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do you homebrew?

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  • deepsouth
    deepsouth Posts: 1,796
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    Tweev-tip wrote:
    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.

    lighter beers are actually more prone to off flavors in my experience. less there to cover up any mistakes.
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  • deepsouth
    deepsouth Posts: 1,796
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    BuffaloBrewer wrote:
    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.

    ed is an awesome guy. i like ordering from them. two day flat rate shipping.
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  • deepsouth
    deepsouth Posts: 1,796
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    Doug in Eggmonton wrote:
    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


    whoops. didn't read this first. doug is right.
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  • Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
    Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker Posts: 3,743
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    i used to buy 22oz bottles from the recycler...

    my next step was going to be the 5-gallon CO2 set-up, and just have it on draft.

    only bad part about brewing was cleaning labels and mold from bottles. :laugh:
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  • Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
    Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker Posts: 3,743
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    i used to put ice in the carboy :whistle:

    was a contamination risk, but i never had anything happen.

    had to feed the dang cubes pretty much one at a time into the carboy. hahaha
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    the beer even tastes better in the bigger bottles and you dont lose as much when pouring due to the sediment, not sure the place i was getting bottles were recycled or not, the were clean but i dont remember boxes, the were up around kingston. should also say i meant ale, not lager in that last post, the lagers are tougher for a first batch. problem i see with 5 gallon kegs is drinking a couple of them a week, hate it when the beer quality drops in a few days, they say you can keep it a month but thats never happened either :laugh:
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    is that a coil in a coil wth the outer coil using tap water, i could make something like that. pain waiting for temps to drop
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • BigGreenDon
    BigGreenDon Posts: 167
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    That is exactly what it is. It is known as a "counterflow wort chiller".

    Sometimes they are built as copper tube inside rubber hose instead.

    Don
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    thanks, i got a good idea on building one from parts i build at work, now i have to start collecting bottles again, tossed what i had last fall :laugh: :laugh:
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • deepsouth
    deepsouth Posts: 1,796
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    this is my current wort chiller setup. i'm about to replace the copper tubing in the cooler with a sump pump.....

    fc4433e8.jpg
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  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
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    I heard that.....I'm up to 3 cases of the 22oz and 5 cases of 12oz....I built my own chiller as well..not counterflow, but it works well...
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    i culled out the 12 ouncers last fall, kept only the big ones :laugh: yes, i took a pic of the trash :laugh:

    DSC_0049.jpg
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
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    I'm sure I'll get to only big ones in time..but for now the 12's are piling up well...It's looking like I could potentially have 3 batches bottled at once at the rate I'm going, so "any" size will do for the time being.
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    the twelves are good to start with as you will want to sample smaller quantities over a longer time table to see how they mature. it gets old fast losing an ounce or two each bottle to sediment plus its much more time consuming. my stouts were strong and a pint was just about right
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Mr. & Mrs Potatohead
    Mr. & Mrs Potatohead Posts: 2,037
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    Sure do!!
    Started making wine in 1972 and ales in 1974.
    Those first batches of beer were really something else (as in like "wow" I can't believe we even drank that crap) but, I've gotten better at it and it has been a fun ride.
    i do 5 gal. batches that I keg for the "Beer Fridge."
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  • RU Eggsperienced
    RU Eggsperienced Posts: 1,527
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    Relax don't worry, have a homebrew!!

    Used to brew alot til the kids came. Kind of hard to do it now, but would love to get back into it. Some of the best beer I've had is homebrew!!
    Cheers.....Jerry


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  • faithie999
    faithie999 Posts: 98
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    interesting take on IPA of old. now i'll have to do some research!!
    thanks!
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  • faithie999
    faithie999 Posts: 98
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    as you know, this is the Bible of "how to brew". i've been homebrewing for years but i still consult this from time to time.

    i think it is out of print, but available from used book stores online.
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  • faithie999
    faithie999 Posts: 98
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    i agree. if you do a lager, you need to ferment it and condition (lager) it in a refrigerator at 40 degrees. far too much work for the first brew by a new homebrewer.
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  • faithie999
    faithie999 Posts: 98
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    when i first started homebrewing (15+ yrs ago), the "state of the art" was bottling. then i stopped doing it for several years due to lack of time.
    i started up again a couple of years ago and this time i went for a kegging/co2 system. i didn't want to use a garage refrigerator, so i bought a 7 cu ft chest freezer at costco, and an external thermostat from the beer supply store to maintain 40 F. it accomodated 3 soda kegs. i used picnic taps for simplicity.
    then i decided to upgrade to proper taps, but i didn't want to drill thru the front of the freezer out of fear of puncturing the freon tubing. so, i removed the lid, built a 9-inch tall "collar" out of plywood, and attached it to the freezer and attached the lid to the collar. i used 2" rigid foam insulation on the inside of the collar to prevent condensation. then i drilled thru the wood collar and installed my taps. the extra height had the side benefit of making room for a 4th keg to be on top of the "bump" in the floor of the freezer under which the compressor lives.
    since i really like murphy's stout, i added a stout faucet and nitrogen tank for pushing it.
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  • faithie999
    faithie999 Posts: 98
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    i'm too cheap to buy a store-bought chiller, so i made my own. i bought a 50 ft coil of 3/8 copper tubing and gently wrapped it around a large can to make a 10 inch diameter coil. i formed the ends of the coil so as to extend over the top of my kettle. i put the coil into the kettle during the last 10 minutes of the boil so as to sterilize it.
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  • Mr. & Mrs Potatohead
    Mr. & Mrs Potatohead Posts: 2,037
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    I went with the “old fridge.” that I’ve had out in my shop for years.
    It’s a 1950 International Harvester…Don’t think there are too many around any longer!!

    SideTrack001.jpg

    I’m sure it is NOT energy efficient, but the darn thing just keeps chuggin’ along!

    I’m also into model railroading….Sooo, my pub is the…

    SideTrack005.jpg

    Stop in for a cold one some time!
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  • FlyFishNC
    FlyFishNC Posts: 41
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    DeepSouth, I brew my own too. I started extract, went that way for three batches then hopped on the All Grain wagon.

    Check out my blog, I've noted just about all of my batches along with their successes and failures.
    http://www.brewingexperiment.com

    It's a great hobby that becomes pretty addicting. I bottled the first batch and said the heck with that... I moved to a two keg keggerator. However, I do bottle at least 6 from every batch to see how they hold up over time.

    Cheers!

    Eric
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