Somehow, someway, a gift from the gods called beer is produced. It doesn't just miraculously show up nicely packaged and ready for your eager taste buds to try at your local liquor store. Beer brewing is grand science experiment that has been practiced ever since our ancestors were walking like an Egyptian. As an avid taster of good beer, I began my leap of faith to producing and bottling a brew that was crafted by my own two hands.

This hobby isn't an easy or cheap one. As a first time brewer, you can take some shortcuts in the equipment you'll need. A great and valuable resource is "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing" (CJHB) by Charlie Papazian. This book gives a great beginners guide about how to brew, tastes of beer and ingredients, and equipment lists of things to buy in order to start brewing. This is the number one reference and first purchase to begin brewing.

As a first time homebrewer, you'll be able to find this equipment at a local homebrew store. I bought my equipment from Arctic Brewing Supply Co. from Anchorage (www.arcticbrewingsupply.com). These guys have everything and ship anywhere in Alaska. Check their website for prices and shipping costs. The gear below is a minimum for brewing beer, but it doesn't stop there. You can get other equipment once you begin to expand on brewing beer.

• 5-6 Gallon Stainless Steel Pot

• 5 Gallon Glass Carboy (Bottle)

• Fermentation Lock

• 5-6 feet of plastic hose

• Hose Clamp

• Large plastic funnel

• Thermometer

• Beer hydrometer

• Bottle capper

• 60 12oz beer bottles (without screw tops)

• Sanitizer

 How do I brew beer? Well, we beer-drinkers surely know how to open and drink them.  But what about the process of making beer?  Being constrained to certain print restrictions, I cannot delve into intricate processes of brewing. As with any new project, DO YOUR RESEARCH.

So let's begin. Brewing involves basically three steps: Boiling, Fermentation, Bottling. These steps contain a few sub steps like sanitation and filtration.

 Beer gets its flavor and color from malted barley, hops, wheat and anything else you decide to put in it. The boiling process removes any fermentable sugars from your grains which gives the yeast something to live off of. Boiling will take the most amount of time. You'll have to bring anywhere up to 3 gallons of water to a boil and leave it be for over an hour.

 After you boil the water, which now is called wort. We are ready for fermentation. To ferment the beer you'll use specially designed beer yeast for the process. Yeast is a single cell living organism which feed on the sugars in wort. They reproduce and turn the sugars in to alcohol. You'll add the yeast once the wort has chilled down. Depending on your set up, you'll use a glass carboy or a plastic bucket to ferment your beer. The process of fermenting your beer is fun to watch. The first few days of fermentation show a lot of activity. The brew will foam and begin to clear. To keep any unwanted bacteria out of the beer, you'll use a fermentation lock, which lets the carbon dioxide out but not let any air in.

 The fermentation process can take one week to a month, depending on the style of beer you are making. After that time, you are ready to bottle your brand new beer. To bottle, around 50 brown or dark bottles are required (with out screw tops). A great place to find bottles is at the ASUAF glass recycling area at the Taku Lot. Another way is to save your bottles after drinking store bought beer.

 Once the beer is ready, you'll add some corn sugar to the wort. This will activate any remaining yeast to give your brew carbonation. Then is simple as an assembly line: Fill the bottles, and cap them. The worst part in the whole process is the last step, letting your beer sit and condition for 2-3 weeks. This allows the yeast to create carbonation.

 Zymurgy, the art of brewing your own beer is not a difficult project. Follow the instructions, take your time and remember to do it on a day when you have no plans. E-mail me at UAFbeer@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like some help brewing.

Go online to find links to brewing websites

 Beer Links:

www.beer-brewing.com

www.beertown.org

www.midwestsupplies.com

www.arcticbrewingsupply.com

www.realbeer.com

Photo by Richard Kozinski/ Special to the Sun Star
A car boy contains fermented wart right before bottling. 

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