Beer pt. I

Several of my friends got together and bought me a Mr. Beer homebrew kit for my birthday. Today I begun the process of brewing the first batch. Here's what went into it:

• 1 can Golden Lager hopped malt extract
• 1 packet "booster" (guh, corn syrup solids)
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 packet brewer's yeast
• 8 quarts water

The malt extract is barley, malted to convert the starch to sugar, roasted to stop malting, boiled to extract sugar from grain, and reduced to remove water from sugar. Tiny flecks of hops are then added to the malt extract. It comes in a can. This provides all of the flavor and 2/3 of the alcohol for the beer. The "booster" provides the rest of the alcohol and supposedly contributes to the body and texture of the beer. By that I mean it's cheap filler (see also: Budweiser et. al.). The brown sugar is not in the basic recipe, but provides a bit of extra alcohol, color, and character. The yeast does the important job of turning the sugar into alcohol. The water is there to make sure the beer isn't too strong, lest we get ourselves drunk. Also to make sure that the final product doesn't taste like bitter syrup. I'll talk more in detail about the process when it gets closer to completion. In 1-2 weeks I'll decant the beer from the 3 gallon plastic keg into the bottles. You'll get a post then. In 1-2 more weeks the beer will be ready to drink. You'll get another post then. I may also make a new batch once the first batch is bottled. Stay tuned, kids.

Additionally, I can see that there are already bubbles forming within the fermenting tank. These bubbles will not be in the final beer. They are the carbon dioxide that is formed when sugar is converted into alcohol. More nerdery to follow.

It smells like beer! There's a slight layer of foam at the top with a few big bubbles and some tiny bubbles in it.