Kiltie Hamebrew Redux

[Andrew Breecher]

The first step to brewing: Relax, don't worry, and have a homebrew. Here I am pouring a barleywine I bottled in April.



Then prepare the specialty malts:

Put them in grain bags for steeping:


Steeping the grains:

[Andrew Breecher]

After steeping at 154°F for 45 minutes it's time to remove the grain bags, saving as much wort as possible.


If this is stressing you out at all, relax, don't worry, have a homebrew!


Add dry malt extract (DME). This is the bulk of the sugar in the recipe. The specialty grains add some sugar, but they're mostly for flavor and color.


Bring the wort to a boil and add the first hops for bittering.

[Andrew Breecher]

Boil for an hour, and then add some Irish moss to help coagulate the proteins in the beer and keep it looking clear.


Boil that for ten minutes, and add some more hops.


Pour another homebrew (this one is a dark braggot aged on brandy-impregnated oak), relax, and don't worry!

[Andrew Breecher]

After a final 20 minutes of boiling, remove from heat and prepare to chill to room temperature. First, add the last batch of hops, this for aroma.


A wort chiller is a copper coil through which you run cold water. It draws the heat out of the wort and transfers it to the water, which runs out into the sink. In ten minutes the wort drops from 212°F to 70°F.


A siphon starter makes it easy to rack the wort to the carboy for fermentation.

[Andrew Breecher]

Add yeast.


The carboy sits in an undisturbed corner (near cases of homebrew and empty bottles - potential homebrew).


A hydrometer tells me the specific gravity, which is the potential alcohol content.

[MacTavishOfJapan]

One day I will try making my own beer!! Well done! I hope it tastes great!