Making Homemade Beer
On Monday, October 8, 2001, I tried my hand at making beer at home.
Over the past several months, I have been purchasing the necessary equipment to make beer. I have also been saving non-twist style beer bottles.
Once I had amassed the equipment necessary, I purchased a homebrew ingredient pack to make 5 gallons of “American Light” beer.
The below table outlines what ingredients and equipment I used in this endeavor.
| Ingredients | Equipment |
|---|---|
| 3.3 lbs. plain extra light malt extract | Stainless steel pot (at least 4 gallon capacity) |
| 1 lb. plain light dry malt extract | 6.5 gallon fermenter with grommeted lid |
| 1 lb. rice syrup solids | Airlock for fermenter |
| 1 oz. bittering hops | Siphon (4 feet of siphon tube, bottle filler, racking tube) |
| 1/4 oz. finishing hops | Hydrometer |
| 5 oz. priming sugar | Liquid crystal strip thermometer |
| Beer yeast | 55 beer bottles (12 oz. capacity; non-twist type) |
| Bottle caps | |
| Bottle capper | |
| Bottling bucket with spigot |
October 8, 2001
Wort on stove
Wort in bucket
Fermenter in closet
Airlock
I brought two gallons of water to a boil in a four gallon pot and added the can of malt extract, dry malt extract and bittering hops (they look like rabbit turd and don’t smell much better). After the mixture returned to boil, I let it boil for 55 minutes. I then added the finishing hops (also looked like rabbit turd) and let it boil for 5 more minutes.
I removed the pot from the stove and poured the contents into a 5+ gallon, food-grade, plastic bucket. About 3.5 gallons of cold water was added to the bucket until the level reached the 5 gallon line. The bucket top was then attached and the bucket was transferred to the bathtub (which was not easy because my neck and shoulder were quite sore from sleeping funny). The bathtub was filled and drained several times with cold water to bring the temperature of the wort down to about 70 degrees quickly.
After about 60 minutes, the temperature of the wort had cooled to about 70 degrees. I removed the top of the bucket, took a starting gravity measurement with the hydrometer (1.040) and then sprinkled some yeast onto the wort and stirred well. I reattached the top and made sure that the airlock was in place and half filled with water. The bucket was moved to a closet in my bedroom to keep it away from heat and light.
I checked the bucket after about 4 hours. In the airlock, there seemed to be a lot of very tiny bubbles. I have to keep checking the airlock to see if the air bubbles stop. When they do, it indicates that the beer might be ready.
October 9, 2001
4:00pm — Checked the temperature of the bucket and it’s a bit high—around 76 degrees—should be between 68 and 72. I’ll put some bags of ice around the bucket to try and keep the temp down. The airlock seems to be bubbling every few seconds.
10:00pm — Checked the temperature of the bucket and it’s still a bit high. Moved the bucket into my living room where it is cooler.
The airlock is still bubbling every few seconds.
October 10, 2001
Taking a final gravity reading
7:00pm — Checked the temperature of the bucket and it’s OK at between 72 and 74. Should be a bit lower, but it’ll have to do.
The airlock seems to have stopped bubbling. It was supposed to continue to bubble for about three days. It concerns me that it has stopped so soon.
I took a final gravity reading, and it is at 1.012. It still needs a few more days to reach the desired 1.007-1.010.
October 11, 2001
10:00pm — The temperature is still somewhere between 72 and 74. I watched the airlock between 8:00pm and 10:00pm, and while it didn’t bubble, the center piece did move up about 2/3 of the way, so something is still happening.
I took a final gravity reading, and it is still at 1.012.
There’s no picture today since it’s the same as yesterday.
October 12, 2001
8:00pm — The temperature is still somewhere between 72 and 74. Doesn’t look like I can get it any lower.
The center piece of the airlock is still rising ever so slowly.
Final gravity reading is at 1.011.
There’s no picture today since it’s the same as October 10th.
October 13, 2001
7:00pm — The temperature is still somewhere between 72 and 74.
When I opened the top to take a final gravity reading (1.011), for the first time I could recognize the smell as somewhat like beer.
There’s no picture today since it’s the same as October 10th.
October 24, 2001
9:00pm — OK, the beer making project has been deemed a disaster. The temperature never moved below 72 degrees. The final gravity reading never moved below 1.011. A few people mentioned that the yeast never seemed to really activate.
Oh well, this was just an experiment anyway.
I brew my beer at 75 degrees no problems.Heating belts are set at that temp to.80 degrees is still not a prob.The beer will forment faster and that is good.Anyway i use your convert it when i brew,a great little app.Thanks.
Frank…
It is important that you sterlize everything you use during the brewing process. In addition, you did not mention that you boiled the clean water prior to pouring it in with the wort. This must be done to prevent infection. Another note, you should never open your primary fermentaion bucket during the fermenting process. Something is probably wrong if after two days the bubbling has stopped. I would consult your local brewmaster for more information.
Good luck!!
You did many things wrong!! First off you should have cooled the wort using a wort chiller, or in the sink with ice before transferring it to the fermenter.
# 2. Yeast should be added at 80 degrees, not 70. # 3. Never open the fermenter !!
# 4. You suck at beer making……..
This seems to be a common concern. Also saw this on FAQ from cellar-homebrew.com and according to that, stopped bubbling shouldn’t give any conclusion. The bubbling you saw earlier was actually a result of earlier activity. There might be ongoing yeast activity that just don’t show in the airlock. On the other hand, Mr X was right. You don’t open the fermenter. This will create a different story.
Your cranium must be proetticng some very valuable brains.
You forgot the first thing I did wrong…tried to make beer in the first place!
Please tell me instead of Malt Extract,can I make beer with cooked Barley in water & fermenting it? Other ingradients will be added properly.
Are you sure it was *_not_* rabbit turd? Joking aside, would you not try again until at least you get something that looks like beer? C’mon, show some spirit.
Next time, you should make a yeast starter. This will give the yeast a running start before you add it to the wort. Also, don’t be so concerned about the temperature during the fermentation; keep the beer between 60-75 degrees and it will be fine. Keep it in the dark. To make a yeast starter, boil 2 cups of water and disolve a couple of tablespoons of malt extract or sugar. Let this cool to 90 degrees and toss in the yeast. Pour into the wort.
The love of a ice cold frosted mug of beer inspired me to try my hand at home brew. By the time I purchuched all equipment and ingredients. Cleaning, brewing, storing and cost made me wonder if it was worth it for the adverage beer drinker. Making beer was fun, but between the wait and mosty batches not turning out. I gave up and purchase my favorite brew by the keg. I’m not tring to discurage anyone from making homebrew. I would try to learn all you could by working with a knowledgeable person in the subject.
Beer has been made for ever in open vessels. Opening the bucket, though not reccommended will not kill you. I brew ales all the time that ferment around 70 with no problem other than a fruitier or ester flavor in the finished beer. I would suggest making a starter if you use dry yeast. If possible, make up a smaller batch of wort…like a quart. follow the same directions as making a real batch size, as in cooling it to 70-80 degrees and pitch your dry yeast in that. let it sit covered for 24 hrs. then pitch that into your batch the next day. I use white labs and it’s liquid in a vial so a no brainer…it ALWAYS works! Hope this helped and best of luck. Don’t give up!