Latest features Brew your own beer - From garage to glass in 28 days

Date Published:

28/10/2008

Beer's back, baby. Neil Morrissey's making it, Hugh's cooking with it and Gordon brewed his own. Want a piece of the action? Budweiser brew-master, Hugo Anderson, talks Charlie Cottrell through making home brew in a hurry

Home brewing has a bad name. After a boom in the 1980s, when even Boots the Chemist stocked beer-making bundles, people ditched their home brew kits in droves. It was a question of taste. "The beer was awful," says Hugo.

But the times they are a changing. British beer is enjoying a glorious return to the limelight with gastro pubs and celebrity chefs alike waiving the dinnertime wine and reaching for a pint glass.

Best of all, for you budding brewers, you don't need much equipment to start your very own micro-brewery. "You can brew a decent beer with very little kit," says Hugo. "And it will be ready in less than a month. You'll get 40 pints in about four weeks."

Beginner's keg kits can be ordered online for about £60 and include everything you'll need - barrels, piping, malt - you name it. With refills from under a tenner you're looking at 23p a pint - credit crunch that.

1. First you've got to clean up your act. Anything that's going to come into contact with your beer needs to be squeaky clean or you'll end up with 40l of vinegar. Use a food grade cleanser and don't be tempted to use bleach. No-one will appreciate a subtle tang of Domestos.

2. With your barrel fresh as a daisy it's time to make beer. First heat 2l of water until it's steaming but not boiling (about 70°C-80°C). Remove from the heat, add the sugar and the contents of your beer kit - except the yeast. If your kit contains malt, add this first. Stir like billy-o.

3. Pour into your barrel, top up with cold water. Congratulations, you've just made 'wort'. Next up, get your long spoon and stir for a couple of minutes to get oxygen into this so-called wort.

4. When the side of the barrel feels cool to touch it's time to add the yeast from your kit. Stir again and cover with the lid.

5. Leave in a warm place for seven days. Not the airing cupboard though. Hugo was insistent. You're looking for an ambient temperature of 21°C-27°C. Any cooler than this and fermentation will take longer. Any warmer and it will ferment too quickly. When the bubbling in the airlock stops or slows until there is a pause of two minutes between bubbles, primary fermentation is completed. Don't touch the beer before this stage or you'll ruin your brew and, if you're bottling, could end up with a beery explosion.

Secondary fermentation

6. This is where the magic happens. Put a little priming sugar (in your kit) into the bottles or barrel then siphon off the beer into your beer receptacle using the rubber tube. Take care not to slosh it about too much or you'll mix sediment into your beer. Leave about an inch of air at the top of the bottles and cap straight away.

7. After 2-3 days transfer your barrel or bottles to a cold place where it won't be disturbed. Under the stairs, suggests Hugo. Then muster every ounce of patience you have and leave your brew for 2-3 weeks, to clear.

8. Survived the wait? Then pat yourself on the back brew-meister - you've just made your first brew. Crack open a beer to celebrate.

Getting started

For beer kits and equipment see
Wineworks
Easybrew
Beerkits

See how the actor does it in Neil Morrissey's Risky Business

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