Since I missed this in the first two posts I’ll cover it now. You must thoroughly clean (using PBW) and sanitize (using StarSan) anything that touches your brew. Both are very easy to use (just follow the instructions on the packaging.) PBW should be used with hot water to thoroughly clean and StarSan should be used with cool water to thoroughly sanitize. The picture bellow shows my bottle washer that I use to sanitize my bottle caps and bottles.

You will want to sanitize your bottling bucket. The easiest way to do this is to fill it roughly 1/4 – 1/2 way and add StarSan. You can also take any bottling equipment (racking can, bottle filler, tubing, etc) and place it in the bucket. Fill your bottle washer up using this solution as well. For added sanitation I also hold the bucket over the sink and crack the valve open for roughly 5 minutes to make sure the valve itself is sanitized.

Now that everything is sanitized carefully get your fermentation bucket onto your kitchen counter or at least elevated higher than your bottling bucket stands while its on the floor. DO NOT slosh your brew around. Be very careful when moving the fermenting bucket because there is a high amount of trub on the bottom. The trub is sediment containing hops, yeast, grains, etc. If this is mixed with your beer it can make it taste fairly awful. Obviously you can remove your airlock equipment before moving the fermenting bucket however I would suggest leaving the bung in place to keep you beer off the floor. When you have your fermenting bucket elevated you can pull of the lid. This will take a bit of effort as most industrial air tight lids sold for these buckets seal very tightly. Just be careful when removing to not knock your bucket to the ground.

Read your instructions for priming as you may have to add your priming sugar into the bottling bucket now before you start the siphoning process. I added mine after I siphoned.

Place your racking cane into the bucket and secure it using the clip. You will want to push it all the way to the bottom of the bucket and then bring it up around 2 – 3 inches to get it above the trub. You will now need some sort of container to start the siphoning process. Take your vinyl tubing and fill it with water / sanitizing solution. Attach the vinyl tubing to the racking cane while placing the other end into your container. When you release the water it will start pulling beer through the tubing. DO NOT place it directly into your bottling container. If it pulls trub through the tubing you will need to reposition your racking cane upward until you get beer. When you are only pulling beer through the tubing, move it over to your bottling bucket and siphon all of the beer out of your fermenting bucket.

To prime my beer I had to mix my priming sugar with 2 cups of boiling water and then let it cool. Priming is the process of adding just enough sugar to allow the beer to ferment just a bit more while its bottled. This fermentation in the bottles adds pressure which in return carbonates the beer. You can drink the beer as it is now however it will taste very flat and fairly watered down. In fact I always take a small sample before adding my priming sugar to get an idea as to how the beer is going to taste when it is finished.

This is an example of trub. This is what you do not want mixing with your beer.

When your beer is completely transferred to your bottling bucket you must mix your priming sugar in. Again read your instructions as a lot of kits request that you do this before you move your beer into the bottling bucket. I mix mine in using my racking cane making sure that the trub is cleaned off and its sanitized. Now elevate your bottling bucket so you can start bottling. Attach your vinyl tubing as well as your bottle filler. Start sanitizing your bottles. StarSan is a no rinse sanitizing solution. You do not need to rinse after the bottles have touched StarSan. You drain the StarSan out and then fill the bottle with beer. Rinsing will actually introduce things such as chlorine, minerals and bacteria that you do not want in your beer.

Start filling the bottles one by one. I fill around 6 at a time and then cap them. When insert the wand into the bottle and press it against the bottom. This depresses the valve and releases the beer. You must fill the bottle to the tippy top because when you pull the wand out of the bottle it will leave just about an inch from the beer to the top of the bottle. The filler was designed to do this perfectly every time and is the optimal amount of air to have in your bottle. This air pocket allows enough air for carbonation and enough air space in the bottle for expansion. I won’t get into physics however air is much easier to compress than water. If there was not enough air in the bottle the bottle could break from the pressure of carbonation.

You will probably make a mess as I know I do every time I bottle. The best thing to do is place a towel or some old newspapers under your bottles that your filling.

After your done filling around 6 bottles put your caps on. Always use sanitized caps. With the capper I have you basically place the cap on top of the bottle, place the capper on top of the cap and depress the handles downward toward the bottle while holding the capper in place. You will know when it kinks the cap enough. If you go over this point you can crack the bottle or even complete break off the neck of the bottle. The capper is big enough to protect you in case this happens however it can make you gasp when it happens and if your like me you’ll be a bit mad that you just wasted a bottle of beer.

When you’re done capping wipe the bottles off with a wet rag to remove any beer and place them into the cases that they came in or even old beer cases. Be sure to wipe off the bottles because nobody wants to hold on to a sticky beer bottle while their drinking it. When you have all your beer bottled and in the case, close the case and tape it shut so no light can get in.

It is now time for carbonation. Place your cases of beer in a dark room, closet or bedroom and make sure the room stays around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Optimal carbonation temperature is usually 68 – 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Some brews may call for different temperatures so again read your instructions. Carbonation will usually take around 2 weeks however it may take longer depending on the type of beer. Some beers will also use this phase for the aging process so you could be waiting up to 6 weeks.

Once your beer is carbonated… well… bottoms up! It’s time to enjoy your well earned beer that you made with all your hard work, effort and time. Take note that you just made an all natural beer and that it has no preservatives in it like many store bought shelf beers. Most home brewed beers have a shelf life of around 30 – 90 days after carbonation. They can last longer if kept dark and cool.

Please, drink responsibly and remember… stay thirsty my friends.

Again I’m not going to go into huge detail however to start off you must use a gallon or two of whater (whichever your ingredients kit calls for) and pour it into your stock pot. I would suggest boiling this water for at least 15 minutes to remove any added chemicals such as chlorine.

Next you will have to bring your water down to proper temperature. Usually this is around 155 degrees Fahrenheit. When you reach this temperature you place your grains into a steeping bag (these are usually included in the ingredients kit) and start steeping it in the water. This is the only part I hate about brewing beer. You will have to steep this bag for around 30 minutes. It will create a sort of “beer tea.” The picture below shows the steeping process.

When you are done steeping you can discard the grains including the steeping bag. Now you must bring the water to a full boil. When it reaches a full boil take it of of the stove burner and mix in your malt extract. Taking it off the burning is a very good tip. If this is not done you could experience a boil over. A boil over with malt results in a very bad afternoon of brewing. It will get everywhere, burn onto the stove (which is near impossible to get off) and create a tar like sticky mess. I know all of this from experience. As soon as you stir in the malt extract place it back onto the stove and bring it to a full vigorous boil once more. When it is boiling add your bittering hops in a steeping bag (be sure to leave room for expansion when you tie the bag shut. Hop pellets expand greatly.) Also be sure to take a huge wiff of the hops before placing them into the steeping bag. This is probably one of my most favorite smells and it is unforgettable. Usually at this time you will boil the malt and hops for 60 minutes but again refer to your provided instructions.

I will stress again, read your instructions. Usually the last 5 – 15 minutes of your 60 minute boil will require adding the additional hops such as finishing hops, spicing hops, etc. When your 60 minutes is up take your stock pot off of the burner and remove your hops. This is the part that usually takes quite some time. You will need to place your stock pot in a bucket / sink of ice water too cool down your wort. You want to bring this down to at least under 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I try to shoot for 80 degrees Fahrenheit but you don’t want to take to much time. Give yourself around 2 hours of cooling time but no longer as you don’t want your wort in the open for too long due to bacteria. You must realize at this point that your wort is completely sanitized and you must keep it that way.

When it is cooled transfer it to your fermentation bucket. At this point you will usually top off your brew to 5 gallons. Now this all depends again on the type of beer you are brewing so please refer to your brewing instructions. Some instructions will require you to add more water during the boiling process. After it is topped off you can add the yeast as long as it is below 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on the yeast you are using there may be prep involved. Most yeasts will have instructions provided with them. Also some beer / yeast combinations require the beer to be aerated before the yeast is added. This is done by putting the lid on the bucket and slowly sloshing it toward you. I usually do this by sitting indian style on the ground and pulling the bucket toward me multiple times. Only aerate if your instructions call for it and be sure not to aerate too vigorously. You do not want bubbles or foam on top. Finally you can add your yeast, put the lid on your bucket, place it in a dark area (or cover it with a towel) as well as set up your airlock. Its time for the cleanup and waiting process.

For reference here is a great link to a simple set of instructions for brewing. Also if you need any help or have any questions this forum is a very good place to start off. Amateur brewers are not only welcome but so are experts. The experience level of brewing on this forum is quite high.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/beginner-extract-brewing-howto-99139/

Also the Wiki page is an awesome resource of never ending brewing knowledge.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Here is my fermentor. It allows the beer to sit over time while keeping it oxygen free. This is the process that turns your beer into alcoholic beer. The fermentation process usually requires the room temperature to be below 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, it needs to be kept out of any direct light as this can ruin your brew. If you cannot place it in a dark room do like I do and wrap a towel around the bucket, including the top. I would also suggest setting the bucket on a towel, in case of a blowout. A blowout is when your airlock clogs and pressure builds in the bucket. When the pressure is great enough it blows the lid off the bucket, which can result in a huge mess. I speak from experience. This is why I do not use the traditional airlock and I have created my own.