Homebrewing!

nbp

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Hi guys,

You may have guessed by now that I like good food by my other thread. Well I like good beer too.

I just got a basic homebrewing kit and I am going to brew my first batch tomorrow, an Irish Red kit from Midwest brewing supplies.

Does anyone else brew? If so maybe you could share a little bit about your equipment, what you've been brewing, and any advice you may have for a beginner. I'd like to learn as much as I can and make some delicious beer!

I hope we can get some good discussion going! :buddies:
 

nbp

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I have my first batch in the fermenter now. I should be able to tell within a day or so if the fermentation process is working properly. I really hope so. I am very excited to taste this stuff and see how I did. It's going to be tough to wait the 4 weeks or so until I can pop one open!
 

PapaLumen

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Ive been thinking about it recently. I remember trying it when i was about 18 and if i recall, it didnt turn out to well lol.

I think some research about the best kits/practices etc is in order. mm free beer... well nearly.
 

MorePower

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I just started last December. I've got a fairly nice, albeit basic, setup. 5 gallon and 6.5 gallon glass carboys, plus a 3 gallon Better Bottle for half size test batches. Auto siphon, bottling wand, hydrometer, a few airlocks, a blowoff tube for use in primary fermentation, capper, etc. I've only done extract brews so far, and don't plan to go all-grain any time soon, if ever.

Beers I've made so far include an American dark ale, a very nice bock, an oatmeal stout, a honey wheat, a southern English brown ale, and last week I bottled an IPA. Tonight I'm going to make a fairly light honey ale for my wife.

Some tips:
Keep everything clean. I use StarSan. It's a no rinse sanitizer and doesn't impact the flavor of the beer at all.
Find a local shop if you can. They tend to be staffed by folks that really like beer and brewing and are a great source of info and help.
Keep everything clean.
Get a decent thermometer so you don't kill the yeast by adding it to your wort before it's cooled down enough.
Keep everything clean.
Get a copy of "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and read it. It's a good introduction to homebrewing and has a lot of great recipes.
Keep everything clean.
 

nbp

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Thanks for the post MP! I've got a very basic setup, similar to yours. Some of it came in the kit, and a couple added things I bought at a local homebrew shop. My first batch was extract as well, with some specialty grains that had to steep beforehand. I plan to stick to extract for awhile too I think. There are so many good recipe kits to choose from, I don't think I'll run out of beers to make anytime soon. Plus, then I still have the options of changing up yeasts, hops, malt extracts etc, for almost infinite variability without the time or money investments of all grain brewing. The guy at the LHBS was helpful, answering some of my questions today.

My red ale has been in the fermenter about 9 days now. I intend to open it this weekend (fermentation should long be done, just letting the yeasts clean up after themselves for cleaner taste hopefully) and bottle it Sunday. I will leave it condition and carbonate for 2 weeks, then crack one and see how it is. It might need more time than that, might not. I am really excited, but at the same time pretty nervous that I have already or will mess something up, but I think I'm probably just overthinking it. It's beer either way!
 

MorePower

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Are you in the Madison area? The Wine and Hop Shop is really helpful and full of knowledgeable people. I've had nothing but good results with their kits.

You probably don't need to wait a full 2 weeks for the beer to carbonate. Most of my batches were ready to drkink after a week or 10 days in the bottle. Also, I'm very impatient so I typically start trying my "QC samples" around day 5.

Give it a taste when you bottle; it'll be flat and a little sweet from the priming sugar, but at least you'll know right away if the batch was clean or if it got infected somewhere along the way.
 

nbp

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Hey I didn't notice you were in WI! I am actually just a little north of Milwaukee. I went today to Northern Brewer in West Allis. If you get by there ever, it's a really nice store, they've got everything!

Great tip on tasting it when bottling to check for contamination. I suppose it would be clear pretty fast if it's bad! I think I will probably do like you and open the first one after a week or so and try every couple days to see how it's going. I don't think this brew needs to condition for a really long time like some do, but I'd like it to be good before I start giving it to friends, haha. :buddies:
 

MorePower

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Ah yes, giving homebrew to friends. I probably end up giving away 1/3 to 1/2 of everything I bottle. On the plus side, that means I need to brew batches more often and get to try more styles sooner than if I was drinking it all myself.
 

nbp

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Hehe, that was pretty much my plan. I don't really want to drink 5 gallons of the same beer myself when there are dozens of different styles to try.

Plus, now that all my friends know I am trying the homebrew thing, they've pretty much told me that I will be giving them some of it... :duck:
 

nbp

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My first batch is now in bottles! Despite some newbie errors that made me dump a little more than I hoped I got 42 bottles out of the batch. I tasted it and it's definitely drinkable, I think about 4% ABV. The stuff I tested came off the trub layer, so it was a bit bitter but I did pretty well keeping the sediment out of the bottles I think so it will mellow out as it conditions I expect. Now I just hope it carbonates properly!
 

Tori

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I attempted a homebrew last summer...it failed badly. Brewing takes a certain kind of patience that I just don't have. That, and I cheaped out on my ingredients. Quality in your ingredients makes a huge difference.
 

nbp

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Hi Tori, :welcome:

The individual steps don't necessarily take that long, but yes, there is a lot of waiting involved, depending also on the styles you choose to brew. I think it's pretty fun so far. What ended up happening with your brew? What went wrong? I got my recipe kit from Midwest Supplies. High quality stuff for reasonable prices. You should join us and try another batch, we can help each other along! :grin2:
 

MorePower

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http://www.northernbrewer.com/ is another good place for kits and equipment.

On the 4th I bottled what I'm calling a Honey Blonde Lawnmowing beer. Should carbonate pretty quickly, due to low abv (3.6%) and a full cup of priming sugar. Best yield so far, as I started with 5.25 gallons and after transferring to the secondary and again at bottling, I ended up with very nearly 5 gallons.

My IPA turned out nice and hoppy. I may have to start another batch of that this weekend.
 

nbp

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MorePower, Northern Brewer is very good, that is the shop I went to in West Allis to get some supplies. Nice people, good selection of gear.

Oh, by the way, I thought I'd share:

brew.jpg



My first glass of homebrew! I came home from work tonight, and thought I'd give it a try. It's been five days in the bottle, and it was carbonated nicely. I was very pleased with it. I couldn't believe as I was drinking it that I had MADE it, not bought it! It was every bit as tasty as reds I have purchased, and it was incredibly satisfying knowing that I had created it from scratch. What a cool hobby!
 

Inebriated

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I've been trying to get into it but I can never actually go get the supplies. I always put it off in favor of just going to the store.
 

Brewer

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Hi, all-grain homebrewer here. I have a 50L HERMS (Heat Exchange Recirculating Mash System), going into anything up to about 15 draught taps. The gadgets are half the fun IMO.

My 3 bits of advice to anyone starting out is always this:

1. Sanitation (don't cut corners, if you can't be spotlessly clean you're in the wrong hobby)
2. Temperature control (steady fermentation at the wrong temp is better than occasionally hitting the right temp between wild swings)
3. Don't get frustrated - think Zen. Learn from each brew and refine your methods. Look at what drives you mad and find a solution.

When you've got your system worked out and it all goes according to plan, it'll put the biggest smile on your face...

Welcome to the world's greatest craft!

Cheers,
Brewer
 
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MSaxatilus

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Congrats!! Its definitely a fun hobby and gatifying that you've made your own.

My #1 tip after 15 years of home brewing is.... don't use anything plastic in your brewing process.

I can always tell a home brewed beer because it has a very slight off flavor. My brother and I have realized, after exhaustive research, that any type of plastics can cause off flavors. So try to only use stainless steel, glass, etc. when you make your wort. And definitely ferment in glass.

Good luck and enjoy the hobby.

Been a while, I might have to reinvigorate the brewing too.

thanks,
MSax
 

MorePower

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I'm starting my second Southern English Brown ale tomorrow. The first turned out pretty good, but with the input from a BJCP judge the second try should be, as they say in jolly old England, "spot on."

The Honey Blonde is taking longer than I expected to carbonate. It doesn't have any off flavors, but I think I may need to let it sit for another week or so before cracking another bottle.
 

nbp

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Welcome Brewer and MSax! It's nice to have some more people join this thread. It certainly is a fun hobby so far, and it is great to hear the tips from people who have been there and done that. Hopefully it will save me from some of the newbie mistakes! I am curious what styles you guys are making now; have any summer favorites?

MP, how is the Honey Blonde coming? Taking regular QC samples? :naughty: I am very happy so far with the red ale I made as my first batch, but it may not be for everyone. I am planning on ordering some more ingredients soon, as I have a coupon for Midwest I can use. I am thinking a good, malty amber would be very nice, and then also maybe something light and bubbly for my lightweight friends - something like your honey blonde would be good I think...have to see what they've got in the kits. (I'm sticking with kits for the first couple I think, until I get the hang of things, and have some knowledge of various ingredients. I'd love to eventually create my own recipe, but not just yet.)
 
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