For Christmas, Katy gave me an awesome set of home brewing equipment. I don’t think I’m overstating it when I say that this could be the best thing ever in the history of the world.

It only took a couple of days before I absolutely had to give it a go. Fortunately, Eric was in town for the holidays, and he’s done this brewing thing before. Always looking for ways to exploit my friends, I quickly invited him over to help me get the first batch going.

I had a pretty well-stocked set of equipment, but I still needed to get a couple things before we could start. Namely, some ingredients and a big ol’ pot to cook ‘em in. So, off to Northern Brewer I went. (Side note: I can’t believe how incredibly lucky I am to live only a mile or so away from one of the best home brew supply stores in the country. Why haven’t I done this sooner?)

I decided a good first brew would be a simple Extra Pale Ale since it didn’t seem particularly tricky, and was bound to be a crowd pleaser. I’ll save the syrupy thick porters for later. I scooped up an ingredient kit, and inquired about a kettle. Little did I know that “official” brew kettles (complete with temperature gages and fancy ball valves) started at around $100, and quickly ramped up from there. Fortunately the friendly staff suggested I head over to Target and score a basic stainless steel stock pot, since they’ll do the same job for about $60 less. Fine with me.

I also snagged a 6 gallon glass carboy as a primary fermentation vessel, since it seemed easier to use, and definitely more fun than a plastic bucket, since it allows you to watch the goings-on as the yeast goes to town on the brew.

Fully stocked, we began the process.

Here, Katy keeps an eye on things as we begin to heat the water. Once it warmed up, we poured a pound of Dingemans Caramel Pils inside of a muslin mesh bag and steeped it much like you would a tea bag. After being fully steeped, the grain was removed, and the malty water was brought up to a boil.

Once boiling, we added 6 lbs. of NB’s pre-made Gold Malt Syrup as a fermentable. This stuff is a lot like molasses, and provides most of the sugars that will be converted into alcohol during fermentation. It also has the nice side effect of being a lot easier to use than making an all-grain wort on my very first brew.

It was now time to start the “real” boil. The wort needs to be boiled hard for about an hour in order to release the various sugars from the malt, and to kill off any undesired bacteria which would turn the beer into a foul tasting swill.

As the boil started, we added an ounce of Chinook hops, which provide the bitterness needed to balance out the malt flavors. After a solid hour of boiling, we added an ounce of Cascade hops (to impart the classic hoppy aromas and flavors you expect to find in an extra pale ale) and continued the boil for an additional minute before taking the wort off the heat and cooling the whole thing with a water bath in the sink.

It’s important to cool down the wort, since yeast can’t tolerate extremely hot environments. Additionally, it must be cooled quickly, because the longer it stays in the “hot, but not boiling” range, the more likely it is to pick up some some gross flavors.

As the wort cooled down, we thoroughly cleaned and sanitized every piece of equipment that would come into contact with the beer. Once again, this is to prevent any nasty bacteria from ruining the batch.

After everything had been sanitized, we poured the now cool wort into the carboy, where it will remain for the next several days. After adding a batch of yeast, we sealed everything up, and called it a night.

That’s the final product (for now), sitting peacefully in my basement. I’ll be keeping it wrapped in a garbage bag, so that any stray sunlight from the windows doesn’t skunkify the brew.

Rest assured, I’ll be checking on it several times a day over the next week, watching the yeast do its thing. I haven’t decided if I should do a secondary fermentation yet, or just go directly to bottling, but I’ll be sure to give an update as things progress.

So far, this has been an extremely fun experience, and, assuming it turns out, extremely satisfying as well. As a bonus, the whole process is much easier than I expected! So what are you waiting for? Go brew a batch of your own!