Does anybody here homebrew?

[Adam8281]

I've been reading up on homebrewing for the past couple weeks. (For those who don't know, homebrewing refers to making your own beer. Yes, it is perfectly legal. You can make up to 100 gallons/year before you need a permit). A week ago I bought a basic set of equipment: fermenter, bottling container, racking cane, bottles, bottle capper, etc. Right now my first batch is fermenting in the basement, it has a few days left. I'm making a Nut Brown Ale that is supposed to be similar to Newcastle. I thought if any ATers were in to homebrewing, it could be good to have a thraed where we can post recipes or talk about techniques. This batch that I am brewing now is relatively simple. I used malt extract, liquid and dry, and a couple pounds of some different malted barleys, and dry yeast. I'd really like to start brewing some more complicated ones though, and if any of you have had success with any recipes, let me know!

 

PM HomeBrewerDude.

 

[MetalMat]

Make some moonshine dude. One of my college professors did it with me and we made some killer stuff with yeast and sugar, almost made me go blind

 

[Adam8281]

what kind of grain did you used, or did you really just use yeast and sugar? Apparently a lot of the old moonshiners during prohibition would go blind, b/c if you're not careful when distilling, you can make the wrong type of alcohol and lose your site! Thanks for the tip on homebrewdude. I"ll try to get in touch with him.

 

[MetalMat]

Well, I guess he knew what he was doing. I did not drink much of it though, smelled like a strong rum. His buddy had a chemistry set that we used.

I am intrested in making my own beer. Me and my roomate want to do it, but we dont have a stove. I am also talking with a co-worker right behind and his roomate has a beer brewing kit we could use.

 

[anxi80]

i dont homebrew, but im all for being a sampler/tester. :beer:

 

[brtspears2]

I homebrew and I just follow the recipe. Pretty easy, just remember to keep everything clean. My first batch of beer came out great and tastes better every day. If you search for homebrew, you can find a few threads on homebrews. My favorite store to buy supplies from is morebeer.com. They sell whole extract kits, pre-measured. If you can boil water, you can make beer.

 

[Descartes]

I mostly make wine, but I do make several beers with my brother.

There are a lot better places to discuss such things, such as a forum dedicated to homebrewing A good one is here, but I'm sure there are others.

 

[Bryophyte]

I make beer and wine. It's a fun hobby. Been brewing off and on since about 1990, and making fruit wine since about 1997.

 

[Adam8281]

I've had a lot of homemade beers, but never homemade wine. In my opinion, homemade beer always seems to taste better than anything you buy. Is it the same with wine, does it taste better than most wines you can buy, or winemaking more difficult to get great flavor? Does wine making take longer since it has a higher alcohol percentage?

 

[PhilsPhan]

I have been homebrewing for a couple of years now. I have to I am a Phillies Fan, I have to be drunk to enjoy this baseball team. Seriously it is a great hobby and a lot of fun. Philly has a ton of useful places to read up on. Depending on what area of the country you live in there are brewing newspapers that can help beginners quite a bit. I have found that Northern Brewer is one of the best places to go for home brewing info. I am presently making a white beer and my girlfriend finally made me make her a mead, which is still fermenting (secondary). I think I may break it out for bottling on the winter soltice as a joke. If you live in or near Philly there is a great store called Home sweet homebrew. George also is the PA editor for one of the newspapers I talked about earlier. Good Luck and don't forget STERILIZE!

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Homebrew is great! Taste great and its really hard to screw up.


Can't go wrong with a nuke clone for a first beer. Send me 24 bottles and I will write you up a real nice review.


I have been thinking about my next batch.... I suppose its time to start a holiday beer.... last years turned out really freaking good.

 

[Adam8281]

Thanks for the tips. I just moved to Boston, and I'll have to look around and see if there is a local homebrew newspaper.

 

[dudeguy]

try fruit beers, and carrot wine, its awesome!

 

[orion7144]

100 gallons? That would not last long.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: orion7144
100 gallons? That would not last long.

thats about 40 cases of beer! homebrew is usually around 5-6% abv, so its equivilant to 50 cases of MGD. Per week that is a lot of beer.