I’ve always enjoyed baking bread and I have a good understanding of the process involved in that but to date, baking is the only unicellular food process with which I have had any experience [I do have some experience growing fungi but as it is usually on my feet, I rarely eat it]. I decided to resolve this lamentable situation and for my recent birthday received a microbrewery kit. Today, I began the brewing process and have constructed a photo documentary of the first stages of a 40 pint batch of the popular Woodeford’s Wherry. All the kit I used is included in the Woodeford’s Microbrewery Premium 40 Pint Starter Set and I followed the instructions to the letter. I have been told this kit is “idiot proof” but in my experience that can often be a rash claim.

I hope this post describes the very first and most basic stages of getting a brew going. After completing step 8 of this process, I (and you, should you choose to try it) will have to wait about 6 days before moving on to the next phase of the beer manufacturing process. Here is what I did:

Step 1: I took the supplied bucket

The primary fermentation vessel, straight out of the box

Step 2: I took the supplied sterilising powder

Sterilising powder on my bathroom shelf

Step 3: I put 12 teaspoons of sterilising powder into a bucket and filled it to the top with hot water. After 20 minutes, I emptied the bucket and rinse dit with cold water to remove the sterilising solution.

Yes, this is my shower

Step 4: I sterilised the supplied Primary Fermentation Vessel lid, the supplied o-ring and the supplied air lock:

A lovely view of my sink

Close-up of the airlock

Step 5: I remove the above equipment from the sink, emptied and rinsed it and half-filled it with hot water. I then placed both cans of wort in it the hot water. Wort is a mixture of hops and malt. I had a taste of it at this point and found it to be sweet and flowery with a strong bitter aftertaste. It has the appearance and physical properties of treacle (to be honest, I think that if you weren’t going to turn it into beer, it would be great on porridge or granary toast).

I simultaneously boiled 3.5 litres of water on the stove. When the water had boiled, I turned the stove off and opened both cans of wort with a can opener.

Cans of wort in hot water

Step 6: I then poured both cans of wort into the sterilised Primary Fermentation Vessel, rinsed them into the Primary  Fermentation Vessel with some of the boiling water from the stove, poured on the rest of the boiling water and topped the Primary Fermentation Vessel up to the 27 litre mark with cold water (approx 47 pints or 6 gallons).

Beer slury

Step 7: I gave the mixture a good stir to make sure the wort had dissolved, then I added the contents of the supplied packet of yeast and stirred it in until that had also dissolved.

It is basically like athlete's foot for malt.

Step 8: I inserted the o-ring into the Primary Fermentation Vessel’s pre-drilled hole and then insert the airlock into the hole in the o-ring. Finally, I place the whole lid/airlock assembly on top of the Primary Fermentation Vessel and made sure it had an airtight seal. I tried not to touch any inside surface and made sure I had an airtight seal on the Primary Fermentation Vessel. It is important to have sterilised equipment and air-tight seals so that your beer doesn’t get infected with surface and air-borne fungi.

A controlled reproductive cycle

Step 9: Finally, I applied the supplied strip thermometer to nearby wall in order to monitor the local temperature.

Thermometer on wall

For me, the thermometer read 20 degrees centigrade, which is about perfect for the primary fermentation process. Now, I leave the bucket of budding life on top of my bog for a week before going to measure the density of the mix. And that’s it,for the time being. I hope I have done everything correctly and must now be patient whilst life works its freeze-dried magic. It seems that brewing brings an unexpected feeling of creative power.

As an aside, here is a useful page on the basic concepts of brewing, because it is always important to have background knowledge.

Next update in about a week…