How to make beer at home

It's a life skill that every student would love to have in their armoury, but despite our fervent love for beer, very few of us have ever tried to brew beer at home.

Credit: (background) Love the wind, (left) vengerof, (centre) DenisMArt, (right) Nuchala Baba – Shutterstock

Brewing your own beer can save you a sizeable fortune, working out at around 90p a pint*.

You can opt for a home brewing kit (which we would advise), that will set you back between £20 to £50. But if you're planning on making your own beer regularly, you'll definitely see a return on your investment.

To start you off, here's our step-by-step guide to making a 24-pint batch of homemade beer in your very own kitchen. Enjoy!

Trivia: How many people in the world are drunk at any given time? Scroll down to find out.

Beer ingredients

You can buy almost all of the ingredients online from sites like Amazon or even your local supermarket:

• Water (free)
• One Campden tablet (£0.09)
• 50g dried hops (flowers from the hop plant, beer's main component) (£4.39)
• 750g of sugar (£0.82)
• 1kg of malt extract (£12.95)
• Ale yeast (see instructions on the packet for quantity needed for 24 pints) (£2.99).

And now for the heavy lifting!

Equipment to make beer at home

Credit: Syda Productions – Shutterstock

Now that you've got the ingredients, here's a list of household items you'll need to make your own beer. Most of these should be included in homebrewing beer kits (and many already come with ingredients, so beware not to double up!).

• Steriliser
• Large pan (big enough for 12 pints)
• Kitchen scales
• Cooking spoon
• Thermometer
• Muslin cloth
• Large bucket (big enough for 25 pints)
• Siphoning tube
• 30 to 40 glass bottles and caps (with a crown capper) or plastic bottles.

If you're looking to save even more money, then you can always reuse old beer bottles – just make sure to sterilise them first.

The beer brewing process

Brewing your own beer can be done in just a few stages. Bear with us here – you'll need to be on hand for around four weeks, but it is totally going to be worth it, we promise.

Here are the five stages of brewing your own beer:

1. Sterilise your equipment

   Before you start brewing your beer, make sure you sterilise all of your equipment to avoid any contamination.

   If your homebrew gets contaminated, all your hard work could be wasted. Rather than enjoying a few pints at the end of a long-awaited four weeks, you may find yourself pouring your homebrew down the sink.

   You can get a no-rinse steriliser specifically for home brewing on Amazon. Make sure everything is cleaned thoroughly before you get started.

2. Boil water, hops and malt extract

   Next, you'll need to fill up a big pan with 12 pints of water and bring it to a boil. If you're using tap water, consider adding a Campden tablet. This helps to remove chloramines, which could make your beer taste funny. You could use bottled mineral water instead, but this will cost more money.

   Once the water is boiling, add your 50g of dried hops and leave it for another 30 minutes.

   When this is done, slowly add the kilo of malt extract along with 750g of sugar and boil for another five minutes. Stir the contents of the pan with your cooking spoon until the extract has fully dissolved. Keep an eye on the pot in case it starts to boil over.

3. Do an ice bath

   Step three is to make an ice bath (with ice and cold water) in your sink. Leave the pot in there for around an hour or until it's fully cooled down. Remember to stir occasionally and add more ice if needed.

   By cooling your beer down before adding the yeast, you'll avoid excessive heat, which could potentially kill the yeast and affect the end result. You can check the temperature of the beer with a sanitised thermometer.

4. Add ale yeast and leave to ferment

   Cover a sterilised bucket (or very large pan) with a clean muslin cloth, then carefully strain the contents of the pan into it.

   Add a further 12 pints of cold water and a packet of ale yeast. Fully cover your bucket and leave it to stand in a cool, dry place for around two weeks. It may be tempting, but avoid the urge to have a peek.

   We know it's a bit of a wait, but just think how happy you'll be when you remember you've got 30+ bottles of your own beer waiting for you patiently!

5. Siphon the beer into clean bottles

   A crusty layer should have formed on the top of the mixture by now – make sure it has started to degrade. Then just pop half a tablespoon of sugar into each bottle.

   Siphon the beer (this will get rid of any bits) into separate bottles and cap them off.

   Then, wait another 14 days before the party can begin. We know, we know, it's a bit of a stretch, but afterwards, you can enjoy your very own beer.

Once you've got the hang of it, a case of home-brewed beer can also make for a really cheap and thoughtful gift for that special someone. The sooner you become a pro, the sooner you can start attempting to brew ciders, mead and other types of beer. Result!

Not up for making your own beer? Don't worry, there are other ways to save money on a night out.

* Prices were correct at the time of writing (using Tesco and Amazon prices as guidelines).