Beermaking with a Brew Kit - Part 2

We used the Mr. Beer Premium Kit

Last month we left off after my husband and I began the first part of our beer making process (click here to see part 1). We brewed our wort, added the yeast and we left it alone to ferment. The yeast created a fiesta of foam--I think this was the bacteria feeding. Anyhoo, we placed the brew in a cool, dark place.

We let the yeast do its thing for 7 days. After all the foam subsided the next step is to bottle our beer! Our kit came with eight 20-ounce PET bottles and screw caps. As always, with beer making, we sanitized the bottles and the caps before bottling.

After each bottle was sanitized, I added 2-1/2 teaspoons of white granulated sugar. I made a quick funnel with aluminum foil, or you can use a plastic funnel--just make sure to sanitize the funnel, too! A precaution here is to not add too much sugar as it will over carbonate the beer resulting in gushing or bursts of bottles. So follow the directions.

Next, my husband held a bottle at an angle and he used the tap (attached to keg) to fill each bottle about 2 inches from the top. He then placed the caps and hand tightened them. I shook the bottles gently to help dissolve the sugar.

The instructions say that we must give the beer a MINIMUM of 7 days to carbonate. So, we have to be patient and wait again. We placed the bottles in my mom's garage because it stays cool in there and it's generally dark.

Please check back with us in another week or so to find out how our beer came out. In the meantime, Princess, our old Chihuahua is going to keep an eye on the beer for us!