Steps to take as a first timer brewery

Question

Hello am all new in this industry, i just bought the brewing kit ,your help will be much appreciated.what are the first steps you take when brewing a beer

Answer 1

Use a kit at least once, maybe even as many as three times or longer if you're happy just using kits. Getting used to the process and how things should look at each step of the way is crucial, and it's very easy to mess up and not realize it if you don't know what to watch out for. I made my second batch ever on my own and, not knowing how to use a hydrometer correctly or do the math for hops, I accidentally put in almost twice the amount of malt extract and 3 times the amount of hops that I should have. It literally turned black. All of this could have been avoided had I just done one or two more kits and tested my hydrometer on them, or realized that almost 4 oz of hops in one gallon of beer was a bit much.

Also reading is very important. You're (probably) not going to figure everything out on your own, so read anything and everything you can! John Palmer's How to brew is a wonderful resource that can take you from your first batch ever to all grain with pictures. And if you read it online it's free!

Answer 2

Get yourself a decent homebrewing book. John Palmer's book "How to Brew" is a great starting place.

Watch some youtube videos on homebrewing. This one has a million views. (You guys are lucky, when I started we didn't have youtube.)

Join a homebrew club and watch someone brew some beer. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) has a ton of information available to newbies...

Answer 3

Hopefully the brewing kit will contain some instructions but as the details of brewing can vary from one type of beer to another - it might be a good idea to provide more detail on the type of kit. I presume it is a pre-hopped "can kit" with some yeast that requires more sugar and water to be added. Or it could be an all grain kit or a dried extract kit with loose hops. Each can have its foibles.

The basic idea to to use a clean fermenting bin (usually 25Lt/5gal) and make sure it is clean and as sterile has is sensible. Rinsing it with boiling water is often a good start although some will stress it should be sterilised with an appropriate agent. Once a clean fermenter is obtained the process can begin. Boil a kettle of water and add it to the bucket. Add the malt extract into the very hot water (helps dissolve and pasteurise). Boil another kettle and use it to wash the can and to dissolve any additional sugar. Once all the ingredients are in the fermenting bin, dilute to the required volume and temperature (18C is usually good). When that is done add the yeast by sprinkling on top. leave for 14 days or so. After that time, I tend to transfer the beer into another bin to leave the settled yeast behind and to add priming sugar. As a guide, add about 130g or so to 24 ltrs of beer. Once primed with the sugar, the beer can be bottled. Leave the beer to condition and carbonate for (at least) 2 weeks.

If the kit has loose/leaf/pellet hops then boil the hops in (say) 3 litres of water for an hour (or whatever time and additions are given with the kit) then strain the hop tea into the fermenting bin and proceed as above.

It is often advisable to make sure the yeast supplied is actually active. To do so make up a starter culture by using a suitable larger bottle or jar. Sterilise it filling with boiling water for a minute or two. Drain and add a table spoon of sugar (or glucose/dextrose) dissolve in a minimum quantity of boiling water. When dissolved dilute (carefully!) with cold water to bring the sugar solution to hand temperature ("baby milk warm"). Add the yeast and shake and put the cap loosely on. Shake again vigorously after 5 minutes and let it stand with the top loosely covered. if the yeast is active then foam and bubbles will appear on the surface after (say) 30 mins and the solution will look "milky". If nothing happens after a few hours then discard and get more newer/active yeast. If all looks good pour the yeast into the brew an give it a stir.

The brew bin should be covered but have a means for the CO2 gas to escape. That can be a bubble trap or similar vent or it can be as simple as leaving the brew bin lid slightly unclipped (but not "open) .

When the brew is complete it is useful to have a siphon tube with a tap (and usually some sort of bin clip to hold the tube) so that beer can be transferred or the bottles can be easily filled. When starting to brew it is useful to collect 50 500ml PET plastic "fizzy drinks" bottles - or 25 litres bottles. The sort of bottles that fizzy water and lemonade are sold in. These are cheap and strong and don't break when dropped!

Good luck!