The Homebrew Beer Thread

[roark]

I've had good success using the chico yeast with marzen grain bills, because it ferments so clean and is tolerant of cold (by ale standards) fermentation temps. I'd still be sure to keep it cool though.

I've still got a few bottles of my kitchen sink imperial stout (~15% abv). Something like that won't meet the drinkable at birth criteria, but I brewed it in 97 and the last bottle I had 2 years ago was mighty tasty

 

[Nick]

I'll be cracking open the growler of Mulligan Brew I put up- been conditioning about 2 weeks. I'm really curious about it, since it started at such a high OG (1.080) and finished down low at 1.010, but the pre-bottling sample seemed really light and thin. Maybe it's just super high alcohol thinning it out. Not sure. I'll have to sample the barreled secondary, too, before bottling.

So, now the question is, with the impending birth of #1 son in early November, what's the right brew to create and celebrate with? I'd love to do something that is cellerable, and crack open a few in a year at his first birthday. A marzen is an obvious option, both because I liek the style and it's fall/Oktober-ish. But, lagering is tougher, adn to do it I really should have started a month ago. Maybe an Altbier, or somethign of a Belgian style, which can age nicely?

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Dunno but I am a huge Altbier fan. 99% because my family comes out of Dusseldorf, Germany. So I've got a strong affinity for it. I'm actually drinking Tuck's Headwall Alt right now (yum).

My brown ale in the basement should be close to ready with its second fermentation.... I hvaen't tried it yet though. Will probably crack it open for a party we are having at my house on Saturday.

 

[BeanoNYC]

Congrats, Cten! We're expecting our second in November as well. In Feb or March I brewed a Bourbon Barrel Porter. It's kegged and aging at the moment. I plan on serving it from October through the winter months (It's a sipper for sure) If there is anything left, I'll bottle and let age for another year. Supposedly it ages very well. Think about brewing that.

 

[ctenidae]

Congrats, Cten! We're expecting our second in November as well. In Feb or March I brewed a Bourbon Barrel Porter. It's kegged and aging at the moment. I plan on serving it from October through the winter months (It's a sipper for sure) If there is anything left, I'll bottle and let age for another year. Supposedly it ages very well. Think about brewing that.

Interesting- I did do a porter that I aged in my wooden barrel, and it was quite nice, though it stayed in barrel too long before I got around to bottling, and skunked.

Congrats on your second- I'll drink one when yours comes out.

 

[tarponhead]

I've had good success using the chico yeast with marzen grain bills, because it ferments so clean and is tolerant of cold (by ale standards) fermentation temps.

Don't be afraid to experiment with the kolsch yeast (I have only experience with white labs). Typically, primary fermentation around 60F is ideal. The final product ferments very clean but you do have to lager the secondary 3-4weeks for your typical ales. On the other hand, I have tasted this yeast in wheat beers and found it outstanding as well with no aging (as the norm for wheat beers).

I brewed 18 gal of kolsch that I am enjoying right now, awesome stuff!

Also your typical cali strain of yeast will ferment quite well at low temps if you pitch enough yeast and oxygenate the wort well before pitching (provided it is not a gravity bruiser). My 2 cents, YMMV.

 

[Nick]

I had some of my homebrew brown ale a few days ago. Not really all that great. It's OK, but I'm going back to Alt for my next batch.

 

[Nick]

I want to brew something fresh next week ... not sure what yet. Might hit up the store soon.

 

[jaja111]

I had some of my homebrew brown ale a few days ago. Not really all that great. It's OK, but I'm going back to Alt for my next batch.

Give browns lots of time. Never chuck it, wait it out. Anything with darker malts have to mellow out to some degree. I have had quite a few beers that I thought sucked within one month of kegging them, and then 3 months later were complex and fantastic.

 

[xwhaler]

My wife got me a Mr Beer kit for Xmas! I'm sure most of you guys are well beyond the starter kit but wondering if you have any basic tips I should keep in mind for my 1st batch? Of course I will be following the instructions as closely as I can but there certainly seems a lot to it!

Also, if I enjoy this as I'm hoping I will, where do you guys go to get upgraded supplies? Local shops best or are there online sites you reccomend for price?

I've read that it's virtually impossible to brew your own beer for cheaper than a good 6/12 pack equivalent cost per bottle but what is everyone finding in terms of the economics of this hobby?

 

[ctenidae]

My wife got me a Mr Beer kit for Xmas! I'm sure most of you guys are well beyond the starter kit but wondering if you have any basic tips I should keep in mind for my 1st batch? Of course I will be following the instructions as closely as I can but there certainly seems a lot to it!

Also, if I enjoy this as I'm hoping I will, where do you guys go to get upgraded supplies? Local shops best or are there online sites you reccomend for price?

I've read that it's virtually impossible to brew your own beer for cheaper than a good 6/12 pack equivalent cost per bottle but what is everyone finding in terms of the economics of this hobby?

Rules 1-15 for beer making: Sanitize. Rinse. Repeat.

I order from www.beer-wine.com Quick shipping, good pricing.

I figure ingredient costs run about $50/batch, depending on what you do, which works out to about 80 cents a bottle. Not many decent six packs available for $5 each.

 

[jaja111]

Rules 1-15 for beer making: Sanitize. Rinse. Repeat.

I order from www.beer-wine.com Quick shipping, good pricing.

I figure ingredient costs run about $50/batch, depending on what you do, which works out to about 80 cents a bottle. Not many decent six packs available for $5 each.

I second that. I'm saving significant $$$ homebrewing. When I can occasionally make a dogfishead quality beer I'm saving $$$$$$$$$.

I personally like Northern Brewer. They're great people to deal with and have reasonable prices. Maybe you'll get lucky and have a decent local supply store, but all I have is stale ingredients and 99% baked morons more concerned with the hydroponic equipment.

 

[xwhaler]

So I just bottled my first batch from the Mr Beer kit this past Sunday. I let it ferment for approx 2.5 wks after reading its better than the standard 7 days the kit instructions reccomend.

What's the next equipment you would all reccomend I buy? I'd like to get a 5 gal fermenting bucket with spigot to take advantage of the 5 gal ingredient kits I see on northernbrewer and elsewhere.
I like the idea of the plastic bucket better than the glass carboy b/c while the carbnoy is nicer and u can see thru it I'm not sure how I would pour into the bottles once I'm ready to carbonate?

I suppose using a funnell and hoisting the carboy up would work but the spigot at the bottom seems much easier.

I'm not ready to get into boiling kits or CO2 draft systems just yet but would like to step up from the Mr Beer kit so I can make larger batches.
I think once I get set up with a 2nd system I will make 1 brew in the 5 gal bucket and do a smaller batch in Mr Beer.

It's a lot of fun so far and I haven't even done the best part yet (drinking it of course!)

 

[ctenidae]

5 gallon buckets form Home Depot are great. Cheap, and you can retire them to other duties once they get scratched and icky (don't want to make beer in a bucket tha't sroughed up ont eh inside- nasty buggers like rough seurfaces).

I bought a spigot and installed it in the bottom of a HD bucket- in the actual flat bottom (there's a ridge molded in that's just about perfect size already) not the side. I built a stand to sit it on for clearance, adn atach tubing and the racking cane there to let gravity do the work. To transfer from the fermenter to the racking bucket, I use a siphon (same as you would for a carboy).

90% of the equipment you need you can get from Home Depot. A hydrometer and a capper are about the only things you can't. And a boiling pot and strainer.

 

[xwhaler]

Resurrecting this as I am now on my 5th batch of brew since I started home brewing in January.
I took advantage of a groupon offer through Midwest Supplies for a 5 gal fermenting bucket+5 gal bottling bucket+bunch of extras.
Big step up from the Mr Beer kit....I've brewed an Irish Red Ale with very good results....getting good feedback from friends who I've shared it with.
I'm now fermenting a Pale Ale that I brewed with frozen peaches and grated ginger root. Put it in the fermenter last Sunday so will bottle in a couple weeks.
It's a lot of fun so far....scrubbing bottles does sort of suck though!

 

[Nick]

Resurrecting this as I am now on my 5th batch of brew since I started home brewing in January.
I took advantage of a groupon offer through Midwest Supplies for a 5 gal fermenting bucket+5 gal bottling bucket+bunch of extras.
Big step up from the Mr Beer kit....I've brewed an Irish Red Ale with very good results....getting good feedback from friends who I've shared it with.
I'm now fermenting a Pale Ale that I brewed with frozen peaches and grated ginger root. Put it in the fermenter last Sunday so will bottle in a couple weeks.
It's a lot of fun so far....scrubbing bottles does sort of suck though!

Scrubbing bottles does suck. I male sure to rinse them really well when I'm done with them ( drinking) before putting in storage. That way a quick sanitize is normally sufficient

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[xwhaler]

How's everyone doing this summer making beer? I've become pretty into this hobby in a short amount of time!
This Saturday I bottled my Pale Ale brewed with 1lb frozen peaches and a bit of grated ginger root. I have a feeling it may be a tad chunky however as I either used too many peaches or only going with single stage fermentation didn't allow the gunk to settle out compleately.
I'm sure it will be drinkable however in a few weeks!

Yesterday I brewed a 5 gal batch of a Brown Ale extract+grain kit I got from MidWest Supplies. To make it my own I added 3 cinnamon sticks at 30 mins and a hint of Nutmeg on the finish.
Cooled it down, put into fermenter and added abt 5 oz of honey. Hope I didn't add too many things that will compete against one another but we'll see in 5 wks or so.

Next up on the brew docket is a Pumpkin Ale which I will do shortly after the Brown Ale gets bottled and my fermenter is freed up.

 

[ctenidae]

I packed up all my gear for a move at the end of next month, so won't be doing anything for a little while. Surprisingly, only 3 case boxes for all my bottles, mostly because I've gone to all pint bottles, no 12 ozers. Still have some miscellany to pack, but it's not taking up as much room as I thought it might.

 

[ctenidae]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/09/01/ale-chief-white-house-beer-recipe

So, I just brewed up Obama's Honey Ale. Hopefuly it'll be good. Best part is, I think I did it in true Politician style.

I bought the ingredients using someone else's money (Christmas gift certificate).

I got the supplies from a place that might not be the best, but they've been pretty good to me, and they're in my home state (even though I neither live there now nor was born there).

The ingredients were only available in quantities slightly larger than what I needed, but since they're use it or lose it, I went ahead and used what I had, which is probably more than needed for most of it, and the total cost ended up being more than it really should have been.

I had a recipe that looked good, but didn't really plan things out quite right, and so had to change some parts to fit the then current reality. So, the end result doesn't really look like the plan. I can only hope the deviations from the plan don't lead to unintended consequences.

Best of all, the cleaning ladies are coming tomorrow, so I can leave the mess for someone else to clean up.

 

[Nick]

Still drinking my Altbier from a couple weeks ago. I'm down to 3 liters remaining.