Beer Making Kits for Stouts

You love the rich, smooth taste of dark stout beer. So, why not make it at home? Several companies have released stout-making kits. Discover what's included in them, how they work and which are the best on the market. Especially during these tough economic times, DIY beer is finding new fans across the country.

Most of the kits on the market include everything you'll need to make stout except water. You'll also need a wide open space, such as a garage or backyard. Most kits are designed to make 5 gallons of beer. Most kits come with: * Dark liquid malt extract and/or dry malt * Hop pellets * Yeast * Muslin bags * Bottle caps * Priming sugar * Other specialty grains * Additives At home, you'll need a brew pot, a fermenter with an airlock and bottles.

Use a large pot as a brew pot. Fill it with 2 1/2 gallons of water and add one of the muslin bags filled with the specialty grains. Bring the water to a boil, but turn the heat off just before the water bubbles, at about 190 to 200 degrees. Remove the specialty grains and stir in half to two-thirds of the malt extract. Other flavorings can also be added at this point, such as molasses, honey or brown sugar. Continue stirring and bring the mixture up to a boil, but keep watching the temperature so that it doesn't boil over. In other words, don't leave the room! Add the rest of the malt and keep stirring as the first bubbles appear.

Turn the heat down or off as you place the bittering hop pellets in a muslin bag, and make sure it is tied tightly. Adding this bag to the pot, bring the mixture back to a boil for about an hour. Continue stirring the mixture intermittently and, again, don't leave the room! A boil-over could ruin your beer and is a pain to clean up. Just before your hour is up, add the finishing hop pellets (also tied tightly in a muslin bag). Once the hour is up--the finishing hops will only have been in about 5 minutes--you can remove both hop bags and turn off the heat. The mixture you have now is called wort. Now it's time to cool your wort-filled brew pot. An ice bath in the kitchen sink combined with continued stirring will bring down the temperature more quickly.

Make sure to boil all the equipment you'll be using to make your beer--including spoons!--to sanitize it. You're working with yeast, which is alive, so additional unwanted bacteria will alter your result. For the next step, fill your sanitized fermenter with 2 1/2 gallons of ice cold water. Pour the wort mixture into the fermenter and stir in the yeast. Seal the fermenter lid and airlock it. Now gently shake the fermenter for about 5 minutes to aerate its contents. The fermenter should now be kept at approximately room temperature. The fermentation process usually takes between 12 and 36 hours to start and can last for up to 3 days, depending on yeast strain, sugar and temperature--the lower the temperature, the longer the process. Many home brewers prefer a longer fermentation. In about a week, the fermentation will be complete. You can let the beer settle for a few days, then either put it through another fermentation process or bottle it directly.

The best stout brewing kits include Beartooth, Brewers Best, Muntons and Coopers. These are available online or at a home brew supply store near you.