Sanitize your equipment first. Bottles can be left in a bathtub filled with bleach solution to soak overnight; once they've done so, remove them from the solution, empty them, and cover the tops with aluminum foil until you plan to use them.

Next, prepare your wort. Bring 1-1.5 gallons of water to boil in your brew pot, and then add the malt extract and four pounds of sugar. Allow the wort to boil for at least an hour, so that the chemicals in the malt and hops can react properly with one another. Stir the wort regularly and, during the last 10 minutes of the boil, add 1-1.5 ounces of hops pellets for aroma.

While the wort is boiling, stir the yeast powder into a cup of warm tap water and cover it with a piece of foil. The yeast will immediately begin to propagate. Then place your fermenter on a counter, table, or floor and fill it about half full of water. When the wort is boiled to your satisfaction, put the funnel in the top of the fermenter and carefully pour in the wort. If necessary, fill the fermenter to within about 8 inches from the top with cold water.

Cap the fermenter and wait until the wort has cooled to just over room temperature, then open it and use the funnel to add the yeast solution. This is called "pitching" the yeast. (Don't pitch the yeast while the wort is too hot, or it'll die.) Stir the wort with your racking cane, then immediately attach the blow-off tube to the top of the fermenter and place the fermenter in a cool, dark place (a closet works great). For more details visit to www.greateducationonline.com .You should fill a pot or large bowl with water, and place the free end of the blow-off tube below the surface of the water. Once fermenting begins, which should be within 24 hours, the yeast will begin to reproduce so exuberantly that yeasty foam called "blow-off" will flow out of the fermenter, down the tube, and into the water container. This is normal, so don't worry.

After fermentation slows a bit, remove the tube, add the fermentation lock assembly, and let the mixture sit in the dark for 6-14 days. When it stops bubbling, it's ready to bottle.

How Do I Bottle My First Batch?

Have these items sanitized and waiting: racking cane, siphon hose, bottle filler, bottle capper, bottle caps, and bottles. Then boil three cups of water in a saucepan, and add one cup of corn sugar. Why? Because the yeast in the wort is now dormant, and you need to reactivate it so it can make more CO2. In a closed bottle, the CO2 will remain in solution and, voila! your beer will be naturally carbonated. This is called bottle conditioning.

Place the fermenter on a cabinet or table, and prepare a bottling spot, complete with towels or newspapers to catch spills, on the floor nearby. Once the sugar has melted completely, remove the fermentation lock assembly from the fermenter and use the funnel to pour the sugar solution into the wort. Mix it with your racking cane. Then rinse off the cane and attach it to one end of the siphoning hose; the bottle filler should be on the other end. Remove the fermentation lock from the lid, insert the cane into the hole the fermentation lock has just vacated, and attach the whole assembly to the top of the fermenter. Slide the cane down until it's within two inches of the base of the fermenter.

The fermentation lid will have a stem into which you can blow to increase the air pressure inside the fermenter. Gravity should take care of the rest. Get a bottle, remove the lid, and rinse it out. Then kneel, place the bottle on the floor, and insert the bottle filler. This device will be long enough to reach to the base of the bottle; press down, and the beer should start to flow .When the bottle is filled to within one inch of the top, release the pressure, cutting off the flow of beer. To know more logon to www.ebook-secrets-revealed.com .Then cap the bottle, put it aside, and then proceed to fill your bottles until the wort level is within 3-4 inches of the bottom of the fermenter. Your five gallons of wort should make 48-60 bottles of beer. You'll want to avoid the dregs, which are thick with yeast and, though palatable, can cause digestive problems. Toss the dregs and clean up after yourself. Then put the beer away in a dark place for at least a week so that it can age and carbonate properly. When it's ready, pop it in the fridge for an hour before enjoying it.

You'll notice that your beer will appear cloudy at first, due to the presence of hops, yeast, and a few other minor impurities, but in nearly all cases these particles will settle out of the beer after a few days. As long as you use a glass and are careful when you pour, your beer should retain its clarity. If it doesn't, no matter: the haze won't affect the taste.

What Next?

Once you're done with your first batch, you can start another. The ingredients should cost less than $20, which is way cheap for two cases of good beer. You've got a lot to learn -- there's a whole universe of brewing out there, and kit beers, while a good starting point, merely scratch the surface. So grab a homebrew, and get to it!