[red-beard]

I wrote this many many years ago for a buddy who wanted to try brewing. It keeps the cost low and the techniques are good.

Buy three 1 lb bags of light DME (Dry Malt Extract) ($9), 1 oz of Cascade hop pellets ($1) and 2 packets of dry ale yeast ($1), an air lock and a #6.5 stopper ($3), and 5 feet of 3/8 plastic tubing ($1). What you are going to do is make two 1 gallon batches of beer. If you like brewing, a regular 5 gallon brew kit can be had for less than $50, even cheaper if you scrounge.

First, buy a 1 gallon bottle of spring water from the store. This is going to be your fermenter. You can use the spring water for your first batch of beer as well. Do not lose the cap, as you will need this too.

Pre-boil in a pot with a lid about 1/2 gallon of water for 15 minutes. This will be make up water for later. Make sure it is down to room temp before starting the next step. Keep the lid on.

Add 1 gallon of water (You can use the spring water) to a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer the water for 5 minutes, to de-aerate it. Open 2 of the bags of DME. Out of the first one, measure 1/4 cup out and save it in a small plastic baggie. Add the rest of this bag to the water and 1/2 of the second bag to the water. Stir it in carefully. Do not worry if it clumps up, it will dissolve. Continue heating this until it boils. Do not turn your back on it, as it can foam up and boil over. Keep stirring, gently, do not splash the wort. As soon as the foaming subsides, you will be ready to add the hops.

Carefully store the rest of the DME in well sealed plastic bags, or it will turn hard, making it hard to dissolve. Store the second yeast package near it, but not in the same bag (Tape it to the outside). Store the other half of the hops in the freezer (See next step).

Divide the hops in 1/2 and save the other 1/2 for the next batch of beer. Take the remaining hops and remove about 1/4 of them (1/8 ounce), set them aside for a little later. Add the main part of the hops to your pot (3/8 ounce). Boil this mixture for 45 minutes. It should be rolling a bit, but not splashing about.

While the wort (this is what the boiling liquid is called) is boiling, you will need to sanitize the following: A Funnel and the spring water bottle, the cork and the air lock. Add 1/4 cup of bleach to 2 gallons of water, preferable in a plastic basin in your sink. Make sure you sanitize the cap. Just before you use each item, rinse it well, until you do not smell bleach. The contact time for sanitizing each item is about 15 minutes, so make sure they are in solution for at least that amount of time. You can sanitize the fermenter by putting some of the bleach water solution into the fermenter, and shaking, then letting it sit with the bleach in it for 15 minutes.

After the 45 minutes, add the remaining hops and boil for 15 more minutes. Place the strainer (Stainless steel mesh type) in the pot with the boiling wort. This will sanitize it for the next step. While this boil is going on, fill your sink with cold water, as cold as it runs from your tap.

At the end of the 15 minutes, remove the pot with the wort from the stove, leaving in the strainer. Place this pot into the cold water. Try to circulate the water around the pot. You can drain and refill the sink if the water gets warm. You want the wort down to room temp (Cool to touch). Don't let any of the sink water get into the pot. Test the temperature by touching the side of the brew pot. Never put your hand, or anything else, into the wort, unless it is sanitized first.

While this is cooling, rinse the fermenter and the funnel. Place the funnel in the fermenter and add your dry yeast to the funnel. Now add 1 cup of water from the make up water to wash the contents of the funnel down in (Make sure that the liquid measure has been sanitized, or pour directly from the pot). This will rehydrate the yeast. Make sure it is rehydrated for 15 minutes before adding the wort to the fermenter.


After the wort is cool, add it to the fermenter. Use the strainer to remove as much of the hops and other junk as you can. Don't worry if you get some in the fermenter. Now, use the make up water to fill the container. You do not want it full. Leave about 1.5 inches from the top of the fermenter. Cap it and shake it for 10 minutes. You want to aerate it as much as possible. Air is good _only_ at this time. Getting air into the wort when hot is very bad (Splashing while hot). Getting air in after fermentation is also bad. Try to minimize air at other times.

At the end of 10 minutes, rinse the airlock and rubber stopper, remove the cap and install the air lock and stopper. Fill the air lock 1/2 way with some of the make up water.

Place the fermenter in a place, away from directly sunlight, where the temperature can be kept between 65-75 F, preferably at 68 F. It should take 3-7 days to ferment. When the bubbles in the air lock stop it is time to bottle.

Take the 1/4 cup of saved DME and add to 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, being careful not to boil it over. Cool it like you did the original wort.

Take two 2 liter soda bottles with caps and sanitize them like you did the other stuff. Also sanitize the plastic tubing. Rinse both bottles and caps. Remove the air lock from your fermenter. Thoroughly rinse the tubing and fill with water, hold your finger on one end to keep the water in the tubing. Insert the free end of the tubing into the fermenter, about 1 inch below the beer level. Pinch the tubing in the middle to shut off the flow, and insert the other end into the first 2 liter bottle until it is almost at the bottom. Let go of the pinch and the flow should start. You have to keep the 2 liter bottle below the level of the fermenter. You have to keep the tubing in the fermenter below the water line, but try to minimize how much of the stuff in the bottom you get. When the bottle is almost full, raise it to the level of the fermenter, pinch the tubing and move the tubing to the second bottle. Fill it the same way. You want an inch or so head space in the bottle. If your tubing is near the bottom, and you fill the bottle to the top, when you remove the tubing, you will leave a proper headspace.

Now carefully pour 1/2 of the cooled 1/4 cup DME into each bottle. Try to be even between the two. Use a sanitized liquid measuring cup. Now rinse the soda caps and place them on the bottles. Squeeze the air out of the bottles and twist them shut. Place these in the same place you fermented and in about 2 weeks, the beer will be ready. You can feel the swell up and the air space near the cap will fill up with CO2. When they feel as tight as a regular bottle of soda, they are ready. Chill and enjoy. You'll have to learn how to pour the beer out while not disturbing the yeast at the bottom of the bottle. For 2 liter bottles, decanting the entire 2 liter bottle into a pitcher works best, then pouring individual glasses from the pitcher.

Go back and do it again with the second set of ingredients.