Homebrewing

[MaryB]

1.75 gallon would be a perfect size, do double 2 gal batches

[hoosierlogger]

I just started on my second batch of beer.

First beer was a dry extract clone of Samuel Smith nut brown ale. It turned out great.
second batch was an all grain Hoegaarden clone. It smells amazing when it is cooking on the stove. My wife can't stand it when I add the hops.

i think this another hobby to add to the already too long list.

[MaryB]

I am a fan of hoppy ales. Been buying Fat Tire Ale which is an amber ale with a good bitterness and hop aroma. Lagers are nice for hot days but I typically only have a beer with a meal now so I want flavor.

[cheese1566]

Kegging the latest Bavarian wheat now. Hopefully it should be carbed up by Super Bowl Sunday!

[cheese1566]

Now that my carboy is empty, I can start another batch of Edworts Apfelwein for summer!

wife wants me to find a Reds strawberry clone to make. Need to do some searching on homebrewtalk.com

[Bulldogger]

I'll be kegging a 2.5 gallon batch of Belgian Altbier. I normally do extract brews, adding my own grain adjunct and hops, but this time I bought a Brewferm all-in-one can kit and did a no-boil batch. Seems OK so far.
For anyone who thinks they'll keep at this hobby, I recommend grabbing 5 gallon Pepsi or Coke kegs while the dregs of the now-ended practice of using kegs for pop syrup are still available. New kegs are costly, and old ones can do fine with servicing to renew seals.
Then make a kegerator from a chest freezer, Google "keezer", and have fresh beer on tap whenever you need it. I think it cuts my beer production time by at least 1/3, from not having to wash, fill and cap bottles. I use swing top bottles when I'm not planning to give the beer away, and get swing tops in 1/2 or 1 Liter size to again cut down on the amount of bottles to wash and no crimp capping.

Bulldogger

[cheese1566]

Yep, once you keg, you find hard reasons to bottle!
last I bottled was when a friend gave me old kit he didn't trust. I bought new yeast and gave it a shot. Turned out great and I gave him half the batch.
I had a neighbor working for a soda company. They were slowly thinning the last remaining kegs out and I ended up with three. I built a two tap kegerator from a used counter fridge off craigslist. Everything else came from kegconnection.com.
i like the extract kits from austinhomebew; good selection, customizable, and decent shipping. I get wine additives from Midwestsupplies.
Some day I would like to get into all grain brewing. If I could get some friends into the hobby, I could justify the equipment if it would get used often.

[MaryB]

My fridge is a Keezer, runs off my solar array and is super high efficiency(think about it, chest freezer the cold sits there when you open the door, fridge it all pours out on the floor).

Northern Brewer is another good online source and they have some good extract kits and partial grain kits.

[reloader28]

Cheese, I copied down Edworts recipe a couple weeks ago along with the Skeeter Pee recipe.
I've never tried either, but always wanted to. This is the summer.
All my carboys are still full, so I have to wait a touch longer.

[cheese1566]

I am on my third batch or so of apfelwein over the last couple years. My first was bottled and not carbonated, which I still have a case or so left. Pretty darn smooth now, but flat. Good with some 7Up or sprite mixed in. I like better carbonated in my kegerator. Potent stuff though! It creeps on you if you drink too much too fast,,,but good stuff on a hot summer day after yard work!
I looked at skeeterpee and may have to try it.

[KLR]

I really like Skeeterpee too.

I made apfelwein a few years ago and didn't think much of it. However, I found that if it's aged several years and mixed with a little simple syrup it's awesome. I made another batch this fall and intend to start drinking it in a few years.

[oscarflytyer]

Have off and on, since college - and now 52. Haven't in a cpl years. Had both shoulders rebuilt and couldn't handle the 5 gal buckets and car boys. Would like to get started again

[downzero]

I brew by the process called "brew in a bag." It's all grain but requires only a large brewing pot (I use a 13 gallon pot). The efficiency is lower but I've heard it can reach normal efficiency if you crush the grain further. I buy my grain crushed but once I get my own grain crusher I will be able to test that theory. Either way it makes good beer. I've seldom been disappointed with my beer or having made anything unpalatable, but it is a challenge to make the same beer consistently. I have made everything from wheat beer and fruit beer to apa, ipa, porter, and imperial stout. My favorite is an APA that is a bit hoppier than the normal, probably about 70 IBUs.

[hoosierlogger]

Mary, see if you can get your hands on a 6 pack of three floyds, "gumball head". It is the only real hoppy beer I can stand to drink. I'm going to try a clone of it, as a 6 pack is $16.

[MaryB]

Not available anywhere near me, and I am not a wheat beer fan...

[EMC45]

I am on my third batch or so of apfelwein over the last couple years. My first was bottled and not carbonated, which I still have a case or so left. Pretty darn smooth now, but flat. Good with some 7Up or sprite mixed in. I like better carbonated in my kegerator. Potent stuff though! It creeps on you if you drink too much too fast,,,but good stuff on a hot summer day after yard work!
I looked at skeeterpee and may have to try it.

It will sneak up on you and hurt you. I make mine simply with 100% pure apple juice from Publix with 2 cups sugar and 1 packet Fleischmann's yeast in the gallon bottle it comes in. Made a home made bubbler (airlock) to attach to the handle and I let it bubble for about 14-16 days, rack it, then on to the fridge. In the first few days it is slightly carbonated and still "yeasty". I rack once or twice more and it mellows out and goes flat. I have some right now that is crystal clear and no hint of yeast at all in it. It is very strong though and needs to be approached with caution. 1 16oz. glass has about the same feeling as about 3-4 12 oz. beers.

[w0fms]

I somehow missed this thread in January. I brew all grain now, and make an occasional mead or cider too.

Very addictive hobby. I will admit that I will need to slow down because I'm starting to accumulate more than I can give away and drink. I used to do ciders in college, and gave it up until about last August. The problem with taking the hobby up initially is that you want to have three or four different styles available, and really the 5 gallon traditional batch size is a good compromise on how much time and effort it takes to make a batch.

I've done 3.5 gal Brew-In-A-Bag batches too and that's okay.. but I can't justify 2 -4 hours to make a gallon!

[silverado]

I just started two gallons of cider using nottingham yeast and about 1/2 cup of sugar, split between 2 gallon jugs.

[HodakaGA]

Careful with the SkeeterPee. I had a massive blowoff the first night. I have friends who love mine but I just can't drink the stuff. It gives me awful heartburn/reflux.

[reloader28]

I've got 5 gallons of Scottish Ale that will be bottled this weekend.
I drank what was in the hydrometer beaker from testing a couple nights ago and it was GOOOOOOD.