How to make home made Beer

The end product of home brewing is a refreshing drink that costs a fraction of the price of commercially produced beers. Kits are available from home brewing shops, supermarkets department stores and chain store chemists, and the range covers many types of beer, from lager to stout.

There are two ingredients in a basic beer-making kit — hopped concentrated wort (malt and hops) and yeast. You will also need white sugar; in general the less sugar needed, the better the quality of the kit.
However, there is no sure guide to the quality of a home brew kit, other than personal recommendation or trial and error. The quality of the brew will also depend on using the right equipment, which should be kept scrupulously clean.

The equipment You will need: a food grade polythene fermenting bin to hold at least 23 litres (5 gallons); about 2m (6ft 6in) of 10mm diameter plastic tubing; about 40 one pint beer bottles; a corking machine and crown corks; a hydrometer and a thermometer; a long-handled plastic spoon, a 4.5 litre (8 pint) pan and a sterilising agent - made by dissolving four crushed Campden tablets and a teaspoon of citric acid in 570ml (1 pint) of cold water.

The brewing method Clean the plastic bin with sterilising fluid, rinse it with cold water, then stand it where you are going to ferment the beer. This should be somewhere with an even temperature of 18-24°C (64-75°F). If the temperature is too low, the yeast will stop fermenting; if it is too high, the yeast will mutate and produce odd flavours.

Instructions for mixing the ingredients vary according to which kit is used. Study the manufacturer’s instructions carefully and have all the equipment you will need to hand before starting.
Fermentation will take about five to ten days, appearing first as a ring of bubbles, then a creamy, frothy head which will eventually collapse to form a mid-brown pancake across the surface of the beer. At this stage, skim off the froth and take a hydrometer reading. When the gravity is between 1000 and 1006, and remains so for 24 hours, it is time to siphon off the beer.

Use the plastic tubing to siphon off the brew, leaving as much heavy sediment as possible in the bin. Rinse the bin out immediately
Sterilise the bottles and rinse in hot water. Siphon the beer into the bottles leaving a gap of at least 25mm at the top and add half a teaspoon of sugar to each bottle before corking. Keep the bottles in a warm place for four or five days for the sugar to ferment. Then move to a cool place for two weeks, after which the beer should be ready for drinking.
Once you have mastered the technique of brewing beer from a kit, you can, if you wish, move on to other brews such as lager and barley wine. Or you can try ‘mashing’ making beer from ingredients bought loose from a home brewing shop. The shopkeeper can supply you with instructions, as well as ingredients.