hobby, obsession,

way of life!

This video will show you how to brew your own beer at home with Northern

Brewer's Deluxe Starter Kit. Brewing beer might seem like a mysterious process but

it's really not. Brewing is boiling liquid,

moving liquid from vessel to vessel without splashing,

keeping equipment clean,

and waiting for yeast to work its magic.

If you can make mac and cheese from a box without help you can make beer and

we're going to show you how. In this video you will see the three stages of

making beer with your Northern Brewer Starter Kit. First, the actual brewing

where malt extract and hops are boiled in water to make wort. Next, fermenting

which is when the wort we brewed is turned into beer by the yeast. Finally - bottling,

where the flat beer is bottled with a little dose of sugar for priming (the brewer's

term for carbonating the bottles.)

And that's really all there is to it: boiling liquid, moving liquid,

keeping things clean, and waiting for the yeast to do its thing.

Before we get started

let's go over the four things you will need:

1. a starter kit

2. a recipe kit -

the ingredients: malt extract, hops and yeast in the right proportions for the

kind of beer you want to make.

3. a boil kettle that can hold at least three-and-a-half gallons of liquid.

We are going to use a five-gallon kettle in this video.

4. Bottles for your finished beer.

You will need approximately two cases clean pry-off beer bottles,

brown glass is best.

Brew Day is here!

The boil kettle is ready and we are going to brew the Caribou Slobber

brown ale.

On brewing day

we will boil the malt extract and hops in water to make that wort.

Then cool the wort. Now it's time to brew!

With the yeast ready, it's time to collect water in our boil kettle. Any good quality drinking is fine.

If the water tastes good

it will make good beer.

If your recipe kid includes specialty grains,

it also includes a muslin bag for steeping.

Put the muslin bag over the whole bag of grains,

tip the sack and slowly pour the grains into the muslin bag.

Tie a knot near the top of the muslin bag so the grains don't spill while steeping.

If you like you can toss the bag for a few moments to knock out excess grain

dust from the crushed malt.

As the water heats

steep specialty grain.

Specialty grains give extra color and flavor to the finished beer.

Steep the grain for 20 minutes or until the water reaches approximately

170-degrees fahrenheit,

whichever comes first.

Not every Northern Brewer recipe kit comes with specialty grain.

If your recipe kit doesn't call for specialty grain, you can skip ahead to

adding malt extract.

Speaking of liquid malt extract -

here's a tip:

a few minutes before you need it,

put unopened jugs in a sink of warm water. This will make it easier to

pour when it's time to add to the kettle.

When you've reached temperature or time

just lift the specialty grains out and let them drain briefly.

Don't squeeze the bag.

Bring the kettle to a boil

and at the malt extract

stirring to dissolve.

Your recipe kit may include malt extract syrup

or dry malt extract.

The Caribou Slobber has both. Some tips for dissolving malt extract:

turn the heat off to prevent scorching,

pour syrup slowly,

pour dry malt extract quickly,

and stir constantly.

When the extract is dissolved,

return the kettle to the heat and bring it to a boil.

When it starts to boil set a timer for sixty minutes.

We now have WORT!

The wort will be boiled for sixty minutes

during which we add the hops at the time specified by the recipe.

Your recipe kit instructions show the time for each hop addition.

For our brew the Caribou Slobber recipe kit has three additions. One that says

sixty minutes...

another that says forty-five minutes and a third that says fifteen minutes.

This is the amount of time each addition needs to be boiled.

The first addition goes into the kettle right away

and it's boiled for the entire sixty minutes.

The second addition is added forty-five minutes before the end of the boil

and the last addition is added fifteen minutes before the end of the boil.

Your recipe kit may call for other boil additions like spices, sugars,

or more malt extract.

Treat these just like hops

and add them to the kettle at their specified time.

Now - a word from Northern Brewer's

Civilian Brewing Division:

When you boil wort

it creates froth.

When you add boil additions like hops, spices, or sugars it creates a lot of froth.

Because wort is sugary

boilovers are sticky.

A watched pot may never boil

but an unwatched pot will always boil over.

If the froth tries to escape your kettle and boilover two things to remember:

turn the heat down... and stir, stir, stir!

I'm boiling some wort outside to show you

what a boil over looks like.

Don't try this at home.

Just look at that nasty mess.

Do yourself a favor,

don't let this happen to your stove-top.

Stay diligent, homebrewer,

Keep an eye on boiling wort and be ready to knock down escaping foam.

Back to the brew day.

The sixty-minute boil is finished

and all boil kettle additions have been made.

The wort must now be cooled to a hundred degrees fahrenheit or below before we

can add yeast and proceed with stage two - fermenting.

We're going to use a simple cold-water bath to cool the wort.

Replace water as necessary.

If you like you could add ice to the water bath.

Keep the kettle covered almost all the way to protect wort for airborne microbes.

When the side of the kettle is about body temperature, lukewarm,

not hot to the touch,

it's time to get ready for fermentation.

While the wort is cooling

it's time to do the most important task of the entire brewing process: sanitizing.

It's impossible to make good beer with dirty equipment.

So everything that comes in contact with the wort or beer from now on must

be sanitized first.

Assemble the bottling bucket and auto siphon.

The gasket and spigot go on outside of the bucket

the nut goes on the inside hand-tightened,

don't over-tighten or it will deform the gasket and cause a leak. Leak test

bucket with plain water before proceeding.

Use the Star San sanitizer included with your starter kit

to sanitize the equipment. To make the sanitizing solution use one fluid ounce

of star san per five gallons of water.

Use the gradient lines on the bucket to measure the water.

Use the auto siphon to stir the mixture.

This solution will sanitize the bucket.

Also put the funnel, airlock, bung

and yeast packet in the sanitizer.

Two minutes contact time to santize the surfaces, no rinsing required.

While you've got the sanitizer solution in the graduated bucket

put five gallons in the carboy

and mark a carboy.

We used electrical tape.

Fill the carboy up

the rest of the way with sanitizer.

For further information on sanitizing and cleaning

see Chapters 3 and 5 of this DVD. When the wort in the kettle is cooled and

the fermentation equipment is sanitized

it's time to fill the fermentor.

First add two gallons of cold water to the sanitized, empty fermentor.

Next, pour in the cooled wort.

Leave behind any sludge that's accumulated in the bottom of the kettle.

Finally, add more cold water to bring the total volume to five gallons.

Seal the fermentor and gently rock back and forth for a few minutes to mix

the wort in the water

and aerate the wort for fermentation.

The side of the fermentor should not be warm to the touch.

Now it's time to add the yeast. The brewing term is "pitching" the yeast.

If you have dry yeast sprinkle it on the surface of the wort.

Seal the fermentor,

fill the air lock with sanitizer,

and move the fermentor

to a dark quiet spot.

Now it's time to take a break.

Let the yeast do the heavy lifting,

have a beer,

then clean up.

Within a day or two of brewing day

fermentation begins.

While the yeast convert malt sugars into carbon dioxide and alcohol you will

see bubbles come through the airlock

and a cap of thick foam forms above the beer.

Roughly one to two weeks from brewing day fermentation ends.

Bubbles coming through the air lock become very slow or stop,

and the cap of foam starts to subside.

[alert beeping] Attention, citizens! Do you know where your yeast is?

by now you've noticed that actively fermenting beer has a head

of yeast foam on it.

This yeasty foam is called the krausen.

Krausen is good.

It's a sign of a healthy fermentation,

when the krausen tries to escape the carboy through the neck that's called

blow-off.

Blow-off is bad.

It's bad because it's messy at a time when we want things to be sanitary

and contained.

It's also bad because it can clog the airlock

and pressurize the carboy.

What should you do

if your beer tries to escape during fermentation?

Use a blow-off hose...

or a blow-off hose and stopper if you opted for plastic carboys.

How to do this:

sanitize the blow-off hose,

removed the airlock and stopper,

put the blow off those

into the carboy,

run the free end,

into a bucket

or container of sanitizer.

This will act like a giant airlock.

They'll still let CO2 gas escape without letting oxygen back in and

it's big enough for the escaping krausen

to travel up,

through the hose,

and into the sanitizer...

keeping everything contained and sanitary

After primary fermentation is complete

the fermented beer is transferred to a five-gallon cardboy for secondary fermentation.

<alert beeping> standby for another important message from the civilian brewing division

We are fermenting beer

with the Northern Brewer Deluxe Starter Kit which uses a two-stage

fermentation. First stage primary fermentation in a six-gallon carboy,

active fermentation the yeast is actively metabolizing sugar in the wort

converting it into CO2 and alcohol

Secondary fermentation takes place

in a five-gallon carboy.

This is a quiet period

in-between active fermentation and bottling

where the beer's flavor will mellow out,

has a chance to clarify after primary fermentation allowing the yeast and

remaining hop and malts settle out to the bottom so you get a clearer

smoother tasting beer

when it's time to move to bottles.

How do you do a secondary fermentation?

Very simple.

Sanitize the five-gallon carboy

siphon finished beer

from the primary

into the secondary.

The Caribou Slobber calls for a one to two week primary fermentation

followed by

two to four weeks secondary fermentation

before you bottle.

Don't be terrified to let your beard get clarified.

Brew on, brewers!

Time once again to sanitize.

The auto siphon, hose, five-gallon carboy,

and airlock.

We will mix the sanitizing solution in the bottling bucket,