Like my Cider "How-to" this is going to be a very straight forward guide on how I brew a beer kit. I've had many attempts at brewing beer and while they started off as massive failures I'm now at a point where I feel I'm getting the best I can out of them.
Firstly this guide is only recommended for single can kits as, with most single can kits, there isn't really enough LME to go around. The contents and estimates are generally a little bit ambitious for my liking, but rather than brew a batch short I tend to add more of the primary ingredient in order to brew to the full volume. With twin can kits I would recommend just following the instructions.
So, for this little guide I'm using a Coopers European Lager kit. The kit has a can with 1.7L of LME. As with all kits there is a small sachet of yeast, with this particular kit I believe it's a lager yeast so fermenting temps are optional here.
So... to make it exactly like I do this is the ingredients required, feel free to chop and change as you wish but I would recommend at least trying this out for yourself, it does make a difference. Obviously the kit can be whichever you choose.
Coopers European Lager Kit
500g Light DME
20g of Saaz hops (I've had good results with cascade as well, up to you what you use depending on what kit you are brewing.)
20L of bottled water (Does away with any chlorine etc you have in your tap water. 17p per 2L means £1.70 for the water. Not really a deal breaker).
1kg Brewing sugar (We are aiming for a cleaner flavour and dextrose will help us achieve this.).
Don't worry about the amount of fermentables used here. As I said previously the kits have a fair whack less than is required to make 23L properly, the extra fermentables just bulk this out, give more flavour and up the strenth to a regular level (generally around 5%). Most coopers kits generally end up around the 4% mark when brewing to the instructions. If you want 4% I would simply use a beer enhancer kit with 50% dme and 50% brewing sugar rather than the extra DME and brewing sugar I have mentioned.
Equipment:
2 Buckets (One primary/bottling bucket, one secondary)
Syphoning equipment
Stirring Paddle/Spoon
Steriliser
Large Pot
Hydrometer
Thermometer (I use LCD strips on every FV I have)
Bottles/Cap/Capper
Airlock/Bung
Seive/strainer or muslin bag
Can Opener
Fridge
Fermenting fridge (Optional for lagering)
Instructions:
If you can have 10L of water in the fridge. This will help to bring the temps in when mixing.
Thoroughly clean/sterilise everything that's going to come into contact with your brew post boil. During boil doesn't need sterilised, just cleaned.
Boil 6L of the bottled water in a large pot, capacity of at least 10L
Add the sugar to the boiling water and stir to dissolve.
Open the can and empty the contents.
Pour some boiling water into the can to rinse as much of the contents out as you can into the mix (I just boil a half cup of water in the kettle to add)
Bring back to the boil while stirring everything in then add 10g of hops.
Allow it all to boil for 45 minutes and then add another 5g of hops.
Allow it all to boil for 15 minutes, turn off the heat and add the last 5g of hops.
While the wort cools a little add a couple of bottles of cold water into the clean/sterile FV.
Pour the wort in on top using a sieve/strainer or muslin bag to catch the hops (this can get messy so try to take care).
Dispose of the hops and ditch the sieve/strainer/muslin.
Top up with the rest of the water up to the 23L mark.
Hopefully your temp should be good for pitching (lower mid 20s) but if it's not give it time to stabilise.
Once the temps are stable it's time to take a reading. You should see approx 1.045 if following this guide to the letter, temp will obviously have an impact.
Pitch the yeast, seal and store at approx 20-22 degrees for 14 days.
*note the above assumes you don't have the capability of lagering, if you do then lower the temp over 24 hours and ferment at 12 degrees for 3 weeks.
After 12 days (3 weeks if lagering) check the FG. You should be seeing under 1.010, anything between 1.004 and 1.008 I would consider ideal (be sure to take temps into consideration).
*If lagering increase the temperature by 5 degrees every 12 hours till sitting at room temp.
Move the FV to it's racking position, so that you are not disturbing anything when it comes to transferring to secondary.
Check again over the next 2 days to make sure the gravity is stable, if it is you are good to go.
Secondary:
Sterilise secondary vessel along with all syphoning equipment.
Transfer the contents into a clean/sterile secondary vessel being careful not to suck up too much of the dead yeast on the bottom.
Re-seal for another 7-10 days to make sure yeast has done all it's cleaning up. The brew will start to clear.
*If lagering add 50g of sugar (any will do) and then begin the lagering process, starting at room temp drop the temperature 5 degrees every 12 hours until sitting as close to zero as possible. Leave for 4 weeks (or as long as possible) and then increase the temp by 5 degrees every 12 hours until at room temp.
Bottling:
Move secondary to racking location 2 days prior to bottling (to re-settle the contents)
Sterilise bottles, bottling bucket (I re-use the primary FV) and syphoning equipment.
Add 150g of sugar to a cup and pour boiling water in to dissolve it. Mix thoroughly.
Pour the sugar mix into the bottling bucket and syphon the contents of the secondary on top.
Give a good mix with a spoon/paddle, again being careful not to splash.
Rack contents into bottles and cap.
Store the bottles at approx 20 degrees (room temp) for 14 days.
Move the bottles to as cool an area as possible, the closer to zero the better, for a further 14 days (minimum).
Refrigerate and enjoy!
Brewing exactly as above will have this kit, IMO, at it's best. It will be approx 5-5.5%, so ideal for a euro lager. You can easily customise the strength that you require by holding back, or increasing, the brewing sugar. I would recommend leaving the DME content as it is, as the body and flavour depend on it. I haven't had a go at lagering one of these kits yet but this is what I plan to do next.
Anyway, guide can be used with any single can beer kit. As with the cider the above is my current method for brewing all beer kits. If I make any changes I'll be sure to update.
Firstly this guide is only recommended for single can kits as, with most single can kits, there isn't really enough LME to go around. The contents and estimates are generally a little bit ambitious for my liking, but rather than brew a batch short I tend to add more of the primary ingredient in order to brew to the full volume. With twin can kits I would recommend just following the instructions.
So, for this little guide I'm using a Coopers European Lager kit. The kit has a can with 1.7L of LME. As with all kits there is a small sachet of yeast, with this particular kit I believe it's a lager yeast so fermenting temps are optional here.
So... to make it exactly like I do this is the ingredients required, feel free to chop and change as you wish but I would recommend at least trying this out for yourself, it does make a difference. Obviously the kit can be whichever you choose.
Coopers European Lager Kit
500g Light DME
20g of Saaz hops (I've had good results with cascade as well, up to you what you use depending on what kit you are brewing.)
20L of bottled water (Does away with any chlorine etc you have in your tap water. 17p per 2L means £1.70 for the water. Not really a deal breaker).
1kg Brewing sugar (We are aiming for a cleaner flavour and dextrose will help us achieve this.).
Don't worry about the amount of fermentables used here. As I said previously the kits have a fair whack less than is required to make 23L properly, the extra fermentables just bulk this out, give more flavour and up the strenth to a regular level (generally around 5%). Most coopers kits generally end up around the 4% mark when brewing to the instructions. If you want 4% I would simply use a beer enhancer kit with 50% dme and 50% brewing sugar rather than the extra DME and brewing sugar I have mentioned.
Equipment:
2 Buckets (One primary/bottling bucket, one secondary)
Syphoning equipment
Stirring Paddle/Spoon
Steriliser
Large Pot
Hydrometer
Thermometer (I use LCD strips on every FV I have)
Bottles/Cap/Capper
Airlock/Bung
Seive/strainer or muslin bag
Can Opener
Fridge
Fermenting fridge (Optional for lagering)
Instructions:
If you can have 10L of water in the fridge. This will help to bring the temps in when mixing.
Thoroughly clean/sterilise everything that's going to come into contact with your brew post boil. During boil doesn't need sterilised, just cleaned.
Boil 6L of the bottled water in a large pot, capacity of at least 10L
Add the sugar to the boiling water and stir to dissolve.
Open the can and empty the contents.
Pour some boiling water into the can to rinse as much of the contents out as you can into the mix (I just boil a half cup of water in the kettle to add)
Bring back to the boil while stirring everything in then add 10g of hops.
Allow it all to boil for 45 minutes and then add another 5g of hops.
Allow it all to boil for 15 minutes, turn off the heat and add the last 5g of hops.
While the wort cools a little add a couple of bottles of cold water into the clean/sterile FV.
Pour the wort in on top using a sieve/strainer or muslin bag to catch the hops (this can get messy so try to take care).
Dispose of the hops and ditch the sieve/strainer/muslin.
Top up with the rest of the water up to the 23L mark.
Hopefully your temp should be good for pitching (lower mid 20s) but if it's not give it time to stabilise.
Once the temps are stable it's time to take a reading. You should see approx 1.045 if following this guide to the letter, temp will obviously have an impact.
Pitch the yeast, seal and store at approx 20-22 degrees for 14 days.
*note the above assumes you don't have the capability of lagering, if you do then lower the temp over 24 hours and ferment at 12 degrees for 3 weeks.
After 12 days (3 weeks if lagering) check the FG. You should be seeing under 1.010, anything between 1.004 and 1.008 I would consider ideal (be sure to take temps into consideration).
*If lagering increase the temperature by 5 degrees every 12 hours till sitting at room temp.
Move the FV to it's racking position, so that you are not disturbing anything when it comes to transferring to secondary.
Check again over the next 2 days to make sure the gravity is stable, if it is you are good to go.
Secondary:
Sterilise secondary vessel along with all syphoning equipment.
Transfer the contents into a clean/sterile secondary vessel being careful not to suck up too much of the dead yeast on the bottom.
Re-seal for another 7-10 days to make sure yeast has done all it's cleaning up. The brew will start to clear.
*If lagering add 50g of sugar (any will do) and then begin the lagering process, starting at room temp drop the temperature 5 degrees every 12 hours until sitting as close to zero as possible. Leave for 4 weeks (or as long as possible) and then increase the temp by 5 degrees every 12 hours until at room temp.
Bottling:
Move secondary to racking location 2 days prior to bottling (to re-settle the contents)
Sterilise bottles, bottling bucket (I re-use the primary FV) and syphoning equipment.
Add 150g of sugar to a cup and pour boiling water in to dissolve it. Mix thoroughly.
Pour the sugar mix into the bottling bucket and syphon the contents of the secondary on top.
Give a good mix with a spoon/paddle, again being careful not to splash.
Rack contents into bottles and cap.
Store the bottles at approx 20 degrees (room temp) for 14 days.
Move the bottles to as cool an area as possible, the closer to zero the better, for a further 14 days (minimum).
Refrigerate and enjoy!
Brewing exactly as above will have this kit, IMO, at it's best. It will be approx 5-5.5%, so ideal for a euro lager. You can easily customise the strength that you require by holding back, or increasing, the brewing sugar. I would recommend leaving the DME content as it is, as the body and flavour depend on it. I haven't had a go at lagering one of these kits yet but this is what I plan to do next.
Anyway, guide can be used with any single can beer kit. As with the cider the above is my current method for brewing all beer kits. If I make any changes I'll be sure to update.
