The Brewing Process

Brewing your first batch can be a confusing process. Well, at least I can say it was for me. I didn't know my hops from the yeast. I recently brewed another IPA and I thought I would take this opportunity to show you the process. Below you will find all the ingredients used, as well as all of the steps to get it fermenting.

Ingredients:

9lbs Ultralight Malt Extract

1lb Bavarian Wheat DME (Dried Malt Extract)

8oz Carapils Steeping Grains

8oz Crystal Steeping Grains

8oz White Wheat Steeping Grains

2oz Magnum Hops (Bittering)

.5oz Cascade Hops (Flavoring)

1oz Cascade Hops (Aroma)

.5oz Cascade Hops (Dry)

1oz Willamette Hops (Dry)

4oz Corn Sugar (used for Bottling)

White Labs California Ale Yeast (Qty - 2)

Directions:

• Sanitize Everything, I repeat EVERYTHING. Anything that's used needs to be sanitized. (you can pick up sanitizer online or from you nearest homebrew store)

• Fill your kettle with 3 gallons of water. Put your steeping grains in a nylon bag and then in your kettle. Heat your kettle to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. It should take about 30min to reach the temperature. If it hits 170 degrees sooner, turn off the heat and let the grains steep until 30 minutes have gone by.

• Remove your steeping grains and heat the water to boil. 

• Once the water is boiling, turn the heat off and add your malt extract. This mixture is called wort.

• Turn heat back on and bring wort to boil. Keep a close eye on it because your mixture will start to foam up. When this happens reduce heat and continue to boil for 60 minutes.

• While the wort is boiling add your hops. Bittering hops for 60min, flavoring hops for 30min to end of boil, aroma hops for 15min to end of boil.

• Once it has boiled for an hour it is time to cool down the kettle to 130 degrees. I use the ice bath method and this involves putting the kettle in ice water.

• When the kettle gets to 130 degrees, transfer its contents to the fermenter & top off with water until it is 5 gallons.

• Add the yeast.

• Seal everything air-tight, for IPA's I recommend using a blow-off tube.

• Place in a dark location where the temperature will remain constant to ferment. Primary fermentation usually finishes in 7 days.

Now I have just walked you through getting your brew in the fermenter. In the posts to follow, I will cover dry hopping and preparing for the bottling process. To keep up with our most recent posts please like and follow us on Facebook & twitter.

This work by Daniel Mapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://bayareabrews.blogspot.com.