Welcome to homebrewing: hobby, obsession, way of life. This video will show you
how to brew your own beer at home using Northern Brewer’s Essential Starter Kit.
Brewing beer might seem like a mysterious process, but it's really not. Brewing is boiling liquid,
moving liquid from vessel to vessel without splashing it, keeping equipment clean,
and waiting for yeast to work its magic. If you can make mac and cheese from a box
without help you can make beer, and we're going to show you how.
In this video you will see the three stages of making beer with your Northern Brewer Starter
Kit. First, the actual brewing where malt extract and hops are boiled with water to make wort. Next,
fermenting, which is when the wort we brewed is turned into beer by the yeast. Finally,
bottling, where the flat beer is bottled with a little dose of sugar for priming -- the brewer’s
term for carbonating the bottles. And, that's really all there is to it: boiling liquid,
moving liquid, keeping things clean, and waiting for the yeast to do its thing.
Before we get started let's go over the four things you will need. One, a starter kit. Two, a
recipe kit, the ingredients -- malt extract, hops, and yeast -- in the right proportions for the kind
of beer you want to make. Three, a boil kettle that can hold at least three-and-a-half gallons of
liquid. We are going to use a five-gallon kettle in this video. Four, bottles for your finished
beer. You will need approximately two cases clean pry-off beer bottles. Brown glass is best.
Brewing day is here! The boil kettle is ready,
and we are going to brew the Caribou Slobber Brown Ale. On brewing day,
we will boil the malt extract and hops in water to make the wort, then cool the wort.
Now it's time to brew!
With the yeast ready it's time to collect water in the boil kettle and start heating
it on the stove. Any good quality drinking water, tap or otherwise, is fine. If the
water tastes good it will make good beer. If your recipe kit includes specialty grains,
it also includes a muslin bag for steeping. Put the muslin bag over the open sack of grains,
tip the sack, and slowly pour the grains into the muslin bag. Tie a knot near the top of
the muslin bag so the grains don't spill while steeping. If you like you can toss the bag for
a few moments to knock out excess grain dust from the crushed malt. As the water heats,
steep specialty grain. Specialty grains give extra color and flavor to the finished beer.
Steep the grain for 20 minutes or until the water reaches approximately 170 Fahrenheit,
whichever comes first. Not every Northern Brewer recipe kit comes with specialty grain. If your
recipe kit doesn't call for specialty grain you can skip ahead to adding malt extract.
Speaking of liquid malt extract here's a tip. A few minutes before you need it, put the unopened
jug of syrup in a sink or tub of warm water; this will loosen it up and make it easier to pour when
it's time to add to the kettle. When you've reached temperature or time, just lift the
specialty grains out and let them drain briefly -- don't squeeze the bag. Bring the kettle to a boil
and add the malt extract stirring to dissolve it. You recipe kit may include malt extract syrup or
dry malt extract. The Caribou Slobber has both. Some tips for dissolving malt extract: turn the
heat off to prevent scorching; pour malt syrup in slowly; pour dry malt extract quickly; and stir
constantly. When the extract is dissolved return the kettle to the heat and bring it to a boil.
When it starts to boil set a timer for 60 minutes. We now have wort! The wort will be
boiled for 60 minutes during which we add the hops at the time specified by the recipe. Your
recipe kit’s instructions show the time for each hop addition. For our brew, the Caribou Slobber
recipe kit has three additions, one that says 60 minutes, another that says 45 minutes, and
a third that says 15 minutes. This is the amount of time each hop addition needs to be boiled. The
first addition goes into the kettle right away and it's boiled for the entire 60 minutes. The second
addition is added 45 minutes before the end of the boil. The last addition is added 15 minutes before
the end of the boil. Your recipe kit may call for other boil additions like spices, sugars,
or more malt extract. Treat these just like hops and add them to the kettle at their specified time
doo-doo-doo-doo doo-doo-
And now a word from Northern Brewers Civilian Brewing Division!
When you boil wort it creates froth. When you add boil additions like hops, spices, or sugars,
it creates a lot of froth because wort is sugary. Boil overs are sticky. The watched pot may never
boil, but the unwashed pot will always boil over. If the froth tries to escape your kettle and boil
over, two things to remember: turn the heat down and stir, stir, stir! I'm boiling some
wort outside to show you what a boil over looks like. Don't try this at home; I am a professional.
[boil over liquid sizzles on burner]
Just look at that huge nasty mess. Do yourself a favor,
don't let this happen to your stovetop. Stay diligent, homebrewer. Keep an eye
on boiling wort and be ready to knock down escaping froth. Now, back to the brew day.
The 60-minute boil is finished and all boil kettle additions have been made. The wort must
now be cooled to a 100 degrees Fahrenheit or below before we can add yeast and proceed with
stage two -- fermenting. We are going to use a simple cold water bath to cool the wort. Replace
water as necessary. If you like, you could add ice to the water bath. Keep the kettle
covered almost all the way to protect wort from airborne microbes. When the side of the kettle is
about body temperature (lukewarm, not hot to the touch), it's time to get ready for fermentation.
While the wort is cooling it's time to do the most important task of the entire brewing process:
sanitizing. It's impossible to make good beer with dirty equipment, so everything that comes
in contact with the wort or beer from now on must be sanitized. Use the Stan San sanitizer
included with your starter kit to sanitize the equipment. To make the sanitizing solution,
use one fluid ounce of Star San per five gallons of water. Use the gradient lines on the bucket to
measure the water. Use the auto siphon to stir the mixture. This solution will sanitize the bucket,
airlock, yeast * and lid in the sanitizer. Be sure the entire surface of the lid makes contact
with the solution. Two minutes contact time to sanitize the surfaces, no rinsing required.
For further information on sanitizing and cleaning see Chapters 3 and 5 of this DVD.
When the wort in the kettle is cooled and the fermentation equipment is sanitized, it's time
to fill the fermenter. First, add two gallons of cold water to the sanitized empty fermenter. Next,
pour in the cooled wort, leaving behind any thick sludge that's accumulated in the bottom
of the kettle. Finally, add more cooled water to bring the total volume to five gallons. Seal the
fermenter and gently rock back and forth for a few minutes to mix the wort and the water,
and to aerate the wort for fermentation. The side of the fermenter should not be warm to the touch.
Uncover the fermenter. Now, it's time to add the yeast. If you have dry yeast,
sprinkle it on the surface of the wort. Seal the fermenter,
fill the air lock with sanitizer, and move the fermenter to a dark, quiet spot. Now,
it's time to take a break let the yeast do the heavy lifting. Have a beer, then clean up.
Within a day or two of brewing day fermentation begins. While the yeast
convert malt sugars into carbon dioxide and alcohol, you will see bubbles come
through the airlock and a cap of thick tan foam forms above the beer. Roughly one to
two weeks from brewing day fermentation ends, bubbles coming through the airlock
become very slow or stopped entirely, and the cap of foam starts to subside.
do-do-do-do-do-do
Standby for this important information from the Northern Brewers Civilian Brewing Division!
We are using the Basic Starter Kit, which does a single-stage fermentation. Fermentation has just
one stage, active fermentation in the six-gallon primary, after which the beer goes directly into
bottles. Occasionally, you may come across a recipe that calls for a secondary fermentation.
A secondary fermentation is two-stage fermentation: active fermentation in your
six-gallon primary followed by secondary phase in a five-gallon carboy. You can add a five-gallon
carboy to your basic starter kit at any time and start doing two-stage fermentations. But,
for our immediate needs with this batch of Caribou Slobber, which calls for a secondary fermentation,
what we will do is simply add an extra week to the primary. The Caribou slobber calls from one to two
weeks fermentation in the primary. With a single stage system make that two to three weeks instead,
then proceed with bottling. Now back to your regularly scheduled single-stage fermentation.
When fermentation is complete our beer is ready to be bottled. Thanks to the efforts
of our yeast the wort has been transformed into warm flat beer. We're almost there. We just need
to carefully transfer it into bottles to let it become carbonated handcrafted homebrew. First,
assemble the bottling bucket and auto siphon. The gasket and spigot go on the outside of the bucket,
the nut goes on the inside. Hand tighten, don't over tighten or it'll deform the gasket and cause
a leak. Leak test the bucket with plain water before proceeding. Time once again to sanitize.
Prepare a Star San solution and sanitize the bottling bucket with spigot, the bottle
filler with three foot hose, and the auto siphon assembly, approximately 60 bottle caps (always
have spares sanitized and ready when you're bottling). Also sanitize two cases of pry off beer
bottles. Remember two minutes contact time. Drain the bottles in the bucket, no rinsing required.
Mix a priming solution. We will use five-eighths of a cup of plain white table sugar in 16 ounces
of water. The measured dose of sugar will cause a small controlled fermentation in the bottles;
the CO2 given off by this fermentation will carbonate the beer. Bring the priming solution
to a boil, let it cool for five minutes, then pour it into the empty sanitized
bottling bucket. Make sure the spigot is closed! Siphon the beer from the fermenter
into the bottling bucket. Is the spigot still closed? When the bucket is filled,
stir gently with the auto siphon to mix the beer and priming solution.
doot-doot doot-doot
Your beer is at risk! Stay tuned for this important
information from the Civilian Brewing Division.
Question: what is the difference between a
smart siphon and a not-so-smart siphon? Three things: gravity, oxygen, sludge.
Gravity. Smart siphons use gravity. Gravity is your friend. Put the receiving vessel
lower than the vessel you're siphoning out of. Oxygen. Oxygen is your enemy. Smart siphons
do not splash the beer. Splashing the beer causes oxygen uptake. Siphon quietly. Three,
sludge. Sludge is bad. Sludge accumulates at the bottom of your primary fermenter.
Sludge is normal. Sludge is natural. Sludge is yeast and malt and hops solids. But,
when we siphon we want to leave the sludge behind. How do you leave the sludge behind?
Two principles. Start high. Start your siphon high up in the carboy, don't jam it all the
way down right into that sludge. Start it high and follow the liquid level down. Two,
finish tilted. Tilt the carboy so you can follow the level of liquid down all the way to the bottom
and get every last drop of good beer out of your fermenter without picking up the sludge. Common
sense clause, homebrewers. Tilt the carboy back over a table, not out over empty space; that is a
recipe for spilled beer and hurt feet. Remember, start high, finish tilted. Siphon on, brewers!
Attach one end of the three-foot bottling hose to the clear end of the bottle filler. Attach
the other end of the hose to the spigot on the bottling bucket. Open the spigot. Fill
the bottles by depressing the filler against the bottom of the bottle. The valve will open
and the beer will flow. Lift up on the filler to close the valve and stop the
beer. Leave approximately one inch of headspace in each bottle. Put a sanitized bottle cap on a
filled bottle. Center the bell of your bottle capper on the cap and push down on the levers,
then release. The cap should be crimped tightly. After the bottles are filled
and capped the beer needs to condition. Move the bottles to a quiet dark spot where they
will be at room temperature. After one to two weeks the bottles can be stored cool or cold.
Like many craft beers, your homebrew is bottle conditioned. There will be a layer
of fine yeast at the bottom of each bottle. This is unfiltered, natural,
living beer. Pour your beer into a clean glass, leaving the layer of yeast behind.
Cheers!