here ya go, detailed directions for a generic brew:
1. if you are using liquid yeast it is necessary to start your yeast a day to several days before you start to brew. see the package for instructions (i have never used liquid yeast)
2. about 2 hr before brewing put 4 gal of good quality water in your freezer (allow enough time to get very cold, but not quite frozen) FYI pure H2O from the store is best unless you have good quality natural spring water handy. more impurities in the water the worst your brew will taste if it comes out at all.
3. wash, rinse, and sanatize all equipement that will touch your bier. for sanitizing you may use household bleach at one teaspoon per gallon or amberdyne at 1/2 tsp. per gal. i just use the bleach, but i use 1/2 CUP to 1 gallon of water. either way rinse several times in cold water.
4. bring one gallon of good quality water to 160F in your brew pot. add gypsum if required (this is something i have never had to do. it is for dealing with hardwater i ALWAYS use bottled water when brewing) pour this water into the insulated cooler and add your cracked grains. (this is if you are not using a liquid syrup to start your wort) put the lid on the cooler and let it steep for 60min. if a cooler is not available leave in your brew pot, add grains and cover. (this is making the wort)
5. in an other pot, 15 min. before the grains are done steeping, bring one gallon of good quality drinking water to 170F (again i ALWAYS use bottled water and never tap)
6. place funnel on top of priming bucket, insert filter and place a colander on top of funnel.
7. pour grain and water (now called wort) through the colander and funnel extracting the wort from your grain. you will notice the liquid backs up in teh funnel due to fine particles that clog the filter.
8. lift one side of the colander and using your brew spoon, gently scrape the filter until all the liquid has drained.
9. remove the clogged filter and dump the sediment off it. replace the filter and lower the colander back into place.
10. take the 170F water and pour it slowly over the grain in the colander to sparge (wash) all the wort trapped in the grain.
11. pour the strained wort out of the priming bucket into your brew pot.
12. add your malt extract and stir well until it is completely dissolved. place pot on burner and bring the dissolved extract and liquid to a boil. boil for 1 hour adding hops, as your recipe requires. during the boil your recipe amy call for the addition of other adjuncts and/or additives such as irish moss, gypsum, specialty sugars, as well other hoping. just add at the times the recipe requires.
13. at the end of your one hour of boiling, remove the pot and place it in a sink full of water. (i use my bathtub as the more cool water you have the faster it will cool the wort) this will start cooling your wort.
14. fill your carboy (or plastic furmenter) with 2 gal of near freezing water. this is to further cool the wort before you add the yeast. if the wort + water are too hot it will KILL the yeast.
15. strain the wort through the colander and large funnel with filter screen into the carboy. if you are using pellet hops do not strain with colander and screen, just pour right into the carboy using the funnel alone.
16. add enough water to the carboy to fill it almost to the top. place sanitized solid rubber stopper on carboy and shake well. at this point you may notice some solids forming in your beer this is called "cold break." these are proteins that fall out of solution and settle to the bottom of your beer comes to an even temperature. this helps prevent "chill haze" and should give you a nice clear beer.
17. take a temperature and hydrometer reading.
18. if your beer temperature is below 80F pitch (add) your yeast. DO NOT add your yeast until the temp is BELOW 80F. top off the carboy completely with cold water.
19. insert end of blowoff tube in carboy. place other end in bucket of water (end should be under water 1in). put carboy tube and bucket in a cool dark place. using the "swamp" method is recommended in warmer ares to help lower fermentation temp. (i also just use a bubbler lock for this step instead of the tube and cup) although i WILL be trying out the swamp method for this brew.
20. "the swamp" the ideal temperature for most ales is 68 - 70F (was cooler then my house) to help achieve this you can place your carboy in a large basin or tub (we call this a swamp). fill the basic with about 4in fo water. wrap a dark towel around the carboy and soak it with water. the water from the basin will wash up about half way up the towel, the upper portion of the tower will have to be soaked every day. the evaporating water will drop the temperature of the carboy 4 - 10 degrees and will help your beer considerably.
21. fermentation should begin within a day eventually "barm" or the froth on top of your fermenting beer will blow off through the tube leaving a little behind. when the foam stops flowing through the tube, remove the tube replace with the airlock. this should happen after 3 or 4 days.
22. you can test for complete fermentation in one of two ways. when time between bubbles in the airlock is 2min or greater, you can take a hydrometer reading. take an other 24h later, if the two readins are the same, fermentation is complete. the alternative is to assume that when the time between bubbles is 2 min or greater, fermentation is complete. this reduces the risk of infection from multiple hydrometer readings.
23. another clue that fermentation is complete is to notice the clarity of your beer. it will begin as a cloudy or milky liquid and will slowly clear from top to bottom. when it is clear all the way to the bottom fermentation is usually done. this will take between 10 - 21 days.
bottling instructions
1. begin by washing, sanitizing and rinsing enough bottles to hold 5gal of beer. then sanitize all other equipment.
2. soak your bottle caps in sanitizing solution.
3. take a final hydrometer reading of sample from carboy.
4. boil 3/4 cup corn sugar in one cup of water and pour into priming bucket. using your racking tube and tubing siphon the beer out of your carboy into your priming bucket leaving all sediment behind. you will leave between 1/2in - 3in behind. it is WORTH leaving this mess behind, if you do not it can make the flavor of the beer a bit fuzzy and gritty.
5. rinse your racking tube and hose and attach it to the spigot at the bottom of your priming bucket. place bucket on your counter top. attach bottle filler to other end of the tubing and open the spigot. the bottle filler is a spring loaded tube that is as deep as the average 12oz long neck bottle. makes for more uniform filling.
6. place filler all the way down into each bottle until it touches the bottom of the bottle. press the filler down against the bottom of the bottle. the bottle will start to fill. fill the bottle to the VERY top, when you remove the filler the liquid will drop to the proper level. you need at least 1in left in the top of the bottle or you run the risk of blowing off the cap.
7. place a cap on each bottle and secure with your bottle capper.
8. put the bottles away in a COOL DARK place and WAIT. they should be ready to test in about 10 days.
that is the long of it. it is much simpler then this with some of those kits i linked above. this is my first time from "scratch" so to speak. should be an interesting challenge and fun. ill have to dig out the recipe for the imperial stout i am making as to when, what, how much to add.
also you can BUY the priming sugar to make things even easier.