Anyone out there make their own beer?? Lately I have been thinkin about pickin up one of these kits for somethin to do in my free time. Just curious if anyone had any suggestions on what to go with for a first timer and some tips and suggestions!
Thanks guys!
Alex

 

I do but dont use the "mr. beer" type crap, my buddy did and it was horrible. I have a kit like this and can make anything I want. I have a Fat Tire recipie that I raise the gravity on that is awesome, though an 18 pack will get you toasted.

http://store.homebrewheaven.com/shar...t=products.asp

 

Thanks for the website Cowboydave...I am not sure how crazy to get just tryin it out at first. Seems to be a fair amount of different ways to go about it. Is there a lot to this or is it pretty straight forward. I have read some stuff about grain brewing, extracting and that..Just tryin to learn as much as i can before I jump into this.

 

If you have home brew store remotely close go buy the can kits. (Mr. beer sux)
Get yourself a 5 gal Ozarka type water bottle "carboy". You can make some really great beer with those kits. no need to mess with the grains. Buy some extra malt to increase flavor and alcohol. Only use corn sugar for carbonation. To me it makes the beer more bitter if you add corn sugar for increasing the alcohol content..
There's a book called The Joys of Home Brewing. This is the bible!!
I haven't done it in yrs but I made some really great stuff. I did some from malted grains and was really good but to me the time factor involved made the can kits much more enjoyable.

 

I am not sure about a home brew store up here. I havent been here in laramie too long but I have not run across anything like that up here. I will pick up that book soon to. Always love a little extra reading on stuff! And thanks for the input guys. Anyone else??

 

Here is where I buy my stuff.
Check out these can kits.
This is really all the ingredients that you'll need to brew beer. Well you'll need some corn sugar for carbonation.
This one is my favorite!!

Any of the Coopers brands are good as well as the Muntons.

Some will say that the glass carboys is the only way to ferment your wort but I've used both plastic and glass and I have yet to see the difference.
You can buy the vast majority of your needed equipment almost anywhere. So don't pay the homebrew supply shops prices unless you just want to go with the convenience factor of not having to shop around.
Also unless you don't think you'll drink 2 litres at a time the easiest way to bottle is in used 2 litre soft drink bottles.
I believe it takes 9 bottles for a 5 gallon batch.
Just use bleach to sanitize. The book will tell ya but I believe it was 1 cup per 5 gals of water. No need to buy the sanitizers that they sell at the homebrew stores.
TGhis is making me thirsty!!

 

You can't get better beer then what you make yourself as long as you stick to a few simple principles. The most important one is sanitation. You have to sanitize anything that comes in contact with the batch or your risk loosing it. Some of the best beer I have ever drank was made by me If you get a good book you can usually gather everything you need just scouting around. You can make an airlock out of some tubing and a cork. I came up with a glass carbouy from work. You may even be able to use a plastic one (not sure, 5 gallon plastic water juggs weren't common when I started). I got all the bottles from the local bar. You have to use seamless ones that they recycle or they will bust from the pressure when you prime them. I found a bottle capper in an old farm house. Ironically it was made during prohibition. It worked great. If you have a keg you can bypass bottling and just use the keg and tap when needed. I bought the brewing wort from a supplier as opposed to making my own. It's just easier. I got into making other stuff too, Meade, cider, wine. It's pretty interesting what you can do. One thing is for sure, you won't taste better beer anywhere in the USA. Now, if you go overseas you will. I lived in England for 6 years and when I came back here I couldn't stomache the beer that is why I started brewing my own. Get a book and enjoy. There is nothing better then drinking a nice beer you made yourself, talk about pride.

 

The absolute best beer I ever had was some that I made. And this was from one of those cans.
Also you can save some of the wort before pitching the yeast. Keep it in the fridge then add it to the batch just before bottling. The sugars in what you saved off will ferment in the bottles/or keg and will carbonate your brew.
You can also add dry malt to the batch just before bottling to carbonate your brew.

 

Don't try the beer kit. Go to www.northernbrewer.com. Ships anywhere for 7.99. I brew every other weekend w/ an old buddy and we turn out some pretty good stuff. We got into the fancier equip. about two years ago and mainly do all grain now. Get a good kit if you're serious and make sure you use good water. Chlorinated = bad for beer. Follow the directions in Papazzians book mentioned above and practice cleanliness and you'll like what you get.

Warning: Brewing can be addicting!!!!

Kurt

 

Warning: Brewing can be addicting!!!!

Are we talking as addicting as modding the trucks???

 

I do all grain now from scratch. Been brewing about 2 years started with kits from Homebrewheaven. Now I have about 1000 invested and still buying .

Great site to lurk and learn http://www.homebrewtalk.com

I havent built a a sculpture yet to brew but this setup works for now.
The first beer is a Homebrew ESP second is a Doulebock I have about 4 beers on tap and bottle.

 

Yes .......... You will start to hear that loud vacuum sound - thats the money being sucked out of your wallet.


Starts out with a simple bucket and carboy kit and kettle -then you buy a chiller because it takes to long to cool the wort in an ice bath -then you dont like bottleing anymore so its a keggerator - then you go All Grain start making lagers and need an extra frige to keep it at 45 to ferment properly and to store the 100 or so pounds of various grains and hops because buying in bulk is so much cheaper but then you need a grain mill and now that you have so much grain you start making 10 gallons at a time so you need a new brew pot .... it never stops


I love it!

 

Then comes the silo to store your bulk grain in!

If there is one thing I have learned, do not use your tap water if it is chorinated. The water here has flouride and chlorine in it and it is super hard. That makes for some bad tasting beer.

 

Well thanks for all the good info guys...I will spend some time on that website and see if i can come up with any more questions for you guys....that is a great website..pretty sure i am already starting to feel the addiction!

Thanks again for the start guys!
alex

 

clorine will dissapate just by letting it sit overnight before brewing . It will also be removed during the boil.Now Chloramines will not come out of water and alot of public water has it now.Chloramines are a combination of chlorine and ammonia which can only be removed by using a charcoal filter. I have heard of no issue with floride .

Hard water can usefull for certain types of beer depending on the minerals.And can be buffered but its easier to just by 6 gallons of spring water at times.

I am getting ready to do an All Grain October fest. This beer will be fermenting in the secondary in the beer frige for 6-12 weeks @ 48 degrees before kegging.it will just be about ready by the end of Sept.