First Batch - West Coast American Pale Ale

First batch with the Mr. Beer kit has been cooked and is now fermenting! The picture above shows what all came with the kit.

The standard refill of West Coast Pale Ale comes with a can of W.C Pale Ale Hopped Malt Extract, packet of Yeast, a pouch of Booster and a packet of their One Step Sanitizer. Done correctly, this Pale Ale will yield two gallons of brew for and alcohol content of 3.7% ABV and lightly hopped for an International Bitterness Unit of 14 IBUs.

I will first remind you that this is my FIRST EXPERIENCE EVER in making my own beer! I was not sure what to expect and how hard it would be, but I had the basic ingredients and was ready to get started.

One of the nice things about Mr. Beer is that it comes with a 4-Step instruction pamphlet that makes everything very simple and near impossible to mess up! So, with my emotions running wild and my mind imagining many things from explosions to a tall cool one with a nice foamy head I gathered what I needed!

Items I needed:
1. 3-quart pot
2. Metal Spoon or Whisk (Do NOT use wood or plastic)
3. Can Opener
4. Measuring cup/spoons
5. Plate (you can use a bowl)

Sanitizing:
After I gathered the needed materials I assembled the tap on the Mr. Beer 2-gallon Keg/fermenter. Then, using the one-step sanitizer included with the kit I filled the keg with lukewarm wather to the 4-quart mark, added sanitizer, screwed on the lid and swirled to make sure the solution made contact with all parts of the keg.

*NOTE* Make sure you do this over the sink or in a safe area as the keg has ventilation notches to release pressure during the fermentation process. Yeah...I made a little bit of a mess.

Per the instructions I opened the tap several times onto the plate. This created a sanitized surface for my utensils. Then, I placed all brewing utensils (can opener included)into the keg to soak for 10 minutes.

I drained the keg, removed all utensils, placed them on the sanitized plate and was ready to brew (there is no rinsing required as this is a one-step sanitizer).

BREWING
It is my understanding that it takes a minimum of seven days at room temperature to ferment the beer. Ideally, 2 weeks is good in the event that you are new and do not have additional tools such as a hydrometer to ensure that the fermentation process has finished.

Again, I filled the keg with water (cold) to the 4-quart mark. I removed the yeast packet from under lid of the HME (hops, malt extract) and placed the unopened can in hot tap water. This is done to make sure the liquid will pour easily.

Next, I placed 4 cups of water (using the sanitized measuring cup)into a clean pot (3-quart or larger is needed) on the stove. I slowly sprinkled in the Booster which came with the kit while continually stirring to avoid clumping as suggested. Booster is essentially dextrose (corn sugar) and maltodextrins. This adds both body and alcohol content to the beer.

Once I had the booster dissolved I stirred the HME into the same pot. Th HME and mixture of water and booster is called WORT and pronounced "WERT". Again, stirring for quite awhile until everything was dissolved I was ready to pour the wort into the keg. After pouring the wort into the keg I added more cold water until I reached the 8.5-quart mark. Again, I stirred vigorously to mix.

Next came the yeast. Sprinkle the yeast into keg and allow to sit for 5 minutes, then stir vigorously and screw on lid.

Finally, I placed the keg out of direct sunlight as suggested (into the pantry closet) as the location seemed to meet the suggested location specifications of a consistent temperature between 68 degrees and 76 degrees F.

So, within the time period of one hour I now have 2-gallons of West Coast Pale Ale in the keg and fermenting where it will stay until at least the 23rd.

I hope this gives you a general idea of how easy it can be to start your first batch of beer.