Craft Beer Stuff

Beer Brewing Basics

The Brew Crew Folks at Winning Wines Plus offer three ways for you to brew a great beer.

Method 1. Canned Malt beer kits.

  • Historically these kits have been used to create beer from hopped malt syrup that has been formulated to create specific beer styles such as, Pale Ale, Dark Ale, Pilsner Lager and Stout.

Method 2. Wort Kits (23L and 15L).

  • Using a Brew House (15L), Paddock Wood (23L), Festa Brew (23L), or U-Do (15L) kit is by far the easiest way to make a superior beer style ranging from a Light Canadian Lager to a Guinness style Stout.
  • Water is the only ingredient not supplied in the box!

Method 3. All grain.

  • This method employs the same process as a commercial brewery would use to produce beer only on a much smaller scale.
  • Specialized brewing equipment is required for this method along with experience gained from brewing beer using Method 1 or Method 2.
  • The best part of 5 hours should be set aside for “brew day.”
  • Necessary ingredients will include malted grain, hops, water and yeast.

Fermentation Process

With each method described above,
the basic fermentation process remains the same….

  1. STERILIZE ALL EQUIPMENT
  2. Mix the 23L of beer wort (unfermented beer) into a plastic primary fermenting pail.
  3. Add the yeast and place lid on fermenter.
  4. Leave primary on a table in a warm environment for 4 to 7 days to ferment.
  5. Transfer fermented beer into a 23L Carboy, place bung and airlock on carboy.
  6. Approximately 14 days later when the beer is clear, transfer back to the primary fermenting pail.
  7. Add dissolved carbonation sugar to the finished beer, bottle and leave at room temperature.
  8. Now for the difficult part…….wait for 7 days while the bottled beer carbonates.
  9. CHILL AND ENJOY!