How to brew your own beer at home
Ready to brew your own beer? Follow this homebrew recipe for success.
When you decide to brew your own beer at home you join the ranks of centuries of homebrewers who have mixed and brewed their own beer. Homebrew beer makers often follow very old recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. This page will help you understand the actual process for making beer, so you understand the basics of every homebrew beer recipe. Once you understand the basics, you’ll be able to follow the recipes that come built into your beer recipe kits.
How to make beer from a homebrew beer kit
Now that you have all of your homebrew beer equipment set up and ready to go, you’re ready to make your first batch of delicious homebrew beer!
You’ll want to use a beer recipe kit. These kits contain the basics ingredients that you will need according to which type of beer you want to make. For example, an IPA requires different ingredients to a stout beer or a wheat beer.
Each beer recipe kit will have instructions that vary a bit depending on what type of beer you are making, but we know you’re looking for a good, simple, and basic beer recipe method to follow, so that’s what this page is all about. This beer making guide is suitable for all malt beer extract recipes.
Important basics to keep in mind
Remember, before you can make a great beer, you need to start with some important basics: high quality beer ingredients, including a brewing yeast that is appropriate for the specific beer style that you want to make (IPA, sour beer, stout beer, pale ale, wheat beer, ale, lager, pilsner, porter beer, Mexican beer, etc). You’ll also need to note the recommended temperature range for brewing with your specific yeast and stay within that range. Finally, starting with clean and sanitised equipment is essential- you want all of your beer brewing equipment and homebrew bottles to be sanitised before you begin the brewing process.
Homebrew beer making instructions
Ok, you’ve sorted out your basics and you’re ready to brew your beer! Here are the basic steps you will need to take:
Step 1: Prepare your homebrew equipment
First of all, do a thorough clean of your equipment and sterilise all parts.
Put the brewing yeast aside to use later in step two (the fermentation stage).
Make sure that before you open your homebrew beer kit can you warm it up in hot water. Leaving it in hot water for about 10 minutes before you open it will make it easier to pour out the contents.
Once your beer kit can is warmed up, open it and empty the contents into the fermentor. Add 2 to 4 litres of hot water plus any malt blends or malt extract. Stir it all up and make sure everything has dissolved. If the weather is hot, use a bit less hot water. If the weather is cold, use a bit more.
Once everything is dissolved, top up your fermenter with cool tap water as directed in your beer kit recipe. For most standard homebrews this will be a final volume of around 21 litres.
Note: are you adding hops to your homebrew?
Lots of recipe kits include finishing hops, so be sure to check your specific recipes for the hops instructions. In general though, there are two main ways that homebrewers add hops to their beer: dry-hopping and boiling.
- Boiling hops: this is usually done by bringing a litre of water to the boil and then adding the hops before continuing to boil for 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave the water to cool for 15 minutes. Once the hops and water have cooled, use a sterilised strainer to strain the liquid into your brew.
- Dry hopping: check your recipe for specific instruction, but most homebrew beer recipes suggest simply sprinkling the hops on top of your homebrew on day four, then allowing fermentation to continue, no boiling necessary. Eventually the hops will settle at the bottom of your fermenter and will become part of the sediment.
Step 2: Ferment your homebrew
Now we’re getting to the real fun – fermenting! First, sprinkle the brewing yeast across the surface of your homebrew.
Next, seal the fermenter, fit the airlock and fill it halfway with cooled boiled water.
Now you will leave the homebrew beer to ferment, which will typically take somewhere between a week to 10 days. Keep the temperature in the fermenter constant (for homebrew recipes using ale brewing yeast you want your fermentor to stay in the range of 18 – 22 degrees Celsius, while homebrew recipes that use lager brewing yeast will need to stay a bit cooler, around 10 to 15 degrees Celsius). Always double check the recipe instructions or the brewing yeast pack for any specific temperature recommendations.
And that’s it for step 2! Fermentation stage is very simple. You’ll know that fermentation is finished when the airlock stops bubbling and the homebrew begins to clear. Be sure to always use a hydrometer to test when the specific gravity (SG) level remains constant. This will indicate that no more fermentation will take place. Give the homebrew beer two more days (48 hours) to clear thoroughly before you begin bottling your beer. If your fermenter is sealed and sanitised, leaving the homebrew beer in the fermenter for a bit of extra time won’t be a problem.
Step 3: Bottle your homebrew beer
The first part of step 3 (bottling your beer) is sterilisation. Yes, again – we’re very serious about cleanliness! Sterilise your homebrew beer bottles by following the instructions on the steriliser packet.
Place one or two carbonation drops in each bottle. You’ll need one carbonation drop for bottles that hold 330ml – 375ml (11oz – 12.5oz) and two carbonation drops for bottles that hold 650-750ml (22oz – 25oz).
Next, fill each homebrew beer bottle, leaving about 50mm (2 inches) of space at the top. Use a bottle filler to make this super easy! Or, if you’re using a valve, just fill your homebrew bottle to the top, then remove the bottle from the valve. You should end up with about 50mm (2 inches) of space at the top of the bottle.
Use a crown cap to close each bottle. Then seal your homebrew beer bottles firmly with a capping tool.
Allow the beer bottles to sit for a few hours. To make sure the carbonation drops are totally dissolved, shake each bottle a few times during the first few hours. Stand the bottles at room temperature (say around 18 to 22ºC or 64 to 71ºF) for about a 10 days. After that, store your homebrew beer bottles in a place where the temperature is stable (and not hot) for at least another two weeks before sampling.
Step 4: Allow your homebrew beer to mature (beer maturation stage)
Remember everything you’ve learned about the history of beer? One of beer’s great benefits, and one of the reasons that it was a staple beverage before the invention of the refrigerator is that it doesn’t really go “off”. Allowing your homebrew beer to age won’t harm it. In fact, your homebrew beer will get better if you let it age in the bottle! Bottle ageing your homebrew beer for even six months will result in a much better beer than one left to sit for only a month.
The hardest part of step 4 (maturation) is being patient. No matter how much you may want to drink your beer straight away, try to let your homebrew age for awhile and enjoy seeing home much better it gets with time! You can also experiment by allowing several bottles from the same batch of homebrew age and try them at different intervals to do your own taste test. This way you can see how mature you like your homebrew beer to be.
Where’s the best place to let my homebrew beer mature?
Allow your homebrew beer to mature in a spot that is reasonably cool and where the temperature does not change very much – you want it to be in a place where the temperature remains relatively constant. Keep your homebrew beer bottles standing upright while they mature, and be sure to add a label with a date on it to every batch. This will help you find tester bottles to try when your homebrew beer reaches 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months of maturation.
As you taste each beer mat various stages of maturation, keep tasting notes on their flavour. Then you’ll have a record of how the maturation process changes the taste of your beer, and you can remember how “old” you like your homebrew beer to be next time.
Other homebrew beer making tips
Always try to brew a few batches of homebrew beer in a row. This will help you make sure that you always have enough beer supply to cellar (cellaring means leaving your beer to mature). It will mean that you will always have a supply of beer to drink that is at least three months old, which will make your homebrew beer drinking experience more delicious and flavourful.
You can also experiment with the beer serving temperatures. Check out this beer serving temperature guide to learn about the different temperatures that you can try serving your different beer varieties at. For example, you might like to serve your lager at an icy cold temperature and your stout beer at a more tepid temperature. The beer serving temperature guide will tell you more about the best temps at which to serve your delicious homebrew beer.