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***OFFICIAL*** Footballguys homebrew thread (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter culdeus
- Start date
snitwitch
Footballguy
So I'd like to take the next step in my brewing. I've done extract only to death, a number of partial mash recipes, and at least one or two junior varsity attempts at all grain (in the kitchen)
What I'd like to do now is build myself an entry-level brew system suitable for making 10 gallon batches of all-grain beer.
Anyone help me out here? I don't want to spend 1000 bucks, but could go up to 400. Would like to DIY as much as possible without using premade parts, as I know that will add up quick.
I have a turkey fryer, that's about it. From what I gather, if I can source 1 or 2 empty kegs, and a 10-15 gallon Gott cooler, I should be well on my way.
Any other advice?
What I'd like to do now is build myself an entry-level brew system suitable for making 10 gallon batches of all-grain beer.
Anyone help me out here? I don't want to spend 1000 bucks, but could go up to 400. Would like to DIY as much as possible without using premade parts, as I know that will add up quick.
I have a turkey fryer, that's about it. From what I gather, if I can source 1 or 2 empty kegs, and a 10-15 gallon Gott cooler, I should be well on my way.
Any other advice?
Kleck
Footballguy
I'm finally back into home brewing!
My wife got me a deluxe brewers kit from homebrewit and a batch of Brewer's Best IPA for my birthday, after hearing me talk about wanting to get back in it for years, and it seems like a decent set-up. I'll probably be looking to upgrade some of the equipment after I get more comfortable and ready for full boils and all grain. My next step will probably be kegging.
My wife got me a deluxe brewers kit from homebrewit and a batch of Brewer's Best IPA for my birthday, after hearing me talk about wanting to get back in it for years, and it seems like a decent set-up. I'll probably be looking to upgrade some of the equipment after I get more comfortable and ready for full boils and all grain. My next step will probably be kegging.
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Steve Tasker
Footballguy
I've been slowly drinking my first batch. It's good, but a little sweet. Hope to bitter it up next time around.
culdeus
Footballguy
Extract brews don't attenuate quite the same. Residual sweetness is going to be part of the game. There are some ways around this. Doing a partial mash and only putting in some of the extract at the start of the boil is the easiest. Doing a big ### starter for any batch is another.
Gator Shawn
Footballguy
Is it cost-effective/reasonable to store beer in the 1-gallon mini-kegs like similar to the ones you can buy Warsteiner and Heineken in at the supermarket?
I am tired of bottling, but I usually gift my beer away and/or drink it slowly enough that Corny kegs are not really reasonable.
Does anyone use these mini-kegs? It seems like you'd just need to give someone one of the plastic taps and then each time you give them some beer just give them a recharge for the tap. I assume the kegs are re-useable.
Last, but not least, is anyone aware of any hacks/mods out there to make these 1-gallon kegs work with the Krups Beertender?
I am tired of bottling, but I usually gift my beer away and/or drink it slowly enough that Corny kegs are not really reasonable.
Does anyone use these mini-kegs? It seems like you'd just need to give someone one of the plastic taps and then each time you give them some beer just give them a recharge for the tap. I assume the kegs are re-useable.
Last, but not least, is anyone aware of any hacks/mods out there to make these 1-gallon kegs work with the Krups Beertender?
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Disco Stu
Confirmed FBGal
My dad is retired now and has a lot of free time on his hands. Thinking about buying him the equipment needed to get started on this.
Any recommendations?
Does Mr Beer suck? Or Coopers? Or one of these?
Any recommendations?
Does Mr Beer suck? Or Coopers? Or one of these?
DevilsTrifecta
Footballguy
Me and my roommates were talking about getting into this the other day.
The Football Freak
Footballguy
I have the starter kit with one glass carboy from your third link and it has served me well through a few batches now. It has what you need to do extract brewing--when you brew from a can of pre-cooked syrup--but will be lacking if he wants to do an all grain brew from scratch. Extract is easier for a beginner brewer anyway, so I would recommend going that route. I know a few people who burned out going the all grain route.I would also recommend getting him Charlie Papazian's "Joy of Home Brewing." It's a very digestable how-to for a beginning brewer and it has a lot of good recipes.
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
I think its a tough call as a gift, because it depends how much he wants to get into the hobby. As with most hobbies, there is a massive spectrum of time and expense one can invest in homebrewing, and most people who stick with it slowly ramp up their equipment and dedication. The two Amazon links are basically stove-top kits that most semi-serious homebrewers would not likely want to use to make their beer. However, I see that the comments on those two are very positive, so maybe those are the best option. I got started with a neighbor and invested about $300 initially to buy a kit like some of the ones on the Midwestsupplies.com link above. He'll need a brew pot and a propane burner in addition to what's in these standard kits (will be about $100 or so more). That's for the minimum equipment to make a 5 gal. extract batch (he'll also need bottles, when its ready). He'll also need a book of some sort or a friend who knows what to do - its not real complicated, but really helps to have someone who has done it before.
Jaysus
Good times!
He does not really need that... he could always just use the biggest pot he has, boil on the stove, and top up with water when done to reach his intended volume.CletiusMaximus said:
P.S. That basic starter kit @ midwest for $60 is a pretty good deal. You may be able to piecemeal it a bit cheaper, but for a gift, I think it is a great way to go.
Godsbrother
Footballguy
I started out with a similar kit and brewed on my stovetop with a big pot that I already had. I brewed many beers with that kit and that is the main reason to avoid kits like Mr. Beer. If your Dad does get into brewing he won't be using the Mr. Beer kit for long because you can brew better beer and twice as much with a standard kit than with Mr. Beer. I know three people that have the Mr Beer kit and none of them used it more than a couple times.On the other hand if you are unsure he will even like the idea of brewing then the Mr. Beer kit isn't a bad way to go because they do make it extremely easy.
Godsbrother
Footballguy
The Charlie Papazian is considered by many to be the "bible" of homebrewing and it is a very good book and is recommended. It does seem a bit outdated to me though.I suggest John Palmer's "How to Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time" as an alternative. You can get the latest revision at Amazon but even better you can get the 1st edition for FREE online: LinkThe Football Freak said:I would also recommend getting him Charlie Papazian's "Joy of Home Brewing." It's a very digestable how-to for a beginning brewer and it has a lot of good recipes.
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
Did this thread die because everyone moved to TBS? I'm on my 4th batch (extract) and have lots of questions.
Lately I've been reading about aeration. I use the "rock the carboy for 5 minutes before pitching" method now, but am thinking about adding one of these to my Christmas list ---> http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/mark...ion-system.html
Any advice on this? Most of my beers are of the big Belgian high alcohol variety.
Lately I've been reading about aeration. I use the "rock the carboy for 5 minutes before pitching" method now, but am thinking about adding one of these to my Christmas list ---> http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/mark...ion-system.html
Any advice on this? Most of my beers are of the big Belgian high alcohol variety.
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
Update?I'd like to try this. I have a recipe from a 1713 book on beekeeping, but it's not very easy to understand. ("[M]ix [a solution of honey and water] in your Copper, and then boil it an hour and Scum it well, which Scum you may strain thro' Hippocrates's Sleeve, or a taper bag, made of Swan-skin, with a Hoop at the broad end, letting the narrow end come to a point.... When your Mead is almost cold, Tun it up, Clay it down, and let it stand still till it is fine, and old enough to drink, which sometimes will be sooner than other, according to the time of Year, and Weather that comes upon it after making.")
JFT Ben
Footballguy
My MIL and FIL do wine and mead. Mead they've made is really sweet, not really my style. I missed this thread the first time(s) around. I haven't made beer in about 5 years, but when we moved and cleaned out our storage unit, I found my homebrew kit and decided to make wine.I've got a 5-gal batch of berry wine (Costco 3 berry mix) going right now, just racked it the first time, won't be bottling that batch for another 5 months. I borrowed another carboy from MIL (will plan to buy one more) and will be whipping up a batch of rhubarb/strawberry wine over Memorial Day weekend. Figure I can always have two batches going with three carboys (one for racking every few months as the wine clears). Will be another 6 months to a year after bottling, so I'll have to bump this at a later date.I think wine making is a lot easier than beer making, and bottles are bigger so less horsing around there as well.
Jaysus
Good times!
the moops
Footballguy
So I was up in Maine last weekend for a brewers festival. There were like 4 or 5 mead brewers there. Seems to be all the rage these days in the vacationland state. Anyone else notice this anywhere else in the country? Thinking about trying to hop on the bandwagon before it makes its way to the midwest.
:boatloads:
:boatloads:
Jaysus
Good times!
Sanitizer
3MTA3
Footballguy
Dough-in with 3.5 gallons of water. After 60 minutes, add 5 quarts of 175 degree water and begin vorlauf. My system only takes about 2 quarts before it clears up, then it's wide open to drain in the kettle. Have another 3.25 gallons of 175 degree water ready for the next batch sparge. You should then get 6.5 gallons to your kettle for the boil.This is foreign to me. Mind you that my exposure to brewing terminology goes as far as Papazian's book.
3MTA3
Footballguy
One Step from what I read?
3MTA3
Footballguy
I've also read that extract is good for a first batch and waiting to do all-grain. Is all grain not that difficult?
Jaysus
Good times!
Jaysus
Good times!
One step is a cleaner, not a sanitizer... but I used it for years to sanitize. If that is what came in the kit you will be fine for now.
Jaysus
Good times!
It is not that difficult, it does have a higher start up cost though. If you are set up with extract, do that for a few batches to see how much you really like it - you can always do a partial (mini) mash if you really wanted to.I was an extra brewer for a few years before switching to all grain. A GB of mine made the jump to all grain after his 3rd extract batch. It pretty much just takes longer.
dirtyhalos
capital letter hater!
just dove into the deep end with this hobby and picked up this starter kit from morebeer.com, i'm waiting for it to arrive. plan on this ingredient kit for my first batch. ive read the first several chapters of both the palmer and papazian books. anything obvious look like its missing from the kit? i ordered extra pbw and sanitizer as well as keg lube. i was going to wait til the kit arrived to start tracking down a place to fill up the co2 tank, what should i expect to be paying though? i haven't got a good feel for how the carbonation process works with the keg, from what i think i'm hearing is that once you keg the beer and put say 5lbs of pressure in it, it will self carbonate after about 3-5 days, is this correct? or will i still need the priming sugar?
any help is appreciated, also some recommendations to good brewing forums would help
any help is appreciated, also some recommendations to good brewing forums would help
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
What do you mean by "true homebrew kit"? One of the guys I brew with has been perfecting a belgian IPA recipe over the past 2-3 years (going for Houblon from La Chouffe) and has it down cold. I made one this summer using a huge wyeast Ardennes cake from a prior batch. Mashed a bit low and ended up with an extremely dry 12.5 ABV monster which is extremely harsh now but has a chance to be a very interesting beer by this Fall/winter.I'm in the process of making the switch from Mr. Beer to a true homebrew kit. First batch will be a Belgium IPA. Looks like I've got some reading to do first.
All I meant by a true homebrew kit is that I've been using Mr. Beer and the results haven't been too impressive so I decided to find a homebrew store and buy a starter kit. I finished brewing the Belgium IPA and now the wait to see how it turns out.What do you mean by "true homebrew kit"? One of the guys I brew with has been perfecting a belgian IPA recipe over the past 2-3 years (going for Houblon from La Chouffe) and has it down cold. I made one this summer using a huge wyeast Ardennes cake from a prior batch. Mashed a bit low and ended up with an extremely dry 12.5 ABV monster which is extremely harsh now but has a chance to be a very interesting beer by this Fall/winter.
Jaysus
Good times!
Steve Tasker
Footballguy
I'm about to go all-in on homebrewing, I think. Haven't brewed in awhile...as referenced above in this thread, I have brewed extract brews a few times but was never thrilled with the results. I'm going all-grain, day 1 this time through.
heckmanm
Footballguy
Especially for Belgians, you want a lot of ester formation, which occurs during the growth phase. So a lot of brewers will under-pitch (i.e., not use a huge amount of yeast), so that the yeast has to reproduce a lot. That requires oxygen, so something like you linked is a good idea. It's generally considered nearly impossible to get too much oxygen into your beer pre-fermentation.
You can also get a sintered SS "stone" that hooks directly to an oxygen tank. And I know several guys who swear by these (fits on a cordless drill).
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
moleculo
Footballguy
moleculo
Footballguy
So last Friday, I bought a new house that includes an unfinished basement. My plans are now to build a permanent brewery down there, roughly based on this: electricbrewery. It's gonna take a few years to put it all together, but should be really fun.
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