Homebrew Pale Ale

To make Sam’s simple pale ale, you’ll need some basic brewing equipment and ingredients which you can find easily at your local homebrew shop or online.

Equipment       

• Large pot (minimum 10 litre volume)

• Large mixing spoon

• Fermenter with a lid

• Thermometer

• Hydrometer

• Tube and bottling valve

• 60 empty beer bottles and bottle caps

• Bottle capper

Ingredients

• 4 kilograms pale ale malt extract

• 40 grams galaxy hops

• 1 packet of dried US05 yeast

• Approximately 130 grams table sugar

Method

1. Boil 14 litres of water and leave to cool.

2. To make the wort, in the large pot dissolve the malt extract in about 8 litres of water. Bring to the boil.

3. Once boiling, add 10 grams of galaxy hops. Continue boiling for one hour, covered.

4. Turn off the heat and then stir in the remaining hops. Rest for a few minutes.

5. Carefully tip the wort into the fermenter, leaving the hop sludge at the bottom of the pot.

6. Top up the fermenter with cool water to make about 21 litres. Tighten the lid and place the airlock into position, adding a small amount of water to the airlock as required.

7. Place the fermenter in a laundry trough or other container with iced water until the fermenter thermometer is approximately 19 degrees Celsius.

8. Empty the yeast into the fermenter and re-tighten the lid.

9. Store in a cool place for 2-3 weeks.

10. Measure the beer with the hydrometer. When the hydrometer measurement is consistent two days in a row, the beer is ready to bottle. If the measurement is still decreasing, the beer has not finished fermenting.

11. To bottle, place 1/2 teaspoon of table sugar in every bottle. Take the bottling valve connected to a tube and insert the open end of the tube in the first bottle. Siphon off the beer, following the manufacturer’s instructions, and fill the bottle to the top. Cap the beer using a bottle capper. Repeat. Set bottles aside for 2 weeks.

NOTES:

Keep beer refrigerated and serve cold.