Here is a two part look at the basic process of extract beer brewing. The most important thing in all beer brewing is making sure all of the equipment that will come into contact with your beer is sanitized first. It is not a bad idea to keep a spray bottle of sanitizer and water nearby, as often in the beer brewing process it is necessary to re-sanitize something. Alternatively, you could keep a bucket with sanitizer nearby as well. You could use a bottling bucket, or a secondary bucket that comes with many starter kits.
Next, you need to have your water ready. You can use tap water, or bottled water. If you use tap water, you want to make sure to boil it for 15 minutes to boil off the chlorine before using it for your beer.
Next, you will want to make sure you have all of your beer ingredients in place. If you are brewing with an ingredient kit, then you will only have a few items. Some more advanced kits will include specialty grains that come with mesh bags. If the grains haven't been crushed, you will need to crush them yourself before placing them in the bag and steeping them. You can use a rolling pin for this. Then, simply follow the kit instructions.
Bring your water to a boil, and remove from the stove. Stir in the malt extract and stir thoroughly so that the extract doesn't sink to the bottom and become scorched. Then put the pot back onto the heat for however long the instructions call for. Keep a watch on the pot to avoid messy boilovers. You may want to keep a spray bottle of water nearby to help prevent a boilover. Simply spray down the foam. One note--this spray bottle should only contain water, do not mix it up with the spray bottle of sanitized water!) During the boil, you can add hops accordingly. Bittering hops are added early in the boil and boiled the longest, while aromatic and flavoring hops are added closer to the end.
After you have completed the boil, you need to quickly cool your wort to below 80 degrees. This is easily done with an ice bath in the kitchen sink or bathtub. You can also buy an immersion chiller to speed up the process. Once the wort has cooled, you are ready to transfer it to the fermenter.
If you splash your wort during the transfer, this is ok to do. You do not want to splash or agitate your beer at any other time during the beer brewing process because this will allow air into your beer, and air contains germs, bacteria and wild yeasts, all of which will infect your beer.
However, at this point in the beer brewing process it is ok to allow in oxygen because your wort now needs oxygen for the yeast that you are about to add. Again, this is the only time you want to aerate your beer. Otherwise, keep air out!
Since you are extract brewing, then you will likely be doing what is called a partial boil. You will not be actually brewing 5 gallons of wort. This means you will be using top off water--adding water to the wort in the fermenter to make a full 5 gallon batch. The fact that you are using top off water means you do not have to take any additional steps to aerate the wort. The top off water will provide plenty of oxygen for the yeast.
Next, you need to have your water ready. You can use tap water, or bottled water. If you use tap water, you want to make sure to boil it for 15 minutes to boil off the chlorine before using it for your beer.
Next, you will want to make sure you have all of your beer ingredients in place. If you are brewing with an ingredient kit, then you will only have a few items. Some more advanced kits will include specialty grains that come with mesh bags. If the grains haven't been crushed, you will need to crush them yourself before placing them in the bag and steeping them. You can use a rolling pin for this. Then, simply follow the kit instructions.
Bring your water to a boil, and remove from the stove. Stir in the malt extract and stir thoroughly so that the extract doesn't sink to the bottom and become scorched. Then put the pot back onto the heat for however long the instructions call for. Keep a watch on the pot to avoid messy boilovers. You may want to keep a spray bottle of water nearby to help prevent a boilover. Simply spray down the foam. One note--this spray bottle should only contain water, do not mix it up with the spray bottle of sanitized water!) During the boil, you can add hops accordingly. Bittering hops are added early in the boil and boiled the longest, while aromatic and flavoring hops are added closer to the end.
After you have completed the boil, you need to quickly cool your wort to below 80 degrees. This is easily done with an ice bath in the kitchen sink or bathtub. You can also buy an immersion chiller to speed up the process. Once the wort has cooled, you are ready to transfer it to the fermenter.
If you splash your wort during the transfer, this is ok to do. You do not want to splash or agitate your beer at any other time during the beer brewing process because this will allow air into your beer, and air contains germs, bacteria and wild yeasts, all of which will infect your beer.
However, at this point in the beer brewing process it is ok to allow in oxygen because your wort now needs oxygen for the yeast that you are about to add. Again, this is the only time you want to aerate your beer. Otherwise, keep air out!
Since you are extract brewing, then you will likely be doing what is called a partial boil. You will not be actually brewing 5 gallons of wort. This means you will be using top off water--adding water to the wort in the fermenter to make a full 5 gallon batch. The fact that you are using top off water means you do not have to take any additional steps to aerate the wort. The top off water will provide plenty of oxygen for the yeast.