Home Brewing

Often, when first learning how to make beer, new brewers will be in too much of a rush to get to taste their first batch of brew. The fermentation process should not and cannot be rushed. It is possible that in the rush, beer can be bottled too early--before fermentation is complete. This can lead to bottle bombs, literally exploding bottles of beer.

When it comes time to bottle your beer, you must be absolutely sure that fermentation has completed. You do not want to bottle before this happens, ever. This is one of those lessons that if it happens to you once, you will likely never make the same mistake again. Bottle bombs can still happen even if your beer has finished fermentation. So, here are some tips to help you avoid this big mess.

 First, the most important lesson for those learning how to make beer: Patience is a must. You can't rush the process, you must allow it to happen at its own pace. Waiting is hard, especially for your first batch of beer, but patience is rewarded with great tasting brew. A common rookie mistake is to rely on visual cues to tell when fermentation is complete. Looking for the krausen to fall or lack of activity in the airlock could be indicators that fermentation is complete, but these are not 100% guarantees!

 The only certain way is to check with a hydrometer. Sometimes, stuck fermentation occurs. This is a fermentation that dies off before completing, and must be restarted in order to finish properly. Bottle a beer that has stuck fermentation, and you could wind up with bottle bombs.

 Another cause of bottle bombs is overpriming the bottles--too much sugar added. If you use sugar tablets, you could put too many in a bottle. If adding sugar to the bottling bucket, overpriming can occur by adding too much sugar. It can also happen because you don't stir the sugar well enough to completely dissolve it. As a result, the sugar settles to the bottom of the bucket, and does not get evenly distributed.

Some bottles will not receive enough sugar, others will get too much and produce bottle bombs. Keep in mind that the yeast feeds of sugar. The yeast also gives off CO2. Excessive sugar leads to excessive CO2, and as you guessed, bottle bombs. Even in the case of stuck fermentation, the sugar may reawaken the yeast enough to create a bottle bomb.

Finally, it is possible that the beer may become infected. Some bacteria produce sugars that yeast can't ferment. If these bacteria find their way into your beer, your beer can become contaminated no matter how hard the yeast works. This is why thorough cleaning and sanitation are so important in learning how to make beer.

 It is also important to keep in mind the things that can lead to overcarbonation and bottle bombs. You want to make sure you take the necessary precautions so you will be able to enjoy the delicious beer you worked hard for, as opposed to learning a hard lesson and having to clean up a big mess.  This is one lesson you don't want to have to learn the hard way when you are learning how to make beer.

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Beer ingredient kits are great ways to learn how to make beer. Beer kits provide the very basics you need to brew a batch of beer, without having to worry about the many different variables to the beer brewing process that can be confusing to those just starting to learn how to make beer. 

Beer kits simplify the process so you can first learn the very basic fundamentals of how to make beer, and ensure you have what you need so you can produce your first batch of home brew. However, the kits do have some flaws that can cause you to make a batch of beer that you won't be as happy with.

These flaws can contribute to leaving the newbie discouraged to the point that they may give up on a hobby that they would otherwise have enjoyed for years to come. These flaws can easily be corrected with a couple simple substitutions to ensure your first batch of brew is even better, and will allow you to jump ahead on the learning curve.

The first flaw is the ingredients that come with the kits themselves. You never know just how long the ingredients have been sitting in the can, on a shelf in some warehouse gathering dust. Just as it applies in cooking, the better quality of ingredients you use, the better the resulting product will be.

While fresh ingredients are best, that doesn't mean you can't make a good batch of beer with an ingredient kit. After all, you are first and foremost learning how to make beer and need to learn the basic process, as opposed to trying to create an award winning brew.

The first ingredient you need to concern yourself with is the yeast. Yeast in beer kits can be old, even dead. It isn't a bad idea to buy some brewer's yeast. You can find it at the Local Home Brew Shop (LHBS) or you can purchase it online. Yeast is cheap, but could be a worthwhile investment.

The beer kits also usually come with pre-hopped malt extract. This simplifies the process, but by skipping the pre hopped malt and actually using fresh hops, you can greatly improve the flavor of your beer. It's as simple as adding the fresh hops to the boil and removing/filtering them before fermentation. You can research online to see the recommendation for when to add the hops and how long to leave them in the boil based on the type of hops and the type of beer you are brewing.

The next flaw (and a major one) with kits is the instructions they come with. They are often vague. They also leave out important details that would otherwise be of help to people learning how to make beer. Keep in mind, it is easier for the kit manufacturers to create one generic set of instructions as opposed to creating detailed instructions for each type of beer kit.

The worst flaw of the instructions is the timeline they give for the production of beer. Many kits will tell you that you can be drinking your home brew as soon as 7-10 days after starting. Ignore these directions! Yes, it is possible you could drink your beer this soon, and it might taste ok. However, the main reason these manufacturers tell you this is marketing. But remember--DWHAHB!

Patience will go a long way to improving your beer. Let your beer ferment and age for a reasonable amount of time without rushing it, and you will be glad you did. In general, the kit manufacturers are more concerned with selling more kits than they are with you making the best beer possible. They won't sell as many kits if they say that it could take weeks, or more than a month to produce beer. They would lose people to other pastimes and hobbies that have more instant gratification.

The kit manufacturers also know that the window they have for selling you beer kits is limited. After a few kits under your belt, you are likely to either give up, start brewing from recipes, formulate your own recipes or start all grain brewing. So they want to try and sell as many kits as possible before you move on from kit brewing.

If you see instructions that recommend bottling in 5-10 days, then it is likely a poor quality kit,  poor quality instructions, and the beer will more than likely be better by leaving it for an additional 1-2 weeks. The goal of these beer kits is not to make the best beer possible. Rather, they are simply designed to make beer, period. Hopefully decent beer, but really, anything drinkable in as simple a way possible without introducing too many steps or too much difficulty to scare off or frustrate the new brewer.

Brew kits are excellent ways to learn how to make beer. In fact, many home brewers got started using kits to learn how to make beer. They simplify the process to make it as easy as possible for the beginner. Think of these kits as training wheels.

Once you have learned the basics, the fundamentals of how to make beer, you will soon learn that there are so many ways to improve upon your skills and your beer. You will see that you don't have to make drastic changes to see big improvements. It is also important to know that if you continue to brew with kits, that there is nothing wrong with that.

This type of brewing is known as Extract Brewing. and many home brewers continue to brew this way many years after getting started. Some brew snobs look down on extract brewing, preferring the all grain brewing method. But don't let this crowd discourage you!

While it can be a natural progression to start with extract brewing, then move to partial mash, and then all grain, it is up to you to see where in the spectrum you will fall. It is a matter of personal preference, budget and space considerations, and experience and knowledge. It is possible to skip ahead in the progression.

It is also not required that you "graduate" through the progression. You may decide that you have no desire to try partial mash or all grain brewing. Brewing with a kit keeps the process simple. With a couple tweaks to the formula, you can produce better quality brews, even phenomenal ones! In fact, there are many award winning extract brews out there.

Basically it boils down to what works for you and your particular situation. Not everyone wants to build a giant brewing set up with many pieces of equipment, and added steps to the process--they simply want to quickly and easily produce some decent brew. And there is nothing wrong with this.

Do what works best for you, and if you decide to continue to brew with a kit and extract brewing, know that it doesn't make you less of a brewer! Remember, DWHAHB!

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While the basic process of how to make beer is the same, there are many different ways to achieve the end result. There are many different approaches to brewing beer. Most beginners start with what is known as Extract Brewing, which uses malt extract as opposed to grains. The next level is Partial Mash Brewing, which combines malt extract and grains. Finally, there is All Grain Brewing, which, as you probably guessed, uses only grain for brewing (no extract).

There are several options when it comes to chilling the wort, but they all accomplish the same thing. One step that has been debated endlessly amongst brewers is whether or not to secondary ferment. This basically comes down to a matter of personal preference. Once you have finished fermenting your beer, you can either bottle it, or keg it. Usually  beginners learning how to make beer will bottle it.

Brewing beer has many different ways to accomplish the end result, and is a constant learning process. But because there is no "one" way or "right" way to do it, it leaves many options for home brewers to choose from--which allows the brewer to find what works best for them and to "do it their own way".

As you gain more experience learning how to make beer, you will see that there are more than one way to go about the brewing process, and you can determine which ways work best for you. While the basic process is the same for brewing, there is no right way. Find the way that works for you, and don't worry about how others do it--although you can learn from others, but that doesn't mean you have to do it the way they do.

Your own circumstances will dictate some of your choices for you--for instance, if you live in an apartment, you will have space concerns. You will also likely be using the stovetop for your boils. This can affect what type of brewing you will do, as well as the types of beers you may brew. You may have to figure out creative ways to get around certain limitations, but that can be a fun part of the process.

It is important in the beginning of learning how to make beer that you learn the very fundamentals of the process and master those first. This gives you a solid foundation to build off of. Then, you can start learning about the many different ways to brew. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and more than one way to brew beer. And that is part of the fun of brewing, finding all the different ways to make great beer!
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In learning how to make beer, patience is an important part of the brewing process, and can't be emphasized enough. Another important lesson that ties in with patience is that as you are learning how to make beer, there are many mistakes that can and will be made.

 However, there is no need to fear mistakes, because often they lead to some great beer. It is important for new brewers to know that no matter the error made, NEVER throw out a batch of beer! There is only really one mistake you can make that should result in throwing out a batch of beer: contaminated beer.

Otherwise, there is a good chance that you can salvage a batch of beer and at least make it into something drinkable. It is important new brewers learning how to make beer to keep a detailed log of the entire process. Keep track of ingredients used, each step of the process, temperature and hydrometer readings....everything.

This is VERY important, because first, by keeping detailed notes, you can look back over them once you have finished the brewing process. If your batch of brew turned out great, you will know how to repeat it again in the future. If there were some shortcomings in your brew, or there was anything missing, you will be able to see where you might make tweaks or changes the next time so you can end up with the beer flavor profile you desire.

Second, it is important to keep track of every detail of the process so you have a documented account of your batch. This is very important, because if you made any mistakes or can't figure out what went wrong ot why your beer didn't turn out right, other brewers with more experience will be able to help you. If you cannot provide them with the details of your batch, then they will not be able to advise you as to what you did wrong or how to correct your mistakes.

The brewing community--both online and locally--are tremendous resources to learn more about how to make beer. One benefit  is that you can learn about all of the "rookie mistakes" others have made, so you can avoid them and shorten the learning curve. These more experienced home brewers know a few tricks as well, so they can help you become a brewmaster faster.

Keep in mind, mistakes can often turn into wonderful things, and tasty beer as well! It is difficult to totally ruin a batch of beer and produce something that is undrinkable. Keep in mind that you have to have patience! Time is the friend of fermenting beer. If you think you may have made a mistake, there is no need to panic and toss out your beer. DWHAHB!

Be sure to take advantage of the many online beer brewing forums and don't be afraid to ask questions. Chances are someone else has made the same mistakes you have when they first started learning how to make beer. They can also help you so that if your brew doesn't turn out the way you had hoped, you can still produce a good batch of beer!

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