- Back to Part I: Beer Making – The Learning-ing
- Back to Part II: Beer Making – Stuff Acquired, Recipe Planned
Here’s a rough outline of the steps I will be following today to execute the recipe from the previous post; I am writing them out and posting them here as much for my benefit as anyone else’s:
- Kickstart the yeast (by smacking the packet)
- Wash and dry or sanitize: carboy, food-grade bucket, strainer, large pot, stirring spoon, large funnel, “the thief”, hydrometer, stopper, airlock, thermometer, measuring implements
- Measure out all of the ingredients
- Bag and crush steeping grains
- Heat 1 gallon of spring water to 150-170F (66-77C)
- Steep grains for 30 minutes
- Remove and drain grain bags
- Stir in dry malt extract
- Add water to pot to bring it up to about 2 gallons
- Bring to a boil
- Wait for “hot break” (after foaming subsides)
- Add Nugget hops
- Wait 30 mins
- Add Fuggle hops
- Wait 30 mins
- Stir in liquid malt extract
- Wait 5-10 mins
- Prepare ice bath at this point
- Remove from heat and cool QUICKLY in ice bath
- Stir gently to help, but DO NOT SPLASH (no oxidation!)
- Try to cool to 70F (21C) within 30 mins
- Add 3.5 gallons of spring water to bucket and shake to aerate
- Pour wort into bucket through a strainer
- Try to decant the trub as much as possible, but some is ok
- Thermometer can come out this way too
- Discard trub
- Pour wort from the bucket into the pot and back a few times to aerate
- At some point here, use “the thief” to snag some wort from the bucket and use the hydrometer to record the starting gravity
- Pour wort into carboy using the funnel
- Pitch the yeast (add it to the carboy) also via funnel
- Put stopper on the carboy
- Roll the carboy a few times to distribute yeast
- Put airlock in stopper
- Add sanitizer solution to airlock, fill to line
- Place carboy where it will call home for the next 3-4 days and cover to keep light out
- Clean up after yourself
Here I go! I will try to take lots of photos along the way for my next post!
- Ahead to Part IV: Beer Making – Making Beer
- Ahead to Part V: Beer Making – Racking
- Ahead to Part VI: Beer Making – Bottling