Sanitization

• Clean equipment is essential to good beer. If your beer becomes contaminated, it could make your drinkers sick. Second, it will make your beer taste bad, so all of your hard work will be wasted. You can sanitize your equipment with a water and bleach mix, but you must be certain that all remnants of the bleach are rinsed away before you start brewing. Another sanitization option is iodophor, although it is a little harder to find and slightly more expensive. You most likely will have to buy iodophor from a beer-making store, but it might be worth the hassle. Iodophor does not require rinsing because it evaporates.
  
  

Wort

• A major step in beer making is chilling the wort. As with sanitization, this step contributes to both the taste and safety of the beer. You can purchase an immersion wort chiller online at websites that sell beer-making equipment, such as NorthernBrewer.com. If you are boiling a small batch of wort, another option is to immediately submerge the pot in a sink full of cold water. You'll want to keep the wort in motion while you are doing this until it reaches a temperature below 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
  

Temperature

• The temperature your beer needs to be at during fermentation depends on the type of beer you are making. An ale temperature needs to be between 60 and 70 degrees, and a lager needs to be around 45 degrees. If you are brewing in warm temperatures, you might need to cool the beer. You can use a fermentation refrigerator or wrap the fermenter in cold towels. A place like a cool basement works best at keeping the beer cool during fermentation. If you are brewing in the winter months or in cold temperatures, you should try to raise the temperature of the fermenter using a space heater or sitting it near a heating vent. It is best to invest in a thermometer to constantly monitor the temperature of the beer during fermentation, as well as the wort during the cooling process.
  
  

Ingredients

• Using the best, freshest ingredients will ensure the quality and taste of your beer. When choosing a sugar, do not use corn sugar or cane sugar unless the beer you are making specifically calls for it. This will give the beer a cider-like taste. When possible, use liquid yeast instead of dry yeast for better taste, and if you use an extract, use fresh extract instead of the canned kind. The most important thing to remember is to use your fresh ingredients in a timely matter, or they will spoil.