How to Brew Cheap Beer
- 1). Collect enough water to allow for losses during the boiling process. If your target batch is 5 gallons, you should start with about 7 gallons of water to compensate. Some water will be evaporated during the boil, and more will be absorbed by the hops and grains.
- 2). Place about 2.5 gallons of water in your kettle. Since most stovetop burners struggle to bring large quantities of water to boil, it is best to do a partial boil (boiling the water in small quantities at a time.) If you are fortunate to have a large boiling kettle you can boil the water all at once, which will take upwards of half an hour.
- 3). Add the grains to the water once it has reached a temperature of 140 °F (60 °C). Wait about 20 minutes and remove the grains. Don't leave the grains to steep too long or the tannins will be extracted from the grains giving your beer a strange taste.
- 4). Add the malt extract when the temperature reaches 180 °F (82 °C). Stir constantly as you add the extract so it doesn't pool on the bottom. If you're using dried malt extract add it slowly making sure each clump dissolves before adding more. Now the extract is added, you have wort.
- 5). Watch the wort mixture carefully because it could boil over at this point. A thick head of foam will form after you add the malt extract. If a boil over will happen, it will usually occur within the first 10 minutes.
- 6). Add the hops to the wort mixture when it reaches a rolling boil. How long you leave in the hops depends on the recipe you choose to follow. Different hops are added at different times, whether they are bitter, flavorful or aroma hops. It is wise to put the hops in a straining bag to make cleanup easier.
- 7). Add any other ingredients your recipe calls for such as sugar, flavors, or spices. Add the rest of the extract. If you did a partial boil, you can now add the rest of the extract your recipe called for.
- 8). Chill the wort as quickly as possible once the boil is complete. It should be brought down below 80 °F (27 °C) quickly to prevent dimethyl sulphide production and to ensure the clarity of your beer. If you don't have an immersion chiller and you used the partial boil method you can use a simple ice bath to cool the liquid.
- 9). Use a food-grade sanitizing agent to sanitize the primary fermenter, stopper, airlock and any equipment that might have come in contact with the wort.
- 10
Transfer the cooled wort to the primary fermenter. If you are using a bucket, you can just pour the mixture in directly. For full-boil setups it is easiest to attach a ball valve to the kettle. - 11
Aerate the wort by shaking the fermenter. Add the yeast and put the stopper on the bottle. Place the wort in a cool, dark place to allow it to ferment.
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