BLUE DOG LAGER

We bought a home brewing kit recently hoping to save some booze money. The result is quite astonishing, considering we have been paying money for beer in the past decades!!! We are so excited and proud of our home brew, we have even designed a label for it. Everyone should try home brew, not only is it cheap to produce, it is also great fun. It only takes 3 weeks to make about 23 litres of beer. Professional can opener: Jefferson Ho. Professional brewers: Hans, Sheila. Professional beer tasters: Aj and Suze. Professional pill popper (sounds so bad... carbonation pills actually): Janice.

You can choose from lager, draught, real ale, bitter, dark ale, stout and many more. Our home brew kit came with lager.

Requirements: Wort concentrate (as shown above), yeast sachet and 1kg white sugar.

To sanitise:
• Place 1/2 cap of unscented household bleach in fermenter.
• Fill with cool water.
• Place all equipment in fermenter and let soak for at least 1/2 hour.
• Rinse with hot water to remove all traces of clorine small.
• The fermenter lid need only be cleaned and then rinsed with hot water.

Mix: Dissolve contents of can and other fermentable sugars with 2 litres of boiling water (4 litres of hot tap water may be used).

Top up fermenter with cold water to the 20 litre mark, mix thoroughly with plastic spoon and check temperature for ideally 21-27 degress celsius. Top up to 23 litres with hot/cold water (even ice) in order to achieve approx 21-27 degrees celsius.

The 2 types of fermentation are open (brewed in an open vessel covered with a clean cloth) and a closed (a fitted lid plus airlock or cling wrap with a pin hole). Both methods will ferment effectively providing the wort remains within the temperature range of 18-27 degrees celsius. you can make quality beer with open fermentation . However, preference is given to the closed fermentation method because the brew is protected in a sealed vessel and the timing for bottling off is not as critical.

After about a week, check with a hydrometer that the brew has reached its FG by ensuring the S.G readings over 2 days are steady. Ensure bottles are clean and sanitised. Followed by keeping the bottles in room temperature for a week and then into the fridge for another. Beer is ready after 3 weeks. However, storing or conditioning your beer beyond 2 weeks and up to at least 3 months should see the flavour improve, the bubbles reduce in size and the yeast deposit becomes more compact.

If we can do it, you can too!