Anybody brewing their own beer?

[EarlyPorsche]

I was just thinking about brewing my own beer but all of the "kits" are just a bunch of plastic components. I found a couple kits with stainless and glass components and that I like. Copper is even better. Nonetheless, who is home brewing and how does it taste and how do you ensure safety? I think bad brewing leads to some very dangerous and potentially blinding alcohol?

[Bill Douglas]

I tried doing a brew once and it was most definetly the worst beer I have ever tried. If somone has a recipe for a homebrew you have tasted - and like, give it a go.

I don't think your alcohol levels will get dangerously high. It's only ethel alchol and at worst will gine you a hangover. Methol alcohol (sp) is the bad stuff.

[campbellcj]

I've done it a number of times but not in years. I bought the equipment at a local homebrew/microbrew supply house. I used a giant stainless stock pot for the wort (IIRC) and a 5 gallon glass bottle for the fermentation stage. Glass bottles obviously for the finished product too.

One of the keys - if not THE key - is to SANITIZE diligently. I got excellent results with various ales and porters. Never tried lagers.

[VINMAN]

Been doing it for a few yrs. Ive had some great batches and some horible ones.

Ive been on an IPA kick the past yr.

To echo Chris.. SANITIZATION!!

[cgarr]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

SANITIZATION!!

Yep, get some micro quat

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I brew semi-regularly. I used to a lot more but I find I just don't drink it as often as I used to - a standard batch is 5 gallons which is a LOT of beer. If there were some local Pelicans that wanted to come over on a regular basis maybe it'd give me an excuse to do it more often...

The key to good beer is good ingredients and good sanitary technique. You are essentially producing a high-nutrient, high sugar-content broth and then dumping yeast into it, which go crazy (perfect environment for them to do what they do - reproduce wildly and make lots of C2H5OH and CO2 as byproducts of metabolizing the sugars). ANY little bit of mold, bacteria, dust (stuff lives on it), etc on any of your gear or getting into your wort will at BEST produce off-flavors. At worst it'll utterly ruin the batch, overpowering the yeast and turning the wort into a fungal or bacterial petri dish.

Keep your stuff clean and use a lot of idophor. Good brewing is less about process and more about technique/mechanics. It's actually quite a boring slog of a task (lots of mindless stuff and waiting for water to boil) but it is rewarding at the end - just like prepping a 911 for paint, to use an analogy. If you cut corners early on, you'll pay for it later.

[Rusty Heap]

5 gallon batches are 2.5 cases.

don't buy a 1 gallon "mr brew" kit off the web, find a local beer brewing store in local area or buy from one. Buy quality hardware in the first place, I've brewed up to 20-25 gallons at a time from all-grain, you'll start with malt-extract batches openning up a sugar mixture, boiling it, then watering it down and adding yeast, poof, you have beer. easy squeezey

my local store: many other ones out there:

StoreFront -- Homebrew Heaven Online Store

[notmytarga]

Start out simple and see if you like it. Malt extracts are easy and allow a concentrated wort boil - which allows a smaller (2-3 gal) pot and after the boil adding cold water brings the wort down to yeast pitching temperature. Liquid yeasts are a better choice if you value your time and want better taste. Control of fermentation temperature is important - too warm (>73) and things get ugly. Basements are great for helping with this. 2 inch building foam will make a nice box. Sanitation is indeed very important. But cleaning gunk needs to preceed any efforts - and rinse off the sanistetizer because it kills yeast and taste too!

Next step is to do full wort boils. Boiling brings down the volume, concentrating the wort, sanitizing and bringing out hop bitterness. The bigger (10 gal) pot means a move outside with propane burner. This move requires a sanitary way of chilling - immersion coil usually.

Next step is either all grain (mashing) or a kegging system. Both require stainless equipment and expense. Moving away from extracts gives you more control and flexibility with recipes - but requires much more time as you are allowing the crushed grains to convert starch to sugar at about 150 F for at least an hour. Then separate the wort from the mash. Larger volumes require more time to get to temperature.

Kegging is a time saver but also allows carbonation control and cool fridges and faucets/handles.

Recirculation mash systems pump the wort around and usually apply heat control - this can set up your filter bed so you can straight to separation and rinsing out sugars (lautering).

My brewing equipment has shared the garage with my Targa restoration and engine rebuild - I'm lucky to have my own 2 car garage - as opposed the one the family van gets parked in.
I started brewing in 1993 and quickly moved off the kitchen stove. In 1996 I bought a turn key 10 gal brewing system made with 15.5 converted beer kegs. It uses natural gas and does automatic temperature control with recirculation. I have two old fridges outfitted for serving from 5 gal kegs - one usually serves as the fermentation temperature control box. I have old brewing equipment that I have sold, given and loaned that would be envied by others. That said, if you like brewing, find a club and see what equipment is available from the members.

[dhoward]

Originally Posted by Rusty Heap

5 gallon batches are 2.5 cases.

don't buy a 1 gallon "mr brew" kit off the web, find a local beer brewing store in local area or buy from one. Buy quality hardware in the first place, I've brewed up to 20-25 gallons at a time from all-grain, you'll start with malt-extract batches openning up a sugar mixture, boiling it, then watering it down and adding yeast, poof, you have beer. easy squeezey

my local store: many other ones out there:

StoreFront -- Homebrew Heaven Online Store

DO buy 1 gallon Mr. beer kit and see if you like doing it. It's virtually foolproof.
Yeah, all-grain mashes for a newby. Shame on you.

[TimT]

Here are some really old pics of my RIMS brew system

I have since downsized and brew partial mashes on the stovetop..


Have been homebrewing for about 20 years

riptide brewery

[BeyGon]

I did three five gallon bottles about fifteen years ago for a party, at the time I rounded up a ton of quart bottles and had to wash/sterilize them, that and capping them seemed like a lot of work. I made three different varieties and people drank it all so it must have been ok. However, it was too much trouble to clean all the bottles again, is there an easy system now, what to you do for bottles? I gave everything away after that so would have to start from scratch.

[campbellcj]

Bottle brush and a couple dishwasher cycles does the trick. Or just buy new ones. They used to be cheap but maybe not anymore.

[red-beard]

I found my old recipe for getting you into brewing. Here is how to brew one gallon of great beer.

I've been working on this for a couple of friends. Sorry if this is long.

Buy three 1 1b bags of light DME (Dry Malt Extract) ($9), 1 oz of Cascade hops ($1) and 2 packets of dry ale yeast ($1), an air lock and a #6.5 stopper ($3), and 5 feet of 3/8 plastic tubing ($1). What you are going to do is make two 1 gallon batches of beer. If you like brewing, a regular 5 gallon brew kit can be had for less than $50, even cheaper if you scrounge.

First, buy a 1 gallon bottle of spring water from the store. This is going to be your fermenter. You can use the spring water for your first batch of beer as well. Do not lose the cap, as you will need this too.

Pre-boil in a pot with a lid about 1/2 gallon of water for 15 minutes. This will be make up water for later. Make sure it is down to room temp before starting the next step. Keep the lid on.

Add 1 gallon of water (You can use the spring water) to a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer the water for 5 minutes, to de-aerate it. Open 2 of the bags of DME. Out of the first one, measure 1/4 cup out and save it in a small plastic baggie. Add the rest of this bag to the water and 1/2 of the second bag to the water. Stir it in carefully. Do not worry if it clumps up, it will dissolve. Continue heating this until it boils. Do not turn your back on it, as it can foam up and boil over. Keep stirring, gently, do not splash the wort. As soon as the foaming subsides, you will be ready to add the hops.

Carefully store the rest of the DME in well sealed plastic bags, or it will turn hard, making it hard to dissolve. Store the second yeast package near it, but not in the same bag (Tape it to the outside). Store the other half of the hops in the freezer (See next step).

Divide the hops in 1/2 and save the other 1/2 for the next batch of beer. Take the remaining hops and remove about 1/4 of them (1/8 ounce), set them aside for a little later. Add the main part of the hops to your pot (3/8 ounce). Boil this mixture for 45 minutes. It should be rolling a bit, but not splashing about.

While the wort (this is what the boiling liquid is called) is boiling, you will need to sanitize the following: A Funnel and the spring water bottle, the cork and the air lock. Add 1/4 cup of bleach to 2 gallons of water, preferable in a plastic basin in your sink. Make sure you sanitize the cap. Just before you use each item, rinse it well, until you do not smell bleach. The contact time for sanitizing each item is about 15 minutes, so make sure they are in solution for at least that amount of time. You can sanitize the fermenter by putting some of the bleach water solution into the fermenter, and shaking, then letting it sit with the bleach in it for 15 minutes.

After the 45 minutes, add the remaining hops and boil for 15 more minutes. Place the strainer (Stainless steel mesh type) in the pot with the boiling wort. This will sanitize it for the next step. While this boil is going on, fill your sink with cold water, as cold as it runs from your tap.

At the end of the 15 minutes, remove the pot with the wort from the stove, leaving in the strainer. Place this pot into the cold water. Try to circulate the water around the pot. You can drain and refill the sink if the water gets warm. You want the wort down to room temp (Cool to touch). Don't let any of the sink water get into the pot. Test the temperature by touching the side of the brew pot. Never put your hand, or anything else, into the wort, unless it is sanitized first.

While this is cooling, rinse the fermenter and the funnel. Place the funnel in the fermenter and add your dry yeast to the funnel. Now add 1 cup of water from the make up water to wash the contents of the funnel down in (Make sure that the liquid measure has been sanitized, or pour directly from the pot). This will rehydrate the yeast. Make sure it is rehydrated for 15 minutes before adding the wort to the fermenter.


After the wort is cool, add it to the fermenter. Use the strainer to remove as much of the hops and other junk as you can. Don't worry if you get some in the fermenter. Now, use the make up water to fill the container. You do not want it full. Leave about 1.5 inches from the top of the fermenter. Cap it and shake it for 10 minutes. You want to aerate it as much as possible. Air is good _only_ at this time. Getting air into the wort when hot is very bad (Splashing while hot). Getting air in after fermentation is also bad. Try to minimize air at other times.

At the end of 10 minutes, rinse the airlock and rubber stopper, remove the cap and install the air lock and stopper. Fill the air lock 1/2 way with some of the make up water.

Place the fermenter in a place, away from directly sunlight, where the temperature can be kept between 60-70 F, preferably 60-65 F. It should take 3-7 days to ferment. When the bubbles in the air lock stop it is time to bottle.

Take the 1/4 cup of saved DME and add to 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, being careful not to boil it over. Cool it like you did the original wort.

Take two 2 liter soda bottles with caps and sanitize them like you did the other stuff. Also sanitize the plastic tubing. Rinse both bottles and caps. Remove the air lock from your fermenter. Thoroughly rinse the tubing and fill with water, hold your finger on one end to keep the water in the tubing. Insert the free end of the tubing into the fermenter, about 1 inch below the beer level. Pinch the tubing in the middle to shut off the flow, and insert the other end into the first 2 liter bottle until it is almost at the bottom. Let go of the pinch and the flow should start. You have to keep the 2 liter bottle below the level of the fermenter. You have to keep the tubing in the fermenter below the water line, but try to minimize how much of the stuff in the bottom you get. When the bottle is almost full, raise it to the level of the fermenter, pinch the tubing and move the tubing to the second bottle. Fill it the same way. You want an inch or so head space in the bottle. If your tubing is near the bottom, and you fill the bottle to the top, when you remove the tubing, you will leave a proper headspace.

Now carefully pour 1/2 of the cooled 1/4 cup DME into each bottle. Try to be even between the two. Use a sanitized liquid measuring cup. Now rinse the soda caps and place them on the bottles. Squeeze the air out of the bottles and twist them shut. Place these in the same place you fermented and in about 2 weeks, the beer will be ready. You can feel the swell up and the air space near the cap will fill up with CO2. When they feel as tight as a regular bottle of soda, they are ready. Chill and enjoy. You'll have to learn how to pour the beer out while not disturbing the yeast at the bottom of the bottle. For 2 liter bottles, decanting the entire 2 liter bottle into a pitcher works best, then pouring individual glasses from the pitcher.

Go back and do it again with the second set of ingredients.

[EarlyPorsche]

Lots of wonderful information and Red Beard that is a nice recipe to try out.

Now what is keeping me from planting my own hops? That seems like a really nice addition and I know it grows like a weed. Anybody plant their own?

Truth be told I am trying to plant my own tobacco just to see what that is like. You can get tobacco seeds on ebay for pretty cheap and they grow pretty well.

[dhoward]

I have Hallertaurer and Wilamette growing on the south side of my house. they grow like weeds...
You need to get them as root cuttings, it's almost too late in the year, I think.

[HelmetHead]

I've got some stainless Cornelius kegs and CO2 tanks i'd let go REAL CHEAP to make more room in the garage for anybody wanting to keg some homebrew.

[BRPORSCHE]

Originally Posted by HelmetHead

I've got some stainless Cornelius kegs and CO2 tanks i'd let go REAL CHEAP to make more room in the garage for anybody wanting to keg some homebrew.

If only I had time...

[HelmetHead]

Tom,
Come by and get them....their YOURS now. Brewing beer is a great excuse to hang out for a couple of hours with friends and drink the crap you made the month before

[BRPORSCHE]

You are to kind Einar. One mans trash is another mans treasure eh?

Plus I need to stop by and check out the engine.

[HelmetHead]

Anytime Tom..