Minimum Required Equipment:
20-quart or larger stainless steel or ceramic coated stock pot. (2) 6.5 gallon food grade plastic buckets with sealable lid Stopper and Airlock for the top of the bucket Thermometer (fast reading up to 220 degrees F) 48 12oz brown beer bottles (not twist-off lid type) Bottle capper and caps Spring loaded bottle filler plastic siphon tubing Large plastic or stainless steel spoon or ladle Several muslin or nylon bags (for the grains)
Beginning the process:
Sanitize all equipment that will come into contact with your brew. A good sanitizing solution is 1 tablespoon unscented bleach to 1 gallon of water. Sanitize your stockpot and fermentation bucket overnight prior to brewing. Rinse everything well before starting the brew.
Cooking the Wort - "Wort is the unfermented beer"
Bring 2.5 gallons of your bottled water up to about 165 degrees F. Reduce heat to maintain this temperature. Place your cracked grains in the muslin or nylon bags and seal then with the drawstring or by tying them up. Place the grain bags in the water for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. After 30 minutes, remove the grain bags. Try to squeeze all the liquid from the bags.
Bring the water to a boil. When you have achieved a rolling boil, remove the pot from the burner and add the liquid malt extracts. Be sure to stir while adding the liquid malt extracts so it will not stick and burn on the bottom of the pot. (This is about the time that the brew starts to smell really good!) Stir for a few minutes to make sure that the extracts have dissolved completely and return the pot to the burner. Bring back to a boil. Watch closely for boilovers! A 20qt stock pot gets you close to the top. A 24qt pot would be better. Keep a spray bottle handy (filled with bottled spring water) to spray on top of the foam.
When the boil has resumed, add the 2 ounces of Chinook hop pellets and boil for 45 minutes. Add one ounce of Czech Sazz hop pellets and boil for another 10 minutes. Add one ounce of Fuggles hop pellets and boil for 5 minutes.
Remove the pot from the burner. Prepare an ice water bath in the sink. Place the stockpot in the sink and let the brew cool to about 125 degrees. Pour 2.5 gallons of bottled water into your fermentation bucket. When the brew has cooled to 125 degrees, pour the contents of the stockpot into the fermentation bucket through a strainer. Check the temperature of the brew. When the temperature of the brew has reached 80-85 degrees, empty the contents of the Edme Ale Yeast package into the bucket. Seal the bucket and place the airlock with water in it on the lid of the bucket.
During the next 24-48 hours, you will see bubbling in the airlock. After 5 days, siphon the contents of the fermentation bucket into your second bucket, leaving the yeast sediment behind. Re-seal the bucket with the lid and airlock for 12 more days. The bubbling in the airlock will practically stop during this period.
Clean your primary fermenter immediately after use and fill with 6 gallons of water and 6 tablespoons of bleach. After the 12-day
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