Home Brew: Day 1

Yesterday I bought myself a home brew starter kit. I bought it from the BBT and it was on special so I couldn't resist. I've been wanting to try brewing my own beer at home and this small kit was my chance.



The steps are pretty simple. Basically there are for main steps. First is sterilising. Any work involving microbiology requires sterilisation steps. Luckily this kit comes with a "No Rinse" sterilisation powder (sodium percarbonate). You need to sterilise all the equipment specially the ones that will be in contact with the brew. Second step is the actual mixing of the extract and water. I have three kinds of extracts. Lager, Pale Ale, and Stout. Sine I already tried the Lager at BBT, I thought I'd try the Pale Ale. It was as easy as making milo except this one is in a 11.5 litre container. The temperature must be within 18-28C (mine was around 23-24C). You then add the yeast and seal the container. After this you measure the specific gravity of the solution using a hydrometer provided in the kit. According to the guide, this initial reading would be between 1.045-1.055. It measures the amount of sugar in the solution. Higher means more sugar. My reading was 1.048. By the way, I didn't add any sugar. Everything is in the can. I'm using Macs which is an all malt brew.

The next step is monitoring. The temperature must be kept between 18-28C. This is so fermentation can progress at a reasonable rate and the yeast will remain alive. Higher temperatures will kill the yeast. After about a week (4-7 days actually), the sugar in the solution will be gone. They would all have been consumed by the yeast. Once the specific gravity of the solution remains constant for 24 hours, it will be time for bottling.

Bottling step: This step involves adding sugar into bottles before adding the solution in. The sugar is for the next step of fermentation. The bottle will be left in a warmish place for another week to boost the second fermentation step then kept in a cool place for 2 more weeks. After this the beer is ready to drink.

I was told that keeping it longer will make the beer better.

So...I intend to create this batch. I hope it goes ok. After bottling, I will try and do another batch. This time stout. I'll have to get more botttles though as I only have 15X 750ml bottles. I should have at least 30 bottles by christmas.

All kuyas welcome to try if all goes well. For those across the tasman, we'll drink the beer on your behalf.

For those who are interested, watch this vid. And if you like, you can purchase your own kit and share stories.