Changes

From BrewWiki
Jump to: navigation, search

Brewing Your First Beer

1,864 bytes added, 04:36, 25 June 2006
* '''1 Package of Wyeast American Ale liquid Yeast (#1056)''' [ or White Labs California Ale #WLP001 ]
* '''2/3 cup Priming Sugar''' - such as corn sugar. Also available from your brew store or grocer.
 
==The Extract Brewing Process==
Brewing consists of five simple stages.
 
# Brewing the Beer - The pale malt extract and hops are boiled together with water for about an hour to sterilize the extract and release the bittering qualities of the hops. Frequently grains are steeped in the mixture prior to the boil to add additional color and flavor complexity.
# Cooling and Fermenting - The hot mixture (called wort) is cooled to room temperature and siphoned or transferred to a fermenter where it is combined with additional water to achieve the desired 5 gallon batch size. Once the mixture drops to room temperature, yeast is added to start the fermentation process. Cleanliness and sterilization are very important since the wort can be easily infected by bacteria while in this state. An airlock is used to keep the fermenter sealed during fermentation. Your beer will ferment for 1-2 weeks.
# Priming and Bottling - Once the beer is fully fermented, it is usually siphoned to another container to prepare for bottling. Here priming sugars such as corn sugar sugar are mixed with the beer, and then it is siphoned into bottles and each bottle is capped with a bottle capping device.
# Aging - Once the beer has been bottled it needs to age for 2-6 weeks. During aging the yeast will ferment the remaining sugar you added and create carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide will naturally carbonate your beer so it is nice an bubbly. In addition, undesirable sediments such as excess yeast and proteins will drop out of the beer during aging and this will enhance the flavor of your beer. In some cases it may take several months to reach peak flavor, though it is usually drinkable after a month.
# Drinking - When the beer is properly aged - just put the bottles in the fridge and enjoy! There's nothing quite like a great beer that you made yourself.