How to Make Your First Extract Homebrew Beer

Your first batch of beer is likely going to be made in a kitchen pot or brew kettle on a stove top using malt extract. This is an easier process than all grain, which is why a lot of beginning hombrewers choose to star with this method. This video shows the entire process of making a lightly hopped, rich, malty, and full bodied porter.

A lot of folks (myself included) run out and buy a huge canning pot, or something similar, to make this first batch...only to use it once or twice and then replace it by buying bigger and better all grain brewing equipment. Clawhammer Supply has solved this issue by making a starter system that is compatible with a standalone, semi-automated, digital, electric brew system that includes a pump, hoses, and a chiller. Watch the video to learn more, or click the link below.

[ClawhammerSupply]

Liquid yeast is available in many more nuanced styles than dry yeast, which is why we said it's "better" in this video. Dry yeast does just as good of a job making high quality beer as liquid yeast, and in that respect neither option outperform the other.

[wldtrky]

I started making wine about 5 years ago. I never really liked wine, but my 18-20% fruit drink, on ice, is awesome! Made my 1st beer a cpl years back. Good Stuff!! Then I got a little air still for Father's Day last year, 2019 and Wow ! Here in Missouri it's legal to home distill, so it's all good 👍 I watched this video and have already ordered this starter kit. I've been using a nice stainless steel, 6 gallon cook pot, but the bag is really a PAIN and I have been unable to find a suitable basket. Been surfing the Clawhammer website for awhile looking at stills etc.... But I must have missed this brew system up til tonight. Love it !! I plan to upgrade my still soon, really like a few I have seen on your site. Good things come to those who wait 😉 THANK YOU CLAWHAMMER 👍👍

[hirdeshbajwa]

You do not need that expensive equipment. Buy two big kitchen soup pots, a big nylon bag for BIAB, a digital mass balance, two plastic 6gal buckets (one with a spigot), bottle drying tree, auto siphon with hose, bottling wand, and a bench bottle capper. Thats it. For extract brewing, you don't need that enormous grain basket or a nice brew kettle. A nylon bag is smaller and cheaper. One pot I use for the boil. The other pot is for putting the grain bag over a sieve and washing it.

Another tip i can give you is to not add all the water into the boil. Make a concentrate wort and dump the hot wort into the sanitized fermenter. Fill the fermenter up to the batch volume with ice for super fast cooling. I add half volume of ice for my wort. Wait for it to reach 70C and dump in that yeast starter. Shake and seal it!

[piazzonim]

Proud owner - first brew day with the new system is tomorrow, Blonde Ale

[jeff-martin]

There’s no rule that says liquid yeast is better than dry. You can make great beer with either.

[laj]

The star san is partly sulfonic acid which likely impacts the taste of the beer. Just try drinking some of your star-san solution mixed with water and see how you like it.

[bobbob-zezo]

I have been a extract brewer since 94 and I still can not afford a system like that.
$350.00 + you still need a fermenter and bottling bucket.
I admit it does look nice and shiny.
First time brewer should never start with a system like this for extract. ( Overkill ).
People think about what you are going to do before you purchase equipment.
Extract Brewer for Life !!

[rafer]

Very nice set. How do I inter the give away?

[DarkMoon]

Okay, I’m completely clueless here. I’ve never made mead or any of that before. But is this like the same concept as a sourdough starter for bread…?

[mindlesslemons]

Can y’all do a video on Czech Pilsner? Please and thanks

[richardsanchez]

Ayyyy. Let me just say how much i love your business ethos compared to that of kegland. You show pride in the engineering and safety and that's super important. Kegland just mass produces junk with obvious engineering flaws that were never tested and expects the customer to figure it out. My entire setup is kegland, but that's only because clawhammer doesn't have any presence in Thailand. I really was impressed when you delayed shipping items to build a safer product for the customer. That's pride in design work and 100% respectable in my eyes. Every fermzilla add on has a unique unresolved design flaw that never got fixed before release. All lids, the thermowell, and the placement of chilling coil are laughably bad configuration. I own all the lids, the thermowell, the hop bong, and every supporting product for fermzilla and most of it is utter trash. The spunding valve is a nice product though.

[humanonearth]

Why is it required to boil the extract for 55 minutes? Isn't the LME already essentially mashed and just needs to be diluted to be a wort ready ferment?

[pilatuya]

I noticed you wrote to mix 0.5 oz of Stars San with 2.5 oz of water when it should be 2.5 gallons. Otherwise, great video!

[iyanadull]

Considering the starter system so I can gradually acquire the equipment for full grain. As of now I’m still brewing beer recipe extract kits from my “local” brew supply store. It’s a lot of fun and a lot of work brewing your own beer, even if it’s extract brewing. No gravity reading before the pitch? Quick question, does the valve in the starter kit have the quick connects?

[florvancleynenbreugel]

I was watching an old video about harvesting yeast and I was wondering if you should not be using an isotonic solution instead of distilled water?

[ismacaribe]

Does this kettle is compatible with induction cooktop?

[iyanadull]

It would be neat if you naturally carbonated the batch of beer in a keg to show us newbies how it’s done.

[Trinityforcepodcast]

Please don't tell people liquid is better than dried. They are applicable in different situations. US-05 is a phenomenal dried yeast that requires no starter and works just as well, if not better, than comparable liquid (WLP001, Wyeast 1056).

Additionally, it's best practice to add 10% of your LME or DME @ 60 minutes to aid in hop utilization. With 5-10 minutes left in the boil, add the rest of your extract. Not only does this get to your target OG, your beer will be at the SRM recommended for the style.

[Teh]

Right, I've basically just binge watched all of your videos... so make some more, please... for me.

[JoshSinnott]

"Nice job, I'm proud of you" ahahaha