Home Brewing

[Todd]

I've posted a little about this in a beer thread, but I was wondering who out there does this regularly. I'm just getting into it and I really think it ties in to the DIY attitude and Liberty living.

And Here's the thing. It's EASY!

I'd love to see others' pics, tricks, recipes, and tips to better brew.

I just recently started a Belgian style Dubbel beer. It is still in the fermenter awaiting transer to a secondary fermenter at the end of the week...(hopefully).


What I learned from starting this hobby is you need to get a basic starter kit, so I've compiled a list for anyone who wants to start out at novice level. Novice meaning Extract brewing.

Beginner Kit:

5 gal Stainless steel Brew Pot
Large S/S Brew Spoon or Brew Paddle
Brewing Thermometer
Fermentation Bucket w/ liquid crystal thermometer
Bottling Bucket w/ Spigot and tubing
bottle wand
Auto-Siphon w/ tubing
Glass Carboy w/ rubber stopper for Airlock
Bottles (brown)
Bottle Caps
Bottle Capper
Bottle cleaning brush
Carboy cleaning brush
Star-San sanitizing solution (absolute essential as any bad bacteria will destroy a batch of beer)
Airlock
Priming Sugar (Corn Sugar for bottling)

ingredients for the style you wish to make.


Not essential but helpful:

Hydrometer with hydrometer jar - Calculates when your beer has completed fermentation and Alcohol content(for figuring your alcohol content)

Propane burner w/ stand; Gas heats large amounts of water more quickly than a conventional countertop stove.

10 Gal Brewpot: For making Big Batches. You will need this size if you move to All Grain brewing


Links to Homebrewing Resources:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/ Forums with recipes and all homebrew related issues; I've had dozens of complications answered here. Also has links for Soda and other drinks.

http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html How to Homebrew Directions - John Palmer (one of the pioneers of the hobby)

http://byo.com/resources Homebrewing Resource guides: Yeasts, Grains, Hops descriptions to help create your own recipes

http://www.mrmalty.com/yeast.htm Yeast strains and what Beers they are from

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style Beer Advocate Beer styles and ratings of Craft beer.

http://www.brewtarget.org/ - FREE Homebrewing Software. Great for making your own recipes and it's FREE!

http://beersmith.com/ - Homebrewing software. Great resource but it's not free.

https://www.brewtoad.com/ - Home brewing recipes, tools and forums for homebrewing.


Equipment, kits, Ingredients: Northern Brewer and Midwest tend to have the Freshest ingredients.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/?gclid=COWs8uSkq7sCFUdbfgodDSIAoQ

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/

http://www.homebrewing.org/

http://www.mrbeer.com/

http://www.brewersbestkits.com/

http://monsterbrew.com/

Books:

How to Brew - John Palmer

The Complte Joy of Homebrewing - Charlie Papazian

Homebrewing for Dummies - Marty Nachel


Videos:







http://www.youtube.com/user/CraigTube



Brewing Hard Cider:



How to Harvest Yeast for Future Use


Homebrewing Recipe Builder

 

[calendula]

Very cool, thanks for the list. All I've "brewed" thus far is soda, but I've been thinking about getting into beer and wine, but haven't been sure where to start. I have a wine-making book, but it seems complicated and a bit overwhelming to me at this point. Your list is a good place to start!

 

[brandon]

How much would a starter kit cost, ballpark?

I've wanted to get into this for years but I worry I'm gonna spend way too much on equipment and then only do it a few times before I get bored with it and give up.

 

[Todd]

How much would a starter kit cost, ballpark?

I've wanted to get into this for years but I worry I'm gonna spend way too much on equipment and then only do it a few times before I get bored with it and give up.

Buy a beginner kit. It comes with basic stuff and ingredients to do one batch. Once you make your first brew with it, you have about 80% of the things you need to go on to intermediate. The only additional things you will probably need to brew it is a Stainless brew pot and big spoon.

My wife got me this several years back and I'm still using most of the hardware. It's about $130 to $150

http://www.monsterbrew.com/Prod_NewBrewersCompleteHomebrewKitWithAutoSiphon.cfm

It's a basic Amber style.

I've heard that Mr. Beer has some really delicious kits, but their fermenting vessel doesn't hold a 5 Gal batch.

 

[specsaregood]

If you are gonna just use recycled bottles instead of buying bottles; I always like the sierra nevadas best as they are short and fit in the dishwasher. If buying bottles then I recommend the 24oz, saves some time.

I did 1 batch/month up until my kid was 1+yr and walking. now I just don't have the time or energy. I do have a few bottles I brewed that have aged a few years now still in my beer cellar and they are still good and unskunked.

 

[brandon]

Buy a beginner kit. It comes with basic stuff and ingredients to do one batch. Once you make your first brew with it, you have about 80% of the things you need to go on to intermediate. The only additional things you will probably need to brew it is a Stainless brew pot and big spoon.

My wife got me this several years back and I'm still using most of the hardware. It's about $130 to $150

http://www.monsterbrew.com/Prod_NewBrewersCompleteHomebrewKitWithAutoSiphon.cfm

It's a basic Amber style.

I've heard that Mr. Beer has some really delicious kits, but their fermenting vessel doesn't hold a 5 Gal batch.

Thanks for the link. I may end up ordering that in a couple weeks. Will post results.

 

[Todd]

Very cool, thanks for the list. All I've "brewed" thus far is soda, but I've been thinking about getting into beer and wine, but haven't been sure where to start. I have a wine-making book, but it seems complicated and a bit overwhelming to me at this point. Your list is a good place to start!

I've been told the basic wine kits are more simple than the beer ones, if that helps. The price seems crazy until you realize that you are going to get about 30 bottles of wine out of the kit. Which comes out to about $5 to $8 a bottle.

 

[dannno]

If you want to just try it out, I have made some excellent beer with Mr. Beer... It costs less than $50. You don't make very much, but you get a good idea of the process and what you can do.

 

[presence]

I'm doing my first batch of hard cider this year. I'll let you know more as I get into it. Apples are off the tree

 

[Todd]

My Belgian in a bath of cool water to keep the fermenting temps lower.

 

[Root]

I started home brewing about a year ago, when my brother got me a Mr. Beer kit for my birthday. IMO, this is a very good way to become familiar with the process and workflow of making beer (or wine). I haven't brewed as much as I've wanted to, but I will be brewing more 4 more batches in the Mr. Beer fermenter (called Little Brown Keg or LBK) over the next 15 weeks, and then investing in a 5 gallon system.

Here is the 5 gallon kit I will most likely buy: http://morebeer.com/products/personal-home-brewery-kit-2-deluxe-1.html
Note that it's not a complete kit, but has almost everything.

My Witbier is fermenting nicely. Those Belgian yeast sure know how to party.

Here's what I'm planning
Blackberry ale
White IPA
Random Ale from left over Mr Beer ingredients.
Presence's Apple Jack

 

[Todd]

IMy Witbier is fermenting nicely. Those Belgian yeast sure know how to party.

Yes they do.....once they get going.

Lesson learned from this go around is that I'd better aerate the wort better or make a good yeast starter before I put the yeast in the fermenter. I started this on Wednesday Sep 18 and it didn't kick in until VERY early Sunday morning while I slept. I was out of town and couldn't do anything about it but the wife sent me a picture of it going crazy. I just hope it didn't become infected because of the 72 hr + slow start and that it ate all that candi sugar I put in.....or else I'm going to be drinking Kool aide beer.

 

[brandon]

What are ideal fermenting temperatures?

 

[specsaregood]

What are ideal fermenting temperatures?

Cooler generally; but it depends on the type of yeast/bear. eg: lagers are fermented at very cool/refrigerated temperatures.
I did most of my ales in the basement at around 70F (which would be considered almost too high).
Versus a saison, which was a beer brewed in france during the summer and likes hot temperatures.

If the temperature gets too warm, you'll get some funkiness where the yeast puts off unwanted tastes; often banana-y.

 

[dannno]

What are ideal fermenting temperatures?

You can actually get different types of yeast that are better for different temps, but room temperature is optimal for most yeasts on the market afaik.

 

[brandon]

Interesting. So for example, in the summer I don't run the AC during the day and my temps can fluctuate from 90 midday to 68 overnight. I guess that would be a bad environment for brewing?

 

[specsaregood]

Interesting. So for example, in the summer I don't run the AC during the day and my temps can fluctuate from 90 midday to 68 overnight. I guess that would be a bad environment for brewing?

Well it depends on the yeast. Some yeasts/beer types do better in heat. That might be the time to brew a saison.
But aside from that, summer inside isn't necessarily ideal for beer brewing because you have to boil the stuff. I wouldn't brew in my house during the summer simply because of that reason, it would make the house sweltering.

 

[presence]

Presence's Apple Jack

Are you swatting me?







No where did I mean insinuate you should freeze your hard cider

 

[presence]

oooh....

Just got my free catalog in the mail from Northern Brewer: 800-681-BREW

MEGAPOT 1.2 is a masterpiece!

 

[Root]

Are you swatting me?







No where did I mean insinuate you should freeze your hard cider

No sir. I think the idea brilliant and the Mr Beer keg fermenter is perfect for this application once I move up to 5 gallon batches.