Please read & understand the instructions prior to brewing.
All equipment that comes in contact with your beer after the boil must be sanitized.
Please make sure that your kit contains Yeast, Malt Extract, Specialty Grains and Hops before brewing.
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1. Fill your brewpot with 1 gallon of water. Place the specialty grains inside the muslin grain bag & tie. Add the bag to the brewpot. Turn on the heat. Remove the bag just before the water boils. Discard the grain bag.
2. Turn off the heat and add all of your dry and/or liquid malt extract to the brewpot while stirring. If adding other sugars, (i.e. honey, maltodextrin, Belgian candi sugar, rice syrup, corn sugar) add them now.
3. Return heat to the brewpot & bring to a boil. Boil as vigorously as possible without boiling over. Directly add hops labeled ''Bittering Hops'' or any hops that call for you to boil them for 60 minutes at this time. You will boil this mixture, called wort (''wert''), for 60 minutes. Periodically stir the wort, leaving the lid off or offset to prevent a boil-over.
4. Find your hops labeled ''Finishing Hops'' or any hops that direct you to boil them for 5 minutes and add them directly to the brewpot with 5 minutes left in the 60-minute boil. Also, if you are adding spices to the beer, add them now.
5. After the 60 minute boil is complete, remove pot from heat. Now place your brewpot in an ice bath in the kitchen sink. Gently stir the wort to speed the cooling. If no ice is used, use cold tap water & replace as necessary. Continue to cool until the brewpot beneath the water is warm but not hot to the touch. Typically about 15-20 minutes.
6. Now add 1 gallons of cold water (ice cold if possible) to your sanitized fermenter. The colder the water, the less cooling of the brewpot.
7. Pour your wort into the fermenter and top-off to 2 gallons (splashing is O.K.). Add brewing yeast and entire anti-foam package. Stir with a sanitized spoon. If you're using dry brewing yeast, do not re-hydrate it as directed on the package.
8. Secure the sanitized lid to the fermenter. Shake or rock your sealed fermenter for 5 minutes. Aeration is necessary at this point for healthy yeast growth. Now place the airlock, which has been sanitized & left half filled with the sanitizing solution, into the lid.
9. Place the fermenter in a relatively warm place (60-70 degrees). This is your ''Ale'' temp. range. Fermentation will typically begin in 12-36 hours and continue for 3-5 days. The actual fermentation time varies according to temperature, yeast strain, amount & type of fermentable sugar, etc. Don't expect all fermentations to behave the same, even similar batches will differ. Note: cooler temperatures (closer to 60 degrees) mean slower fermentation.
10. About 5-7 days after brewing, if you are no longer seeing any bubbles
in the fermenter, proceed to the bottling instructions.
TIME TO BOTTLE
1. Clean & sanitize all bottles and caps, as well as your auto-siphon, tubing, and bottle filler.
2. If you are adding fruit extract, add it to the beer now. Depending on if you desire medium or high carbonation, add 4 or 5 conditioning tablets to each bottle.
3. Place the bucket on a table. Attach one end of the siphon hose to the auto-siphon, and the other end to the bottle filler. To start the siphon, first place the bottle filler into a bottle and make sure the valve is pressed against the bottle of the bottle. Then place the end of the auto-siphon into the beer and pump it once or twice. The siphon should start immediately and the beer will begin to fill the bottle. You can use the auto-siphon clamp to attach the siphon to the side of the bucket for convenience.
4. If you lift up on the bottle filler, the flow of beer will stop and allow you to proceed to the next bottle. On the next bottle, simply press the filler to the bottom, you do not need to pump the siphon again.
5. Fill each bottle by pressing the bottle filler onto the bottom of each bottle. Leave about 1 1/2 inch of head space in each bottle.
6. Once each bottle is filled, screw one of the sanitized caps onto the top.
7. Natural carbonation occurs as a result of the suspended yeast in your beer consuming the priming sugar. Allow the beer to carbonate at room temperature (60-70 degrees) for about 10-20 days before refrigerating. Additional aging will improve the clarity & flavor. Pour your homebrew into a glass leaving the sediment behind. CHEERS!
