OT - Recommended Homebrew Website - OT

ChrisgrillsSTLMO

Greetings-

SWMBO surprised me with a beer making kit for our wedding anniversary which was an amazing gift BUT I have very limited knowledge of the process to make a batch at home. I have started reading books, watching YouTube videos to get a handle on the recipes/order of operations & sending money to BeverageFactory.com to purchase other equipment I need to make a good first batch but am by no means confident. Any suggestions for a good website/forum to visit for helping a beginner would be appreciated. Thanks for reading, have a great week!

Cheers,

BugFreak72

https://brockshomebrew.com/

Nice local shop here. Real nice guys to talk to and I've used a couple of their custom recipes with good success. They made me Arrogant Bastard ingredients one time even which was fun to brew. 

ChrisgrillsSTLMO

@BugFreak72 thanks for the recommendation, I will check them out!

Cheers,

alaskanassasin

Starsan is your friend. 

ChrisgrillsSTLMO

@alaskanassasin - on order as is powdered brewers wash. From what I have read the cleaning/sanitizing process takes up almost all of the prep time. Thanks for the heads up!

Cheers,

alaskanassasin

No problem. Starsan is a no rinse sanitizer, all my hoses, fittings, fermentation tank, I soak everything that is going to touch the beer/wort in starsan.  And again you don’t have to rinse so that saves a lot of work and less chance of a bad fermentation.

 

zman51

Been doing HB for some time and typically have 3 on tap at any given time. In the beginning I would get help from some friendly dudes here: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?board=1.0

As far as recipe kits, I go to Austin Home brew a lot. There is a supply house about 40 minutes from me and will use them if I am in area. It is a fun hobby. I started with extract kits/recipes and then eventually went all grain which really up'ed the fun level.
Have fun and +1 on starsan advice!

Z

buzd504

Also https://www.homebrewtalk.com/

1911Man

zman51 said:

Been doing HB for some time and typically have 3 on tap at any given time. In the beginning I would get help from some friendly dudes here: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?board=1.0

As far as recipe kits, I go to Austin Home brew a lot. There is a supply house about 40 minutes from me and will use them if I am in area. It is a fun hobby. I started with extract kits/recipes and then eventually went all grain which really up'ed the fun level.
Have fun and +1 on starsan advice!

Z

Don't fear the foam!!!

Did two kits (modified) then a mostly all grain before jumping to all grain. BIAB is the gateway all grain method. But it's hard to beat keggles for the boil or mash tun (I have ones set for both). NorCal brewing supply is also great for their false bottoms (JayBird false bottoms ). 

Once you go all grain, and develop your own recipes, there's almost no limit to what you can make.

sumoconnell

I can't resist gadgets.  I got a PicoBrew.. it's like a kuereg for beer, but less economical.  Still use lots of starsan. 

Griffin

buzd504 said:

Also https://www.homebrewtalk.com/

x2

Its a great hobby. You can make it as simple or as complex as you want it. If you go all grain, I can't suggest doing BIAB (brew in a bag) enough. I tried the 3 tier systems and you just can't beat the simplicity of BIAB and less to clean up.

Sanitize everything.

Control your fermentation temperatures. It will make a huge difference in the beers you brew.

1911Man

Sanitize everything that will touch your wort/beer post boil. Also, O2 is very important for the yeast. You cannot get more than 8ppm by the 'shake/stir' method no matter how hard you try. Once you get to anything over a low ABV value, pure O2 infusion is the way to go. This method has the added benefits of giving you better beer plus being a LOT easier on you.

I've also progressed to using stainless fermenting vessels (converted commercial kegs) that allows me to do a CO2 push to get the finished beer out and into serving kegs. Means zero lifting/moving of the finished beer. Also, since they have a conical bottom, the yeast cake settles well and won't get disturbed. 

It's also easy to bottle off of keg (once carbonated). That also means you have a MUCH tighter control over the carbonation level. The 'default' 5oz of sugar for bottle carbonating is not a 'one size fits all'. Since there are brew styles that call for either more, or less, carbonation.

GATraveller

I read the thread title 

OT - Recommended Hebrew Website - OT

That's a totally different thing!  Ha!

Jeronamo

Some good resources have already been noted. I got into brewing a few years ago and it’s become an obsessive hobby! If you want to geek out on brewing I would also recommend brulosophy.com, a very interesting site where they’ve done all kinds of experiments about processes, ingredients, etc. If you’re inclined to read books or magazines in addition to free websites I would recommend How To Brew by John Palmer, a good overview of all things. Brew Your Own magazine is also a decent read and comes out bi-monthly - articles about equipment, processes, ingredients and typically several recipes. If you pick up the hobby there are books by Brewers Publications - one book for each main ingredient - water, yeast, malt and hops. These are a little scientific and by no means necessary, but I got them for Christmas because the family says I’m a beer nerd.

1911Man

The Yeast book is probably the one that will give you the most bang for your buck. Mostly because proper yeast wrangling can turn a good recipe great. Improper wrangling can turn a great recipe to crap just as easily. The Water book is a close second. Making sure you have great water to brew with is another key. Do NOT use city/tap water right out of the faucet. Unless you enjoy drinking bandaids. Chlorine will F up your brew faster than a skunk spraying you will ruin your day (or week). 
Oxidization is also an easily avoided flaw that many can't seem to get around. I managed to do it with my above posted fermenting vessels and method of transfer. I also age fermentations with a layer of CO2 over the top (such as mead or big beers) and have not had any issues due to this practice.

BTW, brewing beer is a moderate amount of effort up front, over a shortish time frame, for something great in your glass.
Mead is minimal up front effort, but a longer time before it goes to glass. Where most (below 6% ABV) beers can go boil to carbonating in <6 weeks, mead is several months (my rule of thumb is a minimum of one month in bulk per one % of ABV). Mead only gets better with age. 
Bigger beers also need time to become great. I have some (8%+ and 12%+ that went several months before I moved them to serving keg (or carbonating keg and then bottled). They were HOT when too young, but aged wonderfully.

FearlessTheEggNoob

Are empty resealable german beer bottles of any value to homebrewers?

alaskanassasin

You can sell them on Craiglist or eBay.  Honestly if you brew kegs are your only option

Griffin

alaskanassasin said:

You can sell them on Craiglist or eBay.  Honestly if you brew kegs are your only option

I'd disagree. 80 batches in and I still bottle. Would love to get around to kegging some day, but that's another added expense. Nothing wrong with bottling except its tedious.

alaskanassasin

Griffin said:

alaskanassasin said:

You can sell them on Craiglist or eBay.  Honestly if you brew kegs are your only option

I'd disagree. 80 batches in and I still bottle. Would love to get around to kegging some day, but that's another added expense. Nothing wrong with bottling except its tedious.

You sir are a glutton for punishment! 
  Good on ya for sticking with bottling maybe I can share one with you someday

Griffin

alaskanassasin said:

Griffin said:

alaskanassasin said:

You can sell them on Craiglist or eBay.  Honestly if you brew kegs are your only option

I'd disagree. 80 batches in and I still bottle. Would love to get around to kegging some day, but that's another added expense. Nothing wrong with bottling except its tedious.

You sir are a glutton for punishment! 
  Good on ya for sticking with bottling maybe I can share one with you someday

I suppose I am, but I've got my system down and Duke likes to help me sanitize the bottles, fill them and bottle them. A bottle rinser for sanitizing them, a bottle tree to hold them and a bench capper make it much easier.

Jeronamo

I moved to corny kegs a few years ago and haven’t bottled a full batch since. The “problem” with the kegs is that the beer gets consumed a lot faster, at least for me as the keezer is in the garage so whenever I’m outside puttering around the neighbors suddenly appear:) I did get a blichmann beer gun that allows you to bottle from the keg after carbonation. I use that frequently to take bottles to friends, bottle a few to take to parties, prepare entries for competitions etc. Kegging certainly is an added expense but I personally got tired of the bottling process and don’t care for the yeast cakes from bottle conditioning. All this talk..... I think it’s time to brew a batch this weekend.