30-Minute No-Boil Extract Beers

When you’re making a batch of no-boil beer, your brew “day” will be done in 30 minutes. Fermentation takes 10 to 14 days, and you can bottle the batch in just 90 minutes. At room temperature, your beer will carbonate in another 7 days. Then it’s ready to drink!

Each of these recipes makes five gallons of beer and includes the following ingredients: one “beer kit” can of liquid malt extract (the kits are pre-hopped, which is why my recipes don’t call for hops); some additional malt extract, rice syrup solids or corn sugar (to boost the flavor and alcohol); one vial or “smack pack” of liquid yeast; and Primetabs to carbonate the beer in bottles.

How to make a no-boil beer

Sanitation is the most important process in brewing great beer. Everything that comes in contact with your beer must be clean and sanitary. A liquid iodophor sanitizer called BTF works well to sanitize your equipment and does not require rinsing. Simply make a solution of 1 tablespoon iodophor mixed in 5 gallons of water. Make your sanitizing solution before you start, and use it during the entire process. Hoses, carboys, funnels, spoons and airlocks all need to be sanitized; a five-minute soak in BTF will do.

Remember: Clean and sanitary are two different things. Clean means that there is no visible residue on your equipment. Sanitary means that all bacteria, mold and wild yeast are killed or neutralized. Clean your equipment after every use. Sanitize your equipment right before you use it. If you sanitize properly, you will make great beer.

1. Remove the yeast from the refrigerator and set it out at room temperature. The yeast should warm up for at least 2 hours before you add it to your beer.
2. Rinse the inside of your plastic fermenter, then sanitize the fermenter by filling it with 1.5 tablespoons liquid BTF and cold water. Fill it to the very top; the bucket should hold about seven gallons. Let it soak for 5 minutes, then dump the sanitizing solution into a sink to soak the rest of your equipment (including bucket lid).
3. While the fermenter is soaking, place the unopened can of malt extract syrup in hot water for about 5 minutes. This will soften the malt syrup and make it much easier to pour.
4. Bring about 1/2 gallon of water to a boil in a 1-gallon (or larger) pot. Pour the hot water into the sanitized fermenter. Now add the contents of the malt syrup kit and the dry sugar (or unhopped syrup) to the hot water. Stir until all of the sugar is dissolved, then top off with cold water to about 5-1/2 gallons total volume. Mix well with a sterilized spoon.
5. Check the temperature strip on the fermenter to determine the beer temperature. When the beer is 78° F or cooler, it’s time to add the yeast. Shake the vial to suspend the yeast sediment in the liquid. Then add the yeast to the beer, securely place the lid on the bucket, and put the airlock in the lid. Fill the airlock with some of the sanitizing solution. Fermentation should start in about 10 to 20 hours. Ferment your beer at room temperature, about 68° F. Avoid temperatures above 72° and below 64° F. To check for fermentation activity, look for air bubbles that push through the water in the airlock. You also can peek inside by removing the airlock and rubber cork. There should be a small layer of foam after 24 to 36 hours.
6. Sit back and relax. Fermentation should last about 10 to 14 days. But it is possible — even quite likely — for the fermentation to be shorter or longer. (Warmer temperatures cause a faster fermentation, and cooler temperatures cause a slower fermentation.) The easiest way to tell if fermentation is done is to time how fast the bubbles come out of the airlock. When at least 60 seconds elapse between each bubble (assuming the temperature of the beer has not dropped below 64°), it is time to bottle. You may wait up to 3 more weeks. This gives the beer time to mature.
7. Clean and sanitize your bottles, bottle caps, Auto-Siphon, hose and bottle filler with the iodophor and about 5 gallons of water. A 5-minute soak is adequate. Let them drip dry. (I use an Auto-Siphon from Fermtech to bottle my beer. If you don’t have one of these gizmos, you can use a racking cane and hose.)
8. Gently put the full fermenter of beer on a table. Insert the Auto-Siphon assembly into the beer. Slip the bottle filler on the end of the siphon hose.You want to separate the beer from the sediment on the bottom of the fermenter, so try not to mix up the beer when you siphon. The “sediment tip” on the siphon allows you to set the gadget gently on the sediment, yet suck only a small amount of sediment into your beer.  Be careful when you siphon; you want to avoid splashing the beer, which could oxidize the batch.Start the siphon by pressing the bottle filler against the bottom of the first bottle. This will open the plastic valve. Lift up on the rigid racking cane on the inside of the Auto-Siphon about 8 inches and then pump it back down. The beer should begin flowing into the bottle.Fill the bottles to the top with the bottle filler. When you remove the filler from the bottle, the flow of beer stops and the beer level drops to about 1-1/2 inches below the top. This is the proper level. Place the bottle filler in the bottom of the next bottle and fill them all up!
9. Clean your hands and rinse them in the iodophor solution. Then place 4 Primetabs in each 12-ounce beer bottle (or 7 in a 22-ounce bottle). Place the caps on the bottles and crimp them with the capper. Primetabs are sugar tablets; they cause fermentation to re-start in the bottle and carbonate your beer. (If you don’t want to use Primetabs, you can add 3/4 cup corn sugar to the entire five-gallon batch, then bottle as described above.)
10. Let the bottles age at room temperature (65° to 80° F) for 1 week to carbonate. Then chill and drink! There will be yeast sediment in the bottle, so pour the beer into a glass in one fluid motion so you don’t mix the sediment into the beer.

Light American Lager
4% alcohol (Bud, Miller, Coors)

• 1 4-lb. can Muntons American Style Light
• 1 lb. rice syrup solids
• 1 lb. corn sugar
• Yeast: White Labs WLP029 (Kölsch) or Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch)
• Primetabs

Dutch Pilsner
4.5% alcohol (Heineken, Grolsch)

• 1 3.75-lb. can Ironmaster European Premium Pilsner
• 1 lb. rice syrup solids
• 1 lb. light dry malt extract
• Yeast: White Labs WLP029 (Kölsch) or Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch)
• Primetabs

Pale Ale
4.5% alcohol (Bass Pale Ale)

• 1 4-lb. can Coopers Real Ale
• 1 3.3-lb. can Coopers Light liquid malt extract
• Yeast: White Labs WLP005 (British) or Wyeast 1098 (British)
• Primetabs

India Pale Ale
5.5% alcohol (Bridgeport IPA)

• 1 3.75-lb. can Coopers India Pale Ale or Muntons India Pale Ale
• 3 lbs. light dry malt extract
• Yeast: White Labs WLP001 (California) or Wyeast 1056 (American)
• Primetabs

Australian Draught Lager
5.5% alcohol (Fosters)

• 1 4-lb. can Coopers Draught
• 1 lb. rice syrup solids
• 2 lbs. corn sugar
• Yeast: White Labs WLP029 (Kölsch) or Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch)
• Primetabs

European Pilsner
4% alcohol (Becks, Saint Pauli Girl)

• 1 3.75-lb. can Coopers Pilsner or Muntons Premium Pilsner
• 1 3.3-lb. can Coopers Light
• Yeast: White Labs WLP029 (Kölsch)  or Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch)
• Primetabs

Extra Special Bitter (ESB)
4.5% alcohol (Redhook, Fullers)

• 1 4-lb. can Coopers Bitter or Muntons Old English Ale
• 1 3.3-lb. can Coopers Light
• Yeast: White Labs WLP002 (English) or Wyeast 1968 (Special London)
• Primetabs (use 3 per 12-ounce bottle for “cask-conditioned” beer)

British Bitter (Ordinary)
3.5% alcohol (Adnams Bitter, Boddingtons Bitter)

• 1 4-lb. can Coopers Bitter or Muntons Premium Bitter
• 1 lb. light dry malt extract
• Yeast: White Labs WLP002 (English) or Wyeast 1968 (Special London)
• Primetabs (use 3 per 12-ounce bottle for “cask-conditioned” beer)

Amber Ale
4.5% alcohol (Fat Tire Amber Ale, Alaskan Amber)

• 1 4-lb. can Coopers Real Ale
• 1 3.3-lb. can Coopers Amber
• Yeast: White Labs WLP005 (British) or Wyeast 1098 (British)
• Primetabs

Kölsch
4.0% alcohol (Kuppers, Paffgen)

• 1 4-lb. can Coopers Real Ale
• 2 lbs. light dry malt extract
• Yeast: White Labs WLP029 (Kölsch) or Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch)
• Primetabs

Porter
4.5% alcohol (Deschutes Black Butte Porter) 

• 1 4-lb. can Coopers Classic Dark Ale or Telford Porter
• 1 3.3-lb. can Coopers Amber
• Yeast: White Labs WLP005 (British) or Wyeast 1098 (British)
• Primetabs

Winter Warmer
6.0% alcohol (Portland Brewing Bobby Dazzler, RedHook WinterHook)

• 1 4-lb. can Coopers Classic Dark
• 4 lbs. light dry malt extract
• Yeast: White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale)
• Primetabs

American Style Hefeweizen
4.0% alcohol (Widmer, Pyramid)

Robust Stout
4.5% alcohol (McMenamin’s Hammerhead, Beamish Stout)

• 1 4-lb. can Coopers Stout
• 1 3.3-lb. can Coopers Dark (unhopped liquid malt extract)
• Yeast: White Labs WLP004 (Irish) or Wyeast 1084 (Irish)
• Primetabs

Nut Brown Ale
4.5% alcohol (Samuel Smith)

• 1 3.75-lb. can Coopers Nut Brown Ale or Muntons Nut Brown Ale
• 2 lbs. light dry malt extract
• Yeast: White Labs WLP023 (Burton) or Wyeast 1028 (London Ale)
• Primetabs

Written by Steve Bader