| If you think that learning how to brew beer will | | | | However, with a home beer kit, boiling the wort is a |
| require a degree in chemistry, you are in luck! I'm | | | | much simpler process, and this is the way that most |
| here to teach you the sheer basics of making your | | | | people choose to start when learning how to brew |
| own beer. (Guess what? You can even make root | | | | beer at home. |
| beer at home!) Homebrewing is not a new | | | | The second step is fermenting the wort. This step |
| phenomenon...in fact, one could argue that the | | | | takes about 1 week minimum and takes place inside |
| relative scarcity of people who brew beer at home is | | | | of a glass or plastic keg or barrel called the |
| a modern phenomenon! With the commercialization | | | | "fermenter". Once the wort has been boiled, it is |
| and globalization of large scale breweries, the | | | | cooled down either by an ice bath plunge or by |
| knowledge of how to brew beer must be passed | | | | adding it to cool water. Then the brewing yeast is |
| along from one neighbor to the next by means of | | | | added to start the fermenting process. Different |
| articles like this one! | | | | types of yeast are used for brewing different major |
| So if you are reading this and start your own batch | | | | types of beers...ales versus lagers. The remainder of |
| of homebrew, be sure to invite a neighbor over to | | | | the beer's taste comes from the ingredients in the |
| help and pass along the knowledge, OK? | | | | wort. |
| There are three basic phases of brewing beer. Those | | | | The third and final stage of beer brewing is bottling. |
| phases are: | | | | Bottling is necessary for 2 reasons. The first reason |
| | | | is to get the beer into a drinkable container size. But |
| 1. Brewing | | | | the main reason is to allow each bottle to carbonate. |
| 2. Fermenting | | | | In the bottling step, the beer is sealed along with a |
| 3. Bottling | | | | small amount of added table sugar. The table sugar |
| Brewing is the first step of home beer making, and is | | | | re-awakens the yeast in the beer, forming carbon |
| also called making the "wort". The wort is just term | | | | dioxide that remains dissolved in the beer. As soon as |
| for the basic ingredients, thrown into a pot with | | | | the bottle is opened, the bubbles begin to form and |
| water, and boiled for the right length of time. | | | | that's what gives your beer it's sparkling bubbly head. |
