Does anyone brew their own beer ? I dont, but would like to try.

 

I tried it years ago and it tasted like acid water. I tried learning how to make my own beer from out of books and even following the instructions on the mini brew setups and could not come close to the store bought brands. However, if you join a club, or go to a brew making forum, you will learm more about this then I did. Try www.homebrewtalk.com.
Don't try it on your own, you will fail. I think the water that is used must be either purified or treated or both before brewing.

 

I've been brewing beer for 8yrs. I started out fermenting in a plastic bucket, and eventually graduated to a 6.5 gallon glass carboy. I used to bottle my beer, but eventually graduated to 5 gallon stainless kegs. I got a cO2 system for dispensing beer, and a spare refirgerator to chill my kegs.

I can brew 5 gallons for about $20 average cost. Drink it in 6 or 8 weeks after brewing.

What would you like to know?

German lager? Raspberry wheat? Chocolate porter? Pale ale? What flavor would you like?

Wine?--tried it--disaster. Not worth the trouble.

 

Not to be confrontational--but your totally wrong on most of this.

Making beer is nothing more than following a recipe and some simple sanitation techniques. Anybody can do it with a stove and a kitchen sink.

Trying to imitate store bought beer is not the reason for brewing beer. You need to adopt a totally different philosophy about it. The goal is to make something UNIQUE, that no one can BUY at the liquor store. The goal is to get good enough at it so that you can customize it to your exact taste and pallet. Then you can discover your favorite beer, usually by accident, and make it again, and again, and again. Anytime you want.

I succeded at brewing beer on my first attempt. Not hard. Very rewarding experience. I found myself brewing more beer than myself or my friends could drink. It was more fun to brew, and sample different types and textures of beer--than to drink just to get drunk. I ended up buying equipment to brew smaller 2 gallon batches, just so that I could sample lots of different types of beers. This way, your not "forced" to drink 5 gallons of something that your not crazy about. If you make 2 gallons, and you don't care for it--then expense was minimal, and one of your buddies will surely like it. Give it away and brew something different.

I don't drink to get drunk. I don't think I've had a glass of homebrew in about 2 months. Last mixed drink I had was a couple weeks ago. Just not in the mood for alcohol right now. But, should I ever get the urge for a frosty mug--it's only a short trip out to the garage and pull the tap. I've got raspberry wheat, barley wine, and pale ale on tap right now.

If you want to get into brewing beer because your an alcoholic--then forget about it. It's too much trouble for most alcoholics, and you can buy more powerful beer at the liquor store with much less effort.

Brewing beer with high alcohol content is not as easy as one might think. It's a tricky balance. I generally shoot for 3% up to 6% by volume. Thats easy to control and you can get reproducable results with good consistancy.

Purified water? Worse thing you can do to a beer. It's the minerals and sulphites in your local water that make your beer unique. You NEED those minerals in the water to give your beer a certain body and taste.

Purified water yields a very poor tasting beer.

 

Chris,
<You need to adopt a totally different philosophy about it.>
My philosophy was to save money and make something just as good. What's the point if I could not do that.

Beer requires hard water to brew. But ammonia and chlorine are not required and should be taken out by purification along with other impurities and then hardness chemicals added back to it.
Successful beermaking is in the taste of the beholder.
I started out just as you and succeeded in making a few batches following the instructions on the mini beer kits. Was it good beer? No it was not and I was not about to invest in more equipment to purify the water plus chemicals to replace the hardness that would be taken out. I did not want something unique, just something that was drinkable. Those who get good at it, are using advanced techiques to brew.

 

German Lager, yes ! Pale Ale, yes ! Or something like Newcastle brown ale maybe. Porter ? Possibly. Not sure what that is.

 

You said that you couldn't get anywhere close to store bought beer. Thats why I mentioned my brewing philosophy. Now your saying that all you wanted was a drinkable beer at a low cost. You've changed your parameters.

If your trying to imitate store bought beer--then you DON'T have the right philosophy about it.

If all you want is cheap, good beer--then brew on brother.


Thats just NOT true.

You should see my brewing equipment:
I mash in a 5 gallon Gott water cooler. Cost me $20 at the sport store. I use vinyl tubing for racking and kegging. Costs about $.15 cents a foot. I sterilize my cooking utensils in the dishwasher with plain old bleach. I sterilize my kegs with over the counter stuff available at any homebrew store or online retailer. I've NEVER purified my water. NEVER worried about chlorine or ammonia. All the chlorine is going to boil out while you are boiling your hops. I make great beer in a regular 'ole kitchen with water from the tap.

Your tossing out discouraging information, and it's just not true. How many batches of beer did you brew? I've been doing it for 8yrs. Probably made a few THOUSAND gallons of beer. All with simple, cheap tools, and tap water.

I'd bet a serious amount of money that your poor results were from insufficient sanitation. Sanitized fermenting and racking equipment is the absolute most crucial thing you need to worry about when brewing beer.

Nothing has to be santized untill your done boiling and ready to add it to the fermentor. You can use dirty spoons--if your lazy. You don't need to purify your grain, or your tubing.

But, as soon as you turn off the fire and your wort drops below boiling--then your subjected to airborn bacteria. None of that airborn bacteria will hurt you. It just makes lousy tasting beer.

Your fermentor better be absolutely sanitized. I put a piece of aluminum foil over the opening after I sanitize it. Then stash it in the corner for a couple hours, untill I'm ready for it.

I sanitize my kegs the day before I need them, and then I seal them up and pump about 5psi of cO2 into them to keep them free from bacteria.

You don't need purified water. Chlorine? Don't worry about it unless your a professional and your trying to make a living brewing beer.

What you need to worry about is SANITATION SANITATION SANITATION SANITATION SANITATION SANITATION.

Workin Man:
What do you need help with?

If your just starting out, may I suggest the following book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/038...lance&n=283155

Charlie writes it down in language that we can all understand. He takes you through the brewing process from purchasing your supplies and ingredients, too brewing, fermenting, and bottling. The only thing he can't help you with is drinking it.

I started out with whats called a "kit" beer. You purchase a pre-packaged beer in a box. It includes the hops, malt, gypsum, yeats, ect...

You basically, add water and boil it for an hour. Then cool it down and add it to your fermemter. Toss in the yeast and shake the heck out of it. (oxygen)

Keep it over 65*F and less than 80*F and watch the yeast go to work. It usually takes about 12--24hrs to see any action inside the fermenter. It will be 'boiling" inside your fermenter as the yeast activity gets really high. It should take from 4--10 days to settle down.

Then you rack (siphon) it off into a secondary fermenter for another week. Siphon quietly. Don't splash or let it make bubbles. Siphon your wort from the primary fermennter into the secondary fermenter without splashing around and making a bunch of noise. Just get the siphon started and lay the tubing on the bottom of the secondary fermenter. You DO NOT want to introduce OXYGEN into your beer after it's started to ferment. The only time you want oxygen is when you first add the yeast. They are like every other organism on this Earth--they need oxygen to function and ferment your beer. But, once the fermentation starts--oxygen is BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD. It gives the beer a rusty flavor. It's oxidized beer. Rusty beer.

So, when you siphon from the primary fermenter into the secondary fermenter--just lay the tube in the bottom of the fermenter and let it sihpon without any splashing or bubbling.

After your beer spends about a week in the secondary fermenter--you can bottle it. Add about 1/2 or 3/4 cup of corn sugar to the beer before you bottle it. This additional sugar will lreactivate the yeast and cause the carbonation in the bottle. That way, when you pop the top off--a month later--your not drinking flat beer.

Fill your bottles quietly. No splashing or bubbles. NO OXYGEN!!

Leave about 1" air gap in the bottle and then slap a cap on it. Set it in a dark closet at room temperature for 4--6 weeks.

Chill it overnight--and enjoy.

Go read Charlies book, and have at it. I had about $100 invested in my equipment when I did my first batch. So, those forst few batches are kind of expensive--but then you've got your equipment--it gets cheaper after that.

I have about $350 in my equipment now, but it's all been paid for--years now. I'm brewing from fresh grain (barley) and whole hops. I'm brewing a 5 gallon batch of beer for anywhere from $10 ---up to $25.

5 gallons of beer is roughly 60 standard 12oz bottles of beer. Thats 2.5 CASES of beer for $20.

If you keep at it, and you enjoy it--go get a 5 gallon keg setup. You can buy Cornelious kegs for about $20--$30 apiece. Rebuild the O-rings and valves for about $5 per keg. They last forever once you rebuild them. It's neat becasue you brewq 5 gallons, and the keg just happens to be 5 gallons. 1 big bottle.

Bottling 60 beers is a bunch of work. (brewing beer is a bunch of work) You have to sanitize all of them, fill them, cap them, store them, chill them. Pain in the butt. Each beer will taste a tiny bit different because they all age in a different vessel. Putting all 5 gallons in a big 5 gallon keg--makes it all taste the same. From the first beer down to the last drop. It's all the same.

I still use 22oz "bomber" bottles occasionally. 22oz bottles are the ones that microbrews come in. Fat Tire, Blue Moon--they come in 22oz bombers.

22oz bombers is not as much work as 12 oz bottles. Fewer bottles to mess with--less caps to put on. Who drinks 12oz of beer anyway?

I'll make up holiday beer in the fall. Pumpkin pie ale for Thanksgiving. Berry beer for Christmas. Green beer for St Pattys day. (food coloring) I put this stuff in 22oz bombers, because I can pass them out to friends and relatives to take home and enjoy later. But, they better save that bottle and bring it back next time they come over--or thats the last beer they'll get from me. Gathering bottles from the local bars is a bunch of nasty, dirty work. Some bars won't even give them to you. So, get your bottles back if you pass them out.

Email me if you need help on anything.
xxxxxxxx.com

 

<I'd bet a serious amount of money that your poor results were from insufficient sanitation. Sanitized fermenting and racking equipment is the absolute most crucial thing you need to worry about when brewing beer.>

Chris,
21 years ago is when I tried my hand at brewing. I don't recall the instructions saying to use bleach to sanitize. I only remenber using plenty of hot water to clean and sanitize my equipment. Maybe the instructions were changed or poorly written. I still stand behind my advice to workingman as to contact a beermaking club or forum before he attempts to brew beer. The basic brew kits are just that "Basic". They try to mimic good tasting beer. Would be brewers should try to brew beer to match what they can buy and then later on, play with their own recipes to make something to suit their tastes.

 

Chris,
You seem to be somewhat knowledgable about brewing beer. I've checked into the book you suggested on amazon. I haven't made the purchase just yet though. Have you had better success with the dry ingredients or the extract ? Or is there a difference ? I like the sound of your different hoilday beers. I remember one year, some time back, Coors made a holiday beer around Christmas. I'd never tasted anything like it. I'd like to make something like that. But their holiday beer recipe changes every year. And you are right about wanting to make something better that what you can get at the local market. At least, I do. Although, if knew how to make that holiday beer Coor's made in the late eighties, I'd be happy with that flavor. And ales, such as new castle brown ale and sierra nevada pale ale. I would be most interested in making ale's, since, as I understand it, can be brewed at room temperature. No cold brewing required. I have no cellar or basement to brew in. And im not sure if I want to ferment in the kitchen, for fear of something blowing up and making a big stinky mess. Has this ever happen to you ? I think I will get the book you suggested. It got great reviews by most all who purchased it. I haven't yet checked for forums dealing with home brew on the net. I am sure there are hundreds. Can you suggest one of those ?

 

I couldn't tell you which forum to try. I only use this forum, and one other forum for RC related stuff.

Your only risk of exploding bottles is if you bottle before the fermentation is complete. It's pretty easy to tell when the fermentation is done, so thats not much of a concern.

Brewing an ale is the easiest thing to do. Most beers are actually brewed with ale yeast, you just add different ingredients to get different beers, but the yeast is all the same.

Ales:
Raspberry wheat
Pale Ale
German vienna
Chocolate Porter
Guenniss
Newcastle Brown ALE
Fat Tire


Lagers are just as easy to make, just takes longer to ferment, and you need someplace to ferment at 40F--50F (spare refrigerator )

The Homebrewers Bible is a great book for beginners. Some people who are experienced might slam it as too basic, or too simple--but your a newbie. This is EXACTLY what you need. I still refer to it for recipes.

I started out with kits. Hard to screw it up. Good experience. Great way to get your feet wet.

I now do all-grain mash. I have a Corona corn mill that I use to crack the grain, and I mash in a 5 gallon water cooler with a perforated false bottom. I have a little spray thingy gizmo for spraying hot water on the grain when I'm done mashing.

Mashing your own grain is the cheapest way to go. Grain is cheap. You can buy it on the internet. It's also the most labor intensive. I absolutely LOVE the fresah taste from an all-grain beer.

You take anywhere from 4--10 pounds of light 2-row barley and crack the husks in a mill. Put it in your mash tun (cooler) and dump 170F water on it. The water will cool. You want to mash at about 152F--158F. Let it mash for about an hour. The way to tell if it's done is to take about 1 tablespoon out and dump it on a plate. Put a drop of plane old iodine on it. If it turns blue--there's still starch present--keep mashing. Eventually, all the starch in the grain will turn to sugar. Then you turn on the spigot on the cooler and start draining your wort into your 5 gallon boiling vessel. Use stainless steel for boiling. Wash hot 180F water over your grains to get all the sweat sugar out. When the wort coming out ehspigot starts to clear a bit--your done. Don't wash your grain untill the water coming out the spigot is clear. Thats too much. Makes nasty flavors. Wash the grains untill the water coming out looks like watered-down tea.

Slap the pot on the stove and start boiling. Add 1--2 tblspoons of gypsum for water conditioner, and add your hops. Read the book and learn Bittering Units. I prefer about 6--12 Bittering Units for a smooth ale thats NOT hopy. I'm NOT a hophead. Thats why I don't like most store bought beer. Too hoppy for my taste.

While your boiling the wort, take about 1/2 pound light crystal malt and run it through the mill to crack the husks. Put it in a 2 quart pot with COLD water and heat it SLOOOOOWLLLLY over a low heat untill it almost boils. This will give you a nice color and a nice frothy head on your beer. Strain the grain out. I call this "tea".

Boil for an hour. Strain the hops out with a metal kitchen strainer. Dump your crystal (tea) water in. Cool your wort in a sink full of ice water, or make a wort chiller from copper tubing and attach it to the faucet. Run cold water through the copper coils. Cools the wort in 10 minutes. Cool wort to 70F and then dump, slosh, splash it into your fermentor. LOTS of oxygen. Add the yeast. Shake the heck out of it. Put the bubbler in the top and wrap a towel around it to shield it from sunlight and soak up if you have a boil over from aggressive yeast fermentaion.

Wait about a week and then rack (siphon) QUIETLY into the secondary fermenter. NO splashing. No sloshing. NO OXYGEN!!

Add the bubbler on the top and wait another 3--7 days for activity to subside to almost no action.

Rack (siphon) QUEITLY into a bottleing bucket. Usually a 5 gallon bucket with a spigot on the bottom. Add 3/4 cup corn sugar for carbonation. Use a bottling wand to fill bottles--quietly. Bottling wand is a plastic tube with a pressure valve on the bottom. Push it down on the bottom of the bottle and beer flows. Pull it up and pressure stops--no flow. Easy, quiet, $8

Cap your bottles. Store in dark room/closet for 4-6 weeks. Chill overnight. Enjoy.

 

I'm available anytime as an unbiased taste tester....... My qualifications are that I've drunk beer on 4 continents.

 

Chris.

W O W !That sounds impressive. You could be blowing smoke and I'd never know it. But I believe I'm going to get the book, and do a little reading. I kinda wish there were a short (or long) video that I could follow step by step, just to get the process and procedure straight. As you probably know, you can only gain so much from book study. And the rest from "hands on". However, you did say it was hard to screw up with the kit !
I guess most who take up this hobby, learn through trial and error. I'd just like to bypass the error portion.

I am also interested in your keg method.

 

I tried to do some home brew years ago and had mixed results. Had a 6 gallon plastic bucket with one of those airlocks on the top. Kinda liked how it bubbled. I guess I'm easily amused lol. The stout I made and a couple ambers were actually quite good. All the light beer I tried was terrible. In Michigan where I lived at the time they have those returnable 0.5 liter bottles that were great for beer. I love a good homebrew. there's a micro brewery here that isn't half bad

 

I'm not jerkin' your chain man. What would be the point in spending all that time to type out my replies--just to jerk your chain?

It's a fun hobby, very rewarding.

But, don't forget, it's a TON of work. On brewing days, I spend about 8hrs in the kitchen. My total investment in each batch is around 13 hrs or sweatin' and lifting heavy buckets full of steaming hot water and grain. It's a BUNCH or hard work.

Some people will ask, "Whats your time worth?"

Nothing, it's a hobby and it's fun. I enjoy it.

Same with my R/C airplanes. I like to build kits from plans and a box of sticks. Most guys like the pre-fabbed ARFs. They ask me why I spend so much time building a kit from a box of sticks.

"Whats your time worth? It takes MONTHS to build a kit, when you can be flying an ARF next weekend."

My time is worth nothing. I ENJOY it. It's rewarding.

You can pick up that book at a used book store for a couple bucks. Well worth the money.

You can get 5 gallon buckets from the deli at the local grocery store. They get potatoe salad, cake frosting, baked beans, etc.. in 5 gallon buckets. It's not going to hurt you or leave funny tastes in the beer, because it hasn't had chemicals in it. Only food.

You can buy most of your equipment online from out of state--and not pay taxes on it. Same with grain, and hops.

You can make a false bottom for the Gott water cooler from a frisbee. Drill a few hundred holes in it with an 1/8" drill bit.

You can buy a spigot for your buckets and cooler for a couple bucks each.

You can buy the kegs from Coca Cola or Pepsi. They are stainless steel. They have a black rudder top and 2 valves on top. One valve is for beer out and one valve is for cO2 in.
I have paid anywhere fromm $10 up to $30 for a keg. It costs about $8 to completely rebuild the valves and seals. I haven't worn mine out yet. They are Cornelious kegs. They used to put soda syrup in them back before everything went to plastic bags. You used to see them in bars and restaurants all the time.

A 6.5 gallon bucket or carboy is best for your primary fermentation, because things foam up a bunch. Rack into a 5 gallon fermenter for secondary fermentation. And rack into a 5 gallon bucket with a spigot foor bottling.

You can buy grain bags for mashing. They are just a knit cotton bag that you dump your grain in. Easy to pull it out of the cooler when your done mashing, instyead of trying to scoop out 5 or 8 pounds of loose, cracked grain.

You can ferment your grain when your done mashing and then put it in a still if you want to make moonshine. I've never done it, but a friend does it all the time. Making a still is illegal, so don't blab it around if you decide to do it. You can make a still from a pressure cooker and some coper tubing. Powerfull stuff, if your willing to risk drinking it. If you screw up a still--you can end up going blind from the alcohol.

Good luck. Buy that book, and a kit. Get couple 5 gallon stainless pots for boiling. Get your plastic buckets and send me a bottle when your done.

 

I'm new to brewing too and i'm learning from all this.

I sent you a email chrisharris.

 

We have a friend who has been brewing for about 5 years now. It's his raison d'etre and he happens to be very good at it. These are my outside observations:

Join a brewery club. You can try all sorts of folks experiments, recipies, successes and failures and learn from them without making them yourself.

Study study study everything you can on the subject.

You need space to keep the big glass containers warm and cool - but this could be behind the couch. If you are making certain kinds you will need a refridgerator to do the magic cooling part. Get one cheap or free and turn it into a kegerator :-)

Learn beer. Learn to taste it and pick out ingredients. It will help you figure out what you like. Tasting beer is similar to tasting wine only you have many more ingredients to contend with.

The boiling process stinks to high heaven - you may scare away your roommate or spouse during this process. Some folks love the smell though.

If you are no beer nerd, find a place that offers tastings. Go to local brewpubs - they seem to be anywhere. Try everything you can and make notes. If you want to sample the largest gathering of microbrews, however, you will have to come down to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver (late September/October).

Personally I have too many projects to tackle before I take on homebrewing. I'd love to try making mead or ginger beer though. Yummmmy!