Home Brewing

[Ericpo]

Do any members of eG brew their own beer? I have been wanting to do this for years. I have a starter brewing kit...and I have a group of good friends to help. Just wondering if there are others on eG with experience/desire/or love of homebrewing?

[haresfur]

I brew on occasion. I don't drink enough beer to get really good at it though

Cleanliness is the key to brewing beer. Although you can brew in plastic, it is easier to keep glass clean IMO.

A porter can cover a multitude of sins (this is true of brew pubs, too).

But my number one tip for brewing is for bottling time: Set up your bottling bucket on the counter over the dish washer if you have one. Open the door and put your bottles on it as you fill them. Catch all the spills on the door and clean-up is no worries.

[mkayahara]

If you haven't already, you might want to take a look at the eGullet Culinary Institute course on homebrewing, and its related Q&A. I keep meaning to get into homebrewing, but just haven't set aside the time to do it yet!

[Aileen]

I just started homebrewing, my first batch is in the secondary right now and I'm going to bottle tomorrow or the next day. I like the tip about bottling, I'll try that!

[haresfur]

Let us know how it turns out. Cheers!

[Pilori]

Yup. Haven't brewed in a little over a year, but I have the makings of a saison, IPA, and stout that I'm going to be using soon!

[Pilori]

It was actually the eGullet Culinary Institute class on brewing that got me started. I thought it was well done and made entering into brewing very easy and not very stressful as it often can be when surfing technical brewing forums!

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/85652-homebrewing-for-the-absolute-beginner/

Edited June 1, 2013 by Pilori (log)

[Marquez]

Hi Ericpo,

I realize this is an aged thread, but can't help but chime in.

I've been home brewing beer for almost 8 years. Its a very rewarding hobby and has aspects in art, history and of course science.

I am new here on this forum, and still exploring. Many have advised the forum's course, but I'd like to add is to also seek out a homebrew club in your area. Often you can find them at a home brew shops.

You can also find them listed here: American Homebrewers Association

Also listed on that site is information regarding how to get started.

Welcome to homebrewing.

[Waldo]

I'm bottling a dunkel weissbier tomorrow. It's from a brewer's best kit, as I have yet to graduate to all grain brewing. That's the next frontier for me, and I hope to do that in the next month.

On a related note, I've been bottling (and refermenting) my own shandies lately. It's an idea I took from a trip to LA (Son of a Gun restaurant). They used orgeat and lemon juice to strike their sweet-sour balance. I'm playing with a combination of lactose and sucrose to both increase mouthfeel and reduce potential CO2. I don't want to create bottle-bombs by mistake. So far, the method is to hold them for 24 hours at room temp and then move the bottles to a 37 degree chiller to shut down the yeast. The bottles have not been very consistent, and so I'm always looking for better ideas on how to limit CO2 while still maintaining some residual sugar to balance the citric acid. Lactose is just not sweet enough on it's own, and xylitol (tried that) has a reputation for causing, um... stomach discomfort.

[MasteringTheFlame]

I've been brewing beer since 1998. It is my other passion besides cooking. I just wish I had more time to do it. I used to brew a batch every two weeks. I've been on a German Lager & Belgian beer kick lately, so I've been brewing lots of them. I really like Saisons, so I brew them a lot. I want to get a good German lager brewed up soon, maybe a Helles. I'll definitely get an Oktoberfest brewed up too. It is one of my favorites.

[gfron1]

I started homebrewing back in October and did my 5th batch recently.  This batch was my first kegged.  I've got enough experience now that I need to go back and figure out all the stuff I'm doing wrong - mostly around clarity.