Beer brewing

Max232 · January 15

Any homebrewers here? My latest brew is a Vanilla carmel cream ale, it will be ready in about 10 days. cant wait to taste it.

gerhardk · January 15

Heck of a nice set up there.

Prost

Gerhard

nolaegghead · January 15

Sweet! I've done a little home brewing. Plan on doing more in the spring. Need a cooler or something so I can get into Pilsners.

Skiddymarker · January 15

I do the odd old school from scratch, natural carb in the bottle. Usually a pilsner, or a maple cream ale. Pils need a cooler time to get right and my garage is a pretty constant 45-50 this time of year. Like your kegerator.

MaskedMarvel · January 15

I do about a batch a week. problem in my house is it's not really warm enough to carb the bottles, but after six weeks they are readyish... had some real beers I've been very proud of so far. :)

I'm partial mash..

AleBrewer · January 15

Full grain brewer here....prefer ales. Hoping to do a pale or an IPA next time I'm home(work on the road)
Last beer I did was a smoked porter. I smoked about three pounds of grain with some alder wood.

I bottle as well....just no room for another fridge yet.....

Eggcelsior · January 15

AleBrewer, I had no idea that you liked brewing ales. ;)

I need to get into this. A supply shop just opened by my house. What is a starter budget?

DrugCoder · January 15

Depending on what equipment you might already have around the house such as a turkey fryer, big pot, etc. I would say a good starting price could be around $200 including your first ingredient kit.

Another idea is to look into homebrewing clubs in your area and talk with them. See if one of them would let you watch them once or twice to see if it's something you want to get into. It is a pretty labor intensive process between prep, brewing, and cleanup.

Glad to see all the brewers here!

liquidicem · January 15

I brew as well. I've got an all electric all grain system that I built last year. I just kegged up a blonde ale two nights ago.

chad408 · January 15

I would like to see some of yalls equipment. My dad got me a br beer for my birthday. I know this is not real brewing but really got me interested in home brewing because i love good beer. There is a beer festival in columbia sc this weekend i am going to anyone around there going.

AleBrewer · January 15

Eggcelsior said:

AleBrewer, I had no idea that you liked brewing ales. ;) I need to get into this. A supply shop just opened by my house. What is a starter budget?

Who woulda figured right?

See if your local home brew shop(LHBS) offers any beginners classes. Many do nowadays, and it's a good way to dip your feet into it.

Otherwise, you could get into it for a couple hundred bucks.....start with any easy exctract kit and go from there. You can make an extract kit in the kitchen using a smaller pot on the stove. Having said that....I did not do that. I jumped right in to doing full boils with a turkey fryer.

AleBrewer · January 15

liquidicem said:

I brew as well. I've got an all electric all grain system that I built last year. I just kegged up a blonde ale two nights ago.

I started drawing up plans and a parts list for an electric system, but haven't gotten around to building it just yet. My panel is right in my garage where I brew, so it would be very easy to do....plus, I happen know a Licensed electrician and controls guy pretty well ;)

Another main reason for waiting is that I've had to really cut back on my alcohol consumption lately due to health reasons.

Max232 · January 15

Good to see so many brewers here :) nothing wrong with starting with a mr. beer kit, it has gotten alot of brewers started.My first setup was a coopers kit from amazon.

I also have an all grain electric setup. I will post some pics of my setup tonight.

liquidicem · January 15

I did not have convenient access to a 220V circuit, so I actually run 2 110V elements in my kettle off of two separate circuits in my kitchen.

I really enjoy electric brewing. It's nice to be able to brew in doors during MN winters.

BYS1981 · January 15

I do not, but plan on it once my kids get a bit older.

rtt121 · January 15

I have been all grain for about 6 years.

A word of advise to anyone getting started.. go easy.. you can spend ALOT of money on homebrewing.

I think I am around $6k into equipment. I have a 5 gal no sparge electical system that is almost automated and a 15 gal outdoors setup. Some nice 14 gallon SS conicals and wayyy to many ingredients on hand for as often as I am brewing these days.

It is a fun hobby though. I haven't brewed since October but I have 5 gallons of a light berliner weiss style beer that has been souring for almost 2 years now.

Also have a hefeweizen on rasberries that formed a pellicle about a year ago.. sitting on that as well.

Mostly brew hefe's and ipas but have had some really great specialties including some sours and a belgian quad that tasted almost exactly like Westvleteran 12

Anyone want to trade a large BGE for a Morebeer conical?!

Skiddymarker · January 15

MaskedMarvel said:

I do about a batch a week. problem in my house is it's not really warm enough to carb the bottles, but after six weeks they are readyish... had some real beers I've been very proud of so far. :)

I'm partial mash..

For bottle carb, waiting is good, IMHO, I like the results. I'm usually in a hurry to get them going. Found an old water bed heater. Works great. Just lay it out, stand the bottles on it, lay the temp sensor between the bottles, throw a towel or two over them and set the heater to 25C/75F and give them a week or two. I also use the heater like a heat belt for primary and secondary. Temp control is key, just like cooking on the egg.

AleBrewer · January 15

Yeah, this time of year....I've got to keep the bottles upstairs for about 3-4 weeks, then I'll move them to the basement. Most batches of beer I have done take about 8 weeks from brewing until I feel they are ready to drink. I usually let the primary sit about 4 weeks....I don't do a secondary anymore, it's one less step.

I also use a brew belt on the primary, I have it hooked up to a outlet that's controlled by a dimmer so I can adjust the output. I also use the same dimmer to control the speed of my Dewalt 1/2" drill that powers my grain mill.

Max232 · January 15

@rtt121. I would love to have a conical, but, I don't have a lbge. I have a medium though, lol

AleBrewer · January 15

I would trade a set of Mangrates for that conical!

MaskedMarvel · January 15

Skiddymarker said:

MaskedMarvel said:

I do about a batch a week. problem in my house is it's not really warm enough to carb the bottles, but after six weeks they are readyish... had some real beers I've been very proud of so far. :)

I'm partial mash..

I will see about a water bed heater - good idea. Right now the cases are piled in the bathroom; the warmest room in the house. :) I've started bottling two one liter pet bottles so I can squeeze and check carbonation as it goes. Not a bad system. I was drinking a lot of flat beer before that... My latest batch - a double chocolate oatmeal stout that I primed with Hershey's syrup. :) For bottle carb, waiting is good, IMHO, I like the results. I'm usually in a hurry to get them going. Found an old water bed heater. Works great. Just lay it out, stand the bottles on it, lay the temp sensor between the bottles, throw a towel or two over them and set the heater to 25C/75F and give them a week or two. I also use the heater like a heat belt for primary and secondary. Temp control is key, just like cooking on the egg.

MaskedMarvel · January 15

Sorry for the whack formatting there. iPad mini text window is tiny. I will add that I still brew in my mr beer from time to time, and those little kegs make great small or split batch fermenters for 2 1/2 gallon infusions, etc.

Chubbs · January 16

Max232 said:

Good to see so many brewers here :) nothing wrong with starting with a mr. beer kit, it has gotten alot of brewers started.My first setup was a coopers kit from amazon.

I also have an all grain electric setup. I will post some pics of my setup tonight.

Max, how about those photos?

rabdogg · January 16

Awesome. Just finished a vanilla stout. Force carbed in the corny keg yesterday, waiting to get down in temp - but the sample was really good. By the way- those perlicks look great!

Max232 · January 16

Chubbs said:

Max232 said:

Good to see so many brewers here :) nothing wrong with starting with a mr. beer kit, it has gotten alot of brewers started.My first setup was a coopers kit from amazon.

I also have an all grain electric setup. I will post some pics of my setup tonight.
Max, how about those photos?

sorry, lol i had a busy day and was being lazy.

here are some pictures of my setup, i had to build the control box from scratch.

also, i made these mini kegs to take to Taledega every year, they hold 2 gals each( usually fill em with a high gravity beverage)

rtt121 · January 16

countertop brutus

rtt121 · January 16

Max232 said:

@rtt121. I would love to have a conical, but, I don't have a lbge. I have a medium though, lol

I have a medium as well. I really want an XL for my second but that is worht more than the conical.

Not worth the money IMHO for the conical. I still end up using better bottles more often then not.

MaskedMarvel · January 19

Four beers brewed in four days.. Two today.. Four more in cold storage ready to go when the next fermenter is available...

Strawberry Blonde...

"Millennium Falconer" IPA...

White House Honey Porter...

and an Australian Sparkling Ale..

Whew..

MaskedMarvel · January 20

Make that five for five...

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