Home Beer Brewing

[jlchucker]

My first intro to homebrew was what jlchucker mentioned. Only a couple differences as it had potato chunks fermented with the sugar, hone, and blue ribbon malt. It was bottled with a raisin in each bottle. Not bad, but you can do far better.

and there is a third kind of beer besides the ale and lagers, and that would be gluten free using sorghum or tapioca malt. It is not bad, but many celiacs can get away with regular beer as long as it isn't a hig proportion of wheat. But that is an aside for those who may miss their beer due to special diets.

You could add in a few more raisins for that extra little kick. That's what Gordy used to do. Sometimes he bought pale malt, other times dark. I was way too young to drink when all of this was going on.

[AZ-Stew]

Since I've taken up brewing, it's become a necessity that I empty as many beer bottles as possible, in anticipation of Bottling Day. This has lead to a new appreciation of such esoterica as "Blonde", IPA, Irish Red, et al. I digress.

Ah, the joys of becoming "educated" with respect to beer styles! Stick with it and you may attain the title of "beer snob", a worthy ambition!

The gun room is upstairs; kitchen and bathrooms downstairs. Obviously I get way too much exercise, and being certifiably "over-the-hill" the knees went bad ages ago. This brings us to the crux of the problem. On a semi-hourly trek to the refrigerator - doing my duty - SWMBO distracted me sufficiently to lose concentration on the JOB AT HAND - so that when I sat sat down at my Power Desk, I discovered that the "Paradise Porter" was still capped. A quick 15 minute search failed to turn up an opener, so it's back down those god-awful stairs to correct the error. Happily, I survived, and the Porter is breathing beside me. Solutions? Upstairs refrigerator? New wife? Hire a competent man Friday? As a stopgap, maybe put an old Coke opener on the wall...........

I feel your knee pain. This is why they make Swiss Army knives. Always an opener at hand (or in pocket).

If I were you, I'd stay away from the 5 gal plastic bottled water jugs. They're harder to clean than glass carboys, and if scratched inside, they may hold contaminants that will spoil the flavor of your beer.

I've been away from brewing for a number of years, but I intend to do it again. The last batch I made had so much alcohol that it killed the yeast. No yeast, no second fermentation = flat beer. I should have stoked it with champaign yeast to get it going again, but never got around to it.

Regards,

Stew

[PepperBuddha]

[PepperBuddha]

[Dick Dastardly]

It's about the beer, the fun of brewin' it and the enjoyment of drinkin' it in the good company of yer own choosing.

So, go ahead, brew up a simple brew, follow the directions and invite someone that matters to share the "opening" of your first bottle.

Later on, you will learn to brew more complicated brews, but always remember, it's about the beer. That and the good company you invite to share it. Beer was the original reason that bread was invented. Beer first!

DD-DLoS

[jim4065]

Hey Pepper Buddha! I'm just starting with one of those Tap-A-Draft's and Iv'e already got problems with it. The Hefe was "pre-carbonated" with Honey, but the Tap-A-Draft can manage (at best) a weak stream - coupled to two cylinders. Are they always that way?

Dick Dastardly - glad to hear you're on the side of the Angels. All my wife's relatives are in the "Alcohol is Evil" crowd - kinda makes for strained get-togethers.

[PepperBuddha]

My TAD's flow fine. I usually start with 1 cartridge on the right. When it slows I add one to the left. When it slows again I change the one on the right. You need to throttle it properly to control head. Full open is little to no head.

[TCLouis]

The trouble with drinking a good home brewed beer is that it lets one know what great beer should taste like. I had a friend that could brew some fine drinking material and he actually made foam insulated temperature controlled brewing system. Tried for something like plus or minus 2 degrees during the brewing.

Store bought pales in comparison.

[jim4065]

"Store bought pales in comparison."

Amen to that.

[AZ-Stew]

Store bought pales in comparison.

Not necessarily. Sure, Miller, Bud, Coors, et. al., of the "Cheap Yellow Beer" variety pale by comparison, but there are HUNDREDS of specialty beers on the market (if you have access to a good store) that are very much up to the caliber of home brew. Some are imports, others started as home brew, became micro brew and finally went prime time with regional, if not national, distribution. The problem is trying to find all the good ones. I keep working at it, but I don't foresee a complete list of suitable brews for some time to come. This work is hell.

Regards,

Stew

[3006guns]

I tried making some home brew many years ago. No real info, help or supplies available at that time, so I removed the ten gallon plastic water tank from my camper, added Blue Ribbon extract, sugar, baker's yeast and water topped off with a home made fermentation lock. Let it sit until the bubbling stopped and siphoned some off into a glass. Tasted like sour apple juice with very little head. My wife came home from the store later and found me laying on the floor, giggling and speaking in tongues.............

Although I'd done EVERYTHING wrong when it comes to home brew, I did produce a beverage with a considerable alcohol content.

I'm older, wiser and have access to decent info and ingredients these days so I might just have to try it again!

[jim4065]

I've made about a dozen 5 gallon batches so far, wit generally "good" results. It's certainly made me more aware of the endless possibilities in beer and increased my appreciation of "hoppy" beers. As far as it goes, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is maybe my favorite commercial beer (of those available in this very limited market area). Six months ago I would have said Miller "Chill". It's so easy to get better beer - IF - you're willing to pay the price. SNPA is $10 a six-pack here.

As toddrod said: www.homebrewtalk.com is a very strong resource; as is the BeerSmith software. Now that SWMBO has thrown me out of the kitchen (one too many boil-overs) I'm getting rigged up to go all electric in addition to all-grain. The depth of complexity in the hobby is much more than I would have thought.

[scrapcan]

wicked,

you need to get hop rhizomes. A good source for those is Northern Brewer.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewin.../hop-rhizomes/

The trouble is you then have to decide which variety you want. Also you want to be careful where you plant as some varieties are very hardy and will grow well (take that to mean they will take over).

[TDB9901]

You might also check "MoreBeer" at their web site MoreBeer.com They offer rhizomes in the spring, and if you sign up for their newsletter they will notify you of what is available around March.

They seem to have a rather comprehensive catalog of equipment and kits. That's where my son got my starter kit. I've been studying rather extensively, but have yet to fire up the burner and get my feet wet.

Williams Brewing also have an extensive catalog, and web site.

[TDB9901]

Hey, FWIW I just went to the MoreBeer website, and they are currently running a rhizome "pre-sale".

[44man]

Been brewing for many, many years. I use all grain, no syrups. Put 100 bottles of beer on a table with one syrup beer and I will find it. Good but they all have a certain flavor.
I have a commercial coffee grinder I cleaned and adjusted to grind grain, (Starbucks tossed it with a bad switch.) takes only minutes to do a batch. I grow hops too.
I use pop kegs and a CO2 bottle, bottles are a pain.
Bought a wort cooler long ago and would not be without it. Bioman makes super beer too and borrows my cooler.
I add oxygen for fermentation with an oxygen tank from my welding set. Starts yeast FAST.
I have a spring close by with great water, can't use my well water because of high lime content that slows conversion.
I would love to have a setup to do everything. I have to convert on the kitchen stove and table, do all else in the basement and boil in the garage at the open door. Moving buckets up and down is a pain.
I boil in stainless beer kegs with the tops cut out on a turkey fryer propane stove.

[TDB9901]

Sounds like fun I'd like to try it from scratch someday, but where do you get the malted grain?

Don't know where you are located, but getting it shipped in could be a big expensive hassle here.

[George_J]

My first post here.

I have been brewing for about a year now. I started out fermenting in a glass carboy, but changed to using better bottles due to concerns about weight and breakage. I ferment in 15 gallon batches and make a copy of Pilsner Urquell.

Things I learned are to use Fermcap S foam control to reduce boil over in the boil pot. (turkey fryer pot) More Fermcap in the fermenting jug to avoid fermenting foam (Krausen) from blowing out the airlock. Got rid of airlocks and just put Saran Wrap over the top of the Better Bottle. I use Safale US-05 Yeast so I don't have to worry about keeping a low temp during fermentation. Finished beer is siphoned into 5 gallon corny kegs (Cornelius kegs) and I carbonate in the keg.

I get my malt from brewbyyou.com in 55 lb boxes. Most other stuff I get from rebelbrewer.com. Both places have been nice to deal with.

[TDB9901]

Thanks George, I'll check those sources.

And welcome to the forum, Home of Heavy Metal Madness.

[George_J]

Thanks for the welcome, TDB9901.
I've been lurking here for quite some time and this site has helped me avoid the more basic mistakes. I only have one small lead burn and scavenging zinc with sulfur when melting wheel weights seemed to work well for me.

The lung trouble I got from inadvertently breathing in some of the burning sulfur fumes is going away now. I made up 18 cartridges in 45 ACP with very light to medium loads of Bullseye and it is a real thrill when the first one goes bang and everything works. No one is calling me stumpy or one-eye yet so all is going well.