Are you ready to embark on a flavourful journey into the world of homebrewing? Extract brewing is an exciting and accessible way to craft your own delicious beer or cider right in your kitchen. Let's take a look at the essentials you'll need to get started on your brewing adventure.
Essential Where to Brew
To brew a great batch from the get-go, you will need to find an area where the batch can ferment (rest) for a couple of weeks. This area should be a relatively consistent temperature out of direct sunlight where the fermenter can sit unmoved for a couple of weeks. A great place is usually a laundry bench.
Essential Equipment for Extract Brewing
Before you start brewing, you'll need to gather some key equipment. The heart of your setup is the fermenter, complete with an airlock and grommet. These components work together to allow the yeast to produce alcohol from sugar, allow Carbon Dioxide to escape during this process and keep pesky contaminating organisms at bay. Don't forget a tap on your fermenter is an easy solution for sampling and bottling.
Second, to monitor your brew's progress, you'll need a stick-on thermometer directly on the outside of your fermenter. This handy tool lets you closely monitor the temperature throughout the fermentation process.
Third, once your beer, cider, or mead is ready, you'll need a bottling wand and food-safe tubing to transfer your brew into bottles. If you are fermenting in a bucket fermenter without a tap, you'll need a syphon. Lastly, you'll need bottles - 750ml PET bottles are a great starting point for new brewers as you don't need capping equipment. A typical 23L kit yields about 24-28 bottles, so ensure you have enough on hand.
Ingredient Essentials for Extract Brewing
Now for the fun part – choosing your ingredients! For extract brewing, you'll typically need:
- Sanitiser
- A base kit
- An additional fermentable
- Yeast
- Carbonation drops or sugar
Your base kit will typically come in a can or pouch and determines the style and flavour of your brew. Most kits make 15-23L of beer or cider and often include yeast.
To give your yeast enough food to create alcohol, you'll need to add an additional fermentable. These come in various forms, such as dextrose, brew enhancers, liquid malt extract (LME), or dry malt extract (DME). Your kit will recommend the type and amount needed.
Customising Your Brew
Depending on the style you're aiming for, you might want some additional ingredients to perfect your brew:
- Hops: These add aroma and flavour to your beer. Many kits include the necessary hops or recommend specific varieties and amounts.
- Sweeteners: For cider lovers, sweeteners allow you to adjust the sweetness to your liking and these are often included with your cider kit.
- Carbonation drops: These make it easy to add the right amount of sugar for carbonation when bottling. If you don't have these, table sugar works too – just follow your kit's instructions for the right amount.
Ready, Set, Brew!
With these basics in hand, you're all set to create your first batch of homemade beer or cider. Remember, brewing is both an art and a science, so don't be afraid to experiment and have fun with it. Who knows? You might just brew up your new favourite libation!
Ready to get started? Check out our range of extract beer kits here, or our range of cider kits here.
MYO Drinks,
Helping you to make your own Great Batch from Scratch.