Any Home Brewers Out There?

Mudman · Post by **Mudman** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 7:59 pm

Anybody into homebrewing?

I got started a few years ago, and have been really surprised at how good the beer tastes. The whole process is simple and inexpensive--with the hardest part being the month-long wait before the beer is ready.

Today I siphoned off 5 gallons of London Porter into a secondary fermenter. A week in that container, then it will be time to bottle the beer. A couple more weeks and yumm.

Check out the tutorial on this site if you are interested: http://www.breworganic.com/
(I bought a deluxe starter kit from this company after doing a bunch of research.)

Jonathan Fowler · Post by **Jonathan Fowler** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 8:35 pm

I've been homebrewing on and off for about 5 years or so now...I would say the best thing about it (not that their has to be a "best thing", it is beer afterall) is that you can custom make your own recipes. Do you like IPA but wish the microbrews made them hoppier? double your hops.
I'm not sure which method you use (I'm still stuck on partial mash), but to my knowledge the biggest improvement you can make, besides going to full mash, is to use glass/glass fermentation....throw your plastic primary fermenter away, if you still use it. They are good for a few batches, but when you clean them they get small scratches in the sides which keep a small amount of residue from previous batches and will ruin your current beer.

Relax...Have a homebrew!

Dylan King · Post by **Dylan King** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 5:37 pm

Homebrewed beer is the greatest. It seems to go quite well with playing tuba. Actually, any beer goes well with playing tuba. I've been into Belgium Ales recently. I brewed a Berry Strong Ale that has 12 pound of rasberries, boisenberries, and blueberries. It is 13% but doesn't taste that strong, probably from the sweetness of the berries.

Playing low register tuba in the same room as the fermentors seems to be good for the beer. It mellows it out quite well. The bigger the sound waves, the happier the brew.

Too much home brew...

ThomasDodd · Post by **ThomasDodd** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 10:51 am

Beer? Might try it someday. But finding something I like is difficult. No major brand suits my pallet. I've tried several micros in various places, but still no luck. The Jack Daniels Pilsner wasn't too bad, but not great either.

I'm more interested in distilling. Only proble is the years it takes to age properly:(

Tried wine a few times, but grape supply is so important to wine, it's not worth the effort here.

ThomasDodd · Post by **ThomasDodd** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 5:17 pm

Doc wrote: You can always use berries or fruit. I particularly like dewberry wine. SOB it's good! Pear wine and peach wine are quite good, too. Blackberries, raspberries, cherries, apples, etc. can all be made into excellent wine. I wish I had the time. I would love to make wine and beer. It's a good thing I don't, or my big *** would be much bigger with all that drinking, not to mention the effects on my liver.

I'm real fond of muscadine wine, but again have trouble with a consistant quality.

So I might get a good batch one year, and it'll take 3-4 to get another. Thta' a lot of work and expense form an unknown outcome. I had relative than made the same wine every year, and only 1 in 5 years were worth drinking:(

What else are you going to use your liver for anyway

Jonathan Fowler · Post by **Jonathan Fowler** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 11:30 pm

For a hophead, there is no greater beer then Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Despite the Christmas label this is not a Christmas beer with spices a.k.a. orange peel, liquorice, anise...nutmeg.
Paulaner Oktoberfest
Fullers Cask Conditioned
McChouff (i think that's the spelling)
Chimay Premiere
A few sips here and there of Samuel Smiths Imperial Stout (Imagine Soy sauce with brown sugar)
if I have to pick a Pils it would definitely be Urquell(I think this was Bruckner's fav)

Mudman · Post by **Mudman** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 11:34 pm

Jonathan Fowler wrote:if I have to pick a Pils it would definitely be Urquell(I think this was Bruckner's fav)

Hindemith wrote a letter saying something like "they have this great beer here in America, it's called Budweiser. It has become my favorite."

As far as beer you can find in the gas station, check out Anchor Steam. Pretty tasty stuff.

Captain Sousie · Post by **Captain Sousie** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:13 am

Sorry to dredge up an old topic but I just put my first batch (an amber ale) into the fermenter yesterday and am happily watching the airlock bubble away. From what I've heard, the first few batches are usually interesting but I am willing to put in the time to see if I have the knack. Any advice, recipes, equipment suggestions or reading material would be welcome.

Sou

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:41 am

I used to. With a couple of moves in short order a few years ago, and now with all my other projects, I haven't done it for awhile. My favourite is British pale ale, very lightly hopped, in the manner of Bass Ale, to get the malty, fruity, nutty overtones as well as a good hops start and a long smooth finish.

Philip Jensen · Post by **Philip Jensen** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:30 am

I'll second the wort chiller as a good upgrade. I did the pot in the sink with ice water for quite a while, never liked it.

Keg! Keg! Keg! I switched to kegging rather than bottling and love it. I can have my beer all kegged up in 15 minutes and most of that is standing around watching. I brew much more often now. I made the switch to all grain 9 months ago. Fantastic. Two plus cases of beer ( 5 gal.) costs me less than $15 in ingredients. I've got a Porter, a Bock and a Pilsner on tap right now and I've got a Sierra Nevade PA clone and a Rye PA that just went into kegs that will be ready soon. I've got a Kolsch that is now happily fermenting away.

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:00 pm

You guys make me want to get started brewing.
Tell you what. Any of you that break into a new batch, call me and I will pop over and play and sing for my beer.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:05 pm

Start off with one of those "keg" kits you can get for @$50, like here:

http://www.mrbeer.com/view.php?id=delux ... bactive=-1

It comes with the combination carboy/fermenter/keg and the malt/hop extracts in a can. Just open one up, boil it up until it all dissolves according to instructions, pour it into the keg that has been cleaned accordingly to instructions, add yeast, cap it with the CO2 trap so it doesn't blow up until your final stage when you tight cap it to naturally carbonate, wait a few days to a couple of weeks, and enjoy.

Three websites to surf to get ideas:
http://www.mrbeer.com
http://www.morebeer.com
http://www.homebrewer.com

Just plug "beer kit" into your google and you'll get more than you can read.

That's a little bit oversimplified, but a kit is a good way to start.

The key to a good home brew is cleanliness to the point of fanaticism. A single speck of the wrong bacteria can not only ruin a batch, but make you ill.

Captain Sousie · Post by **Captain Sousie** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:02 am

I started with a kit from a local brewers supply store. With a basic equipment kit, a basic amber ale kit, books, bottles and bottling rig it ran me about $125 and I got some great advice from an experienced brewer.

There are a few in the Lone Star State... Austin, Houston, Fort Worth to name a few cities. If you want me to locate one for you let me know, otherwise, the 'net is your best friend for that.

Another thing that helped me out is the fact that I watched the Good Eats/Alton Brown episode on beer ("Amber Waves" was the title) and it had some great tips plus I got to watch somebody else do it first and get a basic idea of what things should look like.

If you do it good luck,
Sou

Philip Jensen · Post by **Philip Jensen** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:16 am

I started out very cheaply with plastic buckets to ferment in. One can easily get started for under $100, and if one scrounges, under $20 is possible (excluding ingredients). Like ALL hobbies tough, it can quickly escalate. I recently broke into my "gig" money that I reserve for music related purchases to buy a new brewing toy.

Extract brewing is pretty straight forward. I got my best extract beers by bringing 2.5 gallons of water to a boil and then adding the bittering hops (in a nylon bag to contol the mess). 60 minutes of total boiling time . Additional hops can be added later for flavoring (30 min left) or aroma (final 5 min.). You can wait to add the malt extract until the final 15 min (or you can add it at the beginning if you don't mind a little darkening of the final beer). Make sure you stir well when you add the very sticky malt extract or it will stick to the bottom and scorch. After boiling, I cooled the pot in a sink with ice water. Then I added the mostly chilled wort to a bucket that I had already put ~2.5 gal of cold water in it to further cool the wort. When it is cool enough (at least under 80F), add yeast and wait. It can be this simple. I now brew starting with whole grain which is more involved. I buy grain by the 55 lb bag and have my own grain mill and do full boils in 10 gallon pots. I did say it was like ALL hobbies

Sanitation is very important. You don't have to be paranoid about it though. Bleach works well, I used it for many years. You have to rinse, rinse and then rinse some more though. I start with hot water until the smell is almost gone and then switch to cold. I now use a no rinse sanitizer (StarSan) that is very convenient and easy. Bleach is less commonly used these days, but it does work fine and it is easy to find.

You can buy equipment kits and ingredient kits easily over the web.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/ is probably my favorite, also:
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/
http://morebeer.com/

These are among the biggest dealers. If you have a local Homebrew Store they can be a great help in getting you started. Or find someone who brews and watch them brew. Be careful though, doing so is like being bitten by a vampire. Next thing you know it, you're a homebrewer too.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:41 pm

Bob1062, by federal law, any individual may brew up to 200 gallons of beer or ferment up to 200 gallons of wine per year for personal consumption. You can give it away, you just can't sell it!

What IS illegal in all forms without federal licensing is distilling.

I live in a "wet" state, meaning that there are no added state law restrictions on the federal allowances. But there may be state or local restrictions depending on where you live. But most of those have to do with selling.

DLThomas · Post by **DLThomas** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:21 am

Doc, I'll predict you'll be successful with your first batch.

It's been said before but is worth saying again: keep things clean and sanitized. Don't obsess over it but always keep it in mind.

Dave "a microbiologist by college records" Thomas

Philip Jensen · Post by **Philip Jensen** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:19 pm

Buy Bottles! - man the shipping will set you back! You just need to find a beer you like in a NON-twist off bottle and start drinking! You'll have at least 3 weeks before you need to bottle (once you start brewing). Tell your freinds and they'll save empty bottles for you too (in exchange for a couple full ones later

). A five gallon batch will give you around 2.5 cases of beer (12 oz bottles - you can always use 16 or 22oz bottles). Make sure you rinse the bottles promptly after you've "drained" them. It'll save you cleaning work later.

Many people "sterilize" their bottles in their dishwasher with great success. If your bottles are already clean, run them through on the hottest cycle (no soap). I've always autoclaved my bottles because I can at work. Now I keg, so that is moot. Minimum kegging set up will run you ~$200, excluding a fridge of some sort.

Glass carboys are nice but be careful - slippery when wet. I use glass and so far no breakage, but I've heard horror stories. Glass is fun because you get to watch the show

Kolsch, Hmmm (and Yum). This is a more difficult style to brew. Generally the paler and cleaner the beer, the more difficult to brew. Darker and hoppier beers tend to cover a multitude of sins. I'd go with something with an OG of at least 1.044, but less than 1.056, and amber or darker in color. A Hefe Weisen would be OK though I think. It WILL be very yeasty flavored (also a sin coverer). Kolsch likes to ferment in the mid 60's and benefits from a couple weeks of lagering even cooler than that. This could be a problem for you in TX. That being said I've got a Kolsch bubbling away in my basement (65F) that will be ready for our pig roast mid-July (along with a Wheat and an Alt to be brewed soon).

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:59 pm

Yeah, don't buy bottles. Instead, buy some different kinds of beer in recapable bottles of the old-fashioned caps, which are the kind you'll be using. Yes, you'll have to clean off the labels, which can be a chore, but what a great excuse to try different beers, and when you happen on one or more you like, an even better excuse to try different malts & hops to develop a personalized beer or beers you like best!

With my circulation and clotting issues, I don't imbibe as I used to, even though I can still privilege myself with a good one now and then, so have one for me!

Philip Jensen · Post by **Philip Jensen** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:38 am

One final piece of advice. Try and keep the fermentation as cool as possible. 65-70F would be great, 75 is OK. Higher temperatures can lead to stronger flavors. Good for Belgian styles and wheats, but not so much others.

Also, live the phrase RDWHAHB - brewer lingo for: Relax, Don't Worry, Have a HomeBrew.

Welcome to the club.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:47 pm

The particular yeast you use should have on the packaging its recommended temperature. If not, ask who you purchase it from.