subject: Home Brewing - An Age Old Hobby [print this page] It has never been simpler to make home brewIt has never been simpler to make home brew. There are numerous different starter kits available on the market, which are available from all good home brew supply shops and a limited number of larger supermarkets. The hobby has seen an increase in popularity in the UK in recent years as people see to tighten their belts.
Anybody thinking of making beer for the first time would probably be best advised to buy one of the many starter packs that are available on the market from the various companies that supply them. It is possible to find them from as little as 20 containing all the basic supplies needed to brew a batch of home brew.
A basic kit will contain a fermentation bucket, a siphoning tube, some malt extract and some yeast. It is usually necessary to buy sugar, of which brewers' sugar is preferable but not obligatory. The more you pay, the more you get generally, with other kids supplying the brewers' sugar, bottles or even a pressurised barrel.
To prepare your brew, it is first necessary to mix your ingredients in the fermentation bucket: malt extract mixed with hot water and the sugar. Then you will need to add up to another 19 litres of cold water and to allow the mixture to come to somewhere near room temperature before adding the yeast. Add your yeast and then it will take up to 6 days to transform the sugar to alcohol.
Upon completion of the first 6 days, the mixture will need to be transferred to bottles (preferably glass) or to a pressurised barrel. Each bottle will need to be "primed" with half a teaspoon of sugar per half litre of liquid. The remaining small quantities of yeast in the mixture will then carbonate your beer whilst it is under pressure. Wait a further 2 weeks under these conditions and your brew should be ready.
