Brewing 101

Checklists, cheat-sheets and tools for brewers

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Necessary fixed kit
Optional fixed kit
Consumables
Hops @ Binn Inn
Brewing
Bottling
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Necessary fixed kit

  • Fermentation bucket
  • Tap
  • Airlock
  • Bottles
  • Bottle capper (if using crown cap glass bottles)
  • Gloves
  • Dish brush
  • Notebook
  • Hose or jugs for moving water around

Optional fixed kit

  • Hygrometer (measures dissolved sugar level)
  • Measuring cylinder (~100 mL, needs to be large enough to fit hygrometer)
  • Thermometer
  • Heat mat
  • Bottling cane (connects to tap, fills bottles from the bottom)
  • Second brew bucket
  • Bottle brush (not required if you clean your bottles immediately as you drink from them)

Consumables for each brew (23L)

  • Brewing detergent (this helps with washing, not sterilising)
  • Equipment steriliser: no-rinse or sodium metabisulfite
  • Campden tablets (these remove Chlorine from the tap water)
  • Malt can/pouch
  • Plus either: brew enhancer, spray-malt or a second malt can/pouch
  • Hops: amount depends on beer style, but I like to do 100-200g
  • For bottling:
    • Priming sugar (usually dextrose)
    • Bottle steriliser
    • Enough bottles for ~21 litres
    • Bottle caps

Hops @ Binn Inn

Flavour profiles for most of the hops available at Binn Inn:

  • Dual purpose hops:
    • Dr Rudi: resin, pine, and lemongrass
    • Falconer's Light: tropical, floral, lemon and grapefruit characteristics
    • Green Bullet: spicy, dried fruit characters
    • Motueka: fresh crushed citrus, "Mojito" lime character, lively lemon and lime
    • Nelson Sauvin: fruitiness with fresh crushed gooseberry and grape
    • Pacific Jade: fresh citrus and complex spice characters
    • Rakau: stone fruit and fig characteristics
    • Sticklebract: citrus and pine
    • Waimea: pine and citrus characters; intense tangelo
    • Wakatu: restrained floral notes and freshly zested lime
  • Finishing hops:
    • Fuggle: delicate and pleasant mint, grass and floral tones
    • Pacifica: citrus "orange zest" marmalade
    • Saaz (Czech): pleasant earthy, herbal and floral overtones
    • Styrian Goldings: spice with a earthy/sweet edge
  • Bittering hops:
    • Pacific Gem: spicy black pepper and berry fruit aroma
See Home Brew Stuff's hop profiles page for more detailed flavour notes and other varieties

Brewing

  1. Optional: start boiling some of the hops (if you want bittering)
  2. Start warming malt can/pouch with boiling water (place it in a bowl/pot and pour boiling water over the top, then leave it sitting in the hot water)
  3. Clean and sterilise:
    1. Work area
    2. Fermenter, airlock and tap
    3. Brewing spoon
    4. Hose/jugs for transferring water
    5. Small bowl for starting the yeast, and plate or something as a cover
  4. Put a small amount of lukewarm water in the bowl, sprinkle the yeast on top and cover
  5. Check malt can for ideal starting temperature, then calculate the amount of boiling water to add:
    You will require Litres of boiling water.
  6. Fill fermenter with water (mix of cold and boiling as calculated above, be careful with the last few litres). During the fill, stir continuously and add:
    1. Malt (use boiling water to get as much out as you can)
    2. Spray-malt/brew enhancer/second malt can
  7. Optional: Crush ½ Campden tablet, add to the fermenter, stir and wait 10 minutes (removes Chlorine)
  8. Measure and record Specific Gravity (SG)
  9. Make sure the temperature is in the right range then pour Yeast on top and stir in
  10. Write down notes of method, ingredients, bittering hops used and target SG for the beer (malt kit should tell you what this is)
  11. Move fermenter into place
  12. Fill airlock with boiling water
  13. Add finishing (aroma) hops to fermenter after about a week - open lid and tip them on top, no need to stir
  14. Ferment for at least two weeks (this is enough time for some sediment to drop out) and make sure the SG is in the desired range recorded above

Bottling

  1. Calculate priming sugar amount (see Homebrew Answers for a wider range of beer styles and select Other to enter a custom CO2 volume):
    You will require grams of Dextrose.
  2. Boil priming sugar with two cups of water then simmer for 10 minutes
  3. Priming can be done in one of two ways:
    1. Bottling bucket (preferred method as it ensures the most consistent priming and reduces sediment):
      1. Sterilise second bucket, tap, airlock and hose for transferring
      2. Pour priming sugar into second bucket
      3. Carefully siphon contents from fermenter to second bucket - take care to minimise splashing (which causes oxygenation) and keep the hose inlet a few centimetres above the bottom of the fermenter
      4. Transfer all the beer into the second bucket, but stop just before you get to the scummy sediment layer
      5. You can immediately start step 4 below
    2. If you don't have a second bucket:
      1. Sterilise brewing spoon
      2. Pour priming sugar into fermenter and stir gently, trying to mix evenly while avoiding stirring up the sediment
      3. Wait 30 minutes for the sugar to mix and sediment to settle down again
  4. Clean work area and sterilise:
    • Bottling cane
    • Bottle drying rack
  5. Place bottle caps in a bowl with a little no-rinse steriliser, then pour boiling water over them
  6. Sterilise bottles, then:
    • Fill bottles: leave about 3cm air gap at the top of each bottle (bottling cane does this automatically)
    • Immediately place a cap on the bottle after filling
    • Cap (once the bottle is covered you can wait a while and cap a number of bottles all at once)
    • Label bottles
    • Take notes
  7. Age the bottles at room temperature in a dark place for at least two weeks before drinking (two months is ideal)