Once you have gathered all your home brewing equipment and home brewing supplies, including ingredients, you will be all set to make your own beer. In case you have any questions concerning specific equipment or supplies be sure you click the link after this post in order to read more information about home brewing equipment and home brewing supplies.

One of the most crucial steps to making top notch beer is to make sure all your equipment that is going to come in contact with the beer is thoroughly cleaned. Any of the equipment that will actually come in contact with the beer right after the boil also MUST be sanitized. If the equipment is not effectively sanitized unwanted microorganisms can easily ruin the beer, making all your effort a waste of time and energy.

Take time to set up your brewing area. Make sure that all your equipment and ingredients will be easily available. For those who are using liquid yeast, take it out of the fridge so that it is able to warm up to room temperature. Another important thing is record keeping, you should always have a notebook handy for recording all of your brews. It's important to record the ingredients and what quantities were actually used along with times of each step. You'll want to be able to duplicate your best batches as well as gain knowledge from the ones that aren't so good. Let’s begin.

1. Sanitize Equipment. There are many sanitizers to choose from. A few of the standard choices are B-Brite, Star San, and 5-Star. You can also use normal, unscented household bleach at 1 oz. for each gallon of water. If you decide to use bleach be sure you rinse your equipment because it may cause undesirable flavors in the beer. Personally I suggest working with Star San. Put the specified quantity of sanitizer to your fermenter and then fill it to the top with water. Also fill the bottling bucket or some other container with sanitizing solution for sanitizing additional equipment. Put all the equipment that will come in contact with the unfermented beer following the boil in the sanitizing solution. These items will include: airlock, rubber stopper, funnel and strainer.

2. Water For Brewing. Add water to the brew kettle. Remember that there has to be space for your boil. If you have a 5 gallon kettle, only fill it with roughly 3.5 gallons of water. The quality of the water is really important to the finished beer. If your tap water tastes ok at room temperature, it should be fine for brewing. You may want to think about filtering your plain tap water with a standard home water filter if you have access to one. You could also choose to buy bottled water from the grocery store. After you have put the water in the brew kettle put it on your stove top and turn on the burner. Additionally at this time put the unopened container of malt extract in hot tap water. It will warm the extract up and make it easier to remove from the can when you need it.

3. Steep Specialty Grains. This step is optional. Utilizing specialty grains will increase the control you have got over the color and flavor of the finished beer. If you choose to utilize specialty grains put them in the grain bag provided in your home brewing kit. When the water reaches 150 degrees F put the grain bag in the water and steep it for about 30 minutes holding the temperature constant. Once 30 minutes has gone by remove the grain bag and let the liquid drain out. Don’t squeeze the bag, this could likely extract tannins found in the husks of the grain and give the beer an astringent flavor.

4. The Boil. Gently bring the contents of your kettle to a boil. When the liquid starts to boil add the can of malt extract. Be sure to continually stir while adding the extract to ensure that none of it sinks to the bottom and becomes scorched. As soon as the liquid is once again boiling it is time for you to add the bittering hops. Gently add the hops, sometimes the kettle will boil over when the hops are added. Generally the hops are in a pellet form and are added directly to the boil. They're going to settle out following the boil. Take note of the time of your hop addition. Continue to boil for a total time of 60 minutes. DO NOT leave the boil unwatched. It will often boil over just when you least expect it! When there are 20 minutes remaining in the boil put in the Irish Moss. The Irish Moss helps the proteins coagulate following the boil. Do not be concerned if you don’t have the Irish Moss, your beer will be ok without it but I would suggest it for your next brew. Aroma hops are usually added anywhere from 15 to 0 minutes prior to the conclusion of the boil. Refer to the instructions in your recipe. The aroma hops will add an additional hop flavor and aroma to the beer but are not going to add any significant bitterness. Once you have boiled for 60 minutes remove the kettle from the burner. You should probably have some hot mitts handy for moving the hot kettle. The liquid in your kettle is now known as wort (pronounced wert).

5. Cooling The Wort. The wort should really be cooled off as fast as possible. An effective way is to place the kettle in the kitchen sink or bathtub that contains a cold bath of ice water. Leave the kettle in the ice water bath until it is approximately 80 degrees F. Add more ice to the cold bath if needed. Adding ice directly to your wort isn't suggested. Any sort of flavor in the ice will be also added to your beer. You may gently stir the wort in a clockwise motion to help it cool but don't forget to keep your spoon sanitary. Let the wort rest around 10 minutes following the final time that it was stirred prior to transferring to the fermenter. This will permit the particulate matter to settle to the bottom.

6. Prepare The Fermenter. During the time that the wort is cooling drain the sanitizer out of your fermenter. For those who used bleach make sure to give it a rinse. Many of the other sanitizers are a no rinse solution. Just turn the fermenter upside-down and let all of the solution drain out. If your brew kettle has only 4 gallons of wort in it you'll want to add 1 gallon of water to the fermenter. The intent is to have a total amount of 5 gallons in the fermenter. Also remember the water should be the same kind as you previously used in the kettle.

7. Transfer The Cooled Wort Into The Fermenter. Use the sanitized funnel and strainer to slowly pour the wort into your fermenter. It is ok to leave a minor amount of wort behind along with the trub (hops and proteins) in the bottom of the kettle. It's better to lose a small amount of wort and keep the trub out of your fermenter. The ONLY period of time that splashing the wort is encouraged is during and immediately following this particular transfer. Yeast needs oxygen to properly ferment the wort. You should also gently shake your fermenter once all of the wort is in it. A stick on thermometer positioned on the fermenter can be a worthwhile item that will permit you to see when your wort reaches the correct temperature to pitch the yeast.

8. Obtain A Hydrometer Reading. When the wort has cooled to around 70-75 degrees F it is time for you to take a hydrometer reading. If you are using a bucket to ferment it will be easier to obtain a sample than when using a carboy. In either case bear in mind that whatever comes in contact with the wort MUST always be sanitary. Home brew supply shops offer a sample-taker to acquire the wort out from your carboy or you may utilize something such as a turkey baster. This hydrometer reading is referred to as the original gravity. It will be used with a final gravity reading taken once the beer is fermented to compute the alcohol percentage. Skip this step if you don't possess a hydrometer. It is not essential to take these readings but you will surely want to get one if you decide to continue to make your own beer.

9. Pitch The Yeast. The time has come to pitch (add) the yeast. Make sure that your wort is 70-75 degrees F if you are pitching an ale yeast. For beginners I would not suggest using lager yeast considering that it necessitates cooler fermentation temperatures and takes a lot longer to ferment. If you are utilizing dry yeast follow any instructions for hydrating the yeast on the package prior to adding it to the fermenter. When you are using liquid yeast, shake it in the tube and then add it directly to the fermenter. Once the yeast is pitched insert the rubber stopper with the airlock in the top of the carboy or put the lid on the bucket and insert the airlock. Carefully agitate the fermenter to stir the yeast around.

10. Fermentation. Put the fermenter in a location that is around 65-70 degrees F. It's also important to keep it someplace that is dark or covered with a towel to keep light out. The airlock should be steadily bubbling in about 24 hours. Fermentation periods will vary but it normally takes 3 to 7 days for ale yeasts. Once your initial fermentation stops allow another 7 days for settling for a total of roughly two weeks before bottling the beer.

Hopefully these instructions were useful to you. Once you have completed these steps you will be on the way to having your very own home brewed beer to drink and enjoy!