Making Homebrew
You start with two liters of water. You boil the water, then you add 5 ¼ cups of sugar to 6. The more powdered sugar you add, you get more alcohol. You an use corn sugar, but white powdered sugar works fine.
Sanitize the equipment that you use. There’s an official sanitizer called ‘C-Brite Cleaner’ you could use, but anything which kills bacteria works. Scrub it with dish soap and water, then add the sanitizer so no bacteria forms. This is the most common reason that your beer goes bad. Boiling water works well. So, rinse your CarBoy with boiling water. Make sure you sterilize it well. You have to also make sure that the threads around the screw-in hole are sanitized, if you have such a thing. Dry it with new paper towels, as a new roll of paper towels is quite sterile.
You can make it in a plastic tub or glass. You can get all sorts of different beer ingredient kits, Muntons American Style Light Beer, from England works well. However, Coopers also works well. You remove the label off the can, then put it in a pan of water over the stove for about 5-10 minutes. You don’t even have to puncture the top of the can-opener in the top of the can so the can doesn’t explode. Open the can from the bottom, as it won’t work if you take off the top of the can. If you taste the mixture, you’ll find that it tastes like super-concentrated beer.
Rinse out the can with the hot water. The can get very hot, so make sure you use pot holders to hold it. It will be added to 2.5 liters of hot water. On top of the can will be the yeast packet and instructions, set them aside. Make sure you check the instructions to see the proper amount of water to use for the amount that’s in the can.
The airlock is made of glass. It’s made in three-pieces. You fill the bottom part with water up to the indicated line, then you assemble it by putting the cap on it. It slips into a hole in the lid. If you’re using an authentic CarBoy, you’d slide it through the rubber stopper’s hole. However, you could use a plastic bucket, just as well. Just put a rubber stopper in the top that’s well-sealed that has an internal hole that allows the glass lock to fit through. The amount made from one can make about 60 small bottles of beer.
Open the heated can. It’ll be as thick as honey, adding it to the water. Stir until it’s dissolved, then fill up to the six-gallon mark. Wait until its 70 to 90 degrees before you add the yeast. Anything over 105 will kill the yeast.
Put the yeast in, next. Then make sure the cover is tight on the container.
Watch the specific gravity. As it drops, you have lots of time to use the equation to figure out where the TG specific gravity should be once it’s done. Then you just wait. It’s a process of waiting. Don’t open the container during any of this process. If you don’t, then you’ll be rewarded. The beer will be ready in about six months. When making homebrew, make sure that neither dogs, nor kids, can get into the mixture.