How to Make Beer

Step 1: Equipment

• Brew pot - any large kitchen pot that will hold a couple of gallons of water with room to spare to avoid boiling over.
• Kitchen strainer - to strain grains and hops before going to the fermenter
• Kitchen thermometer
• Large funnel
• Rolling pin - for crushing the grain
• 3 gallon container of bottled water - this will provide you with the water to make your beer and serve as your fermentation container
• Bottling container - An empty container of at least 3 gallons...could be another empty water bottle or a clean, scratch-free, food grade plastic bucket.
• 3 feet of 3/8" clear poly-vinyl tubing - for siphoning and fermentation air lock
• Bottles - there are a lot of options here and I'll cover some of them in the bottling step later

Comments

[diybrewing]

Also you cannot use the tubing at lowes/depot since it is not food grade.

[skyegod]

Actually - if the hose / tubing is suitable for Drinking water - it can be used for beer / wine.

[diybrewing]

You should definitely not use a 3 gallon water jug. They readily let air since water can aerated the whole time. If you do not want to buy a fermentation bucket from your local homebrew store or me (http://www,diybrewing.com) you should use either used glass apple juice jugs or some type of glass container. Also using a muslin bag is much easier then a strainer, works like a tea bag and is easy to use. I am going to write up a new instructables with what I use and using the proper equipment.

[crfHonda250r]

how old do you have to be to brew beer? i'm only 19 but it sounds like so much fun!!!

[pyrotechnical]

18 to produce it, but posessing and consuming 21, so by brewing you posess alcohol, and are therefore breaking the law. but its not like the cops will bust in on your apartment or wherever you live. might be careful on a college campus though.

[nnsg]

18's the legal age

[MisterMissanthrope]

You say any large kitchen pot, but isnt it true that different metals effect the outcome of the beer?

[daithiocoinnigh]

 That is true but the effect at the worting stage will be minimal as the wort will be in contact with it for less than an hour.

If anything the glass bottles is the most important container as the beer can be in there for up to a year.

[SuperFlyGT]

Does anyone know where I can buy the poly-vinyl tubing or food grade plastic bucket? Do local hardware stores or chains like Home Depot / Lowe's carry these? Thanks.

[digi3e]

Or go to http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=4218 I do all my shopping there.

[germanater]

ya usually a home depot or lowes, pretty much any major hardware/food stores, just make sure they are cleaned

[germanater]

could you put your finished product in a used (but cleaned) keg?

[fizban7]

yes- sort of. If you use a used soda keg, it will be easier to hook up. but you still need C02 to carbonate it. A keg you get for parties is already carbonated. So you still need a way to provide carbonation, and they usually use a special hookup so that normal people cant use them. But it can be done, do not worry. I have a soda keg, and all the hookups, but everything but the fridge to put it in.

[lucek]

look at a searse or lowes near you and you may find a dorm fridge big enough for 2 soda kegs with a dented side or the like for under $100. if you find you like having beer on tap in a rec room or the like a full kegorator setup with soda kegs is only about $300 for everything you'll need (including the for mentioned dented fridge 2 kegs, tap and co2).

[lucek]

http://www.instructables.com/id/2-tap-Cornelius-Kegerator/

[coonass57]

I found a Lake Valley Farms brewing kit at a local 2nd hand store and it had all the ingredients in the box but not the instructions. I have the ready made mix for pilsner and amber, a small package of hops, gelatin, dextrose, and a 11gm pkg of yeast and the plastic 1 gallon jug, hose, air lock, all the caps for it and tubing, and six plastic bottles. Anybody out there know what steps I should use to try this out?

[Danish M1Garand]

Mmmm, Beer Mmmm, Beer without taxes I have a batch brewing right now.

[Friedto]

a coffee grinder works well

[el kabong]

I love the idea of using a 3 gallon jug of bootled water as a fermenter and a source of sanitary water. What a two-fer!

[yocum137]

Most brew shops have grain crushers available to use in the store. Just ask the proprietor. You'll get a more even crushing, that is the correct size, than using a rolling pin.