Brewing beer at home can be a great way to not only have an enjoyable hobby of brewing tasty, home-crafted beer, but it can end up saving a lot of money in the long run too.  For people who enjoy beer often, buying enough throughout the week can end up costing quite a bit of money.  After a person begins to collect all of the equipment to make their own beer, once they start brewing their own batches of beer, they will end up saving quite a deal of money compared to the cost of buying their supply every week.  Once this becomes a regular thing, however, one will be faced with a problem.

Once the batches of beer are properly brewed, something must be done with the beer to store it correctly.  A keg would be one of the ideal options, as it will keep the beer stored and cold as well as providing proper and quick carbonation.  This can also cost a bit of money, as several hundreds of dollars are usually spent in installing a keg system.  Everything from CO2 towers to provide air pressure and carbonation to canisters and towers of piping to draw the beer out of the keg.  One might even need to buy a kegerator, a special refrigerator designed to hold beer kegs, with a spout located at the top which will dispense all of the beer on command.

As one can see, this will end up costing quite a bit of money.  The cheaper solution, which will end up being more practical in many cases as well, is to bottle the beer.  With beer bottles, a person would be able to store beer in smaller serving sizes.  This can stop a person from drinking too much as well as give them the ability to take the beer with them to other locations.  This would not be always feasible with a keg.  Beer bottles, however, allow one to easily transport these bottles, give them away as gifts, and even personalize their beer bottles with special labels.

Bottling beer is easy, as one only needs to wash and sterilize the bottles before the beer is placed into them and sealed.  The bottles can be much easier to store in a refrigerator than a large, bulky keg.  Additionally, the bottles can be used over and over again, making them an investment that will save a great deal of money.  Once a person has a good supply of beer bottles, they will never need to buy bottles again.  They can be washed and sterilized forever, making sure that a person always has enough bottles to keep their beer supply fresh.

Many people drink beer, some drink it as a social drink, while others will want a cold beer to help them relax when they get home. A true beer enthusiast looks forward to the prospect of making the frothy brew right in their own home.

Home brewing is a great hobby that can be done inexpensively without buying a whole lot of equipment (although there is tons of equipment available to more enthusiastic beer brewers). Home brewing can be fun and relaxing, and there is nothing like the feeling of having that first glass of the beer you made yourself.

Getting Started: Equipment

When you are ready to start the beer making hobby, the first consideration the brewer will have is finding out what minimum equipment they will need in order to make their own home brewed beer. You can buy a beer making kit for approximately $75 – $50 or you can collect a small effective collection which should include:

• A big Pot: A 3-5 gallon pot is the perfect size. With this size, you will get all the ingredients you need in it and you will prevent any chances of spilling.
• Tube (and possible a clamp): This is used for siphoning the beer and you can also use it to bottle the beer. The best tubing to use for beer is the 6 ft food tubing.
• Fermenting Bucket (Carboy): You will need a bucket (preferable 5 gallons) that has a lid or you may buy a glass carboy. The best option is buying the carboy, it is easier to clean and will not leak while it is aging.
• Air Lock: Ensure that it fits securely on your carboy, so that no air or bacteria enters the mix.
• Thermometer: This should be a floating the thermometer that can measure 0-100 C or 32-220 F
• Bottles:  For this particular guide you will need 2 dozen, 12 ounces bottles or one 5 gallon jug. Try not to use the kind of bottles that have twisting caps. Cork capped bottles are a better choice.
• Bottle Caps: You will need to buy about 50 caps to ensure you have enough caps for your 2 dozen bottles
• Bottle caper- a device made specifically for capping your bottles
• Sanitation Solution – Bleach can be used,  if you are on a budget or you can buy Iodophor

Ingredients

The next step is to gather the ingredients. Before doing this, it is best to find a really good recipe. Recipes are available in just about any beer type including light beer and will give you step-by-step instructions on how to make the beer. The minimum ingredients include.

• 6 lbs of pale malt extract (un-hopped): Most times they are found in 3lbs cans. You may also is Dry Malt Extract is Pale Male extract is not available.
• 2.25oz Hops: For this guide we will use “East Kent Golding’s Hops” through there are many different types of Hops. Use of Hops is to give the beer its bitterness.
• Yeast: The recommendation is to use liquid yeast (for this guide, you will use, “White Labs California Ale Yeast”) Using liquid yeast produces the very best beer.
• 2/3 cup Corn Sugar

The Process

• Step 1: You will need to boil the pale malt extract and the hops, in water. You will want to do this for about an hour.
• Step 2: You will need to cool the mixture until it reaches room temperature. You will want to then siphon the mixture to your carboy (Fermenter), add water to the mix, till it reaches the 5 gallon mark. When your mixture is at room temperature, then you will want to add yeast. Ensure that the area you are using is clean and everything is sanitized, this is important because at this point, the “Wort” can be infected with bacteria. That will ruin the beer. Next seal your fermenter with an airlock. This fermentation process will take approximately 1 to 2 weeks
• Step 3: In this step, you will prime and bottle the beer. When beer is done with the fermentation process, you will first siphon it to another container to get it ready for bottling. Than you will add the corn sugar (or priming sugar) to the beer. Lastly, you will siphon the mixture into each of the bottles, and cap them using the capping device.
• Step 4: In this step you will need to bottle the beer and let it age for approximately 2 to 6 weeks. During this time the yeast will continue to ferment the beer, turning carbon dioxide and carbonating your bear. After a few months of aging it will be ready to drink.

Once you have completed the aging process, your beer will be ready to drink. Pop the bottle into your refrigerator, so that it gets cold, open it up and drink your cold and delicious home brewed beer.

A microbrewery is a great way for you to have a great time brewing your own beer. People will often pay for this beer as well, as anything which is homemade is better than something corporate. Therefore, with time, patience, and a little investment, you could begin your own microbrewery for profit and fun. Many people will begin their own microbrewery within their home, perhaps in a basement or in a garage. Many small batches can be stored in this area for lengths of time and these areas are often cooler, which is an important step for successful brewing. If you want to expand your business, however, you will need to figure out the best way to expand.

Brewing from home only takes a few pieces of equipment. Many people will do it in their spare time, as a hobby. With the right combination of grains, water, yeast, and storage equipment, you could begin to brew your own batches of beer. There are plenty of resources available who wants to learn how to make their own batches of beer. This is a wise way to begin, if starting a microbrewery sounds like something you might be interested in. You need to know if this is something which can hold your interest long-term as well as knowing if you are any good at it. Once your first batch of beer has been made, try it out. If it tastes good, pass some off to friends and family. You can get a true evaluation from them.

If they like the batches that you make, you can begin charging for them. You could take these beers to local retailers and depending on your state’s laws, you may be able to sell these beers through local vendors. Since you will not have too many batches of beer at any one time, you would not want to take your business too large. This could make you not have enough products to meet the demand and you could end up upsetting the vendors you are working through. Instead, if you keep your microbrewery small, you will be able to make some money based on your output of supply.

Once there is the demand for more of your beer, however, you may want to consider the possibility of taking your microbrewery professional. You could find a building, buy professional brewing equipment, and start selling your beer as a living. Stainless steel tanks can be bought that allow you to brew, pressurize, and refrigerate your batches of beer. You can also buy machines which will help to bottle and label your beer, making it fit for selling to the public. Once you know that you will be able to succeed at brewing your own beer, it can be a fully rewarding experience!