How is beer made? Can it be made at home?

‘Beer a day can keep sorrows away’ this is what most beer fanatics around the world say about this fermented blend made with wheat or barley grains. Prepared by following an intense brewing process, the packaged beer loved by beer aficionados literally involves some elaborate procedures like malting, milling, mashing, fermentation, aging, and maturing to get the liquid gold in the pitcher. Since ages beer was also prepared at home in small batches by following simple recipes. Here’s a recipe which was traditionally followed to make beer at home in some parts of the world.

The first step towards making beer at home begins with organizing the ingredients followed by the process of sanitization. It is one of the crucial steps towards making a rich beer blend. To begin with this simple beer recipe, take 1 and ½ kg of malt extract to get a rich texture of the beer. To make beer at home one can also purchase pre-hopped extracts to give an earthy flavor to the drink.

Start with satinizing the utensils and equipments, which are firstly cleaned with warm and soapy water. Rinse them again with lukewarm water to ensure no soap particles are left. Then sanitize again using the household bleach or use a no-acid sanitizer to remove the lingering flavour.

To begin with the process of brewing, take a large plastic pail(carboy) and wash it with water and baking soda to remove the sting of the plastic.

Next, take a large pot and add around 8 liters of water to a boil, then add one can of malt extracts. Keep stirring and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Lower the flame and add 7 cups of regular white sugar and stir to dissolve.

Keep stirring and once the sugar is melted and dissolved, pour this blend into the carboy. Make sure that this step is carried out faster to add air to the blend, which helps in the growth of yeast to ferment the drink.

Then add clean drinking water to neutralize the temperature of the blend, next using a sanitized thermometer, check the temperature and sprinkle yeast, stir nicely and cover with a lid. Make sure that the carboy is not tightly closed else it will explode by creating carbon dioxide gas.

Keep the carboy aside to ferment for at least 7-10 days, depending on the temperature and sugar used to ferment. Also ensure the temperature does not exceed 20-24 degree celsius.

The beer will take 2-3 days to ferment and the next step is to bottle and freeze. Once the bubbles start appearing, either use a hydrometer or else one can also taste the beer blend and ensure that it doesn't taste sweet. That's when one can move to the next step.

Keep the carboy at a stable place or a table, use a funnel and add two level teaspoons of sugar in each bottle. Next, siphon the beer into the bottles without disturbing the deposition at the bottom of the carboy. Make sure that there’s not much shake or movement that can ruin the taste of the beer while bottling in small bottles. Shaking or moving the beer carboy will introduce more oxygen leading to a taste damage and causing oxidation.

Make sure while filling the bottles, keep the end of the siphon tube near the small bottle to avoid foaming, keep some space at the top of the bottle, invert the bottle and shake well so that the sugar is dissolved. Cover the bottles with the cap, keep them at a dry place in a cool dark room and after a few days refrigerate and drink anytime.