Homebrewing

[silverado]

Just out of curiosity, how many people here homebrew. I could imagine a lot. Wife got me a cheesy beer brewing kit for Christmas..... now I'm making hard cider and beer in the garage.....

[pjames32]

Yep! Started in college in the 60's. Bad beer, but cheap.
Resumed about 15 years ago. Good beer.
I'm away from home & recipes, but PM me with questions.
Paul James

[silverado]

I will pm when I graduate from prison cider... or as one of my friends calls it, gangsta cider. Right now I've got 2 gallons of beer going, and 2 different ciders, about to add 2 more ciders to the mix.... live is all about diversity

[pjames32]

Hope you added some honey in place of sugar to your cider
Hope you pasturized (170*) before you added yeast.
2 weeks of fermentation or 3 days without a change in specific gravity BEFORE you bottle. Add a little honey (heated to 170* in water) when you bottle if you want some carbonation. I usually don't.
Cleanliness/sanitation will keep you from having batches you need to find someone to drink.
Enjoy!
PJ

[Magana559]

Remember a low and slow fermentation is best for taste.
If you need to bring up the SG on beer use corn sugar. same goes for final carbonation.

[Magana559]

Forgot to add.
Keep away from sunlight or any other uv rays, beer skunks up quick!

[countryroads]

I've been homebrewing for a little over a year now. According to my brew log, I've made 290 gallons. The cost (the way I do it) brings the cost per case down to about the same as Milwaukee's Best, while providing adult beverages on a par with any of the "craft" breweries.

My motto is "Brew Beer, Shoot Deer!"

[Moonie]

I'm a brewer, mainly started because as a mead maker it takes a very long time to age a batch of mead. Had the equipment so started brewing beer. Recently gotten interested in gruit beers as I've never cared much for hops and until fairly recently in beer brewing hops was not used. It does contain estrogen containing compounds that cause all kinds of bad things for men (man boobs and reduced sexual desire/impotence). Gruit beers do not contain hops and have none of those compounds. I'm an advanced home brewer and do all grain with a RIMS system.

[MrWolf]

I have never heard of gruit beer and had to look it up. Wonder if I could handle a bottle (seems I am alergic to the yeast or something as I can get a nasty headache with half a beer). Wonder if they are sold locally to me as it would be something different to have the few times a year I take a drink.

[pipehand]

Hope you added some honey in place of sugar to your cider
Hope you pasturized (170*) before you added yeast.
2 weeks of fermentation or 3 days without a change in specific gravity BEFORE you bottle. Add a little honey (heated to 170* in water) when you bottle if you want some carbonation. I usually don't.
Cleanliness/sanitation will keep you from having batches you need to find someone to drink.
Enjoy!
PJ

I haven't yet made cider, but I have made 10 gallons of Perry (pear cider) so far. Instead of heating the juice, and changing it to cooked juice, you can add one crushed Campden tablet per gallon, and let the must sit for 24 hours before pitching the yeast.

I have brewed beer in the past, but stopped when I moved 15+ years ago. Will do it again, but got into making the Perry and some wild fruit wine because we had a bounteous harvest this past summer. Currently I have 6 gallons of orange melomel percolating because I was able to get 10 gallons of raw wild honey for a very good price thought a friend at work.

The brewing I did years ago was rather expensive, as I was buying ingredients in small quantities from a storefront brewing supply place and paying a big markup. Did make a spot on copy of Maizel Weiss for cheaper than I could buy it though.

The Perry turned out very well, and I hope that the trees bear as well again next year. I was only able to use a small amount that was available to me because I didn't want to invest in a bunch of equipment if I wasn't going to like the product. Next year, I may be fermenting it in barrels!

[mold maker]

In years long past, (before diabetes) I really enjoyed the art. Folks that tried my brews ask for more so I guess they were truthful in saying, it was really good. At least I enjoyed both the brewing and the sipping.
Still have a drop or two, I'm saving for a special occasion.

[KLR]

I've fermented wine for years and the past year got into brewing beer. This fall I found a quick and easy sweet cider recipe:

Take a commercial cider (without preservatives) and add about a pound of brown sugar per gallon. I like to heat it on the stove and dissolve it in the least amount of water possible.
Sprinkle wine yeast (I like EC1118) on top of the cider and cover.
Allow to ferment down to about 1.040 (my wife likes it drier ~ 1.025)
Bottle in beer bottles with crown caps.
Heat a stockpot of water to 190 degrees. Put 6-7 bottles of cider in the pot and allow to set for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.
It's ready to drink in a few days. Poor slowly into a glass and leave the sediment behind.

[nagantguy]

Started in highschool; had a few years off in the military and then started again, one of the many things me and my lovely wife do together.

[1911cherry]

I've got to try some home brew beer this spring, redwine I can do-just never tried anything else. Mead sounds like a fine beverage, maybe I'll get some honey next time I'm buying beeswax from my local beekeepers.

[GhostHawk]

I'm currently on a bit of a break from brewing. In the past I've done a fair number of beer kits, some fair fruit wines, and some very good mead.

It does take time, attention to detail, and space but the reason I don't brew much is that I no longer drink much.

When you go off on your own and come up with a good product it can be very rewarding. My mistakes I tended to wait until January some cold night, and freeze it hard. Then get up the next morning pour off the alcohol and sugar, leaving most of the water behind. 2 liter pop bottles work perfect for this. Technically of course this is against the law. Unlike a still it is pretty hard to catch a guy making freeze brandy if he doesn't do something stupid like try to sell it.

[dragonrider]

I used to brew at home, results were so-so, for some years now myself, my sons-in-law and friends go to a brew on premise called Deja Brew http://www.deja-brew.com/ it is so much easier, no muss no fuss, no cleaning up. You go one day and brew your beer and return two weeks later to bottle. They have many recipes of many styles of beers. Just a few weeks ago four of us each brewed a batch and bottled it the Sunday before Christmas, it is aging out in the garage right now. Should be real good in two or three more weeks. I brewed an IPA this time called Iron Man IPA, very hoppy with three different hops added during the boil and a dry hop half way through fermentation. Waiting is the hard part.

[MaryB]

If you are drinking commercial beers(especially bud) the headache is from the rice they use because it is cheaper than barley

I have never heard of gruit beer and had to look it up. Wonder if I could handle a bottle (seems I am alergic to the yeast or something as I can get a nasty headache with half a beer). Wonder if they are sold locally to me as it would be something different to have the few times a year I take a drink.

[MaryB]

I used to brew with friends until we moved to far apart and I sold my half of the equipment to them. We were producing 4-5 kegs a week for 3 families(who all pitched in to help out, especially the drinking part). I haven't brewed since but am gathering the equipment to do small 2 gallon batches of partial grain recipes.

[Coyote3]

Been brewing on and off for a little more than 30 years now. Couldn't believe how many mistakes I was making before the advent of the internet. Been making some good stuff the last few years though. Have a really nice porter in the ole kegerater right now.

Word of advice. If you plan on brewing for a while, consider kegging ASAP. Trust me.

[pjames32]

I do mostly partial grain in 5 gallon batches. Homebrew stores or the internet for ingredients. If you have a local brewery talk to them about yeast. Their newly recovered yeast is the best and they can tell you what temperature is best.
I use no sugar even in cider or mead. Honey is your friend.
PJ