How Do You Make Beer With a beer kit?

How Do You Make Beer With a beer kit? There are many different ways to make beer, the easiest way to make beer is to simply use a beer kit.

Below I will cover all the equipment you need to get started,and cover all the steps to brewing your first batch of beer with a beer kit.If your a beginner i suggest you start with a beer kit,then once you have learned more about brewing your own beer,you can start adding other ingredients to enhance the flavor of a beer kit to your taste by adding extra hops,dry malt,or more corn sugar {dextrose} to increase the alcohol content and so on.Then move forward from there or just stick with beer kits its up to you.People use different equipment and methods,when brewing with a beer kit. This is one of them.

So here are the things you will need to make beer from a kit....

Sanitizer You can buy a no rinse sanitizer or you can use unscented household bleach not javex, note: if you decide to use bleach make Sure to rinse everything very well until the odor is completely gone. Avoid any forms of detergent or soap.

A Kettle you need a kettle big enough to boil a gallon of water

A Fermenter - The cheapest way is to use a 6.5 gallon bucket with a Lid and Spigot

A airlock and rubber grommet for the fermenter,this is inserted in the hole on the lid, this is needed to let the gas escape and to keep bacteria from getting in. (airlock and rubber grommet sold separately does not come with with the 6.5 gallon bucket} unless you buy a full kit.

A Adhesive Strip Thermometer to stick on the side of your fermenter to be able check the temperature of the beer,the temperature needs to be between 21°C/69° F - 27°C/80° F before you can add the yeast {very important}

A hydrometer this is used to to measure the specific gravity of the beer and the potential alcohol content so you know when your beer is ready to be bottled.

Gloves so you don't burn your hands with the boiling water

A spoon plastic or metal to stir the ingredients

A Funnel to prime your bottles with corn sugar before adding the beer, corn sugar is added to produce the carbonation, or go with the carbonated drops that is what i use it is much easier.

Bottles and caps to bottle your beer i prefer plastic bottles because glass ones can explode if over carbonated so plastic is safer but it up to you.

A Bottle Filler to fill your bottles

A capper to put the caps on your beer bottles unless your using screw on caps

A place to store the fermenter for 1 weeks or more in a raised position in a room temperature of 21°C/69° F - 27°C/80° F, it is very important to keep the beer at 21°C-27°C or the fermentation will stop.

Now for the ingredients you will need....

• 1 Can of Coopers Hopped Malt Concentrate of your choice {recipe may vary so read this instructions in the beer kit} make sure the malt is hopped or you will need to add the hops yourself
• 1 kg of corn sugar {dextrose} {you will need more sugar if you are going to use the corn sugar to prime your bottles} or you can use the carbonated drops instead.
• 23 liters/6 gallons of good water
• Yeast but this is supplied in the beer kit under the cover.
  

Step 1. Clean and Sanitize all of your equipment,this is a very important step you do not want to contaminate your beer, as i mentioned before you can buy a no rinse sanitizer or you can use unscented household bleach not javex, Note: if you decide to use bleach make Sure to rinse everything very well until the bleach odor is completely gone.
Avoid using any forms of detergent or soap.

Here is the bleach method

First make sure the spigot on the fermenter is closed,then fill up your fermenter with 23 liters of cool water then mark the 23 liter mark on the fermenter with a marker if it is not already marked, now add 1/2 cup of unscented household bleach buy the cheap brand/not javex, put all the equipment in the fermenter, let it soak for 30 minutes after rinse everything very well with hot water until the bleach smell is completely gone.

Step 2 Prepare the Malt extract.... remove the plastic cover on the malt extract,the yeast sachet and instruction, soak the can of malt upside down in the sink for 10 minutes in hot water to soften the malt.while you wait again make sure the spigot on the fermenter is closed cause we will be adding our liquids next.

Step 3 Open the can of malt extract from the bottom and empty the contents in the fermenter add some warm water to the can and rinse out all the malt extract into mixture.Add 1 kg of corn Sugar.

Step 4 Boil 2 liters of water in a kettle.Add the 2 liters of boiling water to the mixture.Stir thoroughly until everything has dissolved

Step 5 Make sure you put the fermenter in a raised position in an area which will maintain the temperature at 21°C/69° F - 27°C/80° F. Place your fermenter now cause you wont be able to move it later.

Step 6 Fill up the fermenter with cold water to the 23 liter mark. then stir well.

Step 7 Check the temperature with a thermometer and make sure that it is between 21°C/69° F - 27°C/80° F before you add the yeast. Once temperature is ok add the yeast,sprinkle the yeast evenly over the surface stir and cover immediately. now insert the rubber grommet and airlock in the hole on the top of the lid then fill the airlock half full with water.

Step 8 Check for a good seal, push the top of the cover,the airlock should bubble and the water level should go up if not make sure that the rubber grommet and airlock are inserted securely.

Step 9 Maintain the temperature of the beer at 21°C/69° F - 27°C/80° F this is very important cause if the temperature gets out of this range the fermentation will stop.

• After several hours to a day the airlock will start bubbling this means the fermentation process has begun.The airlock will continue to bubble, slowing down towards the end of fermentation.

Step 10 Is to wait... it will take about a week or more for the fermentation process to be complete.

Step 11 On the day 4 and day 7 check if your beer is ready to bottle, Use your hydrometer to measure the gravity of the beer, pour some beer in a cup or tube, fill the cup or tube with enough beer so the hydrometer floats. Read the graduated scale where the beer level arrives. while the fermentation progresses the beer becomes less dense and the hydrometer will sink lower into the cup or tube. When the beer is ready to bottle, the reading should be between 1039-1040 if it is not ready yet leave it to brew longer check the brew with the hydrometer everyday until it's ready.

Step 12 Once the beer is ready to bottle clean and sanitize your bottles and caps to prepare for bottling.

Step 13 Add carbonation drops or corn sugar in the bottles to prime the bottles for the secondary fermentation process.Use 1 carbonated drop or 1 level teaspoon of corn sugar for 345-375ml bottles or 2 carbonated drops or 2 teaspoons of corn sugar for 740-750ml bottles.

Step 14 Attach the bottler to the spigot. Place the bottles over the bottler.. Touch the bottom of the bottle so it will open the valve at the end and begin to fill the bottle slowly. Fill the bottle 2 inches from the top, if there is to much foam turn the tap on the spigot off a little to slow down the flow of the beer. Fill the other bottles, leave the last inch of beer in the fermenter this will be thrown away because it contains the thick yeast.

Step 15 Put your caps on the bottles with capper unless you have the screw on caps and move each bottle in a up and down motion a few times to mix the sugar with the beer. Store the bottles upright in a room temperature of 21°C/69° F – 27°C/80° F for 2 weeks.taste the beer after 2 weeks it should be ready you can leave it longer to enhance the flavor.

Step 16 Invite some friends over for a good home brewed beer  Enjoy.