The Homebrew Beer Thread

[Marc]

Ok, so it wasn't a difficult recipe in the least, but it was a good starter. Just a simple wheat beer, very lightly hopped. About 4.5% ABV. Tried the first of it tonight and it was very good. Tasted similar to any number of hefewiezen's on the market. But at the same time, fresh and clean. Ahhh.....


Gonna buy another couple cases of bottles and do another batch ASAP!

 

[roark]

Nice job Marc. Before you know it you'll be on to all grain and kegging!

 

[riverc0il]

So, Marc is bringing the Brew to the next meetup with parking lot festivities?

 

[Greg]

So, Marc is bringing the Brew to the next meetup with parking lot festivities?

Word.

I made a two batches of beer during my short homebrew career. A Sam Adams like lager and a stout. Both came out good. I found it too time consuming and cumbersome to make it worthwhile, but it was interesting. But if you have the time to do it, I'll be happy to sample a few for ya...
:beer:

 

[ctenidae]

Gonna buy another couple cases of bottles and do another batch ASAP!

The key is to have 3 batches worth of bottles- Drink one while you make one while you rack one.

 

[Marc]

Nice job Marc. Before you know it you'll be on to all grain and kegging!

Heh, not for a while. I actually want to try growing my own hops next year first.

So, Marc is bringing the Brew to the next meetup with parking lot festivities?

Feckin A man. Name the time in place. I'm thinking a pre season Stowe trip again next year.

Word.

I made a two batches of beer during my short homebrew career. A Sam Adams like lager and a stout. Both came out good. I found it too time consuming and cumbersome to make it worthwhile, but it was interesting. But if you have the time to do it, I'll be happy to sample a few for ya...
:beer:

Anytime you want some I'm happy to provide. I can imagine with the house and kid you're probably a shade short on time. Just wait til your kids are old enough to drink though. 'Nother year or two probably right?

The key is to have 3 batches worth of bottles- Drink one while you make one while you rack one.

See now, that's a damn fine idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that. It's a little bit like having a CD ladder, only better, because you can't drink money (not directly anyway).

 

[Greg]

Anytime you want some I'm happy to provide. I can imagine with the house and kid you're probably a shade short on time. Just wait til your kids are old enough to drink though. 'Nother year or two probably right?

Not so much. I joke that when my oldest turns 21 she can take her first sip of beer. Riiiiiiight.......... :roll:

 

[Marc]

Not so much. I joke that when my oldest turns 21 she can take her first sip of beer. Riiiiiiight.......... :roll:

Hahaha, Greg's going to be the digruntled old father figure type sitting in the rocking chair on the front porch waiting to greet his daughter's first date holding at shotgun... and the daughter would be around age... 35?

 

[Grassi21]

Not so much. I joke that when my oldest turns 21 she can take her first sip of beer. Riiiiiiight.......... :roll:

Hahaha, Greg's going to be the digruntled old father figure type sitting in the rocking chair on the front porch waiting to greet his daughter's first date holding at shotgun... and the daughter would be around age... 35?

Everyone looks at my prego wife's belly and predicts girl. I don't have a preference. But when I look back at my life and see how my friends treated women I am truly scared.

 

[roark]

Not so much. I joke that when my oldest turns 21 she can take her first sip of beer. Riiiiiiight.......... :roll:

Let em try it when they're young, they'll hate it. I wasn't drinking (beer anyways) until well after most my peers thanks to that early memory. Than agian now I drink more beer than most of them...:???:

 

[ctenidae]

Let em try it when they're young, they'll hate it. I wasn't drinking (beer anyways) until well after most my peers thanks to that early memory. Than agian now I drink more beer than most of them...:???:

I liked beer starting about age 6, and never stopped. Of course, my dad drank Pearl Light, which is closer to sex in a canoe than even Coor's. So maybe I just liked bubbled water when I was a kid.

 

[Greg]

Hahaha, Greg's going to be the digruntled old father figure type sitting in the rocking chair on the front porch waiting to greet his daughter's first date holding at shotgun... and the daughter would be around age... 35?

Everyone looks at my prego wife's belly and predicts girl. I don't have a preference. But when I look back at my life and see how my friends treated women I am truly scared.

Marc is probably right and Grassi explains why. I plan to let my house be the place where the kids like to hang. Want to spend time with your new boyfriend? Sure! Tell him to come on over. I'm hoping to have a dozen or so years before I have to deal with that though...

 

[Marc]

I liked beer starting about age 6, and never stopped. Of course, my dad drank Pearl Light, which is closer to sex in a canoe than even Coor's. So maybe I just liked bubbled water when I was a kid.

Probably cause of all those chocolate swirlies you got.

 

[SkiDog]

Cool man..congrats..its very fulfilling to have made something thats soo fresh and sooo tasty all by yourself. I found I also gained a greater appreciation for what companies like Sam Adams and the like go through to produce the same EXACT beer every time. You'll find its nearly impossible to reproduce the same results even if following the same exact recipe. Too many factors involved in the homebrewing process. 1 degree of temp difference can produce different flavors...super fun hobby though.

Since I am now in SLC and can't get "real" beer as easily the homebrew kit will be back in full force soon.

As mentioned kegging is the way to go...makes life soooo much easier. 1 rack to a keg...no sugar or closed fermentation to produce CO2, you just force carbonate with your CO2 tank.

To make things easier on the bottling side, id suggest trying to find growlers or EX Cap bottles (like grolsch) you can get the ez caps in 16oz or 1 liter ( i like the liters). Since they have their own caps attached its SUPER easy.

As for the all grain brewing, I personally find that you get great homebrews with extract. There is a lot more room for error in all grain brewing. It is "TRUE" brewing though and is worth doing at least once to see how the process works. Will make you a much better brewer in the end.

If you havent read it yet get Charile Papazians The complete Joy of Homebrewing. Also the Homebrewers Bible is a good reference.

Good luck and if you ever want any recipes shoot me a PM I have quite a few and some GREAT ONES...

Keep it up.

M

 

[Marc]

Thanks SkiDog. I don't feel bad for you "having" to be in Utah just so you know.

I've read a lot at www.howtobrew.com. The first thing I did with advice from a fellow brewer at work was to use 22 oz bottles instead of 12. I didn't find it to be to tiresome with a friend helping. I'd love to get some flip top bottles but they're expensive to buy outright. I'm going to do several, several batches before I even think about PM or all grain. First things first is to get a wort chiller. Putting the kettle in an ice water filled bath tub was a PITA. A gas burner would be a lot nicer to head of boil overs too, but I'm content to work with what I have for now.

 

[SkiDog]

Thanks SkiDog. I don't feel bad for you "having" to be in Utah just so you know.

I've read a lot at www.howtobrew.com. The first thing I did with advice from a fellow brewer at work was to use 22 oz bottles instead of 12. I didn't find it to be to tiresome with a friend helping. I'd love to get some flip top bottles but they're expensive to buy outright. I'm going to do several, several batches before I even think about PM or all grain. First things first is to get a wort chiller. Putting the kettle in an ice water filled bath tub was a PITA. A gas burner would be a lot nicer to head of boil overs too, but I'm content to work with what I have for now.

Outdoor cooker is key...brings 5 gallons to boil WAY fast...Wort chiller is key too...if you're handy making one is EASY...just some copper tubing and some clamps and some rubber food grade hose...some garden hose fittings...BOOM...instant wort chiller...brings down temp in about hmmm few minutes? maybe 10 max....

I'd also suggest starting to use liquid yeasts. It takes a bit more planning because you have to make a "mini beer" to get the yeast up to acceptable levels and then you HAVE to be ready to brew 2-3 days later or the yeast eats all that sgar you gave it to get it up to speed. Really does make a HUGE difference.

What do those bottles go for these days...?? I have like 3 cases of 16oz browns and 2 cases (12) of the 1 liters...I have about 10 growlers, a mini keg system and a corni keg setup. plus tons of cases of 12oz. I also was able to keep my 6.5 and 7 gallon carboys. Cant even find them anymore hardly.

Good luck with your future brews...and yeah..Utah is a hard place to live .... HA...

M

 

[ctenidae]

If you don't want to build a wort chiller, just dump ice in your carboy and pour the hot wort over it- just remember that 1 gallon of water weighs 8 pounds, and the standard bag of ice is 5 pounds. It takes some fiddling to get the water level right, but it works. Not as sexy or as fast as a wort chiller, but a hell of a lot quicker than just waiting.

 

[Marc]

If you don't want to build a wort chiller, just dump ice in your carboy and pour the hot wort over it- just remember that 1 gallon of water weighs 8 pounds, and the standard bag of ice is 5 pounds. It takes some fiddling to get the water level right, but it works. Not as sexy or as fast as a wort chiller, but a hell of a lot quicker than just waiting.

I think it took about 20 min in an icy bathtube.


Another method I read was to freeze a 2 liter soda bottle (filled with water), then when you're ready to chill the wort, sanitize the outside of the soda bottle and put it into the kettle.

 

[Marc]

Building a wort chiller would be easy, and I might do that at some point, but you need a fairly large volume of sanitizer to sanitize the outside of the whole thing, it would seem...

 

[ctenidae]

Building a wort chiller would be easy, and I might do that at some point, but you need a fairly large volume of sanitizer to sanitize the outside of the whole thing, it would seem...

Submerge the coil in ice/rock salt and run the wort throught the coil. Faster, cleaner, cooler.