Homebrewing Beer for Beginners: How to Make Beer at Home

welcome to home brewing hobby obsession way of life this video will show you how to brew your own beer at home using one of northern brewers brewing starter kits will specifically be using northern brewers big mouth bubbler starter kit shown here your equipment may be slightly different than what is seen in this video don't worry the concepts and directions shown here will translate over to the starter kit you've chosen brewing beer might seem like a mysterious process but it's really not brewing is boiling liquid moving liquid from vessel to vessel keeping equipment clean and sanitized and waiting for yeast to work its magic if you can make mac and cheese from a box without help you can make beer and we're going to show you how in this video you'll see that three stages of making beer with your Northern Brewer Big Mouth bubbler starter kit first the actual brewing where malt extract and hops are boiled in water to make wort the brewers term for unfermented beer next fermenting which is when the word that we brewed is turned into beer by the yeast finally bottling where the flat beer is bottled with a little dose of sugar for priming the brewers term for carbonating in bottles and that's all there is to it boiling liquid moving liquid keeping things clean and sanitized and waiting for the yeast to do the rest before we get started let's go over the four things you will need 1 a starter kit 2 a Northern Brewer recipe kit which will include the ingredients malt extract hops possibly some grains and any other ingredients specific to the recipe you'll also find a packet of either liquid or dry yeast which you'll have selected a check out.3 a boil kettle that can hold at least 4 gallons of liquid we're going to use our 5-gallon stainless-steel kettle for this video 4 bottles for your finished beer you'll need approximately two cases of clean pry off 2 beer bottles Brown glass is the best let's get on to our brew day carefully unpack all of the equipment from your new starter kit box check to make sure you have everything listed in your instructional packet next open your recipe kit unpack the contents and make sure you have all the ingredients for your recipe listed on the instruction sheet read through your instruction sheet completely before starting your brew day each sheet will be different depending on your recipe make sure you understand the steps so that we don't make a mistake or take the steps out of order if you have a liquid yeast specifically a smack pack you need to prep the yeast for later read the directions on the back of the packaging isolate the inner nutrient bag and carefully smack the pack to break open the inner nutrient bag fill the pack and make sure the nutrient bag has been completely broken shake this Mack pack to mix up the nutrient and set the yeast aside for later with the yeast ready it's time to collect two and a half gallons of water in the boil kettle and start heating it on the stove any good quality drinking water tap water or otherwise is fine if the water tastes good it will make great beer the boil kettle is ready and we're going to brew the caribou slobber brown ale on brewing day we will boil the malt extract and hops in water to make the work and then we'll cool the wort if your recipe kit includes specialty grains it also includes a muslin bag for steeping put the muslin bag over the open sack of grain tip the sack and slowly pour the grain into the muslin bag tie a knot near the top of the muslin bag so the grain doesn't spill while steeping as the water heats steep the specialty grains specialty grains give an extra color and flavor to the finished beer steep the grain for 20 minutes or until the water reaches approximately 170 degrees Fahrenheit whichever comes first not every Northern Brewer recipe kit comes with specialty Rane if your recipe kit doesn't call for specialty grain you can skip ahead to adding malt extract speaking of adding liquid malt extract here's a tip a few minutes before you need it put the open jug of syrup in a sink or tub of hot water this will make it easier to pour when it's time to add it to the kettle when you've reached 170 degrees or 20 minutes with your grains lift them out and let them drain don't squeeze the bag bring the kettle to a boil turn the heat off and then add the malt extract your recipe kit may include liquid malt extract syrup dry malt extract or both the caribou slobber has both it's important to turn the heat off before you add the extract liquid malt extract especially will sink to the bottom of the kettle if the heat is on it will scorch with the heat off pour the liquid malt extract slowly pour the dry malt extract quickly stir until the malt extract is fully dissolved then turn the heat back on and bring it to a boil when it starts to boil set a timer for 60 minutes this boiling liquid is now called Wirt or unfermented beer the work will be boiled for 60 minutes during which we add the hops at the time specified on your recipe sheet your recipe kits instructions show the time for each hop addition and any additional ingredients if necessary for this particular recipe the caribou slobber we have three separate additions one it's 60 minutes another at 45 minutes and a third at 15 minutes this is the amount of time each hop addition needs to be boiled the first or 60 minute addition goes in right away and is boiled for the entire 60 minutes the second addition is added 15 minutes later or with 45 minutes remaining in the boil the last addition is added 45 minutes into loyal or with 15 minutes remaining your recipe kit may call for additional ingredients like spices sugars fruit or additional malt extract treat these just like hops and add them to the kettle at their specific times remaining in the boil caution when you boil work it creates froth when you add boil additions like hops spices or sugars it creates a lot of froth because word is very sugary boil overs are sticky if the froth begins to build up stir the kettle vigorously if this doesn't work turn the heat off or down and remove the kettle from the heat source here's an example of what a boil over looks like try not to let this happen on your stove however if it does stop your process clean up the mess first then go back to brewing it's easier to clean up that sticky mess now than it is after letting it scorch for 60 minutes once the 60 minute boil is finished and all kettle additions have been made the work needs to be cooled to 80 degrees Fahrenheit or below before we can add our yeast and proceed to stage 2 fermentation we're going to use a simple cold water bath to cool the word replace the cold water as necessary or add ice to the water bath to speed up the process keep the work mostly covered to protect it from airborne microbes that could spoil the work in the future when the side of the kettle is about room temperature lukewarm not hot to the touch it's time to get ready for fermentation while the word is cooling it's time to do the most important task of the entire brewing process sanitizing it's impossible to make good beer with dirty equipment so everything that comes in contact with the word or beer from now on must be sanitized first assemble the bottling bucket and psiphon the gasket and spigot go on the outside of the bucket the nut goes on the inside hand-tighten don't over-tighten it or you'll deform the gasket and cause a leak leak test the bucket with plain water before proceeding use the sanitizer included in your starter kit to sanitize the equipment directions for the appropriate dilution of your sanitizer will be listed on the packaging use the gradient lines on your bucket to measure the appropriate amount of water make sure the sanitizing solution is well mixed this solution will sanitize the bucket also put any smaller equipment needed for the next step in the bucket this could include a funnel an airlock a bung or the lid for your fermenter you can also add your yeast packet most sanitizers require only two minutes of contact time to be effective check your sanitizer packaging for specific requirements it is very important to not rinse a sanitizer from your equipment some sanitizers create foam foam is okay it won't hurt your beer nor will it impart any flavor or aroma don't fear the phone while you have the pre-measured sanitizing solution in the graduated bucket put five gallons into your six or six and a half gallon primary fermenter bigmouth plastic bubblers have gallon graduations molded into the plastic if you're using glass you'll need to mark the carboy at the five gallon mark tape or permanent marker works well for this allow the sanitizer to touch all inside surfaces of your fermenter when the word in the kettle is cooled and the fermentation equipment is sanitized it's time to fill the fermenter pour the cooled wort into your fermenter leaving behind any thick sludge that is accumulated in the bottom of the kettle you'll have a volume of about two to three gallons in your fermenter you now need to top up the fermenter to five gallons with cool water the side of the fermenter should not be warm to the touch rock the fermentor back and forth for a few minutes to make sure all contents are mixed this process also adds oxygen an important component of a healthy fermentation now it's time to add the yeast if you have dry yeast you can sprinkle it onto the surface of the word if you're using a liquid yeast and prepped it at the beginning of your brew day you will notice that the bag has started to inflate this is a sign of active healthy East open up the package and pour it in fill the air lock with sanitizer and insert it into either the lid or the bung at the top of your fermenter now move your fermenter to a dark out-of-the-way space now it's time for the yeast to go to work within a day or two of brewing day fermentation begins while the yeast convert mulch sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide you will see bubbles coming out of the airlock and foam on the surface of the beer this foam is called croizon croizon is good it's a sign of a healthy fermentation if the croizon tries to escape through the neck of the carboy this is called blow off blow offs can clog up your airlock and eventually push your bong and air lock out and off of your fermenter all together if you see this starting to happen attach a sanitized blow-off hose to the mouth of the carboy and run the other end into a bucket of sanitizer this will act as a giant airlock and will allow excess foam and co2 to escape without making your beer susceptible to outside air roughly one to two weeks from brewing day the fermented beer is transferred to a 5-gallon carboy for secondary fermentation if you do not have a 5-gallon secondary fermenter no problem let your beer sit in your primary fermenter for one to two more weeks and then move to the bottling process if you have a 5-gallon secondary fermenter you'll want to transfer your beer from the primary fermenter into the secondary fermenter this stage allows your beer to clarify age and also gives you an additional vessel so that you can have multiple batches going at all times sanitize the five-gallon fermenter and siphon then rack the Brewers term for transferring the beer from primary to secondary minimizing the amount of splashing splashing causes an uptake of oxygen that can potentially create unwanted flavors in your beer leave behind as much sludge as you can in the primary fermenter start your siphon higher in the carboy and lower it towards the bottom as the transfer continues tilt the carboy near the end of the transfer to make sure you get every last drop of beer without picking up sludge the caribou slobber calls for a one to two week primary fermentation followed by two to four weeks in secondary fermentation before you bottle now that fermentation is finished and the beer has had a chance to age and clarify it's time to bottle assemble the bottling bucket and auto siphon prepare a sanitizing solution and sanitize the bucket siphon bottle filler 3 foot hose and approximately sixty bottle caps you'll also have to sanitize two cases of 12 ounce pry off beer bottles immerse the bottles in your sanitizer for the recommended contact time pour the sanitizer back into the bucket and do not rinse now you need to prepare a priming solution mix 5 ounces of priming sugar in 16 ounces of water the measured dose of sugar will create a small controlled fermentation in the bottles the co2 given off by this fermentation will carbonate the beer bring the priming solution to a boil let it cool for a few minutes then pour it into your sanitized bottling bucket make sure the spigot is closed siphon the beer from the fermenter into the bottling bucket when the bucket is full stir the primed beer gently to make sure your priming solution is dissolved evenly attach one end of the three-foot bottling hose to the clear end of the bottle filler attach the other end of the hose to the spigot on the bottling bucket open the spigot fill the bottles by depressing the bottle filler against the bottom of the bottles the valve will open and the beer will flow lift up on the filler to close the valve when the bottles are full leave about one inch of head space in each bottle put a sanitized bottle cap on a filled bottle Center the Bell of the bottle capper on the cap push down on the levers and release the cap should be crimped tightly after the bottles are filled and capped the beer needs to condition move the bottles to a dark space around 68 degrees Fahrenheit after one to two weeks the bottles should be carbonated and can be stored cool or cold now the moment you've been waiting for like many craft beers your homebrew is bottle conditioned there will be a thin layer of yeast at the bottom of each bottle this is unfiltered natural living beer pour your beer slowly and carefully into a clean glass leaving behind the layer of yeast thanks for joining us for home brewing 101 from Northern Brewer to your house happy brewing Cheers you

Channel: NorthernBrewerTV

Views: 1,176,427

Keywords: brewing beer, home brewing, beer making kit, Homebrewing (Hobby), how to brew beer, making beer at home, northern brewer, beer brewing instructions, Brewing (Industry), making beer, How to make beer, Brewing beer at home, Beer Making, home beer making, homebrewing, extract brewing

Id: jaDQ6S6p6Wk

Length: 17min 10sec (1030 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 09 2015