Beer. Its one of the worlds most popular beverages and now that you have your very own beer brewing kit, you can finally make your very own beer at home. You can save money on beer, have all of the fun of making something great all by yourself and of course, this is one DIY project with the best reward of all waiting for you at the end of it all: beer!
Naturally, you want to make sure that your beer turns out being the best it can be and to this end, its a good idea to learn more about brewing beer and what you can do as a brewer to improve the outcome of the process. Every home brewer wants to make great beer and by following the tips outlined below, youll be well on your way to getting the best results possible out of your beer brewing kit, no matter what style of beer youre making.
Clean First!
Before you even begin brewing, make sure that youve thoroughly washed, rinsed and sanitized your beer brewing kit and any other equipment which will touch your precious homebrew. By just washing everything carefully with a mild detergent and sanitizing with a mild solution of bleach and cool water (or one of the sanitizer products on the market made specifically for the purpose), you can avoid a lot of trouble including a ruined batch of homebrew.
Go With Glass
Not every beer brewing kit comes with a glass carboy for fermentation; many include a simple plastic bucket as a fermentation vessel rather than a glass one. Glass has the advantage of being easy to clean and sterilize (which is very important, as weve already established) and its also completely non-porous, meaning that no oxygen can leak into your fermentation vessel and negatively affect the quality of your beer.
Keep An Eye On The Temperature
Yeast requires a specific temperature range to produce good results (66 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal). If its too warm or not warm enough, your beer wont turn out. You should always brew your beer in a room which remains at a relatively constant temperature and monitor the temperature in the room so that you can warm or cool the area as needed to keep your beer happily fermenting away.
Use A Yeast Starter To Save Time
We all want out beer to be done as soon as possible and for the most part, there isnt too much you can do to save time in the brewing process. However, having a yeast starter can help you shave a little time off of getting the process started and reduce the chance of spoilage in the bargain. Basically, this is like making a very small batch of beer two to three days ahead of time and letting it sit in a cool dark place to let the yeast activate and go to work and it can cut as much as a day off of the time it takes to get your beer going.
