Beer Making Procedure
Home Brew Procedure
- Making the Wort
- Fermentation & Temperature
- Bottling the Beer
- Filtering & Serving Beer
When to bottle
Fermentation must be complete before you can bottle. If you have a
hydrometer, a reading of 1006 or below, indicates that fermentation is
complete. In a closed fermenter, cessation of bubbling through the lock
is a good indication of this. However, it is quite easy to tell when
fermentation is complete just by keeping an eye on the brew.
When fermentation is complete, bubbles will stop rising in the brew and
those already on the surface will tend to form a ring. The best
indication, though, is that the beer starts to clear. Clearing takes
place from the lop downwards. You will notice that you can see into the
top 2cm or so of the beer.
Bottling
The beer must be primed when bottling so that a secondary
fermentation will occur in the bottle and so carbonate the beer.
It turns out very conveniently that a level to slightly rounded
teaspoon of sugar is just the right amount of priming needed for the
ordinary 750ml bottle. If your bottles are of a different size,
use a proportionate amount.
Assemble the correct number of bottles and make certain that they are
all clean and sterilized. Add a teaspoon of sugar to each bottle; a dry
plastic funnel makes this simple.
Syphon the beer into the bottles. Be careful not to disturb the
sediment. Make certain that the syphon is drawing from above the
sediment by using a U-tube or knitting needle. Place the end of the
syphon tube well down into the bottles so that the beer does not splash
and froth. It is the obliquely sliced end of the tube that is placed
into the bottles.
Fill the bottles to not less than 2.5cm from the top,
otherwise they might burst later on. Remember: You must have a gap of at
least 2.5 cm from the top of the bottle. Then cap the bottles.
Store the beer in a cool dark place, not the refrigerator. Within two
weeks the beer should be clear and ready for drinking. The flavour and
head will improve with a longer maturing period. As you increase your
stock, you should aim to keep the beer from four to eight weeks before
drinking.
Priming and bottling can be very much simplified if you have another
container large enough to hold all of the beer. A plastic garbage can is
ideal. Syphon the beer into this container. Pour in all of the sugar
that is necessary for priming, previously dissolved in the minimum
amount of hot water. Stir gently, syphon into the bottles, then cap.
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