I’m not a huge fan of using the powdered yeast or the malt extract, but I also fully accept that I am a beginner! It’s best to take one step at a time, so once I’m comfortable brewing with these ‘controlled’ substances I will move on to using living yeast cultures and real malted barley. I am also really looking forward to trying different varieties of hops, which seem to be readily available on the internet .

To be honest, the process is incredibly easy and is really just a matter of being patient as the fermentation takes place. One thing that I do keep reading about is the importance of sterilising everything that comes into contact with the beer, as if it holds bacteria they will multiply and the beer will be nasty.

After sterilising I warmed the tin of malt extract in a bowl of boiling water, it’s really sticky stuff – think martmite or thick honey.

Then I add two litres of nearly boiling water and 500g of sugar. Fermentation 101 states that During fermentation yeast interact with sugars to create ethanol, commonly known as ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide (as a by-product). The more sugar you add the stronger the beer will be. I’ve also read that this results in a thinner beer (presumably because there is more alcohol and alcohol is thin?) and a dryer product. The recipe that I am using also requires more sugar to be added at the bottling stage, so that a second fermentation takes place within the bottle providing the CO2 for the fizz.

After the sugar is added I gave everything a really good stir and then took a temperature reading (above). The temperature needs to drop to around 20 for the yeast to be added, so I topped up with filtered water to the 9l mark, then dropped the dissolved yeast in.

Another good stir and then the lid is placed on top loosely. The reason that the lid is not sealed shut is that the fermentation will eventually blow it off, the pressure and more fizz will be added at the bottling stage.

And then we wait…

In around nine days the beer will be ready to be bottled and then a bit more of a wait after that as it conditions. None of this can be rushed, but I have to say (results permitting) that  it is a very easy and not at all time consuming way to create something that should be pretty tasty. Now that I have bought the starter kit, future two gallon batches will cost about £10 to make, until I start buying the barley itself – when it will become even cheaper!

Only annoying thing is that I couldn’t take a specific gravity reading with the hydrometer, because I didn’t have enough liquid in the vessel. So calculating an ABV could be a bit tricky this time round, though it should be around the 7% mark.

Have you tried home brewing before? Any tips for a novice?

Brew Diary

Ok just as somewhere to record the readings as I go…

As James suggested I am syphoning off a little and taking a reading using the hydrometer, bit of a nuisance since everything has to be sterilised before and after.

So, ambient temperature fluctuates between 17-23 degrees C, which should be well within the working parameters of they yeast.

Initial SP.GR (specific gravity) – 1.070
SP.GR Day  2 – 1.040
SP.GR Day 5 – 1.020
SP.GR Day 6 – 1.016

According to my kit i’m aiming for an ABV of around 8% (SP.GR – 1.010) … tasted a little bit of the waste and if felt strong already (should be around 6.5%). The fermentation should level off over the next couple of days and then it needs to be transferred to bottles for conditioning.

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