MT Home Brewing Helpful home brewing tips and stories from Michael Tangen

How to brew your own beer: the general process

I remember the very first time I set out to make the switch from extract kits to all-grain brewing; it was overwhelming and with so many sources saying different things, sometimes using different terminology, and sometimes using different gear. And with trial and error, I eventually came to learn the process for myself, understanding the basics about each step and what to expect.

After taking a brief break from brewing beer (mostly from bottle washing fatigue), I've developed a renewed desire to brew again, partially inspired by my brother's desire to go into the brewing business together. So as an exercise to refresh my memory of the brewing process and to orientate my brother as to what to expect, I put together a document that outlines the general process and covers some of the terminology as well.

You can download the pdf here:

First, as a disclaimer, you really don't need 5 different vessels as the diagram might imply --- it just means that there are five basic steps to consider. In theory, you could probably even brew beer with basically two vessels --- one to handle the mashing (steeping) of grains, and the other to handle adding water and then the boil after grain mashing.

But for the sake of reading online, here's basically the process for brewing all-grain batches of beer:

1. Heat up some strike water to around 165° to be added to the mash tun. The amount of water will vary from recipe to recipe (based on the weight/amount of grains used), so a strike/sparge calculator will be necessary to figure out how much you'll need. When in doubt, ask the folks at your beer supply store.
2. The next step is called mashing, and has a number of different schools of thought and possibilities. But essentially you're just "doughing" in the strike water with the cracked grains, being careful to evenly mix the grains and break up any "dough balls." You want your target mash temperature to be between 154–162°F. That temperature instantiates the production of enzymes and fermentable sugars. Maintain that temperature for 60 minutes and you will have successfully mashed your grains into "wort."
3. After mashing your grains into wort, it's time to sparge them out --- gently showering your grain bed with hotter water (between 170 and 180°F but no more) to stop the mashing process. By raising your grain/wort temperature to about 170°, you are essentially stopping the production of enzymes. At the same time, a temperature beyond 180° encourages the production of crap you don't want in your beer and will produce an off taste. So temperature does matter.
4. After you've started the sparging process, it's time to drain your wort into a boiling pot to prepare for the 60-minute boil. Because liquid expands when you boil, you will want to make sure you're using a pot that is roughly double the size of your starting boil volume. Safety counts, kids. Give that wort plenty of room to boil. Boiling wort is pretty much the same as extract brewing, so I don't need to talk much about that.
5. After the boil, it's time to chill the wort and get it into the fermenter within 20 minutes. Why 20 minutes? It reduces the likelihood of encouraging foreign yeast and bacteria from starting their own version of "home brew." I suggest using a wort chiller to help the process along --- there are even some that can chill ten-gallon batches in five minutes! Well worth the investment.

   When chilled, pitch the yeast in your fermenter, mix/aerate, seal it up with a blow-off tube in a container of water, and you're good to go.

6. Let your beer ferment for about four weeks (or longer depending upon the recipe and beer style), and then bottle/keg it up accordingly.

That's really all there is to it. There will be avid brewers on all ends of the spectrum, advocating this or that --- but the conclusion is that brewing beer is both as complicated and expensive as you want to make it. You can brew beer with two buckets or a complex, single-tier system using pumps and switch valves directing the flow of water and wort. The bottom line, do what matches your desired budget, level of adventure, and comfort levels.

That said, there are distinct advantages to having certain gear versus more simplistic approaches --- control, predictability, etc. And those are things that you can discover and decide for yourself by reading the testimonials from others and hearing their experiences.

Anyway, I hope the information here is helpful to you. If you have questions or comments, drop me a line.