How to brew an Extract Beer
Part 2 - Actual Brewing Process
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By Gary Cathey |
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Carolina Brewmasters Web Page Editor |
Ok ! We have our equipment and the
ingredients so lets get to brewing !
This is the way I do an extract brew and
this is just a starting point to get you started with your brewing. So
here we go !
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the equipment out and have it ready to go. You should let the yeast lay
on the counter and warm up during the brewing period. Take the Boiling
pot and put 2 to 2 1/2 gallons of tap water ( let this sit overnight if
you have chlorine in your water - or bottled water can be used also). You should turn on the heat and warm
this to 150 to 155 degrees. While this is warming you should take the
Cara Pils Dextrin Malt and put it into the small grain bag. Tie a knot
in the top so the grain will not come out. When the water has reached
the proper temperature, dip the grain bag in and out of the water
several times and then drop it into the pot and put the lid on. (I
generally turn my oven on and have it set at a little less than
200 degrees. I then put the pot into the oven) Let this sit
for about 30 minutes (this is called steeping) and at the end of the 30 minutes, remove
(from
oven) and drain the grain bag. Open your bag of DME and mix this into
the mixture. You need to stir a lot and be sure the DME is thoroughly
mixed well before putting back on the heat. Put back on the stove (or gas burner) and bring to a
boil.
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Grains about to go into brew pot
for steeping
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Grains have steeped for 30 minutes |
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Once the mixture comes to a boil
(start your timer or look at the clock - you want to have an hour boil) you must carefully watch the mixture because the foam
will try to boil over so keep some water close by ( I use ice cubes -
just drop 1 or 2 into the boil ) to keep the
foam down.
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DME has been mixed in and back on heat
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About to boil over - I use ice to control this |
| You will also add the Saaz hops at this time. Homebrew shops have
hop bags to put the hops in if you care to get one of these. (I do use a
hop bag but the hops can just be put into the boil) After
several minutes, the foam will die down and you want a to keep a
nice little boil going.
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Saaz Hops and a Hop bag |
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Boil in progress |
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You should go ahead and sanitize your
Fermentation device (Carboy or Plastic Bucket) while the boil is going
so it will be ready when needed. You should now put your nose over the pot and take
in the great aroma of your beer. You will love that - but be careful not
to burn yourself !
Continue to boil for
45 minutes. Then add the Irish Moss to the pot. Boil for about another 13
minutes (total of 58 minutes so far) and add the Perle hops. After 2
minutes cut the heat and if you used hop bags, remove them at this time
and let them drain. From this point forward -
everything the wort touches MUST BE SANITIZED. You need to fill the sink (or
a big cooler) with Ice water well before the
end of the boil. Put the Pot into the Ice Water and watch the
temperature. Keep adding ice (to the sink - not the beer itself) until you get the temp of the wort (the
mixture in the pot) down below 80 degrees. You need to have (the
Primary Fermentation Vessel) the plastic bucket or the glass carboy
(whichever you have chosen) sanitized. It should be cleaned and then the
sanitizer put in for a while ahead of time.
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Irish Moss and a Whirlfloc tablet (Same as Irish
Moss but in tablet form) |
Hot wort is now in ice water to bring the
temperature down |
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Remove the sanitizer from the
vessel and the
wort then should be transferred to the fermenter (through a funnel with
a strainer is recommended). You can add some cold water to the fermenter
before you transfer the wort. You need to top up the fermenter to the 5
gallon level with water (that has sit overnight if you have chlorine).
Now shake the fermenter to mix everything well and to help aerate the
wort. Now, shake the yeast tube. Open slowly because it will be under a
little pressure - and pour into the
fermenter. Now re-shake the fermenter again to mix in the yeast. You
should have the cork and airlock sanitized and put water in the airlock
up to the water line and put the lid on. Put the airlock through the
cork and now put it into the fermenter as shown in the picture. The
fermenter should be put in a dark area (or wrap with a large dark
garbage bag) and kept at a temperature of 65 to 70 degrees if possible. |
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Funnel the wort into the Carboy |
Air lock in place -Ready to ferment now ! |
OK, we are now ready for the
fermentation to begin and we are on our way !
It
could take up to 24 hours before the bubbling in the airlock begins.
Part
3 - Fermentation is now online ! Click here for this
part.
