Follow these step-by-step instructions to brew your Tom Caxton beer kit. Standard recipe brews 40 UK pints (23 litres). A 36 pint variant is also covered below.
Tom Caxton Beer Kits
These instructions apply to all Tom Caxton beer kits, including:
- Tom Caxton Best Bitter Beer Kit
- Tom Caxton Real Ale Beer Kit
- Tom Caxton Dark Real Ale Beer Kit
- Tom Caxton Export Strong Bitter Beer Kit
- Tom Caxton Pilsner Strong Lager Beer Kit
- Tom Caxton Yorkshire Bitter Beer Kit
- Tom Caxton Lager Beer Kit
Equipment Required
- A cleaned and sterilised fermenter large enough to hold 5 UK gallons (23 litres / 40 pints). See our Young's 25L Plastic Brew Bucket & Tap.
- A length of plastic tubing or auto-syphon to transfer beer into bottles or a barrel.
- Strong bottles or a pressure barrel. See our 330ml Amber Glass Crown Cap Beer Bottles, Bottle Crown Caps (Pack of 100), and 25L Pressure Barrel with Pin Cap.
- 1kg Brewing Sugar (Dextrose/Glucose) — brewing sugar preferred.
- A proprietary cleaner/steriliser — we recommend VWP Cleaner Steriliser 400g or VWP Cleaner Steriliser 100g.
- A Hydrometer (Wine & Beer) to confirm fermentation is complete.
Brewing Instructions — 40 UK Pints
- Stand the can in hot water for 5 minutes to soften the contents. Then start boiling 3.5 litres (6 pints) of water.
- Open the can and pour the contents into your cleaned and sterilised fermenter.
- Add the boiling water to the fermenter.
- Add 1kg of brewing sugar and thoroughly mix to dissolve the sugar and malt extract.
- Add 19 litres (33 pints) of cold water to bring the volume up to 5 UK gallons. Stir and leave to stand until the temperature reaches 18–21°C.
- Sprinkle the yeast supplied and stir.
- Cover the fermenter and place in a warm area at 18–21°C and leave to ferment.
- Fermentation will be complete when bubbles have ceased to rise (4–6 days), or when your hydrometer reading is constant for 3 days.
- Syphon the beer into strong bottles or a pressure barrel, being careful not to disturb the yeast sediment.
- Add half a teaspoon of sugar per pint to each bottle (or a maximum of 85g / 3oz per 5 UK gallon pressure barrel).
- Cap and seal the bottles and pressure barrel and stand in a warm place for two days.
- Move the bottles or barrel to a cool place for 14 days, or until the beer is clear, before drinking.
To Brew 36 UK Pints
Follow the same instructions as above, with these two changes:
- Step 1: Use 5 pints of boiling water instead of 6.
- Step 5: Add 30 pints of cold water instead of 33.