STEVENS CREEK SWIGS HOME BREW
FIRST OF ALL THIS IS TIME CONSUMING AND REQUIRES A MAJOR AMOUNT OF TIME STERILIZING AND THE CARBOY ( LARGE 5 GALLON CONTAINER) IS VERY HEAVY AND MUST BE LIFTED SEVERAL TIMES TO FILTER AND BOTTLE.
I started this September 1st. I bought a deluxe Micro-Brewery kit from Jim's Home Brew Supply. The beer kit includes everything you need to make your first home brew. Along with the bottles, brushes, caps etc you also get the ingredients: Can of hopped malt extract syrup, Bag #1- cracked specialty grains, Bag #2- blend of appropriate dry malt and malto-dextrin, Bag #3- 1/2 ounce aroma hop pellets, Bag #4- 100 grams priming sugar (dextrose) and a package of yeast- THAT'S YOUR BEER! The instructions are nicely done - with pictures and fairly good description of what is to follow: they also encourage you to call, which I did .....a lot!
You sterilize, you cook, you pour, you read your hydrometer, you wait while it ferments- picture #1. This lasts for a few days, when the bubbling stops you cap it with a fermentation lock -picture #2...this last for about a week or until your hydrometer reads the same for a few day in a row. ( Hydrometer reads the gravity- don't ask me!) = pretty cool then you transfer it into your other carboy for the secondary fermentation - picture #3.You test your beer maybe three or four times with the hydrometer and drink the beer so you know what is going on----you do? Make a call if it tastes funky.
Hydrometer reads 1.011 for several days in a row so you are ready to bottle. You sterilize bottles and another carboy and the tubes and racking cane, spring tip bottle filler , caps etc. Add sugar for carbonation. YOu have to lift the heavy carboy off the floor so you can siphon the beer into the bottles- what fun...you put vodka in your mouth to keep everything sterile...more fun.
Beer goes everywhere so towels are important.
After a week you check it for carbonation...which I did today! Looks good but I think I want more so I will keep it at 72 degrees for another week.
Check back later for more details.
Beer tastes.....like my first homemade beer- light with a mild citrus flavor! They say it gets better with age. It will go under the house for a few months. I will test a bottle every other week. Bob at Jim's HOme Brew said this first beer making prepares you for what it takes to make beer. Next beer making will be a recipe for a beer that is more to my liking. But one must go through this process to understand what goes into making beer. And I had fun----bottom line, that is what this is all about, well and drinking good beer is a plus!
