This is a very simple method for making beer using the bare minimum of equipment and ingredients. The advantages of making beer from extracts are that is it much quicker and easier, far less messy, and requires far less equipement. The downside is that the quality beer produced (and the possible variety) is significantly poorer that using grain and hops.
Whilst many homebrew snobs would turn their nose up at all-extract brews, quite accessible beer can be made with this method and can compare with the mega-brewery beers you get in the pub but at a tiny fraction of the price.
The simplest way to make all-extract beer is to use a Beer Kit. This basically gives you all the ingrediences you need for a brew in one handy pack. However, it can be cheaper to buy the ingredients separately, and it also gives you far greater flexibility and possibility of experimentation. And certainly, this is a good way to get into homebrewing if you have never tried it before.
Some methods you read ask for thermometers, hydrometers, airlocks, cappers… I can’t be fagged with all that. Obviously, you can try to improve things by making the method more complex. But the method describing here uses mimimal specialist equipment and no fannying about with non-essential steps. So if you just want to get going with a really simple no-fuss brewing method, this is the one for you. So lets get cracking…
Equipment needed:
- 5 gallon plastic bucket
- Plastic stirrer/paddle
- 11 x 2 litres plastic bottles
- siphon tube or jug
Ingredients:
A beer kit will include the malt extract, yeast and hop extract standard sized packs for a 5 gallon brew. If you buy them separately, you will need to find a recipe for the exact amounts to use. I recommend you start with our Olde Badger’s Crack Recipe.
- Malt Extract (either a tin of liquid extract or packs of dry spray malt)
- Sugar (may not be necessary depending on malt extract used)
- Yeast
- Hop extract
Method:
Sterilise everything: the usual method is to soak for 5 minutes in a sterilising solution and rinse thoroughly.
Get the yeast stater going: Add the yeast to a bowl of warm water and a spoonful of sugar. Stir, cover and leave it to get going.
Make the wort: Dissolve the malt extract in 5 gallons of water. You want to end up with a temperature of about 21°C (70°F) if using an ale yeast ales or 10°C (50°F) if using a lagar yeast. So you can start by pouring in hot water to help the extract dissolve then top up with cold water to bring down the temperature. If using dry extract, its useful to start with a little cold water to make a paste before adding hot water.
Pitch the yeast: When the wort is at the at a suitable temperature, add the yeast solution which by now be going strong and have a good head of foam. Stir in.
Cover: You can use a loosely fitted lid, or cover with polythene and tie around with string, or if you are using a proper fermenter you can use a bung and airlock. The important thing is that air can escape but nothing nasty can get in.
Add hop extract: After three days add the hop extract according to the instructions on the pack. And stir in with the paddle.
Leave to ferment: After another seven days the fermentation should have virtually stopped and the wort should not taste sweet (a hydrometer can be used if you have one!) and its ready to bottle. If not, leave to ferment longer.
Bottling: Add a small amount of sugar to each of your sterilised bottles. This will prime your beer. Transfer your beer into sterilised bottles using a siphon tube, sterilised jug or tap, being careful not to disturb the sediment. Screw the tops on tight and leave to condition upright in a cool place for two weeks.
Contratulations you’ve just brewed your first batch of beer! Now kick back and enjoy.
Variations
You can experient with small variations to produce different results without makign the step up to partial grain brewing.
- upgrade equipment – you can seek to achieve better results and improve the efficiency of the process by using a proper fermenter/barboy with an airlock, using a hydrometer, syphon starter, nicer bottles, etc
- using real hops instead of extract can add interesting new flavours and aromas
- use different malt extracts – dry or liquid, light or dark – there is a good variety available to produce different kinds of beer.
Once you get bored of this, you can move on to the partial grain method which results in vastly superior results for a small increase in cost and effort.