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| Ingredients |
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Malt
Extract Homebrew Kit
Your
homebrew kit contains malt extract and hops. It will make 5
gallons of microbrewery-quality beer. Malt extract syrup is
made from barley and is rich in natural sugar. Hops are
flowers with a bitter flavor, which balances the sweet
flavor of the malt. You will not actually see the hops in
your kit, because they have been dissolved into the syrup.
Extra
Malt Extract
Malt
extract comes in two forms: syrup or powder. Using extra
malt with your kit produces a richer, more flavorful beer.
Brewers typically use 1 to 4 pounds of extra malt with their
kits. Less malt produces a lighter beer. More malt produces
a richer beer, more concentrated in flavor and alcohol. Some
styles of light beer use rice syrup solids instead of extra
malt. Your extra ingredients may include a combination
of syrup malt, dried malt or rice syrup solids. If so,
please add all ingredients per the instructions below.
Extra Hops (Optional)
If you are brewing a pale ale or IPA, your ingredients may
include an extra package of hops for dry hopping. If
so, please follow the following link for instructions for
dry hopping.
Yeast
Your
homebrew kit includes a packet of dehydrated brewers'
yeast. Brewers' yeast eats malt sugar and produces alcohol
and carbon dioxide.
Water
Tap
or bottled water is fine.
Priming
Sugar (Corn Sugar)
You
need only 3/4 cup (5 ounces dry weight) for your first
batch. This is used to prime your bottled beer, giving it
carbonation.
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| Equipment |
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Brew
Kettle
For
boiling your ingredients, use a stainless-steel pot that
holds at least 4 gallons.
Primary
Fermenter
A
food-grade bucket and lid, or a glass carboy, that holds at
least 6 gallons.
Stick-On
Thermometer
A
plastic thermometer that sticks on the primary fermenter,
used to watch the temperature of the fermenting beer.
Bottling
Bucket & Spigot
A
food-grade bucket with a hole drilled at the bottom, where
the spigot attaches.
Siphon
Hose
Food
grade vinyl tubing, usually about 5 feet long. This is used
for transferring beer from one container to another.
Siphon
Cane
A
stiff piece of plastic tubing about 3 feet long, with an
anti-sediment tip on the bottom and a curve on the top. The
anti-sediment tip allows you to siphon the beer while
leaving the yeast sediment behind. The curved top prevents
the siphon hose from crimping during siphoning.
Air
Lock
This
device allows carbon dioxide to leave your fermenter while
keeping air out. It fits in the hole in the lid of your
fermenter.
Bottles
Don't
use twist-off bottles. You'll need about 50 12-ounce
bottles or the same volume of whatever bottles you choose.
Bottle
Capper
Caps
your bottles of homebrew.
Bottle
Caps
You'll
need about 50 new caps.
Bottle
Filler
A
clear, stiff plastic tube with a spring-loaded valve used to
fill your bottles.
Long-Handled
Spoon
Used
for stirring boiling ingredients.
C-Brite
Sanitizer
A
powerful brewery-grade cleanser & sanitizer used to
disinfect your brewing equipment. Preventing bacteria and
wild yeast from getting in your beer is important. They can't
harm you, but they can leave unpleasant flavors in your
beer.
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| How to Brew Five
Gallons of Beer |
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| Sanitizing |
1.
Clean and sanitize your primary fermenter and lid using
C-Brite. You should fill the fermenter to the top. If your
equipment is already clean, C-Brite only needs 1 minute of
contact time to sanitize. If your equipment is not already
clean (free of any gunk, stains or residue), allow the
C-Brite to soak for 1 hour or more. For tough cleaning
jobs, allow equipment to soak overnight in B-Brite.
2.
Rinse well with warm water. From now on, everything that
comes in contact with your beer must be sanitized by
soaking in C-Brite. This is very important. In fact, it's
one of the secrets to making good beer.
For additional cleaning and
sanitizing instructions important for beermaking, please
read the information on the
cleaning tips page.
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| Boiling |
1.
Your ingredients make 5 gallons of beer. Soak your can of
malt extract syrup in hot water for 10 minutes. This makes
the syrup pour easier. Meanwhile, bring 1 gallon of water
to a boil in your kettle.
2.
Remove the kettle from the heat. Add the can of malt
extract syrup and all extra bags of malt extracts or rice. Stir well until
it's all dissolved and return the kettle to the burner.
3.
Boil the mixture for 10 minutes. Watch carefully for boil
overs! Stir occasionally if you want.
4.
While the ingredients boil, fill your fermenter with 3
gallons of fresh, cold water and cover with the sanitized
lid.
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| Cooling and Adding
Yeast |
1.
When you are finished boiling, carefully pour all the wort
into your water-filled fermenter. It's boiling hot, so
be careful. Top-off the fermenter with cold water until
you have a final volume of 5 gallons. Put the lid on
tightly. Attach the air lock. Add water to half-fill the
air lock.
2.
When the wort has cooled between 74 ° F - 78 ° F (watch the
stick-on thermometer), open the lid and pour in the yeast.
Work quickly so that the wort is exposed to air as briefly
as possible. There is no need to stir. Cover again and
attach your airlock. Be sure to fill your airlock
with water to the proper level.
3.
For more information on quick cooling your wort, please
read the tips at Ultra-Fast Wort
Chilling With Ice.
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| Fermenting |
Your fermenter should
be kept at room temperature (62 ° F-75 ° F). Fermentation
should start within 24 hours, but it could take longer. A
sure sign of fermentation is the bubbling of carbon
dioxide through the air lock. The bubbling should be rapid
and vigorous for a few days and then gradually slow down.
Keep the beer at room temperature, protected from light.
Fourteen days after fermentation has begun, you're ready
to bottle the beer
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| Bottling |
1.
Sanitize your bottles by soaking them in a solution of
C-Brite. Or, you can fill each bottle with the solution.
If the bottles are already clean, you only need to soak
them for 1 minute. If the bottles are not clean, then soak
them in B-Brite, a powerful brewery-grade cleanser.
Bottles with any gunk or deposits should be soaked
overnight. After cleaning and sanitizing, rinse each
bottle with hot tap water.
*
For the alternative (and preferred) method of sanitizing
your bottles, please read the tips for Baking Beer Bottles
for Sterilization.
2.
Sanitize your bottling bucket, siphon hose, racking cane,
bottle filler and anything else that's going to come in
contact with your beer using C-Brite. Sanitize your bottle
caps with C-Brite. Rinse with hot tap water. Dirty
equipment needs extended soaking with B-Brite.
3.
Dissolve 3/4 cup of corn sugar (5 ounces dry weight) in a
cup of water. Boil for 5 minutes. Corn sugar is sometimes
called dextrose or priming sugar.
4.
Put your fermenter of beer on the counter and your
bottling bucket on the floor. Pour the sugar solution into
the bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from the fermenter
into the bottling bucket. Siphon carefully, trying to
minimize splashing of the beer. Leave the sediment in the
bottom of the fermenter behind. Make sure all surfaces the
beer contacts are sanitized.
5.
Put the bottling bucket on the counter, hook up your
siphon hose and bottle filler. Fill the bottles to about 1
inch from the top. Cap each bottle.
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| Aging
and Tasting |
1.
You're done! Place your bottles in a dark place at room
temperature (62 ° F - 75 ° F), and wait at least two weeks
(if you can) for the beer to carbonate. When you're
ready to drink the beer, pour the beer into a clean glass,
leaving the yeast sediment in the bottle. The sediment won't
harm you, but it can change the flavor and appearance of
the beer. After the beer is carbonated, you may store it
in a cool place.
2.
Taste the fruits of your hobby. Congratulations! You're
a home brewer! We hope you love this hobby as much as we
do!
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