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Craft Brewing
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How is beer brewed?
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What do I need?
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Craft Brewing is the art of handmade, individual beers produced in small batches. Some of the world's finest beer are produced in the basements of home brewers and you can easily join their ranks. Before getting started you'll probably want some answers to a few questions:
Is it legal? Yes it is. A federal law permits any adult to make up to 100 gallons per year in a 2 adult household. Most states have followed suit.
Is it expensive? No! You'll brew premium beers at less than the cost of many commercial brands. Once you've made an initial investment in reusable equipment, you need only replenish ingredients each time you brew. Most of the expense of commercial beers is the bottle, the label, distribution and advertising. You put all the cost in creating a great brew!
Is it difficult? No. The brewing process is a simple one of attention to cleanliness, combining good ingredients and letting brewing yeast do its magic. Ingredient kits make it even easier by providing all the supplies necessary in convenient pre-measured quantities, plus clear step-by-step instructions.
Is it good beer? Absolutely! A good home-brewed beer rivals the world's finest beers. Plus, they are made precisely to your taste with only the finest ingredients, never travel and condition naturally.
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Simple Four Step Process
Step One: You'll gather all materials together, clean and sanitize all equipment.
Step Two: Ingredients are combined in boiling water, then transferred to a fermentation vessel with more water. Pitch yeast and your brew has begun. Fermentation will begin within 24 hours and continue for several days. Allow several more days for settling and you're ready to bottle.
Step Three: Following the fermentation period, beer is siphoned into a bottling bucket, sugar for carbonation is added, the beer is transferred into sanitized bottles and the bottles are capped.
Step Four: Within a month after bottling you'll have clear beer. It lends itself to sampling sooner, but extended aging improves quality and balance in a home-brewed beer.
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- Malted Barley - grain which has be sprouted and dried, producing enzyme changes which make fermentation possible. The malted barley may be used in grain form or it may be processed into condensed extract or dry powder.
- Hops - cone shaped brachts grown on vines and containing bitter acid called lupulins at their base. They add both bitterness and aroma to the beer as well as a preservative.
- Yeast - a user friendly fungus which consumes sugar and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide through the fermentation process.
- Pure Water - water purity plays an important role in beer-making. Never use anything less than pure drinking water.
- Bottle brush - a specially size and shaped brush for cleaning those bottles with accumulated sediment.
- Thermometer - adhesive thermometer which is attached to the fermentor to monitor brewing temperature.
- Hydrometer - an instrument to measure initial and final specific gravity of a liquid to monitor fermentation.
- Bottle Capper - double lever hand tool to affix caps
- Airlock - allows the escape of carbon dioxide
- Cleanser - cleaning agent essential to the brewing process.
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