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Drinks
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Diy Beer
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First, you need to buy all the equipment, ingredients, and instructions,
Making your own beer is fun, and we'll tell you a little bit about it, the
focus here is on how to whip up beer within the confines of your own home.
The basic home brewing equipment is not all that expensive, you can probably
get everything you need to start for '30 to '60 . In order to start brewing,
you will need the following items.
- Brew pot
- Primary fermenter
- Airlock and stopper
- Plastic hose
- Bottling bucket
- Bottles
- Bottle capper
- Stick-on thermometer
Brew pot
A brew pot is a huge pot made of stainless steel or enamel-coated metal
which is of at least 16 quart capacity. You might have a huge pot at home
already, but it's no good if it's made of aluminium or if it's a chipped
enamel pot. These will make the beer taste funny. You use the brew pot to
boil up the beer ingredients.
Primary fermenter
The primary fermenter is where the wort goes after you've boiled it, and
it's where the beer begins to ferment. The primary fermenter must have a
minimum capacity of 7 gallons, and a lid which seals airtight and
accommodates the airlock and rubber stopper. You've got to buy one that's
made for the purpose. Make sure the one you buy is made of food-grade
plastic.
Airlock and stopper
The airlock is a handy gadget which allows carbon dioxide to escape from
your primary fermenter during fermentation, thus keeping it from exploding,
but doesn't allow any of the bad air from outside to enter your beer's
hygienic little world. It fits into a rubber stopper which has a hole
drilled into it, and the stopper goes in the top of your primary fermenter.
Plastic hose
Ordinary five foot length of food-grade plastic hose. You need it to
transfer beer from place to place, and you need to keep it clean and free of
kinks or leaks.
Bottling bucket
This is a large, food grade plastic bucket with a spigot at the bottom. It
must be at least as big as your primary fermenter, because you need to pour
all the liquid from your primary fermenter into your bottling bucket.
Bottles
After primary fermentation, you place the beer in bottles for secondary
fermentation and storage. You need enough bottles to hold all the beer
you're going to make , so if you're using 16 ounce bottles you'll need 40).
The best kind of bottles are solid glass ones with smooth tops that will
accept a cap from a bottle capper.
Whether you use glass or plastic bottles, make sure they are dark-coloured.
Light damages beer, so you want your bottles to be as dark as possible.
Bottle capper
If you buy glass bottles, you will need some sort of bottle capper to secure
the caps on them. You'll also need caps, of course, and you can buy them
from any brewing supplies store. The best sort of bottle capper is one which
can be affixed to a surface and worked with one hand while you hold the
bottle with the other.
Stick-on thermometer
This is a thermometer which you can apply to the side of your primary
fermenter. They look like thin strips of plastic and they are backed with an
adhesive. You can purchase them online, from a brewing supplies store, or
from a pet store or aquarium store.
Beer Kits
The beginning brewer, should start with a beer kit, this tells you what
kind of beer it will make and includes all the necessary ingredients. A beer
kit consists of a big can of hopped malt concentrate and a packet of yeast.
You will also need to purchase additional "fermentables". Common additional
fermentables are include brewers sugar, dry malt extract, liquid malt
extract, rice syrup, Demerara sugar.
Clean Everything.
You must clean and sanitize all of your equipment right before you start
brewing, and keep everything clean throughout the process. Bacteria and
fungi are everywhere and if enough of them get into your beer they will
completely ruin it. |
