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do you homebrew?

deepsouth
deepsouth Posts: 1,796
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
i'm not sure i've asked this before, but i've been seeing a few posts that mention homebrewing. i'd love to know who homebrews on here so we could share ideas, recipes and knowledge, what we have fermenting, what is in the works.....

currently i have an american pale wheat ale on tap, 7.5%, 60 ibus. clearly outside bjcp guidelines, but that's how i roll sometimes...

i've got to batches of double ipa in an extend primary. one batch is about to go into an oak cask for about three weeks before getting kegged for emerald coast beer festival in pensacola, fl. it's 11% and 100+ ibu.

i have another five gallons of ipa that will be kegged and drank. it's about 9% and 130+ ibus. i used over a half a pound of hops... simcoe, citra, chinook & centennial.

i'm brewing the sour cherry from sam c's (dogfish head) book extreme brewing. he does it extract, so i'll do extract, but after that it's back to all grain.
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Comments

  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    I used to brew a killer wheat beer with prickly pear cactus fruit juice. -RP
  • i used to, before house kids marriage (not in that order).

    still have a massive russian imperial stout that is about 15 years old... gonna crack it some day. just about the only beer that ages.

    have wanted to get back into it. just no time, no space, and a huge selection of craft beers available commercially now that we didn't have 15 years ago.

    one thing i have always been interested in re: IPAs... first, let me say i'm a hop head, and love them. but it was posited a long while ago, not sure where i read it, that the although the IPAs sent around the horn were highly hopped, for the spoilage protection, it would have made much better sense to use older hops, stale, with much less aroma than the stuff made with fresh hops today.

    interesting thought, because i believe most of the hops for the trip to india was added dry at the end, not during the boil ( like you do for flavor and/or bitterness). and adding stale hops at the end means not much added aroma, but much more bacterial protection against spoilage (bacterial fermentation , imean, not food safety).

    always thought it was interesting that the IPAs of today may be nothing at all like what they intended. Bass is an IPA. i don't know if that recipe is the exact same as from 1777, but it is a decidedly not overly-hopped beer.

    anyway... always enjoyed brewing. had a good Sham Adams ('sham' as in mock, or pretend) recipe. was damn good.

    might have to get back into it. couldn't find any excellent pilsners except 2, both 9 bucks a six pack. yikes.
  • Both my wife and I used to brew a lot, but we haven't in years. We're part of a historical re-enactment group, and we're going to be restarting a brewers' study group for our local branch in the fall, mostly to force us to start brewing again. Looking forward to some nice beers and meads again.

    -John
  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
    Jason, as you well know I am new to homebrewing. Thanks to you I am as far along as I am....Right now I have an Americal amber ale on its 4th week of bottle conditiong, expected 3 weeks to be enough, but it wasn't completely ready....Just yesterday I racked a batch of "Kolsch" from a 2 week long primary into an expected 3 week secondary and it already tastes really good...lookin over the calendar to best time when to brew the Nut brown ale I have already so I don't end up having everything come together at the same time....the recent power outage had me scrambling for a bit, mostly due to the house fridge acting like it was dying...everything seems to be rolling along as planned, fermenter is running a good steady 60°..
  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
    Randy, Thanks for the ammonia trick...worked like a charm...
  • I used to home brew beer and wine. Then I fell into a 'Guinness rut' and moves to the land of cheap wine. No real point in home brewing anymore, I gave all my gear away.

    I do have a couple bottles of orange-chocolate port left though. It took a couple years but it got surprisingly good.
  • jetmac
    jetmac Posts: 34
    Where do I start? Walk into a brew store and pick out a kit?
  • THis is a good place to start to understand the process of homebrewing:

    http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    i used to brew stouts, toad spit stout, dog drool stout, monkey brain stout. the monkey brains had bananas in it, peel included, the dog drool had..... :laugh: :laugh: along with native raspberries. i only made stouts, if i were to make some again might try a heavey porter. making nanking cherry liquor right now, about 60 days to go. was a good crop of cherries this year, if i think of it next spring i will look for a recipe i had called cherries in the snow stout, looked like a heavey one
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    there are some easy to follow books and its pretty hard to screw up a beer unless you didnt clean things well enough. the store is a good route if the owner is really into it, i used to hang out at one store and drink homebrews while playing darts, people would bring in samples all day ;)
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Started brewing in the first wave back in the late 80's, got away from it in the mid 90's and restarted a couple years ago. right now I have an APA and an IPA in secondary. Hope to fire up a batch tomorrow (if it isn't to hot out. My first run at brewing and smoking a pork butt at the same time.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    here is the book i used to use, its a real basic book, easy to follow and has alot of good recipes.

    http://www.amazon.com/New-Complete-Joy-Home-Brewing/dp/0380763664/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280331365&sr=8-1
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Palmer's book is good. That is the first version on the web, and he is up to the 3rd edition, so there will be some info on the web version that is not quite right. Good bunch of guys and gals over at homebrewtalk.

    Where are you located? THere are a lot of good local homebrew shops that can help you out and will be able to taste your beer and offer suggestions for improvement. You might also have a local homebrew club that will advance your brewing quickly.

    Did everybody know fermentation is an exothermic process? (ducking for cover)...
  • WooDoggies
    WooDoggies Posts: 2,390
    Like you, tried it out in the late 80's and found it easier to just buy the beers I wanted as quality ingredients were hard to find and expensive. Things are very different now, though.

    I've had a few different brews from brian j's batches and they have been fantastic.... has got me itching to try it out again. Yet another thing to distract me from work!


    john
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    i do need to get back into it, my current house and camp are set up really nice for basement and garage temps. never got into all the stages, always made simple stouts. think i got out of it with the microbrew age but that seems to be slowing down now, getting harder to find new beers
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Kenny 13
    Kenny 13 Posts: 321
    Homebrewing is something I've been wanting to try for several years now, but just finding the time to try anything new has been a real task for me. Someday I'll get a chance.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    homebrewing is as simple as drinking a beer, actually thats what your doing while home brewing B) there really isnt much time involved with simple stouts or lagers, a couple hours today, another hour a week or two later, then filling bottles, best to find big bottles, you can start collecting the big bottles now and drink them when you get a chance :laugh: :laugh:
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Awesome - my advice as with most things is start simple and move up. I found the easiest to be very light lager (corona style) - that will usually be very drinkable and less prone to off-flavours. It's always good to start with a win under your belt.
  • jetmac
    jetmac Posts: 34
    I'm in Mcdonough, ga. There's a brew store close to me in Fayetteville and there are several home brewers here where I work
  • jetmac
    jetmac Posts: 34
    True. Just like Texas Hold'em. It's always nice to win the first hand you play.
  • Prime
    Prime Posts: 52
    I've been homebrewing for a little over a year. I don't have anything going right now, though. Just finished moving so I should be able to brew something soon.
  • http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/ has a pretty big following over at homebrewtalk.com . I've ordered from there once and was happy with the service. He's on the other side of atlanta from you in Marietta.
  • jetmac
    jetmac Posts: 34
    Cool. THX. I work at the airport so Marietta is closer from there if I wanted to swing by there
  • Braumiester
    Braumiester Posts: 134
    I have been homebrewing for 10 yrs in St Peters,Mo
    Do 10 gallon all grain batches, no more bottling, all beer is now in 5gal corny kegs.
    current beers:
    10 gal Octoberfest
    10 Alaskan Amber clone
    10 gal orange wit
    10 gal corinder wit
    time to have some beer :) :laugh:
    Pete
  • BigGreenDon
    BigGreenDon Posts: 167
    I've been brewing on and off for the last 10 or 12 years, but just started full grain this year. Geese, it is fun -- but I remember it used to take like 2 hours to get into the primary and now it takes most of the day!

    I have obtained a temperature controller, but have not sprung for the spare fridge or freezer in the garage to do lagering. I've tried to approximate with a steam ale or two.

    My wife curses Charlie Papazian for ever writing that book...

    Don
  • BigGreenDon
    BigGreenDon Posts: 167
    The blonde ale going into the primary:


    beer.jpg
  • Sorry Tweeve, I try to stay out of things but in the lighter tasting beers even the slightest contamination comes through as the predominant taste :sick: . I would suggest a pale ale as the stronger malt-hop balance will hide any contamination issues much better.

    My two cents.

    Doug
  • Nice setup, like the heat exchanger, I went copper tube in hose but copper in copper looks great.

    Doug
  • BigGreenDon
    BigGreenDon Posts: 167
    I used to set my brew-pot in a sink full of ice for 30 or 40 minutes. That wort chiller changed my life!

    Don