Bottled my first homebrew beer today!

[clintsfolly]

About 5 weeks ago my son gave me the stuff to brew beer and today was bottling day!! Now have to let it set and carbonate for 2 weeks then I have to drink just shy of two cases of Caribou Slobber.:drinks: Clint

[Tom-ADC]

I used to make a lot of it, it used to dry my to girls nuts as I always brewed on Saturday mornings, they hated the smell.
I need to start brewing again.

[JeffinNZ]

I am fascinated by the idea of home brew however I have a dilemma. I don't drink beer so.....

[rockrat]

Same here. Wanted to be a brewmeister, but don't like the taste of beer (hops bitterness acutally).
Probably should try and make my own, with extra light on the hops, or none.

[Tom-ADC]

Same here. Wanted to be a brewmeister, but don't like the taste of beer (hops bitterness acutally).
Probably should try and make my own, with extra light on the hops, or none.


Or just experiment with different hops, there are many many different hops and flavors that go with them, hops is what my girls complained about.

[thx997303]

Whoa buddy, don't crack it open at two weeks.

3 weeks at 70* F is the standard. Anything before that is early, and could be really hit or miss.

After the three weeks, throw a few bottles in the fridge for 48 hours, Then try it.

A lot of people's issues with homebrewed beer can be traced back to impatience.

And remember, just because it's carbonated doesn't mean it's no longer green. Sometimes you got to let it age.

[Rex]

When I was a kid growing up in Kansas, that state was a "dry" state. We lived out on a farm and Dad had a 25 gallon stone crock down the cellar going most of the time. He'd get in a hurry bottleing once in a while and Mom finally made him quit opening bottles in the house. Beer dripping off of her kitchen celing didn't impress her. Kansas went "wet" in the late 40's and the crock went up for sale.

[monge]

always wanted to try home brew love beer! My dad was a off the boat Italian and we made home made wine when I was a kid Great wine and memories! What type of kit did you use ?

[dragonrider]

I brewed approximately 13 gallons of a Heineken style beer last sunday. Will bottle it on May 5th. My sons in law and I have done this on many occasions but not in the last 6 years so we are getting back to it. We go to a brew-on-premisis pub. Everything you need they have, recipes, grains, malts, steam kettles, yeast, bottles and bottling equipment. No mess at home, no women compaiining about the smell, which when you are cooking grains is just awesome. It's great fun too, we bring pizza and chips, there are many beers one can sample while you are brewing.

[iomskp]

I used to Brew I ended up using four small 25 litre kegs I had a beer fridge outside the back door with a beer gun and drip tray on the out side and the kegs inside, I started to enjoy it a bit too much I ended up selling the lot, I do miss it.

[bruce drake]

I am fascinated by the idea of home brew however I have a dilemma. I don't drink beer so.....

Dang it Jeff! I slipped a bottle of Yuengling Lager (America's oldest operating brewery) in my Easter care package to you an your family. Its wrapped in bubble wrap so it should (hopefully) be in one piece by the time it gets to you.

Let one of your mates there enjoy the bottle. Next time I'll slip a bottle of "medicinal grape juice" in the box.

Bruce

[ph4570]

I hope your batch turns out well. Give us an update when you sample it.

I have done many 5 gallon batches of beer. They mostly came out good. I keg mine in 5 gallon cornelius (soda pop) kegs. Lately I have been making mead (honey wine) with a variety of experimental flavorings. These are kegged as well and dispensed at low C02 pressure. I have a blackberry flavored one that is real nice.

[clintsfolly]

My son works for Northern Brewer and he got me the kit. Clint

[gbrown]

20 years ago, I got into the brewing interest. I brewed about 3 years. Made lagers, pale ales, and dark ales. Enjoyed it. Made my own recipes and got stuff from a brew shop in Houston. Barley, malt, hops, etc. Finally decided to move on, as I was the only one drinking it and a brew would make about 3 months of product, plus the brewing period down here is only about 4 months. Anyway, it was good, for me, and like a lot of my other projects, learning periods, it added to my knowledge. Never used any kits. As I know from friends, they work. Enjoy!

[firefly1957]

what kind of bottles do you use ?
I have some reusable Golshe(sp) bottles that I have never gotten around to using.

[Fishman]

I brewed approximately 13 gallons of a Heineken style beer last sunday. Will bottle it on May 5th. My sons in law and I have done this on many occasions but not in the last 6 years so we are getting back to it. We go to a brew-on-premisis pub. Everything you need they have, recipes, grains, malts, steam kettles, yeast, bottles and bottling equipment. No mess at home, no women compaiining about the smell, which when you are cooking grains is just awesome. It's great fun too, we bring pizza and chips, there are many beers one can sample while you are brewing.

That sounds like too much fun.

To answer the question as to what bottles, a lot of folks are using soda bottles with screw lids. Really.

[clintsfolly]

AS far as bottles go I saved some, was given some and am going to buy some. All of mine take crown caps. Clint

[454PB]

I had a great time brewing beer many years ago. I started with wine making, but I'm not really a wine guy. Many of the principles are the same, but beer is less work.

I used a 5 gallon crock, malted barley, and later, experimented with different varieties of hops.

Since I'm normally a light beer lover, homebrew got me looped quickly, and presented the worst hangovers I've ever experienced.

When I quit making it, I had over 20 cases of heavy duty crown cap bottles, a thousand crown caps, and several 5 gallon crocks I had to dispose of.

What I really enjoyed was watching friends and family get blasted on only three beers.

[thx997303]

Brew some Edwort's Apfelwein, the recipe will come up quickly in a google search, and is an extremely easy recipe.

Then give it to people. The 8-9% alcohol is something they do not expect. They will get pretty drunk pretty fast.

It's also great, and extremely easy to make.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Same here. Wanted to be a brewmeister, but don't like the taste of beer (hops bitterness acutally).
Probably should try and make my own, with extra light on the hops, or none.
rockrat,
most of the styles that came from Germany have little or no Hop character in the flavor profile. Some of them use spices like coriander or a unique yeast that can give a hint of friut or banana flavor. Oh, and I've experimented using orange zest and grapefriut zest instead of hops during the hop shortage of 2007-2008. that wasn't a total failure.

I've brewed quite a few beers in the last 5 years, But I've moved onto mostly countrystyle wines mostly using Rhubarb as a base and adding various other friut in secondary, my favorite is wild black razberries, gooseberries is a close second.
I've also made some beet wine, adding gooseberries to beet wine makes it drinkable much sooner. typically a beetwine needs to age at least 12 months for the overwhelming beetiness to subdue some. I've also made some wild grape wine, both times I've tried that, the end result is so tart, it's undrinkable alone, I've blended with about 70% plain rhubarb wine and that makes a nice beverage.

[bigjason6]

I just brewed and kegged an alt from northern brewer. Came out pretty good I think. Lol!

[geargnasher]

I am fascinated by the idea of home brew however I have a dilemma. I don't drink beer so.....

Do you drink "medicinal grape juice" like Bruce mentioned? I used to make 5-10 gallons a year, gave a lot of it away, but I enjoy a glass from time to time. It keeps for just about forever if racked and bottled properly. I hardly drink any beer at all, never cared for the stuff. Why someone would cook hops and drink it is beyond my comprehension, but so is sushi.

Gear

[Norbrat]

I make maybe 3 - 4 batches a year. I've always used concentrates, so no boiling of hops, and it's always come out pretty good. The brew is also better now that I no longer use cane sugar as fermentation sugar; the light malts make a nicer brew.


I am fascinated by the idea of home brew however I have a dilemma. I don't drink beer so.....

What about ginger beer or cider?

Our local brewery Cooper's makes a range of home brew concentrates for all sorts of beers, as well as a ginger beer, which makes a nice brew.

I've also made cider from concentrate and it also came out quite good. Ciders do need a bit of sweetening, and I use lactose for that, as lactose is a non-fermentable suger. Some folks use artificial sweeteners, but I can't stand the taste of that stuff.

The last batch of cider I made from purchased fruit juice, but it is vey dry, even with the lactose added. Still drinkable, though. :drinks:

[Moonie]

I don't drink beer either, I started brewing it as it is ready much faster than my Meads. Lots in the family enjoy my beers, I currently rotate between a light honey ale and a milk and honey stout (yes I like the honey thing). I make mine with little bittering hops as that is what I don't care for in beer, the bitter.

My milk and honey stout did end up at 14%, so it is VERY stout lol.

[ph4570]

I have noted a great side benefit to homemade mead consumption -- gout in big to has been vanquished. It took me a while to make the connection. I then goggled "mead gout" and sure enough it is a known cure/preventative medicine. I had been using a honey, unfiltered vinegar and water beverage treatment with some success. However the mead works far better.

Off to start another batch.

[flhroy]

firefly any bottle will work if you can get a good seal with the cap. I will buy a couple of flats of bottled water and reuse the bottles and caps for camping trips. I think soda bottles would be better because they are heavier duty. The water bottles get pretty firm when the beer carbonates but I have never had one fail (explode) yet.

[thx997303]

I would suggest keeping to bottles that originally held carbonated drinks. They're designed for it.

I really need to start brewing some mead.

[ph4570]

thx,

Fortunately one does not have to brew (as in bring a large pot of stuff to boil and simmer for a good long while) mead. It is much simpler than beer, even simpler than beer from syrup. AND I have discovered that if one uses certain yeasts it matures much quicker and is ready for tasty consumption in a couple of months. My preferred yeast is Wyeast dry mead. It is a liquid yeast.

[44man]

I gave up bottles long ago. I use all grain but my problem is getting the hop profile and aroma. I even grow my own Cascade hops.
I use pop kegs and a co2 bottle.
We have a good store in Frederick MD, Flying Barrel.
The very best thing to make is black raspberry wine.

[badbob454]

I am fascinated by the idea of home brew however I have a dilemma. I don't drink beer so.....

there is always moonshine !!/
i brew beer have done some shine , grow my own hops cascade, willamette my favorites , im more of a lager guy than an ale drinker porter beer being my favorite

[clintsfolly]

Well I poped the top off the first one last night and it was good! This may be as fun as casting and i sleep good too! Clint

[Longwood]

thx,

Fortunately one does not have to brew (as in bring a large pot of stuff to boil and simmer for a good long while) mead. It is much simpler than beer, even simpler than beer from syrup. AND I have discovered that if one uses certain yeasts it matures much quicker and is ready for tasty consumption in a couple of months. My preferred yeast is Wyeast dry mead. It is a liquid yeast.

Do you know of a link for Mead making?

I love home brewed beer.
Home brew tastes so much better than any store bought beer.
I had Pancreatitis and my doctor said no alcohol but a sip of good Mead would be nice now and then.

[dragonrider]

I bottled my brew on Saturday, 72 22 oz bottles. It's real good. Sippin on one as I type. I will be making a mead soon.

[thx997303]

Do you know of a link for Mead making?

I love home brewed beer.
Home brew tastes so much better than any store bought beer.
I had Pancreatitis and my doctor said no alcohol but a sip of good Mead would be nice now and then.

Two good links for you.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/

One is recipes, the other is mead discussion.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I bottled my brew on Saturday, 72 22 oz bottles. It's real good. Sippin on one as I type. I will be making a mead soon.

Yesterday, I brewed for the first time since Oct. 2011.
A cream ale for a friendly club competition in July.
using a California Lager yeast and fermenting just
below ale yeast temps...around 64º
the carboy is sitting on the cellar floor.
So far so good !
Jon

[Moonie]

Do you know of a link for Mead making?

I love home brewed beer.
Home brew tastes so much better than any store bought beer.
I had Pancreatitis and my doctor said no alcohol but a sip of good Mead would be nice now and then.

gotmead.com no where better, even has a newbee guide.

I've got a gallon of blueberry mead and 3 gallons of straight mead aging atm (been aging for about 8 months). In bottles I have a Pyment (mead made with grape juice and honey) and a cinnfull cyser (mead made with apple juice and honey) that I made for Christmas that has lots of cinnamon, hence the name.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I posted the recipe for the Cream ale I made yesterday.
http://www.jackofallbrews.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2000

[trys357]

I got 15 gal unpasturized apple juice from an orchard in Southern NH
They are in 5 gal pop kegs with an airlocks attached. (Split 2 pouches Nottingham Ale yeast between them)
I usually rack them every 2 months.
Added @ 6 cinnimon sticks to two of them ... other is plain.
Last year added @ 2 lbs honey to each keg ... came out amber but good.
Year before was excellent ... crystal clear like champagne.
I dispense with CO2....and it's on the dry side.

[chuckbuster]

Clint
You holding out on me, all this time I thought all you had was some really good lead for trade occasionally!
Kevin

[Love Life]

For those who don't like beer, have you considered making wine? Below is some lip smacking good strawberry wine. It's a bit strong!

[xs11jack]

Say, wouldn't all this be considered "Special Projects"? Back in California days my good friend Rusty and I attempted some wine, but it came out tasting like gasoline. We quit after that, but I have to admit I would like to try another batch and I think with all the good people here I could do it right.
Ole Jack

[Moonie]

Say, wouldn't all this be considered "Special Projects"? Back in California days my good friend Rusty and I attempted some wine, but it came out tasting like gasoline. We quit after that, but I have to admit I would like to try another batch and I think with all the good people here I could do it right.
Ole Jack

When young lots of wine (and especially mead) have higher order (fusil) alcohols which do taste like rocket fuel. As they age these mellow and convert to lower order alcohols. I still have that 3 gallons of mead aging, was 8 months when I first posted a year and a half ago about it... Should be ready to bottle soon.

[reloader28]

I've made several batches of beer and really love it. I have 5 gallons to bottle this weekend and the wife just picked me up enough ingredients for another 15 gallons.

Doing my first wine now. 10 gallons of Chokecherry/Concord grape wine. Its good but really dry. I'm going to try and sweeten it a little in a month. I had 2 1/2 gallons of apple wine but it didnt turn out.

I have rhubarb and some peaches in the freezer and I think I'm going to ferment them up shortly and see how they turn out.

[Doc_Stihl]

I have 15 gallons going right now in 4 different batches. Bottling 3 batches on Sunday and racking the 4th for another week/10 days.
It's been a couple years since we brewed. We did our first ever all grain this last Sunday. We'll see how it comes out.

[rattletrap1970]

I can't wait till my vacation, I'm hoping I can make up some beer. Been a long time since I've made any.. Years in fact.. This time around though, I'm going to keg it not bottle it. Got the kegs, just need the tap and gas unit.

[reloader28]

Rattletrap
I'm set to go with the tap and gas and the kegerator is empty right now.
Bring it on out and we'll give it a try.:drinks: