# Lifestyles & Discussion > Freedom Living >  Beer making!

## noxagol

The most important skill anyone should have is the production of BEER! It is simple, enjoyable, and the worst part is knowing your beer is going to be yummy and having to wait a few weeks before you can enjoy it. 

There are two methods if you will, for brewing beer. The first is using extracts, which come in liquid and powder form, and the second is the all-grain method. Both will produce great tasting beer. Using extracts is easier and faster while all-grain gives you complete control over your beer's characteristics. 

Not to mention the beer you will make tasting better, it will also save you money. An ingredient kit costs on average 40 bucks, and will yield roughly 50 beers as most kits will make 5 gallons of brew and you will get roughly 10 bottles per gallon (1 gallon is 128 oz, and bottles are roughly 12.8 oz. It depends on how much you put in each bottle.) You can alternatively keg your brew. This is roughly two cases of beer, which could cost anywhere from 50$ to 140$ depending on what and where you buy it. 

There are kits you can buy that come with everything you need to brew your own beer and they only cost around 100$. This is a kit made by Coopers that comes with everything you need to brew and bottle: http://www.makebeer.net/item.asp?idP...dSubCategory=0 There are many others like it. 

I'll cover the extract kit method. 

All you really need is a stainless steel pot of 3 gallons or more, 


a container to ferment in, with carboys being the most popular, 


a bung for the carboy


an airlock 


bottles and bottle caps 


if using press fit caps (which I recommend)  then a capper



and a method of getting beer out of the fermenting container and into your bottles. Some containers have spigots in the bottom, otherwise an autosiphon will be of great use 


some hose 


and a bottling stem


and a way to rapidly cool your wort (the water mixed with the extracts). You can either use a sink filled with ice and water, or a wort chiller. There are three types of chillers: immersion which goes into the wort


Continued next post

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## noxagol

a counter-flow chiller, which has a tube within a tube. The hot wort flows down inside the inner tube while the cold water flows up the outer tube. These work FANTASTIC and it is what I personally use. 


and then there is the plate chiller


Those were listed in order of effectiveness, cost, and complexity of setup: sink, immersion, counter-flow, and plate. The immersion and counter-flow chillers are easily made on your own. 

You will also want a hydrometer


This is used to measure specific gravity of water. You take a reading before you pitch your yeast and after fermenting is done. Subtract the final gravity from original gravity and multiply by 131.25 and this gives you your alcohol by volume percentage. Not a necessary tool, but you should get it anyways. 

And then you need a sanitizer. there are many but I personally use starsan

Everything that comes into contact with the wort after it has been boiled needs to be sanitized in some way. 

A thermometer is also needed.


In addition, you will need a heat source, a stirring tool, and a cool, dark place to set your fermentor while the yeast does its thing. A basement is perfect. It is important that once yeast is added that any and all light is kept off the brew as much as possible. 

All of this will be available at a home brewing supply store. Outside of the pot and carboy, you are looking at about 50-100 dollars, depending on where you get it from. The chiller is the big variable. I suggest making one, it is easy and will save you a lot of money. Most people already have the pot and the carboys can be gotten anywhere, or you can also make your own. It just needs to be a glass, food-grade plastic, or stainless steel container with an opening on top you can close up and fit an airlock into.

Now, onto the steps of brewing your beer!

Step 1: Purchase your beer ingredient kit! There are many of these and they are of varying cost. They will come with all of your ingredients including malt extracts, dry and liquid, grains if the recipe calls for them, a steeping bag, hops, yeast, priming sugar, yeast, bottles caps, and most importantly INSTRUCTIONS! You could follow those from here on, but that would make this kind of boring post. Pick whatever you like, I started with an American wheat ale. 

Step 2: Gather your brewing gear to your brewing location and clean up your brew kettle (the stainless steel pot). Put in 2.5 gallons of water and start to heat. While it is getting warm, gather your ingredients. If your kit has grains, put them into the steeping bag now. Clean up the rest of your gear.

Step 3: If your kit comes with grains to steep, bring it to temp, usually 150-165 degrees and put your steep bag filled with grains in. It is important that you don't pack the grains in and they are loose in the bag. You want the water to be able to get to all the grains and extract everything. At this stage it is drastically important that you don't go over 165 degrees. Over this temperature you will begin to extract tannins which will make your beer so bitter it will pucker your face. Usually this will last 20 minutes, refer to your instructions for the specifics.

Step 4: Remove your grain bag after the required time has elapse and let it drip in. Don't squeeze or you could get tannins. You could sparge (rinse) the bag with 165 degree water to extract more bits from the grains, but with kits it isn't necessary. Now begin to bring your wort to boil.

Step 5: Add the extracts. These will either be liquids or powders or both. If you have liquids I HIGHLY suggest putting them in another pot of hot water. These things are THICK. The first time I did this,the stream was bending in the air from me stirring. It is important that as you add LME (liquid malt extract) that you stir the wort so the LME doesn't settle on the bottom and burn. 

Step 6: Once the water is boiling, add your bittering hops and set a timer. You will need to refer to your instructions, but typically you will boil for 60mins total, but at 55minutes into the boil you will add another round of hops, the aroma hops. 

Step 7: Once the required boil time is achieved, cool the water as fast as possible! It is also very important that at this point anything that comes into contact with the wort is clean and sanitized. You want to cool the wort as fast as possible because the heat is causing your wort to create sulphur compounds which were previously being boiled out. Your wort isn't boiling anymore so they are sticking around. If you are too slow, they will begin to impart the taste of raw eggs. There is also something called chill haze, but as far as I know, this is just cosmetic. Cooling to 70-80 degrees in 20mins is fast enough from what I read, with my setup I'm able to do it in 3-5. 

Step 8: Put your wort into your fermentor. I do this at the same time as chilling. The tube goes from the kettle, through the chiller, and flows into the fermentor. Again, it is super important that you've sanitized your fermentor, airlock, and everything coming into contact with your wort now. If you used an immersion chiller, grab a funnel and pour it in. This will aerate which people say needs to be done, but I disagree. Fermentation is an anaerobic activity, which means in the absence of oxygen. Aeration adds oxygen. But, either way it will work. 

Step 9: Fill your fermentor up while taking an occasional hydrometer reading. The instructions will have the original gravity (OG) reading that is required for your particular brew. Once you get to it, stop filling. 

Step 10: Add (pitch) the yeast. The yeast will need to be activated which requires a 15min soak in warm (NOT HOT) water. Once the yeast is pitched, put your airlock and bung on then set your fermentor in your designated fermenting spot.

Step 11: WAIT. The sad part. Primary fermentation usually takes 7-10 days. Go down and check your airlock. It will have bubbles forming and pushing through. When these get really sporadic, like a minute or so, it is done. You can also take hydrometer readings and look for the final gravity the instructions say. 

Step 12a: You have two choices now, either bottle or put it into a secondary fermentor. Secondary fermenting helps clarity and is when you would add flavor things like cherries or wood chips or cinammon or whatever. It typically lasts like 2 weeks. Either way, take a hydrometer reading and calculate your alcohol content. 

Step 12b; Bottle your beer! Make sure you've washed your bottles and sanitized them AND your caps. Get your priming sugar dissolved in some water and add it into your freshly brewed beer. Mix it in. Remember that everything must be clean and sterile. Get connect your bottling stem to your hose and your hose to your autosiphon and get the siphon started. Everything has valves so it won't leak out. Get a bottle, stick the stem in and push it to the bottom of the bottle. Once the beer reaches the top of the bottle pull the stem out. Put a cap on top of the bottle, get your capper and press it on. This is best done with two people and is enjoyable I think. One person bottles, the other caps. 

The reason for the priming sugar is this will allow more fermentation which produces CO2. Since your bottles are now sealed, the CO2 will carbonate your beer! It is important that you don't use more sugar than they give you or you will make too much CO2 and when you go to open your bottle to drink, you will get a mess instead of yum beer.

Step 13: Set your bottles in your designated fermenting area. These will be ready to go in a week or two. This is the really crappy part. If you're like me, you've already had a bottle to sample, which despite being pretty flat and warm tastes awesome. And after experiencing beer nirvana, you have to wait a week or two more before you can enjoy something you know is going to be even better!

Step 14: DRINK THE FRUITS OF YOUR LABOR! Save the bottles for reuse! The caps can't be reused. 

And that's how you make beer at home! 

I've got 5 gallons of American wheat ale bottled and conditioning as well as 5 gallons of an Irish stout and 5 gallons of a red ale fermenting currently.

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## Icymudpuppy

Cider and Wine are much easier.

Put raw juice in airlocked carboy (Raw juice contains natural yeast and there is no need for store bought yeasts and activation of the Wort.).

Wait 2 weeks for appx 6-8%(will carbonate) or 5 weeks for 14-18%(flat)

Bottle.

Note: if you go for the 6-8% it will over carbonate and become champagne unless you kill the yeast.  After one more week to build head, Bring your bottles to 90*C and hold for 10 Minutes.

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## noxagol

But those are not BEER! But I am going to make some hard cider tomorrow with 2 gallons of apple juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

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## Icymudpuppy

Personally, I think beer tastes like $#@!, but if I were a european peasant and the nobles owned all the fruit orchards, and the only way I could get wasted to drown my sorrows was by fermenting grass seeds, I might have a reason to drink beer.  Otherwise, I'll enjoy the flavors of fruit fermentation without ever getting drunk.

I put hops in the same category as eggplant.  Fine for the hogs, or to prevent starvation, otherwise not fit for human consumption.

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## Icymudpuppy

> But those are not BEER! But I am going to make some hard cider tomorrow with 2 gallons of apple juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon.


No need for sugar or cinnamon if you use fresh pressed raw sweet cider rather than store bought juice

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## amy31416

We brew with extracts and get about three cases worth of beer for $15 of extracts. We also use a plastic food-grade bucket for the initial fermentation, which works well, though I might prefer glass in the future. I don't use a cooler or a special heater and everything turns out pretty well.

The one piece of advice that I have is to NOT re-use most regular commercial beer bottles. When you crimp the caps on, the glass is often not strong enough for the crimper and little shards of glass will break off. One exception I've found to this is Labatt's Blue bottles--they seem to have heavier glass than others. My local brewing supply guy is fantastic and will buy end-of-run supplies from smaller commercial brewers, so I can get really cheap caps and re-usable bottles from time-to-time.

Oh, and the bottling stem is a must have...I used to brew a while ago and bottle without it. It sucked and there'd often be beer everywhere.

Great thread!

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## dean.engelhardt

> The most important skill anyone should have is the production of BEER!


Can not agrue

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## Icymudpuppy

I use strap and snap lock top bottles.  No need to buy caps.  No breakage...  There aren't many pics on google image, but here's one of a blue bottle.  Mine are clear bottles, but my local brewer's supply has a few other colors.

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## amy31416

Those are really nice noxagol, but I'm thinking of moving within the next year, so...I'm trying to keep the amount of stuff I have to move down to a minimum. Ultimately though, those would be ideal. I've brewed enough to start looking into the more expensive equipment and starting without extracts, but I'm keeping everything as simple and cheap as possible now.

Beer still turns out great. My wine turns out pretty crappy so far though, but it's all experimental. Hard cider turns out decently.

Oh, and this book is pretty helpful for many different types of fermented products:



Lots of interesting recipes and tips about various setups.

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## keh10

I love to brew and have been doing it for over two years now with a friend of mine. We switched to all grain about 8 months ago and will never turn back. It really cuts back on your expenses because 'the extract is too damn high!' Anyways, here is the setup we will be using for quite some time 

We altered this table to support three burners that can be controlled individually through their respective regulators. We also mounted a food grade hot water pump to transfer our wort from kettle to kettle (saves a lot of lifting! ). 




We also converted three industrial size kegs to serve as our three specialized kettles. 




We stopped bottling our beer a long time ago and started kegging our beer in 15.5 gallon kegs and sometimes in the 5 gallon soda kegs. 
I strongly urge anyone who's interested to brew beer. It isn't hard to learn and doesn't cost that much to get started. Of course, if you're anything like me, you will gradually sink more and more money into the project until you end up with the results above 

If you are a do it yourselfer and like beer, I can guarantee that you will enjoy making it and enjoy drinking it even more.

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## Acala

One reason to brew beer instead of wine is that you can homebrew beer that is as good as ANY commercial product.  Homebrew wine,  not so much.  Of course if you don't like beer, it doesn't matter.

Just a couple comments on brewing beer.

1. Don't freak out about sanitation.  If you use a wort chiller to bring the temperature to the ideal, pitch the yeast immediately, use liquid yeast that has been allowed to "wake up" to room temperature for a couple hours, and agitate the wort so the yeast is evenly distributed when you pitch, you are not going to have a problem with contaminants.  Yeast can take care of itself, given half a chance.  I do a half-assed rinse of the (clean) glass carboy with a sanitizer before using it, use water (good quality well water) straight from the tap to dilute the wort, and I never have contamination.  If, for some reason, fermentation does not start within a few hours, THEN you can start getting excited.  But this is usually due to pitching at the wrong temperature and shocking the yeast.  Fly over to the brew store and get another tube of yeast and pitch it. 

2.  Bottles suck.  Filling bottles sucks.  Capping bottles sucks.  And most especially bottle washing sucks a big donkey schlong.  You will grow to hate it if you brew very much.  Unless you LIKE tedium and frustration.  If you think you will do much brewing at all, spring for a corny keg system.  A cylinder of co2, a couple kegs, some hose and fittings, and you are in business.  For home use you will want a cooler, which you can make with a relatively cheap chest freezer with a thermostat.

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## Acala

> I love to brew and have been doing it for over two years now with a friend of mine. We switched to all grain about 8 months ago and will never turn back. It really cuts back on your expenses because 'the extract is too damn high!' Anyways, here is the setup we will be using for quite some time 
> 
> We altered this table to support three burners that can be controlled individually through their respective regulators. We also mounted a food grade hot water pump to transfer our wort from kettle to kettle (saves a lot of lifting! ). 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We also converted three industrial size kegs to serve as our three specialized kettles. 
> 
> ...


Niccccccccce!!!!!!

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## amy31416

> I love to brew and have been doing it for over two years now with a friend of mine. We switched to all grain about 8 months ago and will never turn back. It really cuts back on your expenses because 'the extract is too damn high!' Anyways, here is the setup we will be using for quite some time 
> 
> We altered this table to support three burners that can be controlled individually through their respective regulators. We also mounted a food grade hot water pump to transfer our wort from kettle to kettle (saves a lot of lifting! ). 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We also converted three industrial size kegs to serve as our three specialized kettles. 
> 
> ...


That's beautiful...+rep.

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## YumYum

My first batch I ever brewed is an American Bock and it came out perfect. I'm now brewing a gluten-free beer and starting a Belgium wit.

After my gluten-free beer was in the fermentor for a week and a half, I measured the specific gravity and it was only 1.02 so I added more corn sugar and let it ferment another 5 days. I hope this does the trick. Homebrewing is awesome!

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## Ninja Homer

I like brewing, but hate bottling... and you probably will too.  Rinsing, cleaning, sanitizing, keeping track of and storing bottles... it's all a pain in the ass.

Rather than buying a capper, bottles, caps, etc, you may want to look at some alternatives.  For just a little more money you can get a Party Pig or a Tap-A-Draft system.  They're smaller than a full keg, so you can keep them in your fridge without any modifications, and they're portable.  The Tap-A-Draft can also force-carbonate, which is a huge advantage if you don't want to wait for your beer to naturally carbonate.

Another advantage to having the ability to force-carbonate is that you can make your own soda for really cheap.

Corny (Cornelius) keg systems are the king of homebrew dispensing, and they always will be.  These are the 5-gallon kegs you used to see at fairs and stuff for dispensing soda.  You can get into a used keg system for under $200 and it will last you a lifetime except for keg repairs and you'll eventually want more kegs so you can have a variety.  You'll also need an extra mini-fridge or kegerator because they aren't going to fit in your kitchen refrigerator.  It also isn't real portable, so you might eventually want to get something like a Party Pig or Tap-A-Draft just to transport your homebrew (although growlers will also work), or if you want to bring a whole keg to a party you can use a jockey box.

One of the biggest lies in homebrewing is that it will save you money.  Ok, yeah, eventually you'll make your money back, but equipment and supplies are expensive, and you'll be spending a lot of time on it.  If you spent the same amount of time working a part-time job as you did brewing, you could most likely buy just as much really good beer as you would have brewed, and still have money left in your pocket.  Just don't go into it thinking that it's going to save you a bunch of money... do it for the joy of it, because it really is fun!

As you get more into it, you'll start moving away from kits to extract recipes, and eventually you may want to start using brewing grains and then maybe even use straight unconverted grains.  Each step brings you closer to brewing the way your ancestors did, and it comes with promises of money savings, but then requires more equipment and more work.  You also get a lot more control over your final product.  Do it because it's fun!  Another thing you get if you learn to brew from unconverted grains is that if SHTF, you'll be able to go to a farmer, buy some grain, and make beer from it... a pretty useful skill.  Some of the equipment is useful for SHTF as well, such as a grain mill.

Before you ever purchase any homebrewing stuff, I'd recommend trying it out.  In St. Paul, there's a place you can go and brew beer on site, Vine Park Brewing.  You pay however much money and they have all the supplies and equipment and staff to help you brew a batch of beer, then you come back a couple weeks later to bottle it.  It's a little expensive, but it's a good way to try it out and see if you like it before you spend a bunch of money on equipment.  I think Vine Park is pretty unique, but there may be a place like it near you.  Another option is to find somebody that homebrews (there are all kinds of homebrew clubs and stuff) and tag along while they brew a batch... helper monkeys are almost always welcome.  At the very least, you should read up on brewing before you get into it.  There's now a near-infinite amount of info online on homebrewing, and the best book on it has always been Charles Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing.

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## Ninja Homer

> I love to brew and have been doing it for over two years now with a friend of mine. We switched to all grain about 8 months ago and will never turn back. It really cuts back on your expenses because 'the extract is too damn high!' Anyways, here is the setup we will be using for quite some time 
> 
> We altered this table to support three burners that can be controlled individually through their respective regulators. We also mounted a food grade hot water pump to transfer our wort from kettle to kettle (saves a lot of lifting! ). 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We also converted three industrial size kegs to serve as our three specialized kettles. 
> 
> ...


Nice kit!  I'd love to have that.  So, how long until you make your money back by switching to all grain?

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## keh10

Thanks everyone for the compliments!





> So, how long until you make your money back by switching to all grain?


Haha, we haven't payed for our investment yet, but we brew a 15 gallon batch about once a month and save $80-$100 each batch. I'd estimate we're on track to break even around April '11. But yes, you are correct that you will not be saving money from brewing beer until you start making large volumes. One good way to save money is to buy hops in bulk. www.hopsdirect.com is the website that we use. BUT the minimum amount of hops you can purchase is 1 lb so be aware of that.

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## dannno

> I put hops in the same category as eggplant.  Fine for the hogs, or to prevent starvation, otherwise not fit for human consumption.





Hops are one of the best tasting things in the world...

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## Madly_Sane

> Oh, and this book is pretty helpful for many different types of fermented products:
> 
> 
> 
> Lots of interesting recipes and tips about various setups.


Does this book also provide a step-by-step process on how to make it? If it does, then it might be worth me buying

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## amy31416

> Does this book also provide a step-by-step process on how to make it? If it does, then it might be worth me buying


Let me know what, specifically, you're interested in making...I can scan in the "recipe" (if it's in there) and you can judge from there.

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## YumYum

When you sprout barley to make malt, what kind of barley do you use? After I master making brew with the kits, I want to make brew sprouting my own grains. I tried sprouting some millet, but it didn't sprout. The millet was hulled, and I think the grains can't be hulled, right?

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## keh10

> When you sprout barley to make malt, what kind of barley do you use? After I master making brew with the kits, I want to make brew sprouting my own grains. I tried sprouting some millet, but it didn't sprout. The millet was hulled, and I think the grains can't be hulled, right?


Correct, you need the hulls to be intact. You can buy unmalted barley at some feed stores for really cheap in 50 or 100 lb bags. Make sure to try and avoid barley that has a high protein level, although you may not have any control over that if you're getting it from a feed store. 

I've done a little research on malting barley and it is actually a little tricky and time consuming. There's a pretty concise step by step guide here http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2009/1...grain-at-home/

It seems like there are a lot of large time dependent steps that need to be done along with lots of floor space in a temperature controlled environment and an efficient way to remove the rootlets after you have dried the malt.

If you have the time, space, and inclination; malting your own barley might be the way to go. Personally, I'm going to leave it to the professional malters.

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## noxagol

Just remember, this was all done hundreds of years ago before all of this fancy tech. If they could do it, so can you!

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## The Freethinker

> Just remember, this was all done hundreds of years ago before all of this fancy tech. If they could do it, so can you!


Noxagol, thanks for this thread. I've taken an interest in home brewing and while I'll probably never become a serious home brewer, I want to learn how to brew at home and this thread is quite informative.

I saw a Youtube video series which uses the tools you listed on the original post. It looked very simple and easy, if somewhat labor intensive.

Just one question ... I read that it's possible to use "recipes" that will, if properly brewed, generate a beer very close to commercially sold beers... how difficult is this? Can the extraction kit method be used for this? Because if it can be done, I'll never buy my own Bud Light, Heineken, Beck's, etc...

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## keh10

> Just one question ... I read that it's possible to use "recipes" that will, if properly brewed, generate a beer very close to commercially sold beers... how difficult is this? Can the extraction kit method be used for this? Because if it can be done, I'll never buy my own Bud Light, Heineken, Beck's, etc...


http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index....ath=178_452_43
This is the website that I use to order most of my ingredients. They have a large selection of their versions of commercial beers. Unfortunately, all of the beers that you described are lagers and it is difficult for a homebrewer to control the fermentation temperature of the beer accurately enough to produce the flavors of true lagers. But I wouldn't fret too much about it. It is almost impossible to make a beer that isn't delicious.

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## squarepusher

does anyone have a kegerator?

and for all the home_growers_ who feel left out, I'll leave this

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## Ninja Homer

> and for all the home_growers_ who feel left out, I'll leave this


Funny you should mention it... I get my brew supplies from Brew & Grow... for many people, it's heaven.

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## Dreamofunity

You guys are my heros.

I've had the desire to learn for a while now, but I've always hesitated in the intitial investment. I think after this holiday season I'll go through with it. 

For a complete first timer (with a relatively small work area) would you suggest a compete kit, or should I shop for the items listed individually?

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## amy31416

> You guys are my heros.
> 
> I've had the desire to learn for a while now, but I've always hesitated in the intitial investment. I think after this holiday season I'll go through with it. 
> 
> For a complete first timer (with a relatively small work area) would you suggest a compete kit, or should I shop for the items listed individually?


What's your budget? Do you have a brew supply place nearby, or would you be shopping online?

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## Dreamofunity

> What's your budget? Do you have a brew supply place nearby, or would you be shopping online?


Probably around $150, although if something is 10x better for $200 I might as well.

There is a brew store near me but I've yet to check it out, I was thinking online for the most part just thinking there'd be better deals/options than a small brew shop but I'm open to suggestions.

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## amy31416

> Probably around $150, although if something is 10x better for $200 I might as well.
> 
> There is a brew store near me but I've yet to check it out, I was thinking online for the most part just thinking there'd be better deals/options than a small brew shop but I'm open to suggestions.


The "kit" that I got ran about $80 (I added a couple things to the basic kit), and it works perfectly well..had everything I needed...but it depends on you here. I went with food-grade plastic buckets for the fermentations--they're easier to clean, not as bulky and obviously cheaper than buying giant glass carboys...however, it's not a long-term or semi-pro brewing setup.

So...ask yourself if this is likely to be one of those things where you do it a couple of times, then move on to another hobby. If so, the cheaper setup is good, and will give you good results. Even if you do continue brewing, and want to move into the more expensive setup, it's a good backup system to have, or good to have if you want to brew more than one batch at a time. If you know that it's something that you'll be into long-term, then start with the more expensive items.

If you're really motivated, it wouldn't be difficult to make most of the things yourself, and you could probably cut the cost down to about $25-$40 to make your own kit out of components you find at various places.

Either way, stop at the local brewing supply place. My local guy is pretty awesome and has this beautifully disorganized storefront...whenever I need caps, equipment, bottles, etc...if there's a way to get it cheaper, he tells me. I have a hunch he's a libertarian too. 

Here's his website: http://frontpage.erie.net/bierhaus/

There's a link to the kits, and he's quite flexible on whatever components you want or don't want in the kits, since he assembles them himself. His business is mostly online mailorder, so if you aren't happy with your local guy, he's great and can talk you through and recommend various things. His prices are quite fair.

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## Dreamofunity

http://store.homebrewden.com/beer-st...-kits-c23.aspx

^Local store and kits they offer. 

I'll definitely be consuming beer for the long term, I'm just not sure how often I would brew it - I'm in a fairly small apartment, etc. However, I pretty much drink nothing but craft beer, and I think it would be fun/cheaper to make my own (past intitial capital investment).

Mostly just an experimental thing; seems like the next step to take when you're passionate about good beer.


Thanks for the tips.

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## noxagol

It doesn't take much room up. We keep all of our stuff in a very small space in my friends basement. Takes up all of 6 sqft maybe.

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## squarepusher

can anyone recommend a good kegerator?

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## noxagol

I pitched my hard apple cider tonight. 2 gallons of 100% pure apple juice, 2lbs of dark brown sugar, 8 cinnamon sticks, and of course, yeast! Now it sits in the unused portion of my pantry fermenting. Very slowly right now, but it will pick up soon. It will be ready in time for the holidays for sure.

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## squarepusher

> I pitched my hard apple cider tonight. 2 gallons of 100% pure apple juice, 2lbs of dark brown sugar, 8 cinnamon sticks, and of course, yeast! Now it sits in the unused portion of my pantry fermenting. Very slowly right now, but it will pick up soon. It will be ready in time for the holidays for sure.


wow, that sounds awesome.  I may try it too, sounds delicious

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## noxagol

> wow, that sounds awesome.  I may try it too, sounds delicious


Well, when I try it first time, I will try to remember to post how it tastes.

And remember, in the event of collapse, the currency will be bullets and alcohol. Be your own fed and learn to produce both!

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## Dreamofunity

Bought my kit a few days ago along with a porter kit, should be brewing the 11th after all my finals. 

Thanks for the motivation.

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## Madly_Sane

> Let me know what, specifically, you're interested in making...I can scan in the "recipe" (if it's in there) and you can judge from there.


Any type of beer made from mostly natural resources

----------


## amy31416

> Any type of beer made from mostly natural resources


Can't do it right now, so I'm responding in hopes I'll remember.  Remind me if I forget.

----------


## Acala

> can anyone recommend a good kegerator?


I made my own.  I bought a small freezer (a bit bigger than the typical office refrigerator) that open from the top.  It holds three corny kegs and a small co2 cylinder (5lb I think) just perfectly.  I glued up an oak panel and screwed it to the top.  Then I drilled holes for the lines and installed a tower tap.  Then I installed a thermostat-controlled 110 volt plug switch.  Works great.

----------


## Madly_Sane

> Can't do it right now, so I'm responding in hopes I'll remember.  Remind me if I forget.


K, thank you

----------


## YumYum

I'm right now bottling a Belgium Wit; it has orange peel and coriander. My uncle is here to help. The other night we bottled a stout that we made from organic barley malt, organic brown sugar, and black strap mollases. We added rose hips. Even though it wasn't carbonated, it was out of this world.

----------


## Rael

> Personally, I think beer tastes like $#@!, but if I were a european peasant and the nobles owned all the fruit orchards, and the only way I could get wasted to drown my sorrows was by fermenting grass seeds, I might have a reason to drink beer.


Blasphemy!

----------


## Rael

what does a corny keg typically cost?

----------


## Dreamofunity

Doing my first brew tonight.

----------


## specsaregood

Well after watching my business partner do this for the past 12years and having a full kit and ingredients in my garage for the past year.  I finally got my first homebrew put in the carboy tonight, an american pale ale.  woohoo...

----------


## Bruno

> Well after watching my business partner do this for the past 12years and having a full kit and ingredients in my garage for the past year.  I finally got my first homebrew put in the carboy tonight, an american pale ale.  woohoo...


Awesome!  Better late then never!

----------


## noxagol

Hoozah. We are going to try our first all grain brew soon, my friend and I. I'll let you know how it goes.

----------


## Dreamofunity

I'm personally on my third brew (all extract kits). Did a porter, a west coast style stout which I dry-hopped, and have an Irish Red in the fermenter which I plan to use oak chips on in the secondary. 

I was bottling my stout during the Egyptian protests, which got me motivated to label:




Also, while I hate his politicking, the man has style: White House Home Brew
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2...ama-super.html

----------


## specsaregood

> Awesome!  Better late then never!


I got my first batch bottled this morning and it tastes pretty good.  A bit bitter (but i like that) pale ale.
Most importantly, it pleased the wifey.  She was surprised that _"homebrew doesn't taste like crap"_.  And I got the goahead to start on my 2nd batch: a coffee oatmeal stout.   yay!

----------


## YumYum

> I got my first batch bottled this morning and it tastes pretty good.  A bit bitter (but i like that) pale ale.
> Most importantly, it pleased the wifey.  She was surprised that _"homebrew doesn't taste like crap"_.  And I got the goahead to start on my 2nd batch: a coffee oatmeal stout.   yay!



I'm bottling a lager tomorrow and a chocolate/licorice/oat stout is in the fermenter. Did you know that North Dakota has a bill which will allow home-brewers to sell their beer?

----------


## keh10

Wow, I'm really glad to see everyone is keeping up with their brewing! Currently I've got 20-30 gallons (I'm not sure how much I've drunk yet ) of kegged Irish coffee stout, 15 gallons of IPA, and maybe 2 1/2 gallons of cream ale left from New Years. Once we have a little more time and a little more keg space, my buddy and I will brew up another 60 gallons of summertime type lagers. 

Happy brewing everyone!

----------


## specsaregood

> I'm bottling a lager tomorrow and a chocolate/licorice/oat stout is in the fermenter. Did you know that North Dakota has a bill which will allow home-brewers to sell their beer?


Sounds good, except I don't care for licorice....but perhaps some fennel.   I did not know about North Dakota, but hope they pass it; but a bit sad that we have to pass laws to allow us to do something with our own goods.

Put away 2 gallons of experimental cider today, was gonna make some mead --which I prefer to beer; but the wifey doesn't.  so we both compromised and went with cider.   One just straight apple and the other apple+ginger.....

----------


## YumYum

> Sounds good, except I don't care for licorice....but perhaps some fennel.   I did not know about North Dakota, but hope they pass it; but a bit sad that we have to pass laws to allow us to do something with our own goods.
> 
> Put away 2 gallons of experimental cider today,* was gonna make some mead* --which I prefer to beer; but the wifey doesn't.  so we both compromised and went with cider.   One just straight apple and the other apple+ginger.....


Is mead sweet? Do you carbonate it?

----------


## specsaregood

> Is mead sweet? Do you carbonate it?


It can be both.  There is "dry mead" and "sweet mead".  I like the dry stuff.  And you can carbonate it, but usually it isn't.
It is easier to make than beer and usually stronger alcohol wise.

----------


## Dreamofunity

> "sweat mead"

----------


## Koz

I've got a hefeweizen in the primary and am lagering a pilsner right now. 

Going to be brewing a Guinness clone on Friday.

----------


## eduardo89

I once made beer with my ex, it tasted horrible though! i'd love to try again if i have the time, but until then i'm completely satisfied with the beer here in germany (it also doesn't hurt that you can get a half litre bottle at the super market of high quality beer for 19 cents!)

----------


## Koz

Are you kidding me, 19 cents?

----------


## specsaregood

I bottled my coffee oatmeal stout and tried a small sample which was yum.  and put a raspberry wheat (with a hint af ginger) in the primary.

----------


## eduardo89

> Are you kidding me, 19 cents?


Completely serious. The premium supermarket brand beers are around 19 cents for a half liter bottle, and it's very good. There's even cheaper generic ones for around 15 cents a bottle. Even becks is just 45 cents for a bottle. Germany is amazing, beer is about half the price of water! What really makes me laugh is that the deposit on a lot of beers is more than than the price of the beer, it's not uncommon to pay 25 cents deposit on a 20 cent bottle of beer!

----------


## Koz

> Completely serious. The premium supermarket brand beers are around 19 cents for a half liter bottle, and it's very good. There's even cheaper generic ones for around 15 cents a bottle. Even becks is just 45 cents for a bottle. Germany is amazing, beer is about half the price of water! What really makes me laugh is that the deposit on a lot of beers is more than than the price of the beer, it's not uncommon to pay 25 cents deposit on a 20 cent bottle of beer!


That's not Germany, that's heaven.

----------


## Koz

> I bottled my coffee oatmeal stout and tried a small sample which was yum.  and put a raspberry wheat (with a hint af ginger) in the primary.


I just bottled a hefeweizen tonight, going to brew a Guiness clone Friday evening.

----------


## eduardo89

> I just bottled a hefeweizen tonight, going to brew a Guiness clone Friday evening.


there's nothing better than a weizen...

----------


## Koz

I have a Guinness clone in the primary fermenter right now. Brewing a Saphir Pilz on Friday.

----------


## Live_Free_Or_Die

not a fan of alcohol or weed but this thread is pure win

----------


## axiomata

I doubt Germany has the same distribution regulations that the US has.

----------


## dyce51

> Completely serious. The premium supermarket brand beers are around 19 cents for a half liter bottle, and it's very good. There's even cheaper generic ones for around 15 cents a bottle. Even becks is just 45 cents for a bottle. Germany is amazing, beer is about half the price of water! What really makes me laugh is that the deposit on a lot of beers is more than than the price of the beer, it's not uncommon to pay 25 cents deposit on a 20 cent bottle of beer!



That just goes to show ya just how much we pay in tax on alcohol.....

----------


## Koz

Brewed the Saphir Pilz last night. I've never used Saphir hops before, I'm interested on how it will turn out.

----------


## specsaregood

> Brewed the Saphir Pilz last night. I've never used Saphir hops before, I'm interested on how it will turn out.


Let us know.   I just bottled my favorite raspberry wheat pale, so tasty....didn't really notice the ginger I put in though.    And going to bottle up a gallon of hard cider tomorrow.

----------


## Koz

Will do, I am doing a cherry hefeweizen on Friday. Let me know how the raspberry wheat pale turns out.

----------


## specsaregood

> I have a Guinness clone in the primary fermenter right now.


http://www.economist.com/node/183294.../node/18329424

excerpt:



> *Coming to a head, Mathematicians invent a new way to pour stout* 
> 
> The widget’s days, though, may be numbered, for a crack group of mathematicians from the University of Limerick, led by William Lee, has modelled bubble formation in stout beers in detail. Their work suggests that lining the rims of cans and bottles with a material similar to an ordinary coffee filter would be a simpler, cheaper alternative to the widget. The team’s calculations show that a copious number of bubbles would form from air trapped inside the hollow fibres making up this lining. They have just submitted their work for publication in Physical Review E and are hoping that industry will soon begin testing their proposal.

----------


## specsaregood

//

----------


## Koz

I've got an IPA going right now. Going to dry hop it tomorrow. The Saphir Pilz is in the keg lagering right now. It smelled so good when it was going into the keg that I wanted to start guzzling it. I forgot to take a sample. It will be ready to drink in a couple of weeks. I'm really excited abbout this one. The Guinness Clone turned out spot on. It is finishing carbing right now.

----------


## specsaregood

//

----------


## Koz

> I just cracked one these to test; it is a little green but the wife thinks it is by far the best one I've made so far and I'm inclined to agree.


How bitter is it, I think I added too many bittering hops to mine. I'm sure it will mellow out with time. 

The Saphir Pils is awesome, probably the best beer I have ever made. 

Are you brewing all-grain?

----------


## specsaregood

> How bitter is it, I think I added too many bittering hops to mine. I'm sure it will mellow out with time.


It's got a lot of hops, but really doesn't come off too bitter.  Really damn good.
chinook: 1/2oz @90min, 1/4oz @75min, 1/4oz @60min, 1/4oz @45min, 1/4oz @30min, 1/4oz @15min, 1/8oz @0min 1/8oz @7days 
cascade: 1/2oz @90min, 1/4oz @75min, 1/4oz @60min, 1/4oz @45min, 1/4oz @30min, 1/4oz @15min, 1/8oz @0min, 1/8oz @7days 
amarillo: 1/8oz @90min, 1/8oz @75min, 1/8oz @60min, 1/8oz @45min, 1/8oz @30min, 1/8oz @15min, 1/8oz @0min, 1/8oz @7days 




> Are you brewing all-grain?


No, I don't have the space, time or equipment to try that.  But I am partial mashing.

Just tried an all palisades pale ale I bottled last weekend and its pretty decent, should be good in a couple weeks.
The wifey has requested that i do a porter next.

----------


## specsaregood

./

----------


## Koz

> So my wife's favorite default beer was always sierra nevada pale ale.  If you asked her what "beer" tastes like, she'd have said sierra nevada.
> So she had a friend over yesterday and they brought some SN with them.  After the day was over, she says to me holding an empty sierra nevada, "_You ruined sierra nevada for me.  all it tastes like now is carbonated hops water._"


That's nice, my wife won't drink production Hefeweizen anymoe, and that's all she drinks. Thank goodness they only take a week to ferment.

----------


## specsaregood

Having an afternoon break with my first porter.  Good stuff, it was a little appley when i bottled it but a few weeks in bottles and it turned out awesome.   I bottled a stout this morning and the sample was great.   It's a good thing I have about 8cases of homebrew in the garage now, its going to be too hot to heat up the kitchen by brewing before too long but I'm well stocked.

----------


## specsaregood

//

----------


## keh10

Bump for the freshly bottled coffee stout.

----------


## TripleW

I just bottled a batch of DIPA yesterday, i'm pretty excited about it. My next two batches are going to be a Belgian Wheat and a Pumpkin Ale.

----------


## specsaregood

I bottled another molasses porter this weekend.
Is everybody ready for "Mead Day" 2011?
http://www.homebrewersassociation.or...vents/mead-day



> Saturday, August 6, 2011
> 
> First organized in 2002 by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), Mead Day is a national event to increase mead awareness and foster camaraderie among meadmakers.
> 
> Homebrewers around the world are encouraged to invite friends and family to celebrate Mead Day by making mead together.


My last blueberry iced tea mead has been getting great reviews from friends and family.   I think I'm gonna make it again.

----------


## Koz

Not a mead fan here. I have been making pilsners and kolshs all summer. I did an Octoberfest in May, it will lager for about another month. I can't wait. 

I have another saphir pils to keg tomorrow. Brewing another pilsner this weekend.

----------


## specsaregood

My belgian rye went over so well with people that I remade it and substituted half of the rye for chocolate rye.  Just so I could call it belgian chocolate rye. 

Peaches are in season here, so probably gonna try making a peach wheat ale this weekend.

----------


## Koz

Specs, can you post the peach wheat ale recipe? I bet my wife would love that.

----------


## specsaregood

//

----------


## Athan

I approve of this thread!

----------


## specsaregood

> My belgian rye went over so well with people that I remade it and substituted half of the rye for chocolate rye.  Just so I could call it belgian chocolate rye.


Oh, I'm 2/3 of the way through my belgian chocolate rye, it turned out fantastic, I really like the chocolate rye and will use it again.  Only thing I won't do again is I experimented with a tablespoon of black peppercorns in the boil.   I kept noticing this weird taste in the brew, it took me about a gallon to figure out it was the peppercorns.  yeah, didn't work; but didn't ruin it either.

----------


## specsaregood

> I approve of this thread!


Do you brew?  Or just a taster.

----------


## pcosmar

Does anyone use Mugwort?
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/mugw...l-stout-90441/


It may be late in the year,, But I have plenty growing on my property.
Let me know, Perhaps next year I will harvest and dry a bunch,, if there is interest.

----------


## specsaregood

> Does anyone use Mugwort?
> http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/mugw...l-stout-90441/
> It may be late in the year,, But I have plenty growing on my property.
> Let me know, Perhaps next year I will harvest and dry a bunch,, if there is interest.


i've never tried it, but it does sound interesting.   perhaps i'll try it sometime soon and let ya know.

----------


## specsaregood

//

----------


## Cowlesy

I think I have all the stuff I need to brew.  I am going to start off with a micro-batch of 1 gallon.

Question on the wort-cooling process.

Do I really need to power-cool this stuff, meaning, should I buy a wort-cooler first?  Or will an ice-bath in the sink be enough to do the job?

Also, anyone have advice for pitfalls on step one of this process?  I plan on following the directions to the T as much as possible, but any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

----------


## specsaregood

> Do I really need to power-cool this stuff, meaning, should I buy a wort-cooler first?  Or will an ice-bath in the sink be enough to do the job?


All I ever use is an ice bath, never had a problem.  Hell, one time the icemaker was busted and I just had to use cold water in the sink and refill it a few times.  It just takes longer which as long as it stays closed up and hygenic then it isn't a problem.  The #1 thing is to make anything that touches the wort after the flame is turned off has been sanitized.

----------


## Cowlesy

> All I ever use is an ice bath, never had a problem.  Hell, one time the icemaker was busted and I just had to use cold water in the sink and refill it a few times.  It just takes longer which as long as it stays closed up and hygenic then it isn't a problem.  The #1 thing is to make anything that touches the wort after the flame is turned off has been sanitized.


Thanks man.   Think I'll just make a ton of ice and do that for now.  If this batch turns out good maybe I'll invest a bit.

Another question.  After you bottle it (so a while from now), does it need to be immediately refridgerated, or do you let it sit for a period of time capped, but un-refridgerated?  Any tips for ensuring it has appropriate carbonation for a good head?

----------


## specsaregood

> Thanks man.   Think I'll just make a ton of ice and do that for now.  If this batch turns out good maybe I'll invest a bit.


Just fwiw, you don't have to invest much.   I've done just over 2 dozen 5gallon batches and all I have is a cheapie basic starter kit: 5gal kettle, 5gal carboy, 5gal bucket and capper.




> Another question.  After you bottle it (so a while from now), does it need to be immediately refridgerated, or do you let it sit for a period of time capped, but un-refridgerated?  Any tips for ensuring it has appropriate carbonation for a good head?


No.  After fermentation is complete.   You will have to add some new sugar right before bottling.  Then you have to let the bottles sit somewhere in say 70degree or so temperature for another 2-3weeks.  Then they will be carbonated and can be refrigerated.   The carbonation comes from the yeast still in the brew and starts as soon as you add new sugar.
Most people I guess add the sugar to the whole batch then bottle,  Personally I add the sugar directly to each bottle, then put the brew right on top and cap.
1/2tsp - 1tsp per 12/oz bottle.  (depending on how carbonated I want it, usually go with 3/4tsp.)

----------


## amy31416

Hey Specs--do you use corn sugar exclusively? Ever tried w/table sugar?

(Sorry if you answered this--didn't read through thread)

----------


## Dreamofunity

> Hey Specs--do you use corn sugar exclusively? Ever tried w/table sugar?
> 
> (Sorry if you answered this--didn't read through thread)


Not Specs, but I've used table sugar once. I had the corn sugar all ready to go, and ended up knocking it over on accident. It was 11pm and I already had the beer in the bottling bucket so I didn't want to risk contamination. It turned out alright, I prefer corn sugar though. I've read of people using brown sugar or honey, but I've yet to try it. My friend has access to raw cane sugar syrup, so we may try to use it with a dark belgium. 

The carbonation is a little different with regular sugar, a bit more soda like than a typical beer, but it doesn't taste bad by any means. Some of my friends actually prefer it over my other beers, but I think that may just be a style difference - it was a red ale with whiskey soaked oak chips, while the rest of the beers I've brewed have been much darker.



I currently have a pumpkin beer and cider in the fermenter, should be able to bottle in November.

----------


## specsaregood

> Hey Specs--do you use corn sugar exclusively? Ever tried w/table sugar?
> (Sorry if you answered this--didn't read through thread)


I used corn sugar for my first 4 batches, since then i've used regular white table sugar without any problems.  It's always carbonated just fine using between 1/2tsp to 1tsp per 12oz. I usually use 3/4tsp.

IIRC, the main reason to use corn sugar over white table sugar is corn sugar is consumed by the yeast a tad quicker AND it is much finer so measuring is a bit more accurate.  But it aint rocket science really anything fermentable will work.  I use white table sugar because it is easy to get, I always have it on hand and it works just as well for me.

----------


## amy31416

> Not Specs, but I've used table sugar once. I had the corn sugar all ready to go, and ended up knocking it over on accident. It was 11pm and I already had the beer in the bottling bucket so I didn't want to risk contamination. It turned out alright, I prefer corn sugar though. I've read of people using brown sugar or honey, but I've yet to try it. My friend has access to raw cane sugar syrup, so we may try to use it with a dark belgium. 
> 
> The carbonation is a little different with regular sugar, a bit more soda like than a typical beer, but it doesn't taste bad by any means. Some of my friends actually prefer it over my other beers, but I think that may just be a style difference - it was a red ale with whiskey soaked oak chips, while the rest of the beers I've brewed have been much darker.
> 
> 
> 
> I currently have a pumpkin beer and cider in the fermenter, should be able to bottle in November.


 



> I used corn sugar for my first 4 batches, since then i've used regular white table sugar without any problems.  It's always carbonated just fine using between 1/2tsp to 1tsp per 12oz. I usually use 3/4tsp.
> 
> IIRC, the main reason to use corn sugar over white table sugar is corn sugar is consumed by the yeast a tad quicker AND it is much finer so measuring is a bit more accurate.  But it aint rocket science really.  I use white table sugar because it is easy to get, I always have it on hand and it works just as well for me.


Thanks to both of you--I'm planning on starting up brewing again once we move, and it annoyed me that corn sugar was more expensive than regular sugar. I noticed the difference in how much finer corn sugar is, perhaps that's the main reason the yeast consumes it faster (more surface area)--so I think I'll try running regular sugar in the food processor to get it to the same fineness and try using it that way. Alas, I won't have any results to report for quite a while, since it'll be months before I can brew again.

----------


## specsaregood

> Thanks to both of you--I'm planning on starting up brewing again once we move, and it annoyed me that corn sugar was more expensive than regular sugar. I noticed the difference in how much finer corn sugar is, perhaps that's the main reason the yeast consumes it faster (more surface area)--so I think I'll try running regular sugar in the food processor to get it to the same fineness and try using it that way. Alas, I won't have any results to report for quite a while, since it'll be months before I can brew again.


Have fun with it, I usually do my brewing and bottling when I'm on kid watching duty.

----------


## amy31416

> Have fun with it, I usually do my brewing and bottling when I'm on kid watching duty.


Well, Meris is at the age where she raises hell every time I set her down to do anything. I'm impatiently waiting for that phase to end.

----------


## Cowlesy

Did I mess this up??

It looks almost brownish green (it's a summer wheat recipe that you use grains as your sparge) ....and I shook the hell out of it but the yeast seems kind of clumped at the top.




http://brooklynbrewshop.com/instructions --- those were the basic instructions I used.

----------


## specsaregood

> Did I mess this up??
> It looks almost brownish green (it's a summer wheat recipe that you use grains as your sparge) ....and I shook the hell out of it but the yeast seems kind of clumped at the top.


You just put the yeast in after it cooled down?  If so, all is good.  That yeast will fall into it and go nuts anywhere between 8-24 hours from now.

----------


## Cowlesy

> You just put the yeast in after it cooled down?  If so, all is good.  That yeast will fall into it and go nuts anywhere between 8-24 hours from now.


I got it down to 80 and got a bit impatient.  Directions said to 70.  Maybe it is the hops that make it that color?  Styrian golding hops?  The biggest goof i made was trying to drain the sparge through my funnel with a fine strainer in it.  That went nowhere.  I figured out to use the internal strainer inside my big pot to separate the wort from the sparge, and then used the funnel to move the wort into the carboy after cooldown.  That was still a big pain in the ass getting it to clear through the funnel's strainer.

----------


## specsaregood

> I got it down to 80 and got a bit impatient.  Directions said to 70.  Maybe it is the hops that make it that color?  Styrian golding hops?  The biggest goof i made was trying to drain the sparge through my funnel with a fine strainer in it.  That went nowhere.  I figured out to use the internal strainer inside my big pot to separate the wort from the sparge, and then used the funnel to move the wort into the carboy after cooldown.  That was still a big pain in the ass getting it to clear through the funnel's strainer.


There is a saying cowlesy.  _Relax, and have a homebrew._  Seeing as you probably don't have a homebrew handy, any drink will work.
Hell, I've put my yeast in much warmer; you'll be fine, put the airlock or blowoff tube on it and put it somewhere that if it overflow it won't make a mess.

Do you have any of those fine muslin/grain bags?  Thats what I use to strain.  Just tie it onto the end of the tube.

Coincidently, I'm in the middle of brewing a i-don't-know-what-to-call-it-cuz-i-just-through-a-bunch-of-grains-together beer myself.

----------


## Cowlesy

Alright, there are bubbles going into my blow-off tube and into the dish, so I guess the yeast activated.  Still concerned this stuff looks like mudslide mix.

----------


## Cowlesy

It appears the yeast are consuming the sugars?

----------


## pcosmar

> It appears the yeast are consuming the sugars?


Good for the yeast. Happy yeast,,, Happy brew.

----------


## Cowlesy

> Good for the yeast. Happy yeast,,, Happy brew.


Hopefully!  It looks a little cloudy right now.  Not sure how I feel about cloudy beer.  I guess I'll give it two weeks like the instructions say and go from there.

----------


## specsaregood

> Hopefully!  It looks a little cloudy right now.  Not sure how I feel about cloudy beer.  I guess I'll give it two weeks like the instructions say and go from there.


Wheat beers are always cloudy/hazy.  Also, its still fermenting it will look different after everything settles down.  But it will still be cloudy/hazy.

http://beer.about.com/od/wheatbeer/a/WheatGuide.htm



> Wheat has a lot more protein in it than barley which contributes to thick, long lasting heads. *This protein also creates haze in most wheat beers.*

----------


## Cowlesy

> Wheat beers are always cloudy/hazy.  Also, its still fermenting it will look different after everything settles down.  But it will still be cloudy/hazy.
> 
> http://beer.about.com/od/wheatbeer/a/WheatGuide.htm


Man, I don't know.  Here is 65 hours into it (I put the airlock on it).  When I pulled the tubing, I am wondering how bubbles were even escaping as the tube was fully gunked with sediment.  Did I ruin it because of that?

----------


## specsaregood

> Man, I don't know.  Here is 65 hours into it (I put the airlock on it).  When I pulled the tubing, I am wondering how bubbles were even escaping as the tube was fully gunked with sediment.  Did I ruin it because of that?


Nope, looking good.  If the bubbles weren't escaping you would know as it would have exploded.

----------


## eduardo89

Just rediscovered this thread. Specs, you've become quite the brewer! Some of your recipes sounds delicious, I'm going to see where I can buy a kit to start brewing again and you're going to give me your recipes, whether you want to or not

----------


## keh10

Oh man, I'm really pleased to come across this thread again! Looks like everyone is doing an excellent job. I've been very busy brewing and my latest creations have been my ever popular black ale (pictured) and a new experiment, a grapefruit IPA (it's like Shiner Ruby Redbird with a lot more hops). 


And of course, you can't enjoy a delicious dark home brewed ale without the company of F. A. Hayek at your side 



Enjoy the home brew everyone and make sure to get something ready for the holiday season!

----------


## noxagol

> Man, I don't know.  Here is 65 hours into it (I put the airlock on it).  When I pulled the tubing, I am wondering how bubbles were even escaping as the tube was fully gunked with sediment.  Did I ruin it because of that?


That is perfectly fine there.

The airlock is just there to keep things out and let things out. Only necessary to avoid explosion of the brew from CO2 build up.

I really need to make some more, its been so long.

----------


## Cowlesy

So, I don't know, did I ruin it?  I am wondering if I should have used a rubber stopper on top, was the air-lock not tight enough?  I am overreacting?  I am bottling tomorrow and the color wasn't as pretty as it was in the last picture.

----------


## pcosmar

> So, I don't know, did I ruin it?


Can't tell from here.
Would have to taste it.

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## amy31416

> So, I don't know, did I ruin it?  I am wondering if I should have used a rubber stopper on top, was the air-lock not tight enough?  I am overreacting?  I am bottling tomorrow and the color wasn't as pretty as it was in the last picture.


I can't tell--is that mold in the neck? I've brewed using buckets, not a glass container--but there's always some icky-looking stuff on the sides. Hard to compare with this pic, can you get a clearer pic of the neck?

I think it looks pretty good, relative to what I've brewed before--but I don't have as much experience as many who post here. In fact, I think the color looks better than in your last pic.

When you're bottling tomorrow, smell it, and if it doesn't smell bad, taste a little bit of it. It'll be flat, but you can get an idea of where it's going. (Taste before adding the additional sugar.)

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## noxagol

That foam on top is normal. Your fine. It's called krausen (KROY-zen). Looks like a good bit of sediment, though that could just be on the sides.

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## Cowlesy

I have to 

My yield..after all that work for a 1 gallon batch.  6 bottles!

I had a ton of trub when I finished this little experiment, and doing a 1 man auto-siphon was a pain in the ass.



It SMELLED like beer, but I don't know, it almost seemed a bit watery, but couldn't bring myself to really taste it without it being the finished product.

Bottling sucks, I am going to get a better operation for that.

So we'll see in 2 weeks if it is drinkable, or if I end up sick.

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## eduardo89

> So we'll see in 2 weeks if it is drinkable, or if I end up sick.


First time I brewed I got horrible diarrhea. Good luck!

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## noxagol

> Bottling sucks, I am going to get a better operation for that.


Get a bottling wand. Looks like this:


The end has a valve that auto closes. You just hook your siphon hose up to top of it then stick it down to the bottom of the bottle. It pushes the needle up, opening the valve. I stop when the beer reaches the top of the bottle because the wands volume displaces the beer. This usually puts it right at the shoulder of the bottle.

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## Cowlesy

> Get a bottling wand. Looks like this:
> 
> 
> The end has a valve that auto closes. You just hook your siphon hose up to top of it then stick it down to the bottom of the bottle. It pushes the needle up, opening the valve. I stop when the beer reaches the top of the bottle because the wands volume displaces the beer. This usually puts it right at the shoulder of the bottle.


Thanks noxagol, will look into this.

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## noxagol

If you were pinching tube closed to stop the flow into the bottle, once you use that you will wonder how you ever managed to do it before! However, be careful to not suck up some of the solid stuff that settles to the bottom. This can clog the valve and is a pain to deal with.

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## Cowlesy

> If you were pinching tube closed to stop the flow into the bottle, once you use that you will wonder how you ever managed to do it before! However, be careful to not suck up some of the solid stuff that settles to the bottom. This can clog the valve and is a pain to deal with.


What I did was go from my carboy to my sterile pot via a big huge funnel/filter I had to avoid getting any sediment.  And you were right about the stuff up at the neck of the bottle, it was just on the side and had been there since right after I brewed.  Wasn't mold.

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## noxagol

When filtering, do your best to avoid aeration. Slow and calm is the name of the game. Aeration will introduce oxygen to the yeast which will skunk your brew faster. Oxygen and light during and after fermentation are the two biggest things to avoid. If you could do the whole thing in a closed and purged system you'd be golden. I thought up a filter process for siphoning, basically you get a container of some sort or make one, where you can attach a tube to both ends and have some sort of paper filter like cheesecloth or something else. that sort of filter is going to get a lot more particles than a strainer type. I thought of using two large funnels and putting a bead of food safe silicone sealant around both rims. Put some cheese cloth or other filter material and then clamp them together. Purge with co2 by hooking this up to the airlock during fermentation at some point, then before removing the airlock, clamp off both ends of the tube. Hook on end up to the auto-siphon and the other end to the bottling wand. Then unclamp the ends and proceed to bottle. This will remove sediment and will keep you from oxygenating the brew. It will even carbonate it a little, especially the first few bottles.

All this talk has me wanting to really brew some beer!

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## noxagol

Started a hard apple cider last night. A gallon of apple juice, Indian Summer brand, a pound of brown sugar, 5 cinnamon sticks, and 1/5 a packet of wine yeast. The original gravity was 1.080, which according to some charts I found, will give me an alcohol content of about 10%.

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## EMalmgren85

I also love brewing. I've been at it for 3 years, been all graining for a full year now.

I actually brewed a Belgian Blonde today coming in at 1.054. Next week I will be brewing an Irish Draught Ale.

For anyone just getting into brewing or thinking about it, I cant recommend Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies enough.

I may post pics of my next brew day, just to take the mystery out of all grain brewing

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