Inventory - be sure you have all necessary ingredients (grain, hops & yeast).
Clean & Sanitize - be sure to clean and sanitize all your equipment that will come in contact with the ingredients. We recommend using StarSan sanitizing agent.
Brew Pot - add 7 gallons of clean water to a 40 qt stainless steel pot or larger.
Mashing - bring water to 165F and then turn off heat. Put nylon Brew Bag in the pot allowing the bag to hang over the outside of the brew pot. Pour grains into the bag, stir often to avoid clumping. Once all grains have been added, stir and check the temperature to be sure that you are near 155F. Place the lid over the brew. Mash the grains for 60 minutes, stirring and checking the temperature every 20 minutes. If your mash temperature drops more than three degrees you will need to re heat. While your grains are mashing, prepare a clean empty bucket and one gallon of clean warm water. After 60 minutes your mash is complete.
Sparge - leaving the grains in the bag, remove the bag from the brew pot and place into your clean bucket. Thoroughly rinse the grains with the warm water and allow to drain for 10 15 minutes. Discard grains and pour liquid from the pail into the stainless pot. That is the wort.
Boil - bring the wort to a gentle rolling boil. Stirring well. You are going to boil for a total of 60 minutes. Stir well throughout the boil.
Hops - it is now time to add bittering hops. Sprinkle them slowly into the boiling wort. By adding the hops slowly it will prevent the wort from boiling over. Continue to boil and stir occasionally. After 40 minutes into the boil, add the flavoring hops (if your kit did not come with flavoring hops, skip and continue to the aroma hops). After 55 minutes into the boil, add the aroma hops (unless your kit did not include aroma hops). Once you have boiled for a total of 60 minutes, remove pot from heat.
Cool Down - the wort must be cooled as quickly as possible. You can use a wort chiller or simply place your brew pot in a sink filled with ice and water. Once your temperature is below 80 degrees, siphon or pour the wort into clean and sanitized fermenting pail. Stir in clean water (water temp should be approx. 70 degrees) to bring up to the 5-gallon mark on the primary fermenting pail. Take a hydrometer reading and record the OG (original gravity) below.
Yeast - sprinkle the contents of the yeast package over the surface of the wort. Stir yeast into wort with a clean and sanitized spoon. Place lid onto pail. Fill airlock halfway full with clean water. Place airlock into grommet on lid by gently twisting. Store the fermentor in a dark area that maintains a stable temperature approx. 65 70 degrees. The wort will start to ferment within the next 24 hrs. You will see bubbling action in your airlock if this does not occur, be sure to call us or checkout our Troubleshooting section at www.BuffaloBrewShop.com
Secondary - after 5 7 days, transfer your beer (no more wort - it is beer!) into a clean and sanitized carboy or fermenting pail. Allow to sit for an additional 10-4 days. Record the FG (final gravity). Proceed to bottle.
BOTTLING DAY:
In a small saucepan, mix 2 cups of water with the packet of priming sugar. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes and allow to cool.
Prepare bottles and bottling equipment - be sure everything is clean and sanitized. 5 gallons of beer will yield 53 - 12 oz bottles; due to sediment and transferring, it is usually about 48 50.
When all equipment and bottles are ready, pour priming sugar into a clean bottling bucket or fermenting pail (depending what equipment you have). Siphon the beer into the same fermenter leaving behind all sediment. Gently stir.
Using your bottling equipment (see our Bottling Tips section at for more information on bottling) and fill your bottles. If using crown cap bottles, use capper and caps to seal the bottles. Fill each bottle within approximately 1 inch from the top of the bottle.
Store bottles in a dark area between 65-70 degrees. Do not refrigerate at this point.
Your beer will carbonate over the next two weeks. Some beer depending on style and temp will carbonate faster or slower than two weeks. Try to have a little patience at this point!
