If you're a fan of handcrafted beers, making your own fine microbrew is a logical step for many. If you've never brewed your own, go for it! If you have basic cooking skills, the ability to follow a recipe, and a fair amount of patience, you can produce high quality beer in your own home. Everything you need to get started is readily available from your local home brew store, and relatively inexpensive. If you don't have a home brew store convenient to your home, we have a home brew store for all the beer brewing supplies you'll need.

If you want to learn how to brew in a quick and easy way, rather than reading a 400 page how-to book, there is a step-by-step video training series available. The videos were created by an experienced home brewer and will provide you a quick and easy way to start brewing. To learn more about the video series, or to buy a copy for yourself, click here.

American Pale Ale Recipe

This is a good recipe for brewing an American Pale Ale style of beer. The beer should finish a nice copper color with a medium body and decent hop aromas. This beer is both easy to brew, and easy to drink. Give it a try. We think you'll enjoy it.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb Carapils Malt
• 3/4 lb Crystal Malt 40-L
• 3/4 lb Crystal Malt 60-L
• 1 tsp Brew Salts
• 1 tsp Irish Moss

• 8.5 lb Pale Malt Extract Syrup

• 1.5 oz Chinook Hops
• 1.5 oz Cascade Hops

(*Note: Feel free to substitute a different type of hops that you prefer, or may be more readily available to you.)

• American Ale

Brewing Instructions:

The first thing you need to do is activate the yeast pack according to the directions on the package, and then put your grains into a grain bag. Heat 2 gallons of filtered (or bottled) water along with brew salt to 160° F. Turn off the heat and add the grain bag to the water. Steep the grains for 20 minutes, gently stirring the grain bag from time to time. After the 20 minutes, remove the grain bag and it let drain into a brew pot.

With the heat off, add the malt extract and stir. Next, turn the heat back on, and bring the mixture to a boil, while stirring. Boil for 15 minutes and then add the Chinook hops. Boil gently for another 45 minutes, and then add 1/2 of the Cascade hops (.75oz) along with the Irish moss. Boil another 10 minutes, and then add the remaining Cascade hops. Turn off heat and gently stir for five minutes.

Cool the wort and add it to the fermenter on top of 2 gallons of very cold water. (Note: You can substitute 8 Lbs of ice made from filtered or bottled water for 1 gallon of water.) Top off with more water as necessary to make 5 gallons. After the temperature cools to 80° or cooler, pour the yeast contents on top of the wort.

Ferment for 7 to 10 days at 68° to 72° F. (You can also move it from your primary to a secondary after 4 to 5 days and then leave in the secondary for 7 days.) The final specific gravity should be 1.010 - 1.012. Store your beer at room temperature for 7 to 10 more days, and then enjoy your home brew.

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