You’ve seen me brew several things here, mainly mead and cider, but as of yet I haven’t forayed into beer on this blog. To be honest, it’s because brewing beer is a more difficult process than making simple country wines, ciders and meads. But, there is a way to brew beer that is a bit easier and great for beginners, and that’s using beer extract kits. It’s a great way to get your feet wet and learn the basics of brewing beer. Here’s how to brew beer from a kit, the easy way!
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Beer Brewing Kit Supplies
We got the “Fat Tire Clone” kit from Adventures in Homebrewing, which is a great place to buy all sorts of brewing equipment. Here is what came in the kit.
Clockwise from left:
- Specialty Grains in mesh bags
- Liquid Malt Extract (2 containers)
- Yeast
- Priming sugar
- Aroma Hops
- Bittering Hops
- AIH All Clean Kit (in center)
You will also need some equipment, most of which is in this Beginning Homebrewing Kit. Beyond that you will need a 3 gallon pot, a big metal spoon, a thermometer, and a bunch of ice cubes and/or blocks.
How to Brew Beer from a Kit
Now let’s get brewing! First, though, you need to sanitize everything that will come in contact with your brew. This is an extremely important step, so don’t skip it! Then, bring 2-3 gallons of water to 150°F and put your specialty grains (in their mesh bags) in to steep for 20 minutes. Try to keep the temp. at 150°-160°F as best as you can.
Remove the grains and do not squeeze them! Just let them drain out a bit. What you have now is a wort. How exciting! Bring that wort to a boil, then remove it from the heat and add the liquid malt extract, stirring as you go.
Then, return your pot to the heat source and bring it back to a boil. Once it’s boiling again, add your bittering/boiling hops.
Then boil it for 55 minutes. Set a timer! When your timer goes off, add the aroma hops and boil for 5 more minutes. Then take it off the heat and cool it down as quickly as possible. Ice water in a sink works well.
Once it’s cooled siphon it (with an auto siphon) into your fermenting vessel, leaving as much of the debris behind as possible. Add unchlorinated water to make 5 gallons. Make sure it is at room temperature or cooler, then pitch your yeast by sprinkling it on the surface of the wort.
Then cover it with the lid and put an airlock in it.
Put the fermenting bucket in a cool and dark spot. You should see the airlock start to bubble within the next 24 hours. Now it’s time for patience, because you need to wait about *2 weeks*! Then it’s time to bottle. First and foremost, you need to sanitize your bottles and all of your bottling equipment (bottling bucket, auto siphon, tubing and bottling tool). At this point in our brewing career we use flip top bottles, but you can totally reuse regular glass beer bottles as long as they’re sanitized. You’ll just need to also buy new bottle caps and a hand held bottle capping machine.
After you’ve sanitized everything, mix the priming sugar with 2 cups boiling water and let sit to cool. Transfer the wort from the fermenting bucket to the bottling bucket (which has a spigot) using the auto siphon. Then add the cooled priming sugar liquid to the wort in the bottling bucket.
Then connect the tubing to the spigot and a bottling wand to the end of the tubing. Use the bottling wand to fill up each bottle, leaving about an inch of head space.
Cap the bottles and let them sit in a cool and dark place for another *2 weeks* for carbonation. Just like Tom Petty said, the waiting is the hardest part! Once they’re ready I recommend drinking one super chilled on a hot day
This beer was quite lovely and really was similar to Fat Tire! I should have bought some to do a side by side comparison, but in all honesty who cares? It was light and refreshing and tasty… and that’s all that really matters, right? Plus, it was relatively easy and cheap to make.
Be sure to check out Adventures in Homebrewing to see all the other awesome beer kits that they have! They have a lot of different clone kits as well as their own, both extract (which is what I have shown here) and all grain. They also have all the brewing equipment you would ever need. Brewing beer doesn’t have to be difficult, get a kit and do it the easy way!
More Homebrewing Recipes
Ready for your next brewing adventure? Try one of these tasty recipes!
How to Brew Beer from a Kit
Ingredients
- 5 gallons water, divided
- specialty grains in mesh bag
- liquid malt extract
- rapid rise bread yeast
- aroma hops
- bittering hops
- 2 cups boiling water
- priming sugar
Instructions
- Sanitize anything that will come into contact with the brew.
- Then, bring 2-3 gallons of water to 150°F and put your specialty grains (in their mesh bags) in to steep for 20 minutes. Try to keep the temperature at 150°-160°F as best as you can.
- Remove the grains and do not squeeze them! Just let them drain out a bit. (What you have now is a wort.)
- Bring that wort to a boil, then remove it from the heat and add the liquid malt extract, stirring as you go.
- Return your pot to the heat source and bring it back to a boil. Once it’s boiling again, add your bittering/boiling hops.
- Then boil it for 55 minutes.
- When your timer goes off, add the aroma hops and boil for 5 more minutes.
- Take it off the heat and cool it down as quickly as possible. (Ice water in a sink works well.)
- Once it’s cooled siphon it (with an auto siphon) into your fermenting vessel, leaving as much of the debris behind as possible.
- Add unchlorinated water to make 5 gallons. Make sure it is at room temperature or cooler, then pitch your yeast by sprinkling it on the surface of the wort.
- Then cover it with the lid and put an airlock in it.
- Put the fermenting bucket in a cool and dark spot. You should see the airlock start to bubble within the next 24 hours.
- Ferment for 2 weeks.
Bottling
- Sanitize your bottles and all of your bottling equipment (bottling bucket, auto siphon, tubing and bottling tool).
- Mix the priming sugar with 2 cups boiling water and let sit to cool.
- Transfer the wort from the fermenting bucket to the bottling bucket (which has a spigot) using the auto siphon.
- Add the cooled priming sugar liquid to the wort in the bottling bucket.
- Connect the tubing to the spigot and a bottling wand to the end of the tubing.
- Use the bottling wand to fill up each bottle, leaving about an inch of head space.
- Cap the bottles and let them sit in a cool and dark place for another 2 weeks for carbonation.
Notes
- Serve chilled.
Just started beer making, fat tire clone kit sounds amazing! Great layout of the process, thanks for the help!
I love making beer. I like to make pale ales.
I love beer, particularly IPAs and would love to try brewing my own.
I have never made my own beer, my guy has though. I love a pale ale or hefe generally,
I always say I’m going to garden but since it’s almost September, I think I’ll try brewing instead! I love Fat Tire and they really look the same! Thanks for the fun post and giveaway!
I tried making beer once a very long time ago with a kit, from the looks of this kit, times have changed for the better! I would love to try this! I’m a fan of dark beers mostly, but I haven’t met a beer I didn’t like (unless it’s super bitter).
Have been growing, foraging, cooking, and fermenting like crazy this year, but have yet to brew any beer. Kit looks like it would make it a breeze!
ginger beer :)… son-in-love gift
I just started learning about fermenting and saw that you were hosting this giveaway on Wild Fermentation FB page. My favorite beer is Blue Moon ale. LOL I have never made my own, but always wanted to, it’s on my list! Thanks for the chance to win!
This is something I have always wanted to try. Already do some other fermenting but never beer.
Hi- Colleen
I absolutely LOVE your blog, in fact you inspired me to brew my first mead which is fermenting as I type. I started brewing beer about 1 year ago, and I’m totally addicted…to brewing…not beer…LOL. My favorite type of beer (right now anyway) are session IPA’s. I’d love another kit!!
Thanks, Jim
I like most all kinds of beer and ale. We haven’t tried (yet) brewing our own beer.
My husband would absolutely love this kit! Thanks for the recipe.
I’m not a beer drinker, but I really enjoyed seeing how it’s done. I bet you were super excited when it was finally finished!
I don’t have a favorite, as I enjoy the lightest to the darkest; and I have a favorite in each style of beer. BUT right now I could go for an Oatmeal Stout.
I have brewed my own beer in one of those crappy 2 gallon “:Mr. Beer” kits from Target.
Also, Great Article. I saved this site for future reference.
I love making floral IPA’s and really bringing out the flavor of the hops into the brew. Sometimes I feel like I’m making hop tea, and the malt is just in there for color. Mmmm…beer.
Try the Summer Wheat. Fantastic. Kegged and empty in less than a week.
My favorite beer is a black IPA and I have made my own beer before but just starting out.
I’ve never made my own beer, would love to try it! My favorites tend to be darker brews like stouts and porters. :)
Would love to win this for my husband! He has not brewed beer YET but enjoys all kinds of beer.
AIH has an Oberon kit I would like to try. Bell’s isn’t distributed where I live, but I bought some cans on a recent beercation and saved some sediment to culture.
I brew rather often, but not so much beer. I’ve done a few kits from a local brew shop, but this sounds like a great company!
Great read. I have a buddy who home brews on a slightly larger scale that left me feeling a little too intimidated to attempt. But you’ve now got me inspired to look into this beginners homebrew kit as a Christmas wishlist item. Good stuff!
If you can boil water or make Kraft Mac & Cheese you can make beer at home. The great thing about this hobby is that it is only as involved as you want it to be.
I haven’t brewed my own beer but my man & I have long been interested. He enjoys hoppy beers (and we actually tried to grow some hops but that didn’t work out) and I enjoy rich darker beers like stouts, especially the milk stouts. We have made home made kaluha which is infinitely better than any store-bought kaluha we have tasted.
Thanks for the awesome giveaway. I am sure whoever wins will quite enjoy!
I would love to try brewing beer. I am slowly getting into all these fun homemade things and I am loving it!
It looks like a tasty brew! Beer brewing can be so uncomplicated, it’s no wonder it’s gaining popularity! I’m partial to the sour beers myself, which are extra affordable when you brew at home.
I am not sure what my favorite beer is, maybe a light ale. I have never brewed my own beer before!
You make it all look so easy!
Many years ago I brewed a few batches at home. My favorite was a cherry ale using dark cherry juice! Then I loaned my equipment to a family member & never saw it again. Sigh. Would love to win & play with brewing again! It is fun!
How cool! I would love to win this one. It’s funny, because we aren’t huge drinkers, but I think the process of brewing is such a neat skill to learn. We tried our own dandelion wine last year and had a flop (some air got to it and turned it to vinegar), but we’d like to give hard cider a go this year- We have 3 old apple trees that give us a delightfully tart harvest. All that being said, I would totally try beer too if I had a kit to help walk me through the process!
Whoops, I was supposed to tell you my favorite type. We have a brewery right down the road that makes a really yummy white pale ale. :)