Making Ale The Fun Way

How to Make Home Brewed Beer and Ale The Fun Way!
By Kevin Flamell

Have you ever visited one of those restaurants that display their own beer brewing equipment? You know, those big brass machines that make the restaurant a favorite place to hang out with your friends?

Have you ever wished you could brew your own beer like the 'big boys' do? Well, you can, and it's really easy to do.

Yes - I can guess what you're thinking: There is no way your going to fit a brewing machine that big inside your home or apartment, let alone afford the cost! Don't worry - home brewing does not require such big equipment - in fact, you would be surprised how little the home brewer needs in order to make a fantastic brew.

All you need is one six-gallon fermenter jar with an airlock plus some ready-made malt with hops, and you're all set to start to make hom brew. You can get the malt extract in a can, so there's no more messy and difficult malting of your own grains.

Just mix, brew, bottle, and drink! The mixing is done in the fermenter - you just need hot water and a malt kit, add in cold water, and then some yeast. It's even easier than adding making bread in a bread machine. The brewing is done by the yeast, while you sit back and take it easy. The last step is bottle your beer, and soon you can enjoy that first golden sip.

Making your favorite types of beer at home just became a lot of fun - and as an added benefit, you save a lot of money over drinking the commercial brands. You can brew up six gallons of your favorite nectar for about $20-30.

And did I mention how much better a home brew tastes when compared to the beers you can buy? I mean, why do you think these restaurants that offer their beers fresh on tap do better than those larger chains that serve the regular stuff you could buy at the store?

Because the beer is fresh, crisp, and more refreshing than anything else.

Ready to get started making your own delicious beers the easy way? Get your free Homebrew Guide to home brewing 13 easy and tasty
recipes for ales, lagers, stouts, and other great beers. Go to http://www.besthomebrewguide.com

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Making Ale Guide - How To Use A Hydrometer

If you asked a bunch of homebrewers what the main items they need for their hobby what do you think they would say?

I suppose the most popular responses would be a fermenter,the ingredients including hops, yeast, malt syrup , and an item known as a hydrometer. So what precisely is a hydrometer anyway? Why ought you to have one and how would you use it?

After looking up my dictionary, I can tell you that a hydrometer is a tool for measuring a liquid's specific gravity, generally consisting of a calibrated tube weighted so that it floats upright. Well, that does not actually clarify matters, so let's explain it in more detail.

When you are creating homebrew beer, you'd would need to use a hydrometer to find out how heavy the brew in comparison to normal water (also called the "specific gravity"). The weight of the homebrew is related to what proportion of the sugar in the brew has been used up by the yeast (this is the fermenting process).

So Why do you need to know what your brew's specific gravity of is? Well, the hydrometer is way of understanding when your brew is wholly fermented. Once this point has been reached, you can bottle your brew and thereafter relish drinking what you've created.

So, just how would a homebrewer use a hydrometer? Well, the action is in fact really easy, and learning the method does not require long . In the first place, fill a straight sided jar two-thirds full of water at 60 degrees F (room temperature) and then place the hydrometer in the water and allow it bob around for few seconds, and then stabilize. The reading ought to be about 1.000 . After you have checked this reading, remove the hydrometer from the jar and then dry it out.

The next step is take a different jar and pour in your home brew until it is full. Then place your hydrometer into the liquid, and allow it to balance out, and make a new reading. If Fermentation is still happening the readingwill be over 1.015, but is near completion if the hydrometer reads from 1.010 to 1.008.

To assure fermentation has completed, take two readings during 24 hours. When the readings are equal, your homebrew is ready and can be bottled. If your reading is not consistant, then the process of fermentation is still going on.

Quick tips: Always ensure that your jars, and hydrometer, are both clean & dry before you use them to make sure that a proper reading is taken. If your homebrew has any froth then pour the liquid into a glass, and then into the jar again, until they have subsided. Finally, always ensure that your hydrometer does not touch edges of your ar before taking readings.

Why not start making ale at home? It's delicious and saves you money!
Try my free guide full of fantastic recipes.