Since most of the people reading this probably don't know much about the process I figured I'd go over it quickly. This set up is for 5 gallons extract brews.
On brew day you want to make sure you have the following:
Stock pot/kettle at least 20 quart/19L
6.5 gallon fermentation bucket w/lid or Carboy/6 gallon better bottle w/stopper
Bottling bucket
Racking cane
Siphon tube
Airlock
Hydrometer
Thermometer
Bottling bucket
Capper
Bottles(Pry-Off)
Bottling tube
Sanitizer
Ingredients:
Most full boil kits include malt extract, specialty grains, bittering hops, finishing/aroma/flavor hops, yeast, and priming sugar.
When it comes to brewing sanitation is key. So before you even start boiling water it is good practice to get out everything you need and clean it so it is ready for sanitation. Once you brew a couple of times you will get into a routine and it will be easier to make sure everything is done.
Once you are ready to boil you fill your brew pot with 3 gallons of water. Usually ingredient kits have a specialty grain or two to steep in in 155 degree water for 15-30 minutes. After the steep you remove the grains, and take off the heat and stir in the malt extract it may be liquid(syrup-like) or dry(powder)being careful not to scorch it. Once all of the extract is stirred in you bring it up to a boil and as soon as you see a roiling boil you add your bittering hops. Usual boil time is 1 hour. During this hour stay close to avoid boil-overs. Close to the end of the boil you can sanitize your fermenter, siphon hose, racking cane and airlock, stopper and fermenter lid or stopper. I recommend using no rinse sanitizer. Sometime at or after 5 minutes to end you would add your finishing hops. Once you have finished the boil you need to chill the wort(unfermented beer) as quickly as possible in order to avoid bacterial contamination. You can use an ice bath it cool but I would recommend buying a wort chiller to get it down to temp quickly. In the fermenter it is good to put in 2 gallons of cool water to help cooling. Once the wort is cooled you siphon it into the fermenter and bring up to a full 5 gallons with cold water. At this point it is a good idea to take a hydrometer reading to find the Original Gravity of the beer. The OG tells us how much dissolved sugar is in the solution. It is a good idea to use a whisk or pour wort back and forth between two sanitized buckets to aerate the cooled wort so the yeast get a good start. Once aerated you pour in the yeast. Put the lid on the bucket. Put the airlock with stopper attached in the hole in the lid and make sure you fill the airlock halfway up with water, sanitizer or vodka. After that you wait to see bubbles issue from the airlock. When you no longer see any bubbles take a hydrometer reading again. If you get the same reading 3 days in a row its ready to bottle.
When you bottle you need to sanitize your bottling bucket, bottles, bottle filler, caps and siphon/racking equipment. Boil the priming sugar with a cup of water and add to the bottling bucket. Transfer the beer off the sediment in the fermenter, leaving all of the crud at the bottom behind. Then you attach the siphon hose to the spigot on the bottling bucket and attach the bottle filler to the other end if the siphon tube. You then proceed to fill the sanitized bottles and cap them. From there its about a two week wait for the beer to be sufficiently carbonated and ready to drink. I bottled Saturday so in about a week and a half I will try a bottle to see how it is. If you have any specific questions email me at firestone2489@gmail.com, or just leave a comment on here.
Sorry it was such a long post but I feel it should give some insight on how to homebrew.
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