Q&A for How to Brew Your Own Beer

Specialty brewing shops will have both bottles and caps. The sealer shown is a fancy one, but simpler cheaper versions are also available. Typically the people operating specialty brewing shops will advise you sensibly!

It depends on how much you are going to make. Look for recipes to determine how much you need.

You need to dry it to stop the fermentation and make your finished product taste better.

Specialty brewing shops will have both bottles and caps. The sealer shown is a fancy one - simpler and cheaper version are also available. Typically the people operating specialty brewing shops will advise you sensibly!

You could, but it won't give you a higher alcohol content. At most, it will cut an hour or so from your total fermentation. Any amount of yeast will die once its alcohol by volume limit is achieved.

Your beer might be a bit stronger or sweeter. The final product will not be as carbonated as it would be normally.

It does not, provided you did clean and sanitize everything correctly. The only gas coming through the airlock is that produced from the yeast converting sugars to CO2 and alcohol. To me, it smells similar to bread yeast when making bread. If you did not sanitize then you may get strange smells as you will be growing and feeding who knows what in your fermentor.

Kids in numerous cultures drink non-alcoholic fermented beverages, notably Kvass, so yes. Just make it clear to your child that they can only have non-alcoholic drinks and supervise them whenever they are drinking to ensure that they aren't accidentally consuming alcohol.

No. It is a fermented drink, not a distilled one.

You need more sugar in the wort and a yeast that can handle more alcohol. Stronger drinks are often harder to make tasty, so beware.

No. Assuming you followed good sanitation practices, the major factor affecting the longevity of your beer is light and O2 (minor). I've consumed bottles of my beer that were over three years old, and they were fine or even better--for high-gravity beers, especially.

There is a special tool called a hydrometer that you can get. It is a thin glass tube with markings 10, 20 ,30, etc. It will float at a marking, telling you what percent your beer is!