How to Make Your Own Beer for an Adult Party

Everything tastes better homemade.

Adults enjoy a good party and good beer to go with it. Making your own beer might even add to the fun. Making beer at home isn't illegal, as long as it isn't intended for sale. Brewing at home isn't that difficult, either. Many consider it a mix between an art and a science. After all, the first beers were homemade batches made by monks in monasteries. There are many different ways to make beer. Once you have mastered the basics you might find yourself moving on to more advanced techniques.

Things You'll Need

• 20-quart brew pot
• Large, non-wood stirring spoon
• Tablespoon
• Measuring cup
• 12-oz.glass jar
• 2 food-grade plastic buckets
• Airlock
• Sanitizer/chlorine bleach
• Plastic wrap
• Oven mitts
• Pan
• 5 gallon brewing kit
• 48 12-oz bottles
• Bottle brush
• Bottle capper
• Bottle caps
• Racking cane/siphon/bottle filler
• 4 or 5 oz sugar

Instructions

Preparation

1. Assemble the brewing ingredients. A common brewing kit contains malt extract, hops and yeast. The malt extract might already be "hopped," in which case the kit comes without hops.

2. Boil water 1 gallon of sterile water for 10 minutes. Cover and let it cool to room temperature.

3. Clean and sanitize all of the brewing equipment. Fill the food grade plastic bucket with 5 gallons of water and 5 tbsp. of chlorine bleach. Soak all the items needing to be sanitized in the bucket for 20 minutes. Remove all items and rinse the bucket. Place the tablespoon in the jar and cover the bucket with the lid

Make the wort

1. Boil 2 gallons of water in the brewpot. Pour that into the plastic bucket and let cool. Boil three more gallons of water in the brewpot.

2. Add the malt extract to the boiling water in the brewpot. Turn off the heat and stir until the extract completely dissolves. Resume heat and continue stirring. Do not allow it to scorch.

3. Add the hops to the boiling brewpot. Foam will form atop the wort until the "hot break." Do not allow it to boil over. The "hot beak" determines the boiling time for the wort and will be anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. Turn off the heat as necessary.

4. Fill the sink with cold water while the brewpot is boiling.

5. Cool the wort. Place the lid on the brewpot and immerse it in cold water sink.

Ferment the wort

1. Pitch the yeast by pouring it into the plastic bucket.

2. Next, pour the cooled wort into the plastic bucket so it splashes around. This motion gives the yeast the oxygen it needs to grow. This is the only step when you will allow oxygen into the beer.

3. Place the lid tightly on the plastic bucket. Store it for two weeks, undisturbed, at a stable room temperature. Insert the airlock once it is in its final location.

Bottle the beer

1. Clean the bottles and bottle caps before using them.

2. Prepare the priming sugar. Boil 2/3 cup of cane sugar in 2 cup of water. Cover the pan and let cool.

3. Pour the primed sugar solution into the empty plastic bucket, which is going to be the bottling bucket. Next, siphon the beer from the full bucket into the bottling bucket.

4. Fill the bottle with the mixed beer. Place the bottle caps on the bottles and crimp then with the bottle capper.

5. Store the bottles away from light is a room temperature location. Allow them to carbonate for two weeks until the beer is finally ready.

References

• How to Brew:A Crash Course in Brewing
• Brew Your Own:New to Brew