Home Brew?

S

SIXFOOTER

Joined
Jan 18, 2009
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685
So who makes their own Beer?
This is my 4th batch, its a Stout, should be ready for NYE
Beerbatch4.jpg
 
I'm an avid home brewer. My favorite brews are IPAs and Hefe's. Been brewing for a number of years, not sure how many batches I've done, but it's many :)

In the garage is a converted freezer with a temperature controller and 4 Corny kegs. Having 4 kegs of great brew on hand all the time is a good reason to stay home! :jerkit::D
 
Wow, you ARE serious! This one actually gave my first Beer Incident, when I came in this am it had blown the air lock off, hit the ceiling, beer spots all over, wasted about a beer worth,dammit.
I need to goto a 6 gallon carboy
 
Or you could get a big blow off tube instead. Goto lowes and find some vinyl tubing that will jam into the mouth of the carboy and put the other end in a bucket of starsan solution. All the kruesen will froth out into the bucket, along with some other stuff that's nice to not have in your beer. I think the size tubing you need is like, 1 1/4" OD, can't remember exactly though. That way you can fill the carboy to the top, after it's foamed out you're usually left with almost exactly 5 gallons. :)

Me and my finance have been brewing for a good 3 1/2 years now - it's addicting!
 
SIXFOOTER said:
Wow, you ARE serious! This one actually gave my first Beer Incident, when I came in this am it had blown the air lock off, hit the ceiling, beer spots all over, wasted about a beer worth,dammit.
I need to goto a 6 gallon carboy
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I was just about to post "Dude, what's up with your airlock?" :D Are you sure your beer wasn't too warm - something has to expain that rampaging fermentation!
 
I agree with c00per, using a blowoff tube is a great way to go. It becomes especially useful with Hefe's who often have a lot of kreusen.

Another suggestion, if you're looking for one, is to use non-glass carboys. The glass ones break very easily and when they break - :eek:

Do a search for "Better Bottles" - http://www.better-bottle.com/

They work great, I really like them. I don't use the ones with valves, just plain-old carboys. They're light, clean easily, and don't ever pose the risk of a big huge glass accident.

Enjoy!
 
Thanks guys. I didn't know the foam had a name, still new to this. The first batch I had to cool, the fermentation bubbling were pretty calm, but it was all I knew so I thot that was normal. Then I made a Hef, OMG! Volcano. OK, so THATS normal. This Stout it way more active than the first, I have it at room temp so I figured that was why this oine is so much more active. Will be interesting to see if thereis any change in the flavor profile, its the identical recipe to the first batch.
I might go with the better bottle in a 6 gal size for beer making. Will keep the 5 gal glass for wine.
 
If you haven't already, check the yeast that you used and find out what the recommended temperature range is for that particular yeast.

If it's too cold for the yeast, it won't do a very good job at converting. If it's too warm, you'll get flavors you may not want.

There's ways of keeping a fermentation at a desired temperature - to cool, you can wrap towels around the carboy, wet them, then put a fan on them (evaporative cooling). To warm it up, you can get a heat blanket for carboys to warm it up. You can also warm the room some if needed.

Lastly, I find that making a yeast starter is very effective at getting a strong fermentation. You can get "starter kits" to make starters, you basically are brewing a very small batch of wort, then pitch the yeast into that and let it get started. Then, you pitch the whole thing into your big batch of wort and stand back :D
 
I'm just getting back into brewing after 10 or so years off. Are you guys all grain or extract? Propane or electric?
 
Hi,

Ahhhh, Rocky Raccoon's honeyed lager. I miss that stuff. I haven't brewed in years. I may have to restart!

dalee
 
dalee100 said:
Hi,

Ahhhh, Rocky Raccoon's honeyed lager. I miss that stuff. I haven't brewed in years. I may have to restart!

dalee
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I made that once. I accidentally used 3x the honey and it came out awesome. It will be the third batch I brew.
 
I do all-grain myself, and absolutely love the process. It's still amazing to me after all these years that it actually works :D
 
There is alot of good info at homebrewtalk.com. There is also the brewclub in our area, The Palm Beach Draughtsman. They were a fun group fifteen years ago. I don't know what they are like now.
 
SIXFOOTER said:
I've not even looked into all grain, no idea where to start
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All grain brewing is conceptualy more difficult than extract brewing, but you're much more in touch with the wort than you are with extract.

What I recommend is that you understand the process first, then the details will emerge and they'll make sense.

Expect that your first all grain brew will take probably double to triple the time that an extract brew takes in the wort-brewing phase.

A great way to learn would be to join an all grain brewer nearby and assist in the process. We have a brew club in the area, your area may as well. If not, try one of the national brewing forums and ask if there's anyone in your area that would mentor you.

It's really not that difficult, but the devil is in the details. Just like how cleanliness is so important, the details are important in AG.
 
A somewhat unrelated question: How do you keep carbonation in your kegs/big bottles or a name brand "KEG"? I'm going to an area that's hard to get good beer so, I'm considering buying a keg. I'm not throwing a "kegger" ;), I want to be able to draw fresh carbonated beer for weeks or months. How hard is this to do? I know I will probably need a CO2 tank, a regulator, and a "keg'erator". Do good turn-key solutions exist that aren't cost prohibitive?

Thanks!
 
The cheapest way to do it is to find a used chest freezer and modify it. A ready to go single keg kegerator can be had for under $500. http://www.kegerators.com/kegerators.php

This is in Phoenix from Craigslist. If that was around here I would jump on it...

For even less, you can start making your own beer and not have to worry about it ever again. You can make homebrew on your stovetop from malt extract, ferment it in food grade buckets in an old fridge and bottle it in used (clean and sterile) pry-off beer bottles. The beer bottles can sit in your closet until they are carbonated. If you want to spend the extra money, you can keg it yourself in 5 gal soda kegs.
 
Sid, yes, with a big CO2 bottle, you can add as much carbonation as you like. There's a myriad of goodies to help with this, and adapters to make even 2 liter Coke bottles a "keg" that can be used to carbonate beer, or even water or any other liquid. Fun stuff!

Do a search on "corny kegs" - aka Cornelius Kegs - they're available for $5 or 10 a piece, and with a little cleaning and perhaps some spare parts, they make wonderful kegs.
 
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