A few years back I decided that I wanted to make my own beer. Luckily, there's a home brew store near me. I can't say enough good things about this company! Look them up online they are amazing! They helped set me up with the needed supplies, and for less than $200 I was off and running.
A typical 5-gallon beer kit runs about $20-30 USD. The Oktoberfest is one of my favorites!
They come with detailed easy instructions that even I can understand.
Some of the contents of the package.
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I forgot to snap a pic of me steeping the grains, but here's a similar image I found on the Interwebs! It's pretty simple, add grains to cheese cloth, tie it off, and steep it like a giant cup of tea at the temp. specified in the instructions.
Once the grains steep, discard, and then add the malt. After you add the malt, bring the pot to a boil for an hour.
The aroma from the beer and hops boiling is AMAZING!
During the boil, add the Irish Moss and hops at the specified times. Once the hour is up, cool the wort using an ice bath or wort chiller until it's down to 75 degrees F. (This makes sure the liquid isn't too hot for the yeast) After that, drain the liquid from the sediment into your fermentation bucket and add the yeast.
And viola.... in about an hour and a half you've made BEER!!!!
I stored mine in my cellar, but you can put it in any a cool, dark place until it's fermented. Once it's fermented it's time for the bottling; which I will probably do as a separate blog.
CHEERS!