1. Beginners
Beginner Questions
1.1 What do I need to start?
1.2 What type of beer is easiest to make at home?
1.3 Can I make beer without alcohol?
1.4 How long does it take to make a batch?
1. 1 What do I need to start?
To get started in home brewing, you will need a fermenter, priming tank, hydrometer, thermometer, bottle capper, caps, bottles (48 twelve oz. pry-off beer bottles or equivalent for a 5 gallon batch), 4' of siphon tubing, sanitizing solution, basic guidebook, and ingredients for your first batch, usually a brewing kit. (Check out our Homebrew equitment kits on our website) for a package deal on what you need to get started.
1.2 What type of beer is easiest?
Easiest to brew are ales, wheat beers, stouts, and porters. All of these use hardy ale yeast, which can ferment at warmer temperatures (60° - 75° F.), and mature faster than the fussier lager beers. Ales can be ready to drink 5 weeks after the start of the brewing process. Lagers are the hardest to brew because they require refrigerated fermentation and aging for an authentic flavor. A lager should be brewed at 51°- 55° F., and aged at 40° F for at least 6 weeks after bottling.
1.3 Can I make beer without alcohol?
It is extremely difficult to make beer without alcohol. We have tried fermenting beer, and then boiling it for an hour to remove the alcohol, but found that a 4% beer still had over 2% alcohol in it after an hour boil. The problem is, when you boil beer that is fermented, you also boil some yeast cells, which give the beer an unpleasant cooked yeast flavor. Commercial breweries use advanced centrifuges and filters to remove alcohol without damaging heat, equipment that is not available to the home brewer. It is possible to make a low alcohol beer (under 3%) beer at home, by using a low amount of fermentable malt extract (4 lbs. in 5 gallons), although the beer will have a correspondingly weaker flavor than a beer made with 6 lbs. of malt extract or more.
1.4 How long does it take to make a batch?
For our Beginner Kits, allow 5 weeks from starting the yeast pack to drinking your first bottle. For Intermediate Kits, allow up to 3 months for extended refrigerating aging if they are lagers or pilsners, and 5 weeks for ales. Our Mead Kits require about 6 months from start to finish.
