Simple homebrew beer recipe

Preparation time 20-30 minutes
Brewing time 10-14 days

Equipment:

1. 3 Liter mason jar with a tight screw lid/plug
2. Airlock
3. A grommet gasket or foodgrade plug with 7-8mm inner diameter
4. A steel pot (at least 5 liters)
5. A hydrometer (optional)
6. Swing top glass bottle (6 x 500ml or 3 X 1L)
7. Food grade siphon tube (1.5m) Preferably one with a automated pump and a steel mesh filter.

Consumables:

1. Malt extract: 450gm
2. Purified water (RO or bottled) 3 liters
3. Brewing Yeast: 1 tea spoon
4. Hops to taste (3gm to 10 gm)
5. 1kg ice (from boiled water)
6. Gelatin and Bentonite clay
7. Sulfur less sugar 6 teaspoon (or brown sugar)
8. Campden (sodium bimetasulphite)
9. Iodine solution 5% (few drops)
10. yeast nutrient 1/2 teaspoon

Steps 1: Prepare wort

1. Near Boil at least 2 kg of water
2. Add malt extract: stir it to prevent it from sticking to the bottom and caramelizing
3. After 15 minutes of continuous boiling
4. Take a few drop of this wort and test it with iodine solution. If it turns purple then you have unmalted starch residue and 15 more minutes of flame is needed.
5. Add hops: Continue boiling for additional 5 minutes (more if you want bitter taste)
6. Take the vessel out of flame and plunge it in ice bath.
7. Chill till room temperature is achieved and then filter to make your wort.

Step 2: sanitize

1. Use diluted campden/iodine solution to wash & soak all equipment and surfaces (at least 5 minutes of soaking of the mason jar)
2. Rinse it with sterilized water to remove any residual taste/color of the disinfectant.
3. You might have to use a hot nail to puncture the lid of the mason jar to insert the grommet gasket & airlock.

Step 3: kickstarting fermentation

1. Pour wort in the mason jar, take the hydrometer reading
2. Oxygenate (use a hand blender or manually shake vigorously)
3. Add yeast: After ½ and hour you will see bubbles forming in the wort (if not then add some more yeast and wait)
4. adding 1/2 teaspoon of yeast nutrient is good to give your yeast the natural boost required to finish the task.
5. Seal the lid and attach the airlock
6. Store it away from sunlight in a cool dark place and check periodically over next 7 days.
7. Towards the end of fermentation you can add 1/2 a tablespoon of Bentonite clay and gelatin for clarifying your beer otherwise it might look closer to stout (it takes 24 hours for the process)

Step 4: bottling

1. Wait till bubbling has stopped completely (usually 7-10 days depending on ambient temperature) also a thick layer of yeast has settled at the bottom
2. Taste & take the hydrometer reading to check for any unfermented sugar (sweetness)
3. (optional) Chill or Refrigerate your mason jar to near freezing temperature. Add some dissolved gelatin to further clarify your
4. Sanitize the swing top glass bottles & rinse off the disinfectant.
5. Use a siphon tube to pour your beer into the Bottle & add 1-2 teaspoon of sugar for natural carbonation
6. Seal the cork tight and store the bottles in a cool dark place for natural carbonation
7. Serve chilled in a glass mug. (Homebrew is never drunk from the bottle directly because of the yeast deposit at the bottom) BTW this yeast is completely edible, in the whole process you haven’t added anything toxic.

You can visit https://www.facebook.com/arishtam/shop for any help & supplies for your homebrew. Also they conduct classes every 4th Saturday of the month to help amateurs.