Hobby - Home Brewing For Newbies
It has never been simpler to make home brew. There are numerous different starter kits available on the market, which are available from all good home brew supply shops and a limited number of larger supermarkets. The hobby has seen an increase in popularity in the UK in recent years as people see to tighten their belts.
Anybody thinking of making beer for the first time would probably be best advised to buy one of the many starter packs that are available on the market from the various companies that supply them. It is possible to find them from as little as 20 containing all the basic supplies needed to brew a batch of home brew.
When purchasing a starter kit for making your home brew, you should ensure that it has at least the following items: a fermentation bucket, something to extract the beer from the fermentation bucket i.e. a syphoning tube and of course the key ingredients of the brew: yeast and malt extract. Sometimes you will get sugar provided but the cheaper the kit, the more you’ll have to buy. You will of course need some receptacle to store it in.
In order to make your brew, you will need to mix your malt extract with 3 litres of boiling water, add the sugar and make sure it has all dissolved. Then you will need to add about another 18 litres of water and let the mixture reach about 21 degrees before you add the yeast. After adding the yeast, you will have to wait about 6 days until the first fermentation process has finished.
Fermenting the mixture in the bucket is known as the first fermentation process and once this is finished after approximately 4 to 6 days, the brew will require transferring for the second fermentation either to bottles or to a pressurised barrel. The mixture should then be stored for a further 2 weeks until it is ready, but it must be primed with some extra sugar (about 1 teaspoon per litre) in order to complete the fermentation in the receptacle(s).