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Please read all instructions before continuing. Please print this page for easy viewing. Here is some equipment thats needed: Buckets should be food grade plastic and gallon marked. To gallon mark place one gallon of water in empty bucket, mark water line with permanent ink magic marker. Add another gallon, mark it and so on. Items above can be purchased in a package called an EQUIPMENT KIT. Savings can be realized over separate prices. Some more equipment which you may already have. Whether you are just starting out or are an old hand at beer-making, we suggest that you try the Morgan’s Brewing Company products. The company currently produces several products that can be used separately or combined to create that special brew. Morgan’s is not just another pretty can, it is a Brewing System. From the prduct line thousands of different beers can be made easily and requiring little time. Morgan’s sends out new recipes several time a year. The Morgan’s price range is very competitive and if you get the lowest priced, easiest to make, finished kit or if you go Hog Wild for something special, the Quality and Flavor will be there. For more information pick up your free copy of Morgan’s Master Blend Brewing System. Ingredients A few more points to cover, then we will start the step by step process of making beer. If the weight and physical characteristics agree an item will float in water. If a water soluble subtance were added to the water and this subtance was heavier bodied than the water, our item would float higher. If the substance was lighter bodied the item would sink lower. A ship or a human will float higher in salt water than the same would float in fresh water. What we wish to measure is the fermentable sugars which we add to our water. These will add body and make the water more dense, thus increasing the SG. If you place the hydrometer in a test tube and poured PURE DISTILLED water in the tube until the hydrometer floated good, it should be calibrated to read, after it’s settled down, 1.000 SG. That reading is taken where the water level and hydrometer stem intersect. The next higher scaled reading is 1.002 and lower is 0.098. When a liquid becomes hot it is thinner, if cold it is thicker. Each deviation causes the hydrometer to float lower or higher respectively. The instrument is calibrated at a set temperature. Hydrometers come with a temperature correction chart. For accuracy a temperature must be taken before each measurement and adjustments made to readings. A typical light brew should have a full set of readings that are close to these but not necessarily exact: These two readings are RECORDED and SAVED just before pitching the yeast. An OG (on-going gravity) at 1.040 An OGPA (on-going potential alcohol at 5% These two readings are taken when fermentation has stopped. A TG (terminal gravity) at 1.004 A TPA (terminal potential alcohol) at 0% If properly taken, recorded, and saved, there are many benefits to having this info. When the TPA is subtracted from the OGPA, the difference is the alcohol content of the brew. All readings can be used to duplicate or modify future brews.
Thank you for staying with us this far. We hope you are not bored or confused. Since you may be embarking on a fun and fascinating hobby that could last a lifetime, it was felt that you deserve a little background. The initial cost are low and continuation cost are very low. The rewards are satisfying and rather INTOXICATING. There is no beer like a good homebrew that you made yourself. If one spends just a little time, learning the basics, brewing is fun, easy, and simple. Now just a little more background and we will start the steps.
Yeast Supplements - We use two of these. Yeast Energizer and Yeast Nutrient Most instructions call for the use of these after the wort is having trouble. We use these as a form of INSURANCE to prevent troubles from starting. After the packet of yeast has been properly re-hydrated, mix in the required amount of each of these just before pitching to wort. We have converted a dry yeast to a strong and active liquid yeast. This will insure quicker starts and healtier fermentations.
NOTE! Additives will usually have the recommended dosage printed on the package.
FININGS - We use three of these. Irish Moss - Used only if boiling wort. Gelatin - Added to wort after fermentation has stopped and 24 hrs before bottling. Polyclar - Same as above.
Finings are additives which clear the beer. By natural chemical process They rid the beer of cloudiness and haze. There are several different finings and each one clears different substances. The above listed are the main ones.
HOPS - Most beer folks have heard of hops and know they are associated with beer. Many don’t know what they are and why or how they are used.
Hops are flowers, certain parts, of which have extractable contributions desired in a beer. The original and early reason to hop a brew was hopping added a preservative effect. In those days it was hard to keep anything fresh so this became a popular practice. It was also noted that hopping added a bitterness that offset or balanced the sweetness of the brew. The best way to extract the properties of hops is to boil them in the wort for a determined amount of time. The time will vary with the conditioning sought after. The main contributions from hopping are listed followed by suggested boiling time to achieve this result:
1. Preservative - Not determined 2. Bittering - Boil 45 to 60 min. 3. Flavor - Simmer 15 min. - Good time to add Irish Moss 4. Aroma - Steep in very hot wort 2 minutes 5. Heading and Head Retention - If you follow the above, this should happen naturally.
There is a lot of different varieties of hops, by different name, available. They differ in flavor and the intensity of the other contributing properties. You can’t find out which hop or level of them you like at a bar or from a package store. They can’t or won’t tell you what kind of hop or how much was used in their beer. The best way to find out is to join a club, go to tasting meetings, and exchange beers and notes. Since the kit we are using, PRETTY SOON, contains a malt syrup that has already been hopped we won’t be hopping this time. Unhopped malts are available and you should try hopping in the future.
IMPORTANT!!SANITATION
Sanitation is the most important process! Dirty bottles or equipment will impart a funny off-taste or odor in the beer. At worst, this could spoil the whole batch. Anything that will come in contact with wort or beer, must be sanitized Shortly before use. This includes hands, hose (inside and out), all tools (can opener, pliers, etc.) and countertops. Used bottles and really dirty items must be cleaned thoroughly before being sanitized. Do not use common household soaps or detergents. They have additives like perfumes and compounds to make your hands soft, etc. These additions are almost impossible to rinse off, usually they must wear off. WOW! A sudsy pine lager lemon ale that guarantees no detergent burn of the throat. Household bleach (with no fragrance added) may be used to sanitize. Mix at a ratio of 1 table spoon of bleach to 1 gallon of water. The only disadvantage to the use of bleach, is the required surface contact time for it to disinfect is 30 minutes. We use detergents and sanitizers that are approved for the beer and wine industries. Our sanitizers requires a short 2 minutes contact time. They are also rated no-rinse but, we rinse anyway. Who wants this in a beer?
GUESS WHAT?
STEP 1 - PUTTIN IT ON - SANITIZING
NOTE! What follows is just a guide that works well for us. It probably will not be exactly right for you. As long as the same principles are maintained, especially on sanitizing, modify it to fit your needs. Give us some feedback, we like new ideas.
SANITIZE. Using very warm water, mix up about 3 gallons of sanitizer in the fermenter. Mix ratio is on package. NOTE! To always have a good supply of hot water, we keep our hot water tank on the highest setting. Coat the fermenter sides, in and out, with solution. coat the lid. Make sure to get the lid and pail lips. When cleaning or sanitizing the plastic pails or utensils, never use anything abrasive. Use your hands, a soft cloth, or sponge. Scratches will render plastics useless. Install spigot, in bottling bucket, turn it off and point it up. Pour sanitizer from fermenter to bottling bucket. Rinse fermenter and lid with lots of very hot water. Place upside down where it can air-dry. Do not towel dry a sanitized item, as this can re-infect it. Submerge all equipment, you will be useing, at this point, in sanitizer, which is now in the bottling bucket.
Since not all our equipment is needed now, here is some things that should be prepared: Measuring Cups - A one and a two cup. Stirring Spoon(S) - Be sure to coat the stem and handle. Can Opener Pliers Hands - Up to the elbow?
After a 2 to 5 minute soak time these items should be removed, rinsed well with hot hot water, and set to air dry. Most of them do not have to be completely dry before use. What does need to be very dry is a one cup measuring cup, the hydrometer and it’s test tube. This is so, because any water on these will affect the gravity readings. For this reason we do not sanitize the hydrometer or test tube. After use, we rinse in hot water, let dry then store them in plastic so they will be ready next time. Of course this produces a contaminated sample, so we do not put it back in the brew. If the measuring cup is still wet, just put it in the microwave for a minute or so. Here are some things that NEED NOT be sanitized at this point:
Bottles Syphon Hose Bottling Bucket
Back to work! Get your, preferably 4 or 5 gallon, stock pot. Pour some sanitizer from bottling bucket to pot. Coat entire pot with solution and let stand 2 or 3 minutes. Empty sanitzer back to bucket. Rinse pot off with hot water and set to dry. Remove labels from all canned ingredients. You may want to save these. We record our readings and recipe deviations on these then transfer to the log book later. A knife cut near the glue joint will usually allow them to be easily peeled off. Scratch or clean off as much of the glue as possible. Sink can(s) in sanitizer. Save sanitizer mix, in bottling bucket, untill the last step. You may find something you forgot or need to re-sanitize your hands or equipment.
STEP 2 - FORMULATION
Set out 5 gallons of water in suitable container(s). This should be easy if you have bought bottled water. If you have water in the refrigerator do not take it out yet, just account for it. No matter what or how many sources you have, you will only use a total of 5 gallons water. This is unless you boil. Then you will replace the water that is boiled off. Place stock pot on burner. Rinse canned ingredients and lay down in bottom of pot. Add 1 gallon of allotted water. Bring to a boil and rotate can(s) frequently. USE PLIERS FOR THIS AND BE CAREFULL! Continue this for at least 20 minutes. Turn off heat and slide pot off burner. Stand one can up on end, still in pot. CAREFULLY, puncture can with opener. IT MAY SPEW a little, but not much. Fully remove top from can, then lay it on its side in the hot water. Using the pliers, roll it, slosh it, fill and empty it, do whatever to rinse all malt-syrup from can. When can is clean, throw it away. Repeat this cycle for all remaining cans. When can(s) are done and if you are using corn sugar, now is the time to add same. Usually 7 cups of corn sugar is right for 5 gallons of beer.
NOTE! Malts & sugars scorch easily. When adding these in it is best to remove the pot from burner, stir thoroughly and frequently.
Add sugar and mix to dissolve. Place pot back on burner. Heat well to better mix and dissolve all ingredients. Some say that boiling is only necessary when you are adding HOPS. Boiling will bring out hidden flavors, rid all unwanted bacteria, lend to better head and head retention. We recommend at least a ten to thirty minute boil for all worts. Refer to the bottom of page 4 for hop boiling schedule and IF YOU ARE HOPPING intructions on page 8. CAUTION!! Malt Boils Over Very Easily!! When boiling do not leave unattended, stir costantly, and do not cover pot. Burnt malt makes a nasty mess.
Step 3 - Combine and Adjust Temperature
Move fermenter close to hot wort. Place 3 gallons of water in it. The water should be at or cooler than room temperature. Be careful and pour the wort in fermenter. You now, have added 4 gallons of water. This means there is one gallon left to adjust the temperature with. You can use the water from the refrigerator or more at room temp. You can also boil some of the water or even some of the wort. If you have added the 5 gallon limit, and temp is still not right, place fermenter in the bathtub. Run hot or cold water, whichever is needed, around fermenter sides. Stir frequently and check temp. BEFORE PROCEEDING, the temperature should be 85 degrees plus or minus two degrees.
If you boiled some water may be lost due to evaporation. You may add water in fermenter to reach level of batch size. That is 5 or 6 gallons etc.
IMPORTANT! WHEN TEMPERATURE IS CORRECT, IT IS TIME TO TAKE AND RECORD THE FIRST SET OF READINGS.
You may want to review the section on page 3 about hydrometers. In a one cup measuring cup, dip out about a cup of the wort. Take the temperature and write it down. Place a dry hydrometer in a dry test tube and pour from cup into test tube until hydrometer floats off the bottom about one half inch. Before you can take your OG, you may have to let the foam and bubbles subside. Sometimes, spinning the hydrometer will help. Take the reading at the intersection of the liquid and hydrometer stem. Then temperature correct it before recording. We take the OGPA a little differently. We do it this way because the alcohol scale is difficult to read and it has no correction chart. Once the corrected OG has been determined, remove the hydrometer from the test tube. Rinse it off then dry it. Get a small piece of paper that has a straight edge. Wrap the paper around hydrometer, straight edge up and not a full wrap. That is, wrap it around where you can hold the two ends together between your thumb and index finger. The idea is to use the straight edge by lining it up with the CORRECTED OG reading on the gravity scale then reading across for the corrected OGPA on the alcohol scale.
RULE - YEAST and OXYGEN
Yeast needs oxygen to survive. To thrive it needs a lot of it. And we want it TO THRIVE.
Before and during the major part of fermentation the yeast needs oxygen the most. We can provide this by stirring and splashing the wort vigorously. This adds oxygen to the liquid, and should be done just before pitching the yeast, or to start a stuck fermentation. When doing the latter, do not agitate the bottom sediment. Stir and splash the top half of the wort only. If the need arises to syphon while still fermenting, hold the hose up and let it splash.
After fermentation, during the last of fermentation, and when bottling we don’t want anymore oxygen. At this point it will create an undesirable effect called oxidation. Stir slowly and easily. When syphoning, start flow and place hose on bottom of reciever. Let media fill over the top of it. This is especially important when getting ready to, and during the act of bottling.
IF YOU ARE HOPPING
There is a couple more things to consider:
Straining - Hops and Irish Moss should be tied up in hop bags before being tossed in the boil. Besides promoting desirable qualities, in the wort, hops and moss add a lot of undesirables. Hop bags will filter out a lot, but by far not all of this trash. In order to have a clear clean-tasting beer, we strain the hot wort as it is poured into the fermenter. We use an 8 inch, wire mesh, metal kitchen strainer. These are made by Ekco. Over this we stretch one leg of a panty-hose. Cut one leg off of hose at the top. Stretch opening over bottom side of strainer far enough that it will not easily come off. Place assembly over fementer with long end of hose hanging down in the water. Pour the hot wort, through strainer into fermenter. Remember to sanitize everything. After boiling - you will have boiled off about a quart of water. This should be replaced. You can add about a quart by guess or the best way is, after all is in the fermenter, top it off to the batch size. If you have gallon marked your vessel, this should be easy.
LET US CONSIDER EXPENSE and QUALITY
When comparing the cost of home-beer, do so fairly. Most beer sold in Oklahoma, is sold through convenience stores, some grocers, and taverns. By state law they all must sell beer that is 3.2% alcohol or less. The only way to limit the alcohol, in a beer recipe, is to remove ingredients or add extra water. This affects the body and flavor of the brew much like adding water to or omitting ingredients from home-made chili. Some commercial breweries, even the big ones, take advantage of this limitation. They will leave out more than needed or substitute with inferior additives. They do so, not so much to save cost to the consumer, but to increase their profit margin. The cost for this stuff is still low. So low that during sales it can be had for a little more than packaging cost. They usually have these sales after the product is old. No matter what you pay, it seems to take at least twice as much of it. Then most folks don't find what they are looking for. The taste is evasive, but reminds me of Alka-Seltzer Plus. Ever notice these drinks will go down better when ice cold, and they taste awful when warm. Some say that it needs to be cold to taste good. The fact is, cold temperatures subdues all taste, good or bad. I could swallow unmentionables if it were cold enough. For centuries beer has been served all over Europe at room temperature. Warm beer should taste good. Even the new Brew-Pubs must adhere to this legal alcohol limit, but they do manage to make some respectable brews. The best place to buy a good beer in Oklahoma, is at the retail liquor stores. This a good place to buy samples and determine what kind and style beer you want to brew. Compare the cost of these beers to your own, this is the only fair comparison. These are usually good but not as good as HOME-BREW. This is not to imply that to be good, a beer must have a high alcohol content. The point is to let the alcohol content fall where the recipe dictates. We also do not mean that all home-brew recipes are cheap. There are specialty kits that are expensive. Usually not expensive enough to require special financing. Probably the only way to obtain some of these beer styles and types is to brew them or take a trip to Europe.
MAKE IT FROM SCRATCH?
Who does? very few home-brewers. The entire process, to make beer, is a lengthy one. First you would have to acquire the land and determine what kind of grain(s) you need to plant for your style beer. Is the climate and soil suitable for the crop(s)? Next we harvest, germinate, kiln-dry and remove the rootlets from the grain(s). All of this takes time and there is much more to do. Compare this task to building a house. Most of us could not build our own home without some help. We would do what we could then seek a contractor to do what we couldn’t. In the beginning of this adventure, do as much as you can - comfortably. Pay a little extra and let the professionals do what you can’t. Later, as you gain experience and confidence, you may tackle more.
Step 4 - Preparing and Pitching the Yeast
We begin by choosing the kind and style of yeast we want to use. If using a kit, it may (Should) have a matched yeast included. Since it is formulated to match the kit contents, this yeast should be used. There is an important exception, check the date on the packet. If yeast has expired, request a replacement. If yeast is not supplied, or you want something different, you must choose one. Yeast varities are available by the scores, in both dry and liquid types. All we are going to cover here is the two main categories.
ALE - Warm temperature top fermenting and the oldest class of yeast in use today. It imparts a distinctive tangy taste, and produces a higher alcohol level than the other class. Some like ales chiefly for their tanginess. Ale is and has been the popular choice among home brewers. The other class of yeast wasn’t widely introduced untill the mid 19th century. Before this all beers, worldwide, were ALE’S. The art of making beer is so old that historians can’t tell us when or where it started. They can not tell if bread making or beer making came first. The earliest record of beer making was inscribed by the ancient Mesopotamians on a stone tablet. On it was a complete recipe for "Wine of the Grain".
LAGER - Cold temperature bottom fermenting introduced in United States during the middle of the 19th century and later replaced ales in the major breweries product line. This yeast class will produce a lighter smoother brew, without the tangy character of an ale. There was reason for the commercial breweries to switch completely to the lager style when they did. The switch came at a time when most of the male population was gone to war, leaving mostly women consumers. Naturally they preffered the lighter smoother lagers over the hearty manly ales. Still today, most all breweries produce only lagers. Most of these are the light (low in color, body or both} and smooth (low in taste, bite or both). Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking lager yeast, just the way the big breweries use them. We have made some excellent beer using lager yeast. In the past home-brewers would not lager due to the refrigeration needed during cold temperature fermentation. You may not need the refrigeration, there is warm temperature lager yeast available. We have used this a couple times, and were pleased with the results. Still, it is opinionated that cold laggering is best. Brew-Pubs, Micro-Breweries, and Mini-Breweries have brought the ales back to America. They have also done interesting things to lagers. A beer that I really enjoy is a dark lager. It is Cream Stout and is bottled by Samuel Adams Brewing, who produces a lot of very good styles. This company started out a Mini-Brewery and is now looking at Giant. In each of the two major classes, there are many different varities (strains). Each one was cultured with a specific application in mind but may be suitable in other applications. The best and quickest way to learn about yeast is to join a club and go to the meetings.
STEP 4 - RESUMED
NOTE - If the water used to rehydrate the yeast is too cold, the yeast will not be as effective, or could be ruined. If this water is too hot it WILL KILL the YEAST DEAD.
In the two cup measuring cup get 3/4 cup of NON-CHLORINATED water. Before proceeding adjust water temperature to 102 degrees plus or minus two degrees. When the water is right, shake yeast to one end of packet and open the the other end. Sprinkle yeast EVENLY over water surface. DO NOT JUST POUR IT IN and DO NOT STIR OR MIX at this time. Check the time, or set a timer for 15 minutes.
NOTE - When it is time to stir the yeast, use something small to stir with. This could be an ice pick, a thermometer stem, even a cleaned and sanitized nail. A small item is needed because, when yeast initially becomes wet, it converts to a sticky paste. If we use something large, we may pull out half our yeast with it. Sure we could use our fingers or another item to clean it off, but this promotes a chance of contamination. Also we don’t want to lose any of our yeast. About 7 or 8 minutes after putting the yeast in water, stir gently and just enough to get all the dry yeast wet. After 15 minutes rehydration time add, to the yeast, 1 1/4 teaspoon of YEAST ENERGIZER and 5 teaspoons of YEAST NUTRIENT. These may not dissolve completely, but should be stirred and mixed in thoroughly. Stir and agitate the WORT once more to oxygenate. Pour yeast mix in fermenter, spreading it around, but do not stir in. Place lid on fermenter and press down to assure lips are locked securely.
NOTE! There are two common types of Air-Locks
A. The Three-Piece - The advantage of this type is it can be taken apart for cleaning and sanitizing. B. The S-Type or Twin Bubble - A little harder to clean, but you can tell, without a doubt, when fermentation has stopped and it is easier to tell when it starts. This is the type we prefer.
Wet stem on air-lock and insert in hole provided on fermenter lid. It’s best to wiggle the lock while putting it in. Be careful not to push rubber grommet out or you may go fishing.
Step 5 - Placing the Fermenter
As fermentation takes place solids in the wort will sink to the bottom forming a sediment. This the first stage of the clearing process. Attempting to move the fermenter, during this stage, will likely mix up the sediment. Since this in not wanted in the beer, it is best to place the fermenter where it will stay until beer is transferred to bottling bucket. Also, fermenter should be placed where the temperature will be fairly constant at 70 to 77 degrees. To aid in syphoning, the bottom of fermenter should be approximately 3 foot above the floor. There should be easy access to at least one side. When fermenter is in place, fill the air-lock half way with VODKA!!?? Yes, vodka. Gin or Everclear can be used. During fermentation whatever is in the air-lock is exposed to outside contamination and can get in the brew. Alcohol acts as a preservative and barrier. In the past brewers, and still some today, used water. Water can easily become contaminated.
Step 6 - Sit Back and Wait For The Music
It is hard to predict precisely when fermentation will start, as there are many variable factors involved. Sometimes the wort will start working in a few hours, or it may take longer. It should start within 24 hours after pitching the yeast. An early sign of fermentation can be noted if using an s-type air-lock. When you fill the air-lock, assure the level is even in both chambers. As pressure builds, in the vessel, the level on bucket side chamber will be lower and on the vent side higher. To make sure press down on lid and release. By forcing air out then in you regulate the levels in the air-lock. Press and release until the high level is on the bucket side. If fermenting, the high level should return to the vent side in a short time. A strong fermentation(lots of activity at the air-lock) should set in within 30 hours from pitching yeast. It is usually much less than 30 hours, normally 3 to 5. If no sign at 30, there is trouble, call for help.
Fermentation - All You Really Need To Know About It
Yeast consumes oxygen and fermentable sugars. It then excretes alcohol and carbon-dioxide (a gas (symbol CO2)). The alcohol remains in the beer. During our primary fermentation the CO2 is vented off through the air-lock. The second fermentation is in the bottle where we trap the CO2, thus providing natural carbonation.
The wait, is usually 5 to 10 days. You must be sure fermentation is over before bottling. Bottling early can lead to bottles exploding. Just as the rate of activity started out slow and built up to a high, it will taper down to a snails pace. The best way to affirm that fermentation has ceased, is to use the method described above. That is, regulate water levels of the s-type air-lock. When levels on both sides stay even for several hours, this stage is complete.
Prepare Gelatin - Place 1 tablespoon in one cup of cold water, let soak 45 minutes to an hour. While waiting, proceed to next step.
Take and record the 2nd set of readings. Figure alcohol content
Remove lid from wort and put it some place clean, on the bottling bucket works great. We will be putting the lid back on shortly and do not want it contaminated. Follow procedures for 1st readings at the bottom of page 7. Remember to sanitize or hot water scald any item before putting it in the wort. When finished, determine alcohol content.
Note If lots of little bubbles are rising in your test tube sample and your gravity reading won’t stay stable, the wort is not ready yet. Stir and splash the top half, replace the lid and lock, wait until levels in air-lock remain even.
Add Finings - When gelatin has soaked, about an hour, put it in a sauce pan and heat, just until it steams a little. Stir while heating and Do Not Boil. Remove from heat and completely dissolve two teaspoons of Polyclar in it. Pour this mix in the wort. Using a sanitized spoon, stir in the top half without disturbing bottom sediment. Splash a little (this will be the last of the splashing) and mix in thoroughly. Place lid back on the fermenter, secure it tightly and level out air-lock. Wait a minimum of 24 hours so the finings can do their thing. Sometimes this airing of the wort causes a renewed fermentation. This is usually mild and does not last long, if it even occurs. In any event the wort should pass the air-lock level test before proceeding. This is the point where most folks, including myself, start getting impatient and there is more waiting ahead. Beer making requires patience but not nearly as much as making wine or baby setting a 3 year old. If the rewards are high enough, and the the other investments are low enough, we usually find the patience.
PATIENCE - One of the most important virtues any being can possess. It is the key ingredient of most World Famous wines, beers and calculated masterpieces by various artist, authors, inventors and many more.
Step 7 - Bottling A couple of things that would be handy during this phase are: (1) A 3 or 4 gallon plastic pail that is gallon marked. (2) A 3 or 4 Gallon plastic laundry TUB (not a basket). These do not need to be food grade.
At this point, you may want to invite a friend to help!
Sanitize - Before sanitizing bottles they should be cleaned and rinsed, inside and out, with an approved cleaner.
One exception is if bottles are new and have been kept dry in a clean storage area, they need not be cleaned. Used bottles can skip the cleaning if they were rinsed, in and out, with scalding hot water immediately after use, turned upside down to drip dry, placed upside down in cartons and covered in a clean storage area. In any case, all bottles need to be sanitized JUST BEFORE use. If you are using the flip-top, Groltsch style, bottles you will not need caps or a capper. The gaskets, on these, will last a long time. It is still important to check them before each use. Look for cracks, brittleness, or distortion. If there is any doubt, replace them.
TIP - A bottle tree is not very expensive and it saves a lot of time and troubles.
The sanitzer solution should be as hot as possible. This time you will have your hands in it for a long period of time. Make it a little uncomfortable, as it will cool quickly when bottles are submerged in it.
TIP - We sanitize in the bathtub and bottle at the kitchen sink.
It is important to mix sanitizer at the recommended ratio. If to much is used it will affect the no-rinse feature of the sanitizer. When properly mixed and the bottles are allowed to drip dry, completely (especially inside), we do not need to rinse after sanitizing. This is if you are using an approved no-rinse sanitizer.
Mix up one gallon of sanitizer in a pail or the stock pot will work. Remove spigot from bottling bucket and put it in sanitizer fill ends, coat both sides of gasket(s), and rotate handle several times. Sink and let soak for a couple minutes. Remove spigot from sanitizer rinse it and install in bottling bucket, no need to dry it. The spigot should be tight but by hand only. If there is only one gasket place it on the outside. If you were to ferment in the bottling bucket, you should have a gasket for each side. Turn valve off and point discharge up. Pour sanitizer into bottling bucket. Mix up and add another 3 gallons, as hot as possible. Move all needed bottles, plus a few extra (better to do them now than to wind up short at a bad time) to the bathroom or your sanitizing locale. Completely fill and sink as many bottles as you can fit, standing upright, in the bottling bucket. If your bottles are taller than normal, you may have to add sanitizer until they are totally submerged. Let soak for 2 minutes. Empty bottles out and put in laundry tub or pail. Sink another batch. While these are soaking, take last batch to the bottle tree. Fill the bottle tree from top to bottom, this avoids re-wetting drying bottles. Remove and empty bottles in the sanitizer, place them in tub, take tub to tree. Repeat this cycle until bottles are finished.
I’ve got to say, this is really much easier and simpler than it sounds. I would lot rather be doing it than reading about it. And, if you think reading about this is a drag, try typing it. This is not a copy from any single source. It is a routine developed from lots of reading and experience. This routine will not stay the same. New influence has changed it many times in the past, as it will in the future. Excepting santitation, home-brewing is pretty flexible. You will develope your own routine. One way to save considerable time is to train your spouse. Relax, Don’t Worry have a Real Beer.
A one cup measuring cup Racking tube and tip Bottle filler tube and tip Note! a common tube may be shared by racking and bottle filler tips. Syphon hose Large stirring spoon
Sink these items and any others, you might use, in sanitizer. Make sure all areas get wet. Let soak for 2 minutes, remove cup and hot rinse. Set cup upside down to air dry, in a clean place. Next we sanititize the inside of the hose and tubes. Set bottling bucket up to a higher elevation, about 3 foot off floor. Place a catch pan (stock pot or pail) on floor, near bucket. Push syphon hose on one end of tube then place the other end of tube at bottom of bottling bucket. Hold other end over catch pan and suck on it. Suck until just before the media reaches your mouth, then point hose in catch pan. This is syphoning. Flow needs to last only a few seconds. If there is more than one hose or tube, do them.
Some prefer not to suck syphon. They fill the hose with water and elevate the ends or pinch them off with hose clamps. Then hook up one end and put the other in the catch pan.
The hoses, tubes and tips must be rinsed, in and out, with hot water and put where they won’t be re-contaminated. Fill your other containers with the sanitizer in bottling bucket. Discard any remaining in bucket. Using hot water, rinse out bottling bucket. Let water flow through spigot while turning it on and off several times. Place bucket upside down to drain. Remove fermentor top and take to bathtub. If you have not taken the 2nd readings this is the next to last chance. Put the bottling bucket on floor in front of fermenter, with spigot turned off and pointed up. Place racking tip on one end of racking tube. A BUCKET CLIP will fasten tube to fermenter so you will not need to worry about this end. The racking tip places the pick up point, above the bottom. It also creates a downward flow instead of upward off the bottom. These two features result in less sediment being transferred. Put the syphon hose on the other end of the racking tube. Place the tip end of racking tube in fermenter, all the way to the bottom, without disturbing the sediment. Establish a flow, place hose on the bottom of the bottling bucket and let brew flow over it. When finished wash the hose, tube and tip (in and out) with hot water. The fermenter can wait awhile.
Move the bottling bucket to the bottling location. There should be a sink nearby and the bottom of bucket should be about 3 foot above the floor. Position bucket so spigot is hanging over an edge that has a little working room.
Prepare bottle caps - Count out a few more than you will need. If 12oz bottles are used, count 60. For 22oz, count 35. Do not prepare an excessive amount. Once they are wet they will rust. We discard leftovers. We know two ways to sanitize caps.
1 - Soak in sanitizer, place in strainer and rinse. 2 - Boil in saucepan for 5 minutes and place in strainer.
This is the last chance for readings.
Get a cup of wort and put it in a saucepan. Place pan on burner with heat on low. In a dry cup, get one cup of corn sugar. Slowly add to wort in the pan, giving it time to dissolve. Heat and stir until steam starts to rise, then pour mix in bottling bucket. Without splashing, mix this in very thorough. While bottling, you may want to stir this a couple more times, at intervals.
You have primed the wort for the next fermentation. This method is called Batch Priming. An older method was to put a little sugar in each bottle. This procedure produced inconsistent results, was a lot more work and broke many bottles.
A bottle filler is a neat tool. Connect it to a hose that has an established flow. Place the tip end in a bottle, placed lower than the source. When the tip is pushed, against bottom of the bottle, a stream will flow into the bottle. When you let up, on the filler the flow will cease. The bottle will fill from bottom to top. Filling this way keeps out oxygen which is not wanted now. As the bottle fills to the top, maybe a little over, pull the filler out of bottle. TIP - The best place to put the resting filler is in another empty bottle. Notice that pulling the filler out of the full bottle, left a space in bottle neck. This is exactly what we want. The space should be 1 inch give or take a little. After a few bottles you will know when to pull out and obtain this space. During bottling the bottles will get sticky wort on them. This will attract bugs and varmits and could mold. The beer may not look very attrative when you get one or serve one to a guest. For this reason, after capping, we bathe the bottles in a sink of hot water. They could be rinsed under a faucet or with a sprayer. Point bottling spigot down. Place a pan, or tub under spigot. Put a bottle in pan and in this put bottle filler. We have to cut a hose that will go from filler to spigot. It should have just a little slack. Put it together and turn spigot on. Scald or sanitize the 2 cup measuring cup, it need not be dried. Run about a cup through filler, or run until air is out of lines. Catch this in measurer. If all was clean, put wort back in the bucket.
What follows is repetitious and can be managed in several ways. fill - cap - rinse - dry - label, tag or mark - put in carton
Some bottles come in cartons with no dividers. These work fine as long as they are full of bottles but, take some out and the rest will not stand up. We put cardboard six pack carriers, obtained at the liquor store, in the cartons then put the bottles in them. This works great. How long we gotta wait to drink this stuff!? Two years. No, if you honestly think it’s ready it’s ready. One guy wanted a refund for his bottling bucket and bottles. He said he never used them. I asked him what he put the brew it when he transferred from the fermenter. We thought he had bought a co2 kegging system. He opened up his mouth, pointed to his throat while rubbing his tummy with the other hand. Really, there is a lot of folks that do not have a single beer left two weeks after syphoning. Seriously, Home-Brewed Beer undergoes major changes as it ages. The beer carbonates, clears, becomes smoother and mellows, hop characteristics change, head and its retention improve and more. We sample one or two beers here and there but age the rest 5 weeks. That is 4 weeks at room temperature and 1 week in the refrigerator. No, you don’t HAVE to refrigerate after 4 weeks, we do this to enhance the clearing process. It is ok to chill it down a few hours before serving. We said home-brew was good warm but it’s carbonated so you must chill it before opening or it will spew all over the place. Never store beer in direct sunlight, no light is better. Try to keep it in cases with the flaps closed. Refrigerators are dark too, after the first four weeks, beer ages better when it is cold. Cold temperatures also help clarify the beer, preserve the freshness, age it better, and keep it longer. Darker beers, age better, take longer to reach their peak and keep longer. Never store beer in hot temps, this will at least ruin the beer and at most blow it up. Anything above room temp is hot. If there is room in the fridge, age some! A basement or cellar is good for storage. We have probably wasted some time and paper here. You know? The guy in the second paragraph, on this page. WHO’S GONNA STORE IT!?
If you are trying to impress someone, you must know how to pour a naturally carbonated home-brew in a clear glass. Remember, there is sediment at the bottom. If you just dump it, it will look awful. Pour it slowly holding back the last 3/8 inch. It is also important to store the bottles upright and undisturbed before serving. Avoid pouring a part of a bottle. When the bottle is tipped upright, the sediment will mix in the remainder. At parties, we pour several bottles in a serving pitcher. What we have just said applies to light beers. Dark beer, who is gonna know? The sediment will not harm anyone, it is loaded with vitamins. It just looks bad. Have you Heard of brewers yeast? Health-food stores and doctors have. They say it is good for you. I pour my beer slowly to the glass holding back the last little bit. Then I drink what is in the bottle and throw away the glass. Excessive sediment is usually the result of premature bottling or picking up to much off the bottom when syphoning.
That’s all folks! For the now anyway. Basic Beer is not finished. To make it complete, your input is needed. We WELCOME, even BEG for, your comments and suggestions on how to improve BASIC BEER. THANK YOU, and remember if you need help or just want to chat,
Cher-Dan’s SSS Home of The Fermented Minds Wine and Beer Club Also Antiques / Beer & Wine Kits & Supplies / Bakery Collectables / Furniture / Tea Room 827 W Maine, Enid, OK 73701 Area Code 405 #’s 237-6880, 6881, 6884, 7244, Anytime Dan, Cheryl and Barbara |