Getting started in Home Brewing

It is a fact that most people love beer and if you look into the refrigerator of most homes, you’ll find a couple of bottles of beer for relaxation after a hard day’s work.  But if you have the time and the inclination to start a new hobby, have you wondered if you can make your own beer?  Maybe it will even be better than the one you buy from the stores, and you can say that you made it yourself.

It’s beginning to catch everyone’s fancy especially those that really love their beers.  You don’t really have to be a genius to start the project and it’s just a matter of following instructions until such time that you’re ready to experiment further and tweak the brewing process for yourself.

First things first

Find your local store to get home brew supplies and equipment. If there isn’t one in a reasonable distance home brewing supplies are readily available online. Although speaking to an expert in the brick and mortar store is a great way to learn, there is a wealth of knowledge on home brewing forums.

You’ll need a do-it-yourself home brewery kit.  It’s easy to start with a basic kit that includes all the tools and equipment for making beer.  Kits usually contain

Choose an appropriate recipe to follow, if this is your first time to start a home brewing project, you may want to start with something small and simple.  There are numerous recipes online and in store so you simply have to select one that’s appropriate for your skill, time and budget.

Brew Day Preparation

It’s important to prepare the room where you’ll be doing all your measuring, preparing and stocking of your beer and our ingredients.  Ideally, you need to make this as clean and sanitized as possible because an infected vinegar tasting beer is very disappointing. You have been warned! In my opinion this is the only way you can ever make a bad beer while home brewing.

Do your homework on the home brewing process so you have at least an idea of what to expect once you start.  Read the labels on the ingredients, and set them out in order. Once you’ve gone over the instructions and prepared the room and all that you’ll be needing, you are ready to begin the brewing process.

The Brewing Process

Once you have everything you need – tools, equipment and ingredients, then all that’s needed is to start the process.  The brewing process takes only 5 steps to finish.

• Brewing the beer – micro breweries usually start with preparing the malt and the wort but for home brewing you can easily get these ingredients as part of your home brewing kit.  All it needs is for you to combine them (malt, water and hops) and you’re on your way to brewing your own beer.
• Fermenting – Once you have the wort, you only need to cool it to room temperature and then add the yeast to start the fermentation.  This process can take 1-2 weeks depending on the type of yeast.
• Bottling and Aging – Once fermentation is complete, you can move the beer into separate bottles with their own caps for aging.  It is during this process that your beer will be carbonated as the sugar is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide.  Aging can a month or two if you want a flavorful beer.  After that, you can simply pop the bottle in the refrigerator and drink it straight away.