Myriad, Myriad Pro,
Ben Holmen

First homebrew: American Pale Ale

My buddy Kyle and I brewed a tasty batch of American Pale Ale recently and I really enjoyed both the process and the results. Enjoy these photos from the process!

Kit contents - American Pale Ale from Brewer's Best

Kit contents - American Pale Ale from Brewer's Best


Grains in a cheesecloth bag

Grains in a cheesecloth bag


Steeping the grains to make wort

Steeping the grains to make wort


Adding liquid malt extract

Adding liquid malt extract


Bittering hops

Bittering hops


Lots of boiling and hoppy smells

Lots of boiling and hoppy smells


Finished wort. Delicious.

Finished wort. Delicious.


Transferring the wort to the fermenter via siphon

Transferring the wort to the fermenter via siphon


Pitching the yeast

Pitching the yeast


Installing the airlock

Installing the airlock


Shazam! Fermentation!

Shazam! Fermentation!




Done fermenting - about 1 gallon of trub rests on the bottom of the fermenter.

Done fermenting - about 1 gallon of trub rests on the bottom of the fermenter.


Time to bottle.

Time to bottle.


We used two types of bottles: capped, and flip top.

We used two types of bottles: capped, and flip top.


Filling the bottles one by one. Everything is sanitized before the beer touches it.

Filling the bottles one by one. Everything is sanitized before the beer touches it.


Capping the bottles

Capping the bottles


All capped up

All capped up


The fruit: 4.5 gallons or 2.25 gallons each. Time to let it carbonate in the bottle.

The fruit: 4.5 gallons or 2.25 gallons each. Time to let it carbonate in the bottle.


Two weeks later & time to enjoy my American Pale Ale.

Two weeks later & time to enjoy my American Pale Ale.

Timeline of the process:

November 22: brewing
November 23: fermentation is rocking
November 29: transferred beer to secondary container to avoid some sediment (trub)
December 2: bottling
December 9: Mr. Eager opens a bottle, and it’s definitely not ready yet.
December 17: respectably carbonated and tasty
January 4: only one pint left, time for a new batch of homebrew!

Filed under: Homebrew — Ben @ 12:54 pm January 5, 2010

3 Comments »

  1. Well documented! I like the pictures! Hopefully the first of many…

    Comment by Kyle — January 5, 2010 @ 3:23 pm

  2. Looks like a lot of fun Ben. I will have to try it sometime. I think I would try wine first though.

    Comment by Auntie Shera — February 9, 2010 @ 11:28 am

  3. Thanks so much for the blog.Really thank you! Fantastic.

    Comment by Keaton Chiu — January 15, 2012 @ 10:23 am

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