How to Make Beer

Step 15 Reference

Brewing supplies:
Northern Brewer - http://northernbrewer.com/

Recommended reading:
The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060531053/sr=8-1/qid=1146779286/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-1364816-4552766?%5Fencoding=UTF8

I recently discovered the Basic Brewing web site. Lot's of good information here including audio and video podcasts... http://www.basicbrewing.com/

Thanks to Luke for the brewing photography and the starter kit that got me interested in brewing to begin with!

Comments

[GtR34]

do you have to be certain age to buy some of these supplies from a
shop

[andybuda]

not that i know of i started brewing at 14 or so and had no problems buying spirit kits but you can always order on line

[Darrone]

Why would you ask good sir?  Lol, no, you don't have to be 21 by law for the majority of the equiptment and ingredients.  However, this is not a stealthy project.  It will make a fairly large mess, and the bubbling fermentor can be a dead giveaway.  Just an FYI, I brewed my first batch before I was 21.  Tasted like battery acid.

[dacotti]

nice 'ible imarunner. I was going to photo my next batch as a simple way of making beer, but you beat me to it. The only things I do that are a little less labor intensive is I use 3lb of amber malt extract and 3lb of corn sugar in a 6 gal. batch, which I ferment in a big campers water jug with a tube and bottle for an air lock. At bottling time, I buy two cases of wallmart water bottles, and dump the water, fill with beer, add one lemon drop to carbonate, and screw the cap back on in one operation. No bottle washing. With the water bottles, it costs me about $14US to put up 6 gal. of beer, an I have all of about $10 invested in equipment. I saw that some guys picked on you about your equipment too. My brother is all about the fancy equipment too. Me? I'm about enjoying the beer and saving money! Cheers! Scot

[jangelj]

When you say "lemon drop" do you mean the candy, lemon drop, or one drop of lemon juice? I'm guessing the candy, but want to make sure. Also, you don't use any hops in this recipe at all? It seems very simple. /Thanks,

[Instructabilis Deus]

Heh. Good question. I use the hard candy lemon drops. I saw some honey-lemon drops at the beer store for $$, and thought it looked like an easy way to charge bottles. But, I knew I could get them 2 for a dollar at the convenience store. As for the hops, I don't use any. I kind of miss them now, but when I first started making this stuff, I wasn't so into hops, so I just left them out. Now I drink Mirror Pond when I have no home brew, which actually includes some beer with the hops. Go figure.

[jexxx]

Hi thanks for the great recipe. I plan to try it today and hopefully if i find all the ingredients, I will be drinking my own bootleg beer in 3 weeks or so. I was wondering what you have to do to the beer to get that clear look that all commercial beers have. Is it micro filtered or are additives used to clarify it so that it doesn't have that murky look to it? I have heard that things like gypsum are used.

[imarunner2]

Yes, the commercial brewers filter their beer but most home-brewed beers fall clear with more time. I was anxious to post this instructable and didn't wait long enough for the beer pictured. (It tasted fine, by the way, but would have looked better if I'd waited another week or two.) Some styles, like most wheat beers, are actually supposed to be cloudy. Gypsum is sometimes added to water used in mashing an all-grain brew but I've never heard of it being added as a clarifying agent. Irish moss however is often added in the last 15 minutes of the boil to help clarify the wort. I sometimes use it and sometimes do not. Most beers have fallen clear either way after enough time. I'll post more pictures of a few beers I've brewed since this one so you can see. Cheers!

[agendavid]

Irish Moss can be introduced during the last 10 - 15 minutes of the boil which can assist in wort clarification. You can buy this in tablet form...use maybe half a tablet for a 2.5 gal batch. Cheers!

[imarunner2]

I should have said "most" commercial brewers filter their beer. The big, mass market brewers certainly do. There are others who do not filter their beers and some who even add additional yeast at bottling time in order to "bottle condition" their beers.

[MisterSteve124]

Hi Great instructable I plan on trying it tomorrow but after it ferments could I put it in another fermenter with just a cap so that it carbonates in that instead of the bottles? I'm pretty sure that would work but just making sure. Thanks

[imarunner2]

You have to be very careful here. The container used must be able to withstand the pressure created by the carbonation that takes place in a sealed container. Soda bottles work pretty well I've found. Too much priming sugar or a container that can not withstand the pressure could cause the container to burst. Obviously, if the container is glass it would be very dangerous. In any case an exploding container would make one mell of a hess!