How to Use Your Home Brewing Kit

This guide explains how to use your home brewing kit to make your first batch of beer, from the equipment you need through to fermenting, bottling and maturing. Brewing beer has been said to be part science and part art. There is a precise and calculated side to the process, but at the same time the “rules” and any possible confines can be hazy, leaving room for personal interpretation and the creation of a truly unique beer. Sounds like it could be difficult, right? Well, it's not!

Like all homebrewers, you'll find that any process you can implement to brew better beer is a no-brainer, whether it saves time, money or energy. The reason we respect homebrewers so much is that they aren’t willing to take shortcuts and they always go for quality rather than quantity. With that said, let’s get started!

Essential home brewing equipment

First, here’s the essential equipment you’ll need before you can begin brewing.

• Fermenter: A plastic container, generally 30lts. It prevents contamination and is where the brew ferments. It’s important that the open slit on the sediment reducer is facing up.

• Bottler: A simple valve device and length of tube that attaches to the tap to make bottling much easier. The bottler is fitted into the tap on the fermenter.
• Thermometer: The fermentation temperature has a large bearing on the flavour and quality of your beer. A stick-on thermometer, stuck around the 12lt mark, will give an accurate reading of the temperature of your brew.
• Hydrometer: A device with two functions: determining the alcoholic content of your beer and establishing that fermentation has finished. It measures the specific gravity, or the density, of your brew.
• % Alcohol: (Starting SG-Final SG) *0.14 + 0.5 | Note: ignore the decimal place of specific gravity readings, i.e. 1.040 is written as 1040. The 0.5 factors in the alcohol produced in secondary fermentation (or carbonation) in the bottle.
• Steriliser: Cleanliness and hygiene are very important in homebrewing. If they are not done correctly, or at all, the beer will spoil and the aroma and flavour will be adversely affected. For cleaning and washing, Oxyclean, Neodetersol Verde or the beer cleaners are excellent products. Do not rinse after sanitising; just let all containers drain for a few minutes before use.

Now that you’re all set, here is how to brew your beer.

Step 1: Preparation

• There are a number of ways to prepare your brew. By far the easiest and best starting point is kit brewing. Nowadays there is a wide range of beer styles available in brew kits, formulated by combining hops and malt extract.
• Clean and sterilise all equipment.

• Place the kit in hot water for 10 minutes to warm the contents, then pour the kit contents into the fermenter.
• Add 1 kg of brewing sugar (dextrose).
• TAB Tip: For better brewing results, add dried malt extract or a combination of dried malt and dextrose. This will enhance the flavour, colour, foam and quality of the brew enormously.
• Add 4lts of boiling water to the fermenter and stir the contents vigorously.
• Fill with cold water to the required level (most kits are designed for 23lts). This mixture is known as the wort.

Step 2: Fermentation

• Take the specific gravity reading of the brew at 20°C and record this value.
• “Pitch” the yeast. The yeast can only be added to the wort if the temperature is under 30 °C. Sprinkle the yeast over the wort and allow it to hydrate for 15 minutes, then vigorously stir the wort for 1 minute with a sterilised spoon. This oxygenates the mixture to promote quick and healthy yeast growth. This is the only stage at which oxygen should come into contact with the wort or beer. Before fermentation begins, the brew is very vulnerable to infection, so cleanliness is important.
• After a day or so, you will see the airlock bubbling as “carbon dioxide gas” passes through. This is evidence that fermentation has commenced and that the fermenter is sufficiently airtight. If no gas is passing through the lock, taking a specific gravity reading can tell you whether fermentation is under way. For better results, the temperature of the brew should remain reasonably constant at around 20°C. If you are using a heater, a thermostat is essential to make sure the brew doesn’t overheat.
• As fermentation reaches completion, the rate of bubbling through the airlock will slow. At this point, you should begin taking specific gravity readings. Once they are constant, wait another two days to allow the beer to clear, and add finings at this stage to get better results.

Step 3: Bottling

• Sterilise and rinse the bottler valve, bottles and caps you will use. Don’t forget to taste a sample before bottling. If there are no odours such as rotten egg gas, proceed with bottling.
• Fill each bottle to around 3 cm from the top and seal each with a crown seal bottle cap.

Step 4: Maturation

• For the first 2 weeks after capping, store your beers in a warm place at around 20°C. In cold conditions, a plate heater is useful for this. At this point, your brew will be carbonated and ready for drinking.
• However, the advantage of allowing your beer to mature cannot be overstated. For the first three months, the flavours and texture of your brew will change quite dramatically, and the improvement in drinking quality will amaze you.

TAB TIP: For more tips on making better beers, there are a number of additives you can use to improve its properties: corn syrup/lactose, grain adjuncts, beer head improver, clearfine or modiferm.

You are now ready to be the perfect host. Don’t forget to ask your guests what they think about the flavour; family and friends can be our perfect tasters, and they’ll get interested in trying more of your recipes!

Congratulations, you just made your first home brew! If you make this recipe, don't forget to tag us on our socials @artisans.bottega.

Let us know what you think of it! We love getting in touch with our TAB family!