Homebrewers?

[Stone]

I haven't brewed in a while. I think I'll cook up a batch this weekend. Probably an IPA.

Any brewers on the site?

[Varmint]

I brewed a fair amount when I was in graduate school, but I haven't done it in over 11 years. I did learn that one should never try to sterilize bottles in a high pressure autoclave.

[Schielke]

I mean to start brewing when I get some more cash.

How much does a pretty decent set of equipment cost?

Thanks!

Ben

[Stone]

I'd say about $100. What city are you in?

For basic extract brewing you need:

1 5 gallon pot

1 7 gallon glass carboy

1 5 gallon glass carboy

Wort chiller (you can make one from copper tubing)

racking tube

bottle capper

A few 3-4' lengths of plastic tubing.

Thermometer/hydrometer (if you want)

I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

When I have a chance I'll find a link to an on-line store.

[Schielke]

I am in Seattle. Lots of beer choices, yay!

Thanks for the info.

Ben

[rstarobi]

Actually, I just bought my equipment online on Monday - should arrive while I'm at work today. My first batch is going to be a pre-fab Brown Ale kit.

[Stone]

Use liquid yeast. The easiest way to improve any beer.

[stellabella]

my husband used to brew all the time but we haven't done it since we moved to our new house four years ago. why-oh-why?

maybe we need a fire set under us.

i had a friend about eight years ago who brewed every saturday with his buddy. every few months they'd throw beer parties, with athe different brews labeled, and a guide to each posted on the fridge- - great fun. great reason to throw a party.

[CooksQuest]

Some years ago, I made an English Porter, an Irish Brown Ale, and a Belgian Raspberry. The belgian beer was aged in the bottle for almost 2 years.

I've since chucked all my equipment (including the hydrometer) but regret doing so. It was a lot of fun.

[tommy]

i brewed a couple of times years ago. does that make me a "homebrewer"? i still have 2 bottles of the belgian white that i made. i have to say, it was quite good.

brewing beer is very satisfying. you can really get some great beer out of it.

i've found that wives are generally not big fans of the brewing process, especially when you live in a one bedroom apartment.

[Big Man]

I did my first batch in my sister's small NY apartment. Of course, the wort boiled over and burned onto the stove. But pissing off the sibling was just an extra joy of the homebrewing process.

[Big Man]

Use liquid yeast.  The easiest way to improve any beer.

Of course, buy Papazian's New Complete Joy of Homebrewing.

[mickblueeyes]

One of the best books I own regarding Home Brewing is "CloneBrews." You will find recipes for many of your favorite beers in this book. I brew every 2 weeks and have about 3-4 hundred bottles currently bottled.

Typically I prefer heavier ales (taste and alcohol content) so I go with belgian style ales and scotch ales. I have brewed clones of Chimay Grand Reserve, Old Jock Ale, Skull Splitter, Traquair House Ale, Guinness and Old Flag Porter. When dealing with beers that are bottle conditioned, you can actually reculture yeast from a purchased bottle, so you are using the same yeast strain as the brewer. All About Beer has tons of information regarding home brewing.

[carbone]

homebrewing is not only fun but when you turn your friends and family onto it you get lots of free beer. Yes you need papazian's book.

[Stone]

One of the best books I own regarding Home Brewing is "CloneBrews." You will find recipes for many of your favorite beers in this book. I brew every 2 weeks and have about 3-4 hundred bottles currently bottled.

Don't worry, I'll be right over. I'll bring the potato chips and a copy of "The Blues Brothers." We'll get rid of all those nasty old bottles in no time.

[mickblueeyes]

LMAO!

[Stone]

Thanks. But what's the address, and what time do you wake up? (I'll try to be quiet when popping the tops.)

[mickblueeyes]

LOL!

[Hopleaf]

I haven't brewed in a while.  I think I'll cook up a batch this weekend.  Probably an IPA.

Any brewers on the site?

How did the IPA turn out?

[ivan]

I've tried a few pre-fab and some not-so-prefab mixes and such (although I have NOT actually roasted my own grain or grown my own hops from seed or combined tanks of hydrogen and oxygen to make my own homemade water), and always end up reverting to one particular mix from some manufacturer in Canada because the ale it produces tastes very good. So say I and all who drink it, so why bother with anything else?

I brewed a batch last Christmas, and it disappeared in something like 3 weeks (only 8 sixpacks per batch). I am poised at the very brink of brewing another batch, and promise myself (as always) that this time I'll keep rolling and brew a new batch every 3rd week. We'll see.

The main obstacle for me is not the brewing, fermenting or bottling, but the gathering and especially the cleaning of bottles. I will take bottles from all my beer-drinking friends, as long as they are not twist-offs and do not have fired-on labels, but then they must be de-labeled and sterilized. I have about 100 dirty bottles waiting for me -- an all-day adventure in wrinkled fingertips.

I would rather not buy bottles. I can buy decent beer for less than the cost of new bottles from the brewer supply store. In fact, one time I actually bought 8 sixpacks of beer and poured the beer down a drain, because I needed bottles in a hurry and this beer was cheaper than the cost of clean bottles.

I know one alternative is to ferment in pressurized kegs. But there is a significant downside to that method: Bottles are the only appropriate venue for my extraordinarilly witty home-printed labels.

Soon, also, I will make mead, but that process is more like wine-making than beer-brewing. After that, some day, God willin' and the creek don't rise -- whiskey.

[Stone]

I assume you're not in the States (if you are, I suggest you don't actually try to make whiskey. It's still quite illegal to distill without a license.) In the states, I usually go to a beer store and ask for the returned Grolsch bottles. Usually they'll sell them at $.20 per. Of course, the bigger the bottle the better (Rogue beer bottles are great), since bottling is a pain in the ass. Someone also told me that champagne bottles fit the bottle caps, but I've never tried it.

When you say you brew from kits, you're not talking about pre-hopped extract are you? I haven't mashed in a while, but when you get to pre-hopped kits, you're really just making soup. (Although I often describe brewing in general as making alcoholic soup in a very, very clean environment.)

[ivan]

Here is what I wrote:

"Soon, also, I will make mead, but that process is more like wine-making than beer-brewing. After that, some day, God willin' and the creek don't rise -- whiskey."

I did not put the words "distill" or "make" anywhere in proximity to the word "whiskey". And that's what I'll tell them damn revenoo'ers when they come poking about.

Someone recently told me that in the States you can legally buy a still. They are sold purely as decorative accents, and can enhance any well-appointed sitting-room decor.

And yes, I make beer soup. That was the point of what I said -- I've made it from scratch, and the results were not appreciably better (and sometimes worse) than the beer soup made from this one Canadian outfit (whose name I can't remember off-hand, but it has the word "Brau" in it somewhere -- what self-respecting beer soup mix doesn't?). The resulting ale is ale nonetheless, it is predictable, consistent, it tastes as good as a high-end commercial ale, and it takes about an hour to cook from beginning to end. The "WhositBrau" company does the prep work for me, I merely boil it with sugar and hops, ferment it and bottle it.

Of course, I'm open to suggestions.

[Stone]

Someone recently told me that in the States you can legally buy a still. They are sold purely as decorative accents, and can enhance any well-appointed sitting-room decor.

I actually remember seeing something like this advertised (I think it was one of those airplane skymall magazines.) It looked pretty cool, and, I think, was actually for distilling a glass of wine. Doesn't that make cognac or brandy?

[ivan]

It looked pretty cool, and, I think, was actually for distilling a glass of wine.  Doesn't that make cognac or brandy?

Yes. Oh yes, indeed. Distill some wine, and you get brandy. Distill some wine in Cognac, and you get cognac.

I think my sitting room decor needs some enhancing.

[Stone]

Turn wine into brandy. Or Brandy.

But it appears to be illegal:

S3: I've seen ads for home distilling equipment in catalogs ("turn wine into brandy," "make your own essential oils"). Is it legal to buy and use a still like that?

Under Federal rules administered by ATF, it depends on how you use the still. You may not produce alcohol with these stills unless you qualify as a distilled spirits plant (see earlier question). However, owning a small still and using it for other purposes is allowed. You should also check with your State and local authorities - their rules may differ.

A still is defined as apparatus capable of being used to separate ethyl alcohol from a mixture that contains alcohol. Small stills (with a cubic distilling capacity of a gallon or less) that are used for laboratory purposes or for distilling water or other non-alcoholic materials are exempt from our rules.

If you buy a small still and use it to distill water or extract essential oils by steam or water extraction methods, you are not subject to ATF requirements. If you produce essential oils by a solvent method and you get alcohol as a by-product of your process, we consider that distilling. Even though you are using and recovering purchased alcohol, you are separating the alcohol from a mixture -distilling.

ATF.