Home Brewed Beer

[labrys 0]

Any home brewers out there?

I just put my first ever batch down in the basement to ferment. I made honey lager from a custom recipe with canned malt extract. I sure hope I did it correctly. It smelled kinda nasty.

This is fun

Owned by Remi #?

[SpeedRacer 1]

don't worry, it'll smell good when it's done.

I've been homebrewing for like 12 years now. I now do all-grain beers, which means I don't buy the extracts. I buy barley malt in 55 lb sacks & I do my own mash.

I've got a smoked porter in bottles, which should be ready to drink in 3 weeks. And on Sunday I brewed up a Dunkelweizen. About 50-50 malted wheat-malted barley.

In my basement I also have an Irish porter, India Pale Ale, and a California Steam beer. I'm ready for anything.

Speed Racer
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[bazelos 0]

I'v heard it mings! Good luck though.

He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.

[SpeedRacer 1]

homebrewed beer is often as good as or better than professional craft beers.

you should come to one of our homebrew meetings some time.

actually we'll all be having a homebrew Superbowl party this Sunday!

all the other losers in America will be slurping on their bland bud/miller lite beer, & we'll be drinking stouts, maibocks, weizens, belgian ales, IPAs, etc etc.

Speed Racer
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[labrys 0]

Thanks for the encouraging words.

I'd like to learn to do all-grains because it seems so much more like "making beer" than using the extracts, but I thought I'd be better off starting out this way and working up to all-grains after experimenting with kits for a while. I've been known to have a short attention span with new hobbies.

I doubt this will fade though. I've been looking for a hobby to supplement the excessive beer drinking I do all winter and this seems just perfect.

I'm thinking about making a batch of mead also.

I like your basement.

Owned by Remi #?

[labrys 0]

Sorry, what does "mings" mean?

Owned by Remi #?

[SpeedRacer 1]

I was able to figure it out from the context.

it means something that smells or looks or tastes gross.

Speed Racer
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[skybeergodd 0]

If your going to do all grain beers then do yourself a favor and invest in a good Lauter Tun....it makes sparging the mash much easier. It definitly is worth the extra effort and I think all grain brews turn out better. I have an extra pale ale the is carbinating right now and should be ready in about a week or so.
Good Luck and remember----Never go cheap on your yeast!!!
Kelly

[labrys 0]

Quote

I was able to figure it out from the context.

it means something that smells or looks or tastes gross.

It could also mean that it sucks. I'd rather ask than assume I can figure it out. What's the big deal?

Owned by Remi #?

[SpeedRacer 1]

I think it's good if he's just starting out to do extract beeers. But he should get a good extract recipe, or one of those kits that includes SOME specialty grains along with the extract.

I agree you don't want to use one of those one-can pre-hopped malt extract & a pack of dry yeast type kits.

But the ones in the boxes can produce good beers...they usually include a pound or so of specialty malt & a grain bag for steeping, and some decent pellet hops. They're especially good if you substitute a good strain of liquid yeast for the dumb little packet of dry yeast.

I started out doing extract beers for a few years & turned out some good stuff. But I always steeped a bag of grains first before adding the extract.

Speed Racer
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[labrys 0]

Thanks for the advice. When I'm ready to make the transition I'll look for high quality stuff.

I was tempted to replace the dry yeast in the recipe I used with a wet one, but I figured I should stick with the basics for now and learn what works best as I experiment.

Owned by Remi #?

[labrys 0]

The recipe I used had the malt extract, honey, bittering and aroma hop pellets, irish moss, and dry yeast. That's about as many ingrediants as I thought I should take on the first time

Owned by Remi #?

[SpeedRacer 1]

I was on a tour of the local microbrewery in my town (Frederick Brewing Company, makers of Frederick, Wild Goose, and Blue Ridge beers), and the brewers in my club and the master brewer there all agreed that the hitting the right flavor for a given beer style is about 25% malts, 25% hops and about 50% yeast strain.


There are dozens of different strains of the one ale yeast species (sachromyces cerevisae) and there are also a few different strains of lager yeast (sacharomyces carlsbergensis)

Speed Racer
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[SpeedRacer 1]

that sounds like a good recipe.

my brother made his first batch with just this one can of pre-hopped malt & a packet of yeast. Beer came out drinkable, but not really all that tasty.

his second batch got contaminated & then he quit.

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[Guest]

Quote

that sounds like a good recipe.

my brother made his first batch with just this one can of pre-hopped malt & a packet of yeast. Beer came out drinkable, but not really all that tasty.

his second batch got contaminated & then he quit.

Would you like to be grossed out? I've read in The Strangler (local free rag) about a local "performance artist" who has made both beer and bread using yeast from her own you-know-what (not a joke).

Edit to add URL

[hobbes4star 0]

I just throw up in my mouth a little. what the hell is wrong with you

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[labrys 0]

Why is there a picture of Al Franken at the end of that link?

We all eat spiders in our sleep, why should a trace amounts of ummmm...natural yeast freak us out?

I never figured talking about brewing beer would take this tangent....

Edit to add "yes, it's sarcasm"

Owned by Remi #?

[JohnMitchell 16]

Welcome to the Home Brewers Club. Nothing like a good homemade beer, fresh out of the bottle. Sounds like you're getting a good start, using the kits. You'll soon work your way up to cooking your own recipes using the extracts, grains and hops. You might even be mashing like Speedracer someday. Keep your beer away from heat and light, and keep everything clean, clean, clean when you work. I've made several dozen batches over the years and never had one turn out badly yet. I'm enjoying a nice little mug of my Porter right now.
Being as how we're all skydivers and like beer, nothing helps you apppreciate any beer better than having made a few yourself.

[JohnMitchell 16]

Quote

The Strangler (local free rag) about a local "performance artist" who has made both beer and bread using yeast from her own you-know-what (not a joke).

That's "The Stranger", Mark. you know that. Hey, you read it? You're not gay, are you?

[Elisha 1]

Yummmm....

Mmmmm.....Beeeeeeeerrrr.....