How to Brew Beer: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide

Brewing beer has been said to be part science and part art.

There is a precise and calculated aspect to the process, but at the same time the “rules” and any possible confines can be hazy, presenting grounds for personal interpretation and the creation of a truly unique beer. But it’s not as difficult as that could make it sound.

Brewing beer really comes down to a simple process that has roots as far back as 12,000 years. You essentially heat water and grain (and/or extract from grain), boil the mixture with hops, cool the mixture, ferment the mixture using yeast and then carbonate. Easy enough, right?

Well, now we’ll go into a little bit more depth within each step.

1. Cleaning & Sanitizing

Once you have all of the necessary equipment, the first step isn’t actually brewing at all.

First, you’ll need to thoroughly clean and sanitize ALL of your equipment. This step is crucial. Do not take any shortcuts here.

Absolutely anything that will come in contact with your beer during the brewing process should be properly cleaned using an unscented mild detergent and then sanitized using a solution that is approved for sanitation. No-rinse varieties can simplify the process while remaining effective.

Once you’ve properly cleaned and sanitized your equipment, it’s time to get brewing.

2. The Brew

The brew is the step that requires the most direct attention from you for an extended period of time. This is due to the importance of having to follow a strict timeline and closely monitor the brewing process. This step consists of a few sub-processes, including mashing, lautering and boiling, all of which are equally important.

Doing your absolute best to get everything right during this time is critical to the overall quality of your beer in the end. These crucial brewing steps form the base of your finished product. If you mess something up, it will have an effect down the line.

Keep in mind: As you learn how to brew beer at home, you will get it wrong the first few times. This is part of the learning process, and everyone makes mistakes along the way. Take notes, recognize the mistakes and use these as learning experiences.

3 Brewing Methods to Choose From

There are three main methods for brewing: extract, partial mash and all-grain. The methods mainly differ in how the base of the beer is created, among other aspects.

Extract brewing simply uses extracts from the grains, whether in dry or liquid form, or a mixture of both, to form the base of the beer, known as “wort.” Extract brewing can also include the use of small quantities of grain to add depth to the beer, but overall the process requires less equipment, space and time, making it perfect for those brand new to home brewing as well as novice and intermediate home brewers. But even as brewers learn and progress, some continue to employ extract brewing methods for the convenience factor alone.

Partial mash brewing, also known as “mini-mash” brewing, involves the use of malt extract as well as grain. The combination of both provides increased possibilities in the creation of the flavor, body, appearance and overall quality of your beer. This is a great second step for those who have successfully brewed with extract-only techniques and have a solid understanding of the process but want to take things further. At the same time, it doesn’t require much more of an investment in time, equipment or space than extract-only brewing, making the transition an easy one.

All-grain brewing is the purest form of brewing beer but requires more equipment and space (and subsequently, a greater financial investment), more time and an advanced knowledge of the brewing process. All-grain brewing does not use any malt extracts, so all sugars are pulled solely from the grains, which also provides complete freedom when creating your brew. In turn, it can also create more opportunities for mistakes to be made. All-grain brewing is only for the experienced brewer who has a solid understanding of the home brewing process.

3. Steps in the Brewing Process

Now that you know the different ways you can brew, let’s run through the steps.

The Mash

The first step of brewing beer is the mash, or mashing.

The mash is the process of activating enzymes in the grain to change starches into sugar, ultimately providing the necessary “food” for the yeast. It also creates the base for the color, body and overall flavor of your beer.

Mashing is somewhat similar to steeping tea. You immerse your grain bill in hot water, allowing the heat to gently break down starches and activate the important enzymes within the grain that, ultimately, leads to those starches being converted to fermentable sugars. Be mindful of water quality, temperature and stirring for the mash.

Lautering

The next step is lautering, which is the process of separating the wort from the grain.

The purpose is to remove sugars that may be trapped within the grain following the mash. The reason for doing this is to get the biggest bang for your buck. As previously mentioned, sugar is what feeds the yeast, ultimately converting it into alcohol to make beer instead of non-alcoholic sugar water—the more food for the yeast, the greater the potential for successful fermentation.

Lautering can be completed by various methods dependent on the type of brewing, but regardless of which method is used, it will almost always involve a step called “sparging.” Sparging involves heating water in a separate container to a higher temperature than that of the mash and then pouring the heated water over the grain to “rinse” it of any remaining sugars. In more advanced brewing, this can involve extra equipment but follows the same general principle.

The Boil

The boil can sometimes be confused with the mash, but they are two different processes with their own purposes. The mash doesn’t come to a boiling temperature; however, the boil step does come to around 212°F, depending on altitude, and occurs over a longer period of time.

The purpose of the boil is to destroy remaining unwanted enzymes, remove harmful oxygen and stabilize the wort by lowering pH, ultimately creating the perfect environment for the addition of hops.

Hops are a key ingredient in beer making and can be used in many ways to achieve an even wider range of desired effects. No matter what you’re looking for in the end, hops provide balance to the beer by adding bitterness to counteract the sweetness of the grain. During the boil, you can also add hops at later increments to give the beer flavor and aroma.

Hops also serve as a natural preservative that can protect the beer from bacteria and other potential infections. The boil should create a healthy environment in which fermentation can successfully take place.

4. After the Brew

With the brewing phase now complete, it’s time to prepare the wort for fermentation. This process involves quickly reducing the temperature of the wort, adding water, taking a gravity reading and then adding the yeast (also known as “pitching”).

Cool Down

Once the boil is over, it’s time to cool the wort down as quickly as possible to prevent infection. The goal is to get the wort down to around room temperature in less than 20 minutes.

Depending on how large your batch is as well as the ambient temperature, this could be a straightforward task or a very challenging one. There are a couple ways to cool down the wort.

Ice Bath

When first learning how to brew beer, most home brewers start with the simpler method of cooling down wort: an ice bath.

Depending on the size of your batch, you can fill your sink, bathtub or any other large container with cold water and then load it up with ice. There’s no limit to how cold your ice bath can be—the colder it is, the faster you’ll be able to bring down the temperature of the wort.

Once you’ve created the ice bath, slowly submerge the brew pot and then stir the wort constantly to effectively distribute and dissipate the heat. When placing the pot in the bath, be extra careful to avoid splashing, as you do not want any of the water to accidentally get into the pot. With the pot and wort at a very high temperature, the ice will most likely melt at a rapid rate, so add ice as needed until you reach room temperature.

Wort Chillers

There are also more advanced and effective techniques for cooling the wort, such as wort chillers, which come in immersion, counterflow and plate varieties. These are well worth the additional investment because they’re more effective in reducing temperature and can be used time and time again without ever having to worry about ice.

Successfully cooling down your wort can be difficult at first. As with everything in home brewing, the more you practice, the easier it becomes.

Transfer to the Primary Fermenter and Take Original Gravity Reading

Now that you’ve cooled the wort, transfer it to a storage vessel for primary fermentation. This vessel should be large enough to hold the wort and, if necessary, the sterile topping-up water that you add.

Once you have the proper volume of liquid, it’s time for the first gravity reading. The reading provides the wort’s specific gravity, which is its density in relation to the density of water. In the end, checking the gravity of your wort helps ensure a successful fermentation and also allows you to calculate your beer’s alcohol content (also known as alcohol by volume, or “ABV”).

You can take your first gravity reading (also known as original gravity, or “OG”) by using a hydrometer. A hydrometer is a tool that is used to measure specific gravity.

In order to take a reading, you must first retrieve a sample of your wort and place it in a container. A hydrometer test jar or cylindrical container that is similar in size will work best, and most hydrometers even come packaged in a tube that will work as well.

Once you have placed the wort sample into the container, place the hydrometer in the container and make sure that it is fully suspended within the liquid. The line that the liquid matches up with is the OG. Record this number and make sure that you can reference it after fermentation is complete.

Activate and Pitch the Yeast

Once you have taken your gravity reading, it is time to add the yeast. In the brewing world, this step is known as “pitching.” You want to first ensure that your yeast is ready for pitching, so before you even begin the brew, it is especially important to be mindful of yeast health.

Make sure that your yeast is ready for pitch time by letting it sit out at room temperature for about three hours beforehand. Doing so will make for better fermentation and, subsequently, better beer.

Types of Brewing Yeast

Brewing yeast (not the same as baking yeast) can come in dry or liquid form, with each having its own advantages over the other. Use of each type is at the discretion of the brewer.

• Dry Yeast: Commonly found in ingredient kits, dry yeast will not require activation but should be at room temperature.
• Liquid Yeast: Liquid yeast, on the other hand, requires activation by vigorously shaking the container and perhaps even creating a yeast starter prior to pitching. A yeast starter primes the yeast for fermentation by allowing it to multiply prior to pitching.

Once your yeast is ready, pitch it into the vessel that you will use for fermentation and aerate the mixture by stirring vigorously with a sanitized spoon or securing the lid and shaking the vessel.

It is important to aerate the mixture to reintroduce into the wort the oxygen that was previously removed during the boil. Oxygen is necessary for the growth of the yeast, which will ultimately complete the fermentation process.

Now that the yeast has been added and the mixture is properly aerated, secure an airtight lid on the vessel and securely insert a sanitized airlock or similar blow-off valve that will allow CO2 gases to escape while preventing outside air from entering.

5. Fermentation

The most important step in the beer-making process, fermentation is where the magic happens. This is when the yeast converts the sugars into ethyl alcohol and CO2. While fermentation does not require uninterrupted attention like the brew, you need to keep a close eye throughout the entire period of time that it takes to complete the process.

It is recommended to separate fermentation into two steps: primary fermentation and secondary fermentation.

Primary Fermentation

The main purpose of primary fermentation is to allow the yeast to convert the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Additionally, the process allows unwanted particles to sink to the bottom of the vessel, separating them from the beer. The collection of these particles is known as “trub” and consists of dead yeast cells, extraneous proteins and hops. This process takes roughly one week, depending on the style of beer that you’re making.

With the yeast in the mix, respiration must first occur, and then active primary fermentation should begin in about 12 hours. It is important to maintain a temperature around 68-72°F for healthy fermentation to take place.

When active fermentation has begun, you will notice a release of CO2 gas from the vessel. When using an airlock, you will notice bubbling within the airlock chamber. This means that the yeast is successfully converting the sugars.

As bubbling starts to occur less frequently, this can be taken as a sign that primary fermentation is nearing completion. Now you’ll want to transfer the beer to a secondary fermentation vessel.

Is Secondary Fermentation Necessary?

Secondary fermentation is not required but provides a lot of benefits when you make beer at home. It is the stage in which the beer can further clarify and become more polished.

However, if executed incorrectly, it can also serve as an opportunity to introduce infection and other factors that could have a negative effect on your brew. When done right, secondary fermentation results in a product that both looks and tastes better. If you skip secondary fermentation, simply allow the beer to ferment for two to three weeks in the primary fermenter.

Transferring (aka Racking)

For those who choose to go for it, you will need to transfer (or “rack,” as it’s known in brewing) the beer from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter as carefully as possible without disturbing the trub or transferring the byproducts of fermentation that collect at the top of the beer, known as “kräusen” (kroy-zen). You will also want to ensure that anything that touches the beer is properly cleaned and sanitized.

To allow gravity to assist with siphoning, the primary fermenter should be located at a higher elevation than the secondary fermenter. If it can’t be at a higher elevation, then move the primary fermenter 24 hours prior to racking to allow any sediment that could have been re-suspended within the beer to resettle.

Rack the beer from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter while avoiding splashing the beer. You want to eliminate any possibility of reintroducing oxygen to the beer, as oxidized beer can mean a stale taste along with other undesired flavors.

Once you have successfully transferred to the secondary fermenter, securely insert an airlock or blow-off valve and place the fermenter in a cool, dark place.

Secondary Fermentation

While the more active stage of fermentation has already taken place during primary fermentation, some remaining fermentables and active yeast cells remain. Moving your beer to a secondary fermenter and allowing it to condition further lets the remaining yeast convert the more complex sugars, ultimately improving the quality of your beer by increasing clarity, smoothing out the flavor profile, and reducing the risk of infection and introduction of off-tasting flavors.

The secondary fermentation stage is also typically when brewers choose to dry hop the beer. Dry hopping is the process of directly infusing additional bitterness, flavor and aroma from hops into your beer.

Dry hopping is style-dependent (more for IPAs and other hoppy beers), but secondary fermentation is an ideal time to dry hop because the vigorous fermentation and rapid release of CO2 have already taken place, allowing the oil and aroma from the hops to set in peacefully.

Allot at least one week for the secondary fermentation phase to complete, but you can make it longer if you wish.

Final Gravity Reading and Alcohol Content

Once your beer has had ample time within the secondary fermenter, it’s time to take the final gravity reading, or “FG.”

The final gravity will allow you to calculate exactly how much work your yeast has done during fermentation, and subsequently, your beer’s alcohol content.

You will take your FG reading just as you took the OG reading, making sure that you continue to stick with the theme of proper sanitization.

Once you have attained the reading, calculate the alcohol content by subtracting the FG from the OG, then multiplying that number by 131; so: (OG – FG) x 131 = ABV.

Example: 1.060 (OG) – 1.020 (FG) x 131 = 5.24% ABV

Now that you know exactly how much alcohol is in your beer, you’re probably ready to enjoy one. Unfortunately, the beer is not yet carbonated and requires further conditioning, so you have to decide how you want to store, carbonate and serve your beer.

6. Bottling and Kegging

When preparing your beer for consumption, you must store it in an airtight vessel, allowing it to carbonate and condition. There are two main methods: bottling and kegging.

In home brewing, bottling has long been accepted as the simpler method, but kegging has quickly grown in popularity, making a case as the better method of the two. Truth be told, there is no right or wrong way, and each method has its own advantages.

Bottling Beer

Bottling is an inexpensive option, making it the go-to choice for many home brewers. Also, many equipment and ingredient kits come with all the items you need for the bottling process.

Most brewing equipment kits come with a bottling bucket, siphon, tubing, bottle filler, capper, a beer bottle brush and sanitizer, so all you need to add are bottles and caps. Most ingredient kits also come with priming sugar, and some even come with caps as well. With many kits created with bottling in mind, it becomes an easy choice for home brewers.

How to Bottle Beer

If you decide to bottle your beer, follow these steps.

Once the batch is bottled, store the bottles in a cool, dark place for at least two weeks. This allows the beer to go through its final conditioning phase and lets the yeast ferment the priming sugar to produce CO2 to carbonate the beer. After the beer has had time to condition and carbonate, chill it and enjoy!

Kegging Beer

More and more home brewers are choosing to keg their beer, as it is an overall easier and quicker process than bottling. It does require a greater initial investment as you’ll need all of the proper storage, carbonating and serving equipment.

At minimum, you will need a keg, refrigeration box of some kind (typically a kegerator), a CO2 cylinder and regulator. You will also need the necessary lines, as well as a coupler or adapter to feed CO2 to the keg and dispense beer from it.

A kegerator is usually the preferred choice for home brewers, as it comes with everything you need. However, many home brewers prefer to convert an old fridge or freezer into their own DIY kegerator, as well as use it as a fermenting chamber. This is something you may want to consider.

How to Keg Beer

If you decide to keg your beer, follow these steps.

Actual carbonation levels depend on the temperature of the beer you are carbonating as well as the desired volume of CO2 within the beer. Once you have figured out the desired carbonation level, set the regulator to the appropriate PSI level and allow the keg to carbonate for at least four days. Once the keg is fully carbonated, lower the PSI for serving and enjoy.