HomeBrew ROCKS!

[AggieDave 6]

My roommate and I sampled our first homebrew (yeah, beer, but isn't that the point), tonight. Talk about some really good beer! It's sweet, with a full body, very very tastey! We just ordered the ingridents for our next brew, we can't wait! Man this stuff is fun.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[n2skdvn 0]

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My roommate and I sampled our first homebrew

beer (just had to say it!!!!!)

--

if my calculations are correct SLINKY + ESCULATOR = EVERLASTING FUN
my site

[LouDiamond 1]

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Man this stuff is fun.

It always is until you go blind or someone pokes an eye out........and then it's hilarious

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[dterrick 0]

Yes it does. My latest German Style Pilsner is finally ready. This was the first (ya, I know) batch I actually fermented at the correct temperature for the Wyeast lager yeast (Dansih II, 48-65f). What a difference.

Beautiful colour, proper foam, all in it tastes like it deserves to be in the green bottles in which it is bottled (Grolsch pints). Yummy. Time to cook another one so the firdge is never empty.

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[Jimbo 0]

Yeah, homebrew really is pretty cool.

Right now I'm fascinated by a recipe I saw for an agave mead. This recipe calls for 6 lbs of agave nectar, 8 pounds of honey, and a bunch of other goodies thrown in for good measure. I plan to get around to brewing this one as soon as I get over the fact that agave nectar is almost $8.00 a pound!

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Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[SpeedRacer 1]

Welcome to the dark side... Right now in my basement I have the following homebrews: About a case each of a German Kolsch and a robust porter. I also still have a few bottles of IPA, and even some Christmas Ale left (I might leave it there 'til next Xmas). I'll be making more IPA this week.

I rarely buy beer anymore, unless I'm out at the pub. I pretty much make all of the beer I drink at home now.

Speed Racer
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[katiebear21 0]

I'll give you a year to perfect your recipe!

Katie
Get your PMS glass necklace here

[kmcguffee 0]

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Right now I'm fascinated by a recipe I saw for an agave mead.

If you've never drank mead then please try it before you brew it. I brewed 5 gallons of a very expensive mead and just couldn't drink it all. It is good but 5 gallons is way too much.

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

[Jimbo 0]

I've had a few home grown meads before, I liked them. I've never had an agave mead before though, but the honey, agave, ginger, vanilla, orange rind and other ingredients have intrigued me. It's definitely something that's going to need to cellar for at least 6 months, probably a year. It's interesting, it appears that agave is very difficult to ferment, looks like that might take between 4 and 6 months!

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Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[jfields 0]

I have one batch bottled and dwindling rapidly as I drink it, another ready to bottle, and one I just brewed today. A raspberry ale, a hefeweizen and a chocolate porter.

If the weather is too crappy to skydive, I might as well stay home and brew.

[FliegendeWolf 0]

Hey Congrats!

I started up my third batch on Sunday. First batch got an infection, had to be thrown out. :(. Second batch came out okay, but needed some body - it had an O.G. of 1.031. Good flavor, just needed more of it. Sunday I started my Wuhdahfuh? Ale, so named because the brew store was out of everything on my list so I had to ... improvise a little. This one has an O.G. of 1.047.

Now, I just have to play the waiting game...

I'm getting really into homebrewing. Gives me something to do on weekends during the winter!

A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

[jwilson 0]

I've been wanting to try some home brewing , I just stpped at the local Beer & Wine makers Pantry yesterday . They sell a starter kit for 52.00 and then you can buy the recipes for different beers . Any suggestions on what beer to try for a first time brew?

Jay

[AggieDave 6]

I couldn't tell ya, I'm very very new to this...jfields knows quite a bit, though, you might want to ask him.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Jimbo 0]

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Any suggestions on what beer to try for a first time brew?

A stout or a porter is a good first time brew because the rich flavors tend to hide newbie mistakes. If you hurry up you might even have something ready for St. Patrick's day.

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Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[bwilling 0]

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A stout or a porter is a good first time brew because the rich flavors tend to hide newbie mistakes. If you hurry up you might even have something ready for St. Patrick's day.

Damn, you guys have me wanting to try my hand at brewing now... I've had a love affair with beer longer than most of you are old, but I've never tried to brew any!

I did a quick search on google, and there's lots of kits available with most of the stuff you need to home brew, is that the route you guys took when you started? Looks like I could just buy a kit, and (pardon the pun) dive right in!

and I love Porter and Stout!

"If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

[Jimbo 0]

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I did a quick search on google, and there's lots of kits available with most of the stuff you need to home brew, is that the route you guys took when you started? Looks like I could just buy a kit, and (pardon the pun) dive right in!

It's pretty simple. A few buckets and a great big pot is pretty much all you need to get started. Your LHBS should have kits to emulate most of the major styles.

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Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[ECVZZ 0]

A friend gave me a kit awhile back but I haven't tried it yet. He only lives a couple miles away and has a keg fridge in his garage that always has a 1/2 keg of Sierra Nevada in it. When it runs low, 1/2 dozen of us kick in and get another one.

He makes some really good pale ale's himself, and last year he brewed a killer N/A pale ale for a non drinking buddy. No way you could tell the diff till you had 6 or 8 and weren't drunk!

Greg

[jfields 0]

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jfields knows quite a bit

Yeah, right. I've brewed 3 batches in the last 2 months, but nothing before that for 6 years. It would be like me giving, well, freeflying lessons. Prepare for a flailing chicken!

If you search on homebrew in the forums, there are lots of more experienced folks.

[Slink2 0]

I bought a starter kit a few months ago but haven't got around to it yet. My wife beat me to it and used the pale in the kit to marinate the Thanksgiving turkey...so I probably need a new pale.

[FliegendeWolf 0]

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They sell a starter kit for 52.00 and then you can buy the recipes for different beers . Any suggestions on what beer to try for a first time brew?

Depending on what is included with the kit, you may be better off just buying things piecemail. I was given a kit as a gift, and while I certainly would not have gotten around to homebrewing without it, I found that I ended up buying tons of supplies anyway. My suggestion would be a good book, like this one . It's the one I've been using. Papazian is evidently a foremost expert in homebrewing, having begun many societies and the like.

You will probably need (at minimum) a 6.5 gallon carboy or pail, rubber stopper, bottle filling set with racking cane, tubing, and bottle filler, 4-gallon brewpot, hydrometer, sample jar, thermometer, 2-3 cases of empty bottles, bubbler, bottle capper, bottle caps, large funnel, large strainer, bottle and carboy brushes and/or rinsers. Make sure that the kit includes most of these items, otherwise it's just not worth it. The only equipment that the kit I was given included were a length of tubing, rubber stopper, and bubbler. It also included a booklet, but I ended up buying another book (two, actually) anyway, as well as another length of tubing which came with the bottle filling set. The stopper and bubbler both sell for 89 cents at my brewstore. The kit cost about twenty bucks.

Best of luck, though, with whatever way you get into the hobby and remember: Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew!

Steve

A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

[jfields 0]

Steve is right about accumulating equipment.

I started out with a kit as well. I've been augmenting ever since. The nice bottle/carboy washer that attaches to my utility sink is a must. Things like racking tubes, spring-loaded fillers, carboy handles, hydrometer, etc. I'm also up to 3 glass carboys and about 4 plastic fermenters. Right now, I have two batches in carboys. Once I muster the courage to start brewing lambics, I'll probably have to buy some more carboys, since they ferment for a long time and I won't want to stop brewing.

Books are also good. Recipe books like "Clone Brews", and how-to books, like the often referenced Papazian book. He also wrote a later "Homebrewer's Companion" book that goes into more detail about how things work, and the effects of different things on the brew. I have a beginner's library started.

I've also built up a good supply of bottles. I buy good beer that doesn't come in twistoffs, so I reuse the brown bottles. One tip for getting labels off: ammonia. Fill a 5-gallon bucket with water, add about a cup of ammonia, and soak bottles for a few days. It disolves the glue, and the labels come right off. Be sure to rinse them when you're done, of course.

[skydivejersey 0]

I have a bit of a baby face and could never get served so at the tender age of 15 made my first batch of homebrew using an empty lemonade bottle. a straw, some baking yeast, and a bottle of robinsons orange juice. Tasted like shit but jesuss it worked. then moved on to wine after investing in a high alcohol tolerant yeast. Managed to make orange, coffee, rice, and robinson barley water wine. they all tasted like shit and had a habbit of blowing their corks out when bottled. I also found is you put a demijohn on a hob on low heat you can distil anything that really is undrinkable into a stronger version of its undrinkable self. Magic! Mix that with a bottle of Mars drink and hey presto 70% proof baileys. I love homebrew. Now I have a job and preffer beer that you have to drink a lot of to make yourself sick. We all grow up eventually i suppose.

[Jimbo 0]

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My suggestion would be a good book, like this one .

There are other books, more modern and more accurate, that are better suited for the beginning homebrewer. The Papazian book is something of a classic, something probably everyone should own but not everyone should read. Make sense? I recommend this instead, How to Brew. You can read it online for free or you can help the guy out and actually buy the book.

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Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew!

I want to hurt people when I hear this. Yuck.

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Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.