Do we have any homebrewing folks here? (1 Viewer)

[msommer]

Right there with you. First one was a black IPA and the next was a Furious clone. Both extract kits and both delicious. Then made a couple in the summer that came out like crap and I learned the importance of temperature during fermentation, etc due to a lot of nasty mistakes. The past couple have been great again. 

Moving into a new house on Thursday and will probably brew a new batch the following weekend. Maybe get into all grain next year. 

Yeah, temperature during fermentation and conditioning is one of the critical success factors. I couldn't have made my pilsner during the summer as I did not have access to a freezer (but I did have an unheated shed that was frost free for the conditioning). But that is part of what is great about the hobby. I was never that interested in enzymes and their related biological processes, but it does have a practical application and can explain to me why my APA came out with less alcohol than I thought. And you just keep finding more stuff to learn and tweak with.

And I am right now doing a piss poor job of selling the hobby to @SaintsInDome2006

 

[moleculo]

I don't know if we have great beer fests here in NO but the best IMO has a whole section devoted to the best home brewers, I'm amazed the quality some get. How long does it take to get to the point where your stuff is really good?

As has been said, what you make can be as good or better than what you can buy, and it can happen almost immediately.  The keys are:

1. Sanitation.  gotta make sure everything is clean AND sanitized, which really means just rinsing everything the beer touches with a sanitize.  Really easy to do and really important.

2. temperature control during fermentation.  If you have a spot in your house that can stay at 76 dF or less, that's perfect.  If not, I'd suggest a swamp cooler or a water bath or something.  the temp you are looking for depends on the yeast, of course...no lagers.

Those two are the keys to making really good beer, IMO.  Once you get those down and follow a simple recipe, you will be good.  Everything else is about turning really good into really great.

my suggestion: find your local homebrew shop, walk in, and start asking questions.  The probably have a learn-to-brew day  - go there, watch, sample some beer, and watch the process.

Here's the problem: once you go down the rabbit hole, your definition of "good" changes.  You start noticing nuances in beer that you wouldn't otherwise.  You begin to get picky about your beer, and your palate develops.  Sometimes, I wish I could go back to the day where I could enjoy a nice Labatt Blue and think I was drinking something premium.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Yup. My very first batch from an extract kit was as good as something you'd get in the microbrew section of your local beer store.  

Mine was a Brown Ale, and it compared very favorably to Newcastle, etc. I've gotten better and made some nice brews by doctoring extract kits, and once a year, a friend and I do an all-grain (next week is this year's - we'll do an Octoberfest). 

I love good beer. Love it.

Problem is when I have had beer made at home by friends it often seems overly.... yeasty? Overly bubbly, is that the right description, is that a fermenting issue? Exploding caps when you open it that kind thing.

Hence the trepidation. But I have this idea about beer as a sidelight, and some other concepts. But I need to know what I'm doing first.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Yeah, temperature during fermentation and conditioning is one of the critical success factors. I couldn't have made my pilsner during the summer as I did not have access to a freezer (but I did have an unheated shed that was frost free for the conditioning). But that is part of what is great about the hobby. I was never that interested in enzymes and their related biological processes, but it does have a practical application and can explain to me why my APA came out with less alcohol than I thought. And you just keep finding more stuff to learn and tweak with.

And I am right now doing a piss poor job of selling the hobby to @SaintsInDome2006

The practical stuff is sort of what I was asking about, so thanks. I need some room, right? An extra freezer or cooler with some dedicated space? Or just some cool area? Tough to pull off in NO btw, do I need the AC running all day if I use an outside building or do I need to dedicate inside (the house) space to this?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

As has been said, what you make can be as good or better than what you can buy, and it can happen almost immediately.  The keys are:

1. Sanitation.  gotta make sure everything is clean AND sanitized, which really means just rinsing everything the beer touches with a sanitize.  Really easy to do and really important.

2. temperature control during fermentation.  If you have a spot in your house that can stay at 76 dF or less, that's perfect.  If not, I'd suggest a swamp cooler or a water bath or something.  the temp you are looking for depends on the yeast, of course...no lagers.

Those two are the keys to making really good beer, IMO.  Once you get those down and follow a simple recipe, you will be good.  Everything else is about turning really good into really great.

my suggestion: find your local homebrew shop, walk in, and start asking questions.  The probably have a learn-to-brew day  - go there, watch, sample some beer, and watch the process.

Here's the problem: once you go down the rabbit hole, your definition of "good" changes.  You start noticing nuances in beer that you wouldn't otherwise.  You begin to get picky about your beer, and your palate develops.  Sometimes, I wish I could go back to the day where I could enjoy a nice Labatt Blue and think I was drinking something premium.

Thanks, this is what I'm looking for.

 

[moleculo]

I love good beer. Love it.

Problem is when I have had beer made at home by friends it often seems overly.... yeasty? Overly bubbly, is that the right description, is that a fermenting issue? Exploding caps when you open it that kind thing.

Hence the trepidation. But I have this idea about beer as a sidelight, and some other concepts. But I need to know what I'm doing first.

sounds like they are bottling it too soon - fermentation isn't done and pressure builds too high.  That, or they are over-priming it.

Bad homebrewers give everyone else a bad name.

 

[ditka311]

As has been said, what you make can be as good or better than what you can buy, and it can happen almost immediately.  The keys are:

1. Sanitation.  gotta make sure everything is clean AND sanitized, which really means just rinsing everything the beer touches with a sanitize.  Really easy to do and really important.

2. temperature control during fermentation.  If you have a spot in your house that can stay at 76 dF or less, that's perfect.  If not, I'd suggest a swamp cooler or a water bath or something.  the temp you are looking for depends on the yeast, of course...no lagers.

Those two are the keys to making really good beer, IMO.  Once you get those down and follow a simple recipe, you will be good.  Everything else is about turning really good into really great.

my suggestion: find your local homebrew shop, walk in, and start asking questions.  The probably have a learn-to-brew day  - go there, watch, sample some beer, and watch the process.

Here's the problem: once you go down the rabbit hole, your definition of "good" changes.  You start noticing nuances in beer that you wouldn't otherwise.  You begin to get picky about your beer, and your palate develops.  Sometimes, I wish I could go back to the day where I could enjoy a nice Labatt Blue and think I was drinking something premium.

This about sums it up perfectly. 

 

[moleculo]

The practical stuff is sort of what I was asking about, so thanks. I need some room, right? An extra freezer or cooler with some dedicated space? Or just some cool area? Tough to pull off in NO btw, do I need the AC running all day if I use an outside building or do I need to dedicate inside (the house) space to this?

not necessarily.  You certainly can get as much or as little equipment as you want.  There are people out there that dedicate their entire garage or basement to a home brewery, and there are people that can do everything they need in the kitchen.  It's all up to you.

As for me, I started with a 5 gallon Bayou Classic turkey fryer I bought on craigslist and a 6.5 gallon carboy.  I did partial mashes (boiling 3 gallons at a time and topping up with water post-boil).  I've progressed from there, but that's more about want than need.

 

[ditka311]

The practical stuff is sort of what I was asking about, so thanks. I need some room, right? An extra freezer or cooler with some dedicated space? Or just some cool area? Tough to pull off in NO btw, do I need the AC running all day if I use an outside building or do I need to dedicate inside (the house) space to this?

I was able to convince my wife to buy me a freezer that I use as a fermentation chamber, mostly in the summer. You can control the temperature with this or something like it. You will need it in NO for sure. 

 

[moleculo]

I'd also add: it is possible to make better beer at home than you can buy.  here's why:

1. you know your beer will be fresh (or aged, if desired).
   
2. you can tailor the beer to your specific tastes.
   
3. you have the ability to use ingredients that aren't really feasible on a large scale - i.e. it's not a big deal to add a few lbs of peaches to a 5 gallon batch.  It's quite a different thing on a 30 bbl (900+ gallon) system,
   
4. you have the ability to use specialty ingredients - yeast, for example.  It's not economical for a brew pub to maintain more than a few strains of yeast.  As a home-brewer, you are not limited at all.
   
5. you aren't really limited by hops either.  if you want to make something with a ton of hops, it costs you a fraction of what it would cost a big brewer, so you have the ability to innovate more than they can.
   
6. you can make styles that aren't readily available because there isn't necessarily a mass market.  There are a few examples - Kolsh, ESB, Altbier, Kentucky Common, etc.  There are some out there, but not a whole lot and most of the ones I've tried aren't very good.  ESB in particular - I love me a Fullers ESB and can't find a domestic version that's as good, but because the ESB is shipped form England, it may not be as fresh as it should.  I haven't cloned it exactly, but I'm getting close, and certainly closer than the last microbrew ESB I tried.
   

 

[moleculo]

I was able to convince my wife to buy me a freezer that I use as a fermentation chamber, mostly in the summer. You can control the temperature with this or something like it. You will need it in NO for sure. 

here's what I use.

 

[msommer]

The practical stuff is sort of what I was asking about, so thanks. I need some room, right? An extra freezer or cooler with some dedicated space? Or just some cool area? Tough to pull off in NO btw, do I need the AC running all day if I use an outside building or do I need to dedicate inside (the house) space to this?

You need good clean water

You need a place where you can set up 

You need a pot  that takes about 6 gallons of water, and another that takes at least three

You need a way to heat that water and to measure as well as control the temperature

You need some receptacle that you can close that takes at least 6 gallons, you need an airlock for said receptacle

You need a way to control the temperature of the receptacle for extended periods of time (weeks)

You need a syphon

It can all be simple or it can be Something like this

 

[msommer]

here's what I use.

I'm going to repurpose my wine refrigerator to do exactly that

 

[Uruk-Hai]

You need good clean water

You need a place where you can set up 

You need a pot  that takes about 6 gallons of water, and another that takes at least three

You need a way to heat that water and to measure as well as control the temperature

You need some receptacle that you can close that takes at least 6 gallons, you need an airlock for said receptacle

You need a way to control the temperature of the receptacle for extended periods of time (weeks)

You need a syphon

It can all be simple or it can be Something like this

Saints, this is pretty much it. I cook in a freaking galley kitchen on an electric stove using a 5 gallon kettle and a few utensils (equipment start up for me? probably less than $130) with extract kits - probably the least efficient way ever to make beer, but it still turns out good. Average cost per bottle for extract kits (sans equipment) is about $1. 

Temp control is gonna be your biggest concern where you live. As someone said above, get a swamp cooler to start. 

 

[msommer]

@SaintsInDome2006

Check this out:

How to Brew

 

[Phil Elliott]

Brew on Premises may be available as another option to home brewing. Basically you go to the business and do the boil, fermentation and the bottling. They usually have a wide variety of products so you can make the recipe of your choice. If you are interested in getting started or just don't want to smell up the house/deal with the mess it's an option to consider.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Brew on Premises may be available as another option to home brewing. Basically you go to the business and do the boil, fermentation and the bottling. They usually have a wide variety of products so you can make the recipe of your choice. If you are interested in getting started or just don't want to smell up the house/deal with the mess it's an option to consider.

Yep. This can be a lot of fun, especially if it's a bunch of people doing it at once. Plus, the host usually breaks out his/her own stash. 

Another thing you can do if you move into all grain and some of the more advanced techniques is co-op your materials if you don't want to fool with storing a bunch of stuff at home. Your local homebrew shop will dole it out as you need it.

 

[parasaurolophus]

For cleaning i cant reco enough getting a huge rubbermaid bin and drilling a hole in the corner of it. Put a mesh screen over it and the get a hose attachment in your basement. I now have a huge cleaning tub that drains into my floor drain. I attached to the hot water feed right out of the water heater. 

At least if you plan on doing a lot of brewing.

I also say screw bottling. Get soda kegs and force carb. 

 

[ditka311]

For cleaning i cant reco enough getting a huge rubbermaid bin and drilling a hole in the corner of it. Put a mesh screen over it and the get a hose attachment in your basement. I now have a huge cleaning tub that drains into my floor drain. I attached to the hot water feed right out of the water heater. 

At least if you plan on doing a lot of brewing.

I also say screw bottling. Get soda kegs and force carb. 

Agreed on the bottling. Once I went keg, so much better. Seems to hold up longer too.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Agreed on the bottling. Once I went keg, so much better. Seems to hold up longer too.

You get to drink it sooner too. Thats a plus.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Not sure if any of you guys do brew in a bag, but i have recently started using paint strainer bags from menards for this. They are 3.99 a three pack and i find it very helpful the way they cinch over a 5 gallon bucket. Makes it easy to pour crushed grains in or if you use the grain mill at your local store, you can just crush right into the bag.

Instead of the huge single bag i use 3 of these and dont fill them all the way. My thinking was the grain absorbed and trapped too much liquid when it was too full in that bag. 

I also started using jelly strainer bags from fleet farm for dry hopping and steeping. Much finer material and they are reusable.

 

[berndog]

Anyone have suggestions for a good company to order supplies from?    

I was using Northern Brewer but they were bought by InBev and I'd rather go elsewhere.

 

[culdeus]

Anyone have suggestions for a good company to order supplies from?    

I was using Northern Brewer but they were bought by InBev and I'd rather go elsewhere.

http://www.homebrewhq.com/  Maybe not the same prices you got at Northern, but not too far off.  

 

[Jaysus]

https://www.austinhomebrew.com

 

[Uruk-Hai]

For brewing out of a box, I always liked Brewer's Best the.....er, best. Seems like they were a little more expensive than Northern, but I thought the finished product generally was better. 

 

[msommer]

For brewing out of a box, I always liked Brewer's Best the.....er, best. Seems like they were a little more expensive than Northern, but I thought the finished product generally was better. 

Why brew out of a box? Like an all grain kit or "add luke warm water for great man boobs beer"?

 

[jwb]

Why brew out of a box? Like an all grain kit or "add luke warm water for great man boobs beer"?

For me, it's time. All-grain is the better part of a day, where a kit can be 2 hours. Having done both, assuming I'm following a recipe, I don't taste a difference (granted, you can doctor an all-grain more, but i can doctor a kit pretty well too). That said, I would encourage any brewer to do a few all-grains just to really understand how it's all made. There's also a certain pride in making beer from grains you cracked/etc. 

 

[Uruk-Hai]

For me, it's time. All-grain is the better part of a day, where a kit can be 2 hours. Having done both, assuming I'm following a recipe, I don't taste a difference (granted, you can doctor an all-grain more, but i can doctor a kit pretty well too). That said, I would encourage any brewer to do a few all-grains just to really understand how it's all made. There's also a certain pride in making beer from grains you cracked/etc. 

I still do kits, too. They are more expensive compared to going all-grain, but the quality is still really good.

I assumed - maybe wrongly - that the poster asking the question was doing malt extracts out of a box so I was just giving him/her another brand that I liked.