How to Brew Beer With CO2

Bottle conditioning a home brew traps carbon dioxide inside the beer.

More than 750,000 Americans brew their own beer at home. Ingredients for a 5-gallon batch of beer can cost as little as $25 and produce about 48 12-ounce bottles. At approximately 52 cents per bottle, home brewing is a rewarding activity for the dedicated brewing hobbyist. Dissolved carbon dioxide in the beer provides the texture and distinct head of foam. Proper carbonation can make or break a batch of beer.

Instructions

1. Boil the wort and ferment according to your recipe. Monitor the gravity of the brew using a sanitized hydrometer. Compare the gravity to the recipe's intended bottling and final gravities.

2. Prepare the priming sugar by dissolving the amount of sugar specified in your recipe in warm water. Add the priming sugar to the bottling bucket. Transfer the beer to the bottling bucket when the gravity indicates that fermentation is almost complete.

3. Bottle the beer in dark colored (brown, green or blue) sanitized bottles using your preferred method. Wait approximately 15 minutes before sealing the caps to allow the carbon dioxide to displace the oxygen in the bottle.

4. Store the filled and sealed bottles in a cool, dark area. Cover with a black trash bag if the bottles must be in a bright or lit room. Leave the bottles there for approximately two weeks.

5. Pour one sample bottle to test for proper carbonation. Refrigerate the remaining bottles if the sample was carbonated to taste. Continue storing the bottles in a cool, dark area if your beer tasted flat.

References

• American Homebrewers Association: How to Home Brew Beer
• American Homebrewers Association: Zymurgy: An Introduction to Homebrewing
• Brew Organic: Bottling the Homebrew