the syphoning tube or the barrel just now, that's for the second stage in a week or so.  I meant to mention earlier, at a push you can use a regular wooden spoon to stir your beer, but a nice long plastic one is easier and more hygienic.

Making the wort

Whilst things are sterilising in the bucket you get started on the wort.  I normally open the can of malt extract that comes with the kit and place it in a pan of water on the cooker to simmer.  Don't remove the lid as there will be a lot of extract stuck to it.  Heating it up makes it easier to deal with as it's quite a thick consistency.

Once you're fermentation bucket has been sterilised and rinsed measure out the amount of sugar required and tip it straight in.  This is the perfect time to boil a kettle of water.  More on what that's needed for later.

Next, using a pair of oven gloves empty the hot malt extract into the bucket with the sugar.  You'll need to wait a while to get as much out as you can.  Don't expect to get it all out, that's what the boiling water is for.  Making sure you don't drip the the malt extract everywhere, put the can on the kitchen surface and fill it up with the boiling water to about 1cm from the top then using a fork stir it around to dissolve anything that's left in the can.  Carefully pour this into the bucket and repeat once more.  You can pour over the can lid as there will often be some malt extract stuck there as well.

Once you've rinsed all the malt extract out of the can, boil up another two kettles of water and add it to the fermentation bucket.  You can also add some cold water too and then stir the mixture with your big spoon.  The idea is to dissolve all the sugar and malt extract and you should have approximately 4 or 5 litres of liquid in there by now.  There's no need to be exact at this point as it's only important that you get all the sugar and extract dissolved in the water.

Gradually start adding cold water with your big jug.  The smaller the jug the longer it takes so invest in a big one!  You're fermentation bin should ideally have marks for 5 gallons or 25 litres and that's where you need to fill it up to.  Make sure you stir all the time and get all the sugar etc.  dissolved.  One important point is temperature.  If the liquid is too hot it will kill the yeast and if it's too cold it will take longer to start fermenting.

Personally, I never measure the temperature and instead rely on feel.  If the liquid is around blood temperature then it's about right.  With the suggested number of kettles of hot water you should be fine and it can in fact be a little hotter, but it's better to err on the side of caution even if the brew takes a few hours longer to start fermenting.

Once you have a bucket full of wort at the right temperature, with a pair of scissors open the sachet of yeast that came with the kit and simply sprinkle it on top.  All that remains to be done now is to put the lid on the bucket and put it somewhere warm to ferment for 5 to 8 days.  That lid should have a small hole by the way so that the gases can escape!

I use a heating belt with mine to maintain a good temperature but you can simply leave it somewhere warm and it will be fine, although it may take a day or two longer.

Part 1: Homemade beer - it's cheaper than the pub!
Part 2: How to make beer at home, step by step guide
Part 3: Put your beer in a pressure barrel then prime it

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