Brewing beer - A guide to brewing beer at home
A guide to brewing beer will make your heart beat faster. Your own small brewery in your own home. Which accessories and which ingredients are necessary? Learn more about the art of brewing at home.
Legal foundations
A licence is required for the distillation of alcoholic beverages. However, beer and wine may be produced in certain quantities for personal use.
Every citizen in Germany is allowed to brew 2oo liters of beer per year.
This exemption applies per person. If you brew more, you are subject to the Beer Tax Act.
Accessories
You first need a fermentation tank (must cask) with a straw.
A filling tube for filling and of course the bottles for filling.
In addition, you will need a pot (approx. 10 litres), whisk, thermometer, kitchen scales, disposable syringe and a container for yeast. Ingredients:
Sugar for secondary fermentation
About 3 kg of hoped malt extract (liquid;"beer kit")
20 to 100 g aroma hop to taste
10 to 20 g of dry yeast Once you have gathered everything you need, nothing stands in your way to brew your own beer.
Brew beer
Heat 5 litres of water to 50 degrees Celsius. Now add the liquid malt extract and heat the quantity further. With constant stirring, bring it to the boil. Cook the concentrate for about 5 minutes. Now add aromatic hops according to your taste. Turn the stove off and remove the pot from the hob. Allow it to cool for about 20 minutes. Fill the fermentation vessel with the same amount of cold water as in the pot. Now add the boiled concentrate.
Now fill the fermentation vessel with enough water until the desired quantity is reached (approx. 20 litres total). From the finished beer wort about 100 ml is taken to rehydrate the dry yeast. The fermentation vessel is closed so that no pests find their way in. Check that the 100 ml are not warmer than 25 degrees. Now add the dry yeast and close the container, let it rest for an hour so that the yeast awakens again. After one hour the beer wort is frothed with a whisk. Please check that it doesn't have more than 25 degrees. Now add the yeast mixture. The fermentation vessel is then closed again and the beer is left to its own devices. After about 12 hours you should hear the first sounds of fermentation. You have to wait until the foam layer has dissolved completely. Now you can add some sugar to the mixture for post-fermentation. Fill the bottles where the beer is still fermented and carbonated. Do not fill the bottles full to the brim, but let air about 2 fingers wide. You should store it cold for four weeks before consumption. Cheers!
Great beginners guide to brewing. I have drank lots of home brew, but have not had the time to brew my own. I’m looking to get into it this summer. Do you have any good books to recommend?