OT: Home brewers

Jimbo(san) said:

Anyone here done it, doin' it, planning???

I am very interested in brewing ur own... Carla isn't down with any
potential smells.. Afraid the Landlord might have kittens...
I was thinking about this Bag in a box thing for my first foray...

Jimbo(san)

I tried a Mr. Beer home brewing kit a few years back. It was vile! My
neighbor has a real setup, copper kettle and all. His is still a little
wierd tasting but was much better than mine. Since I don't drink
anymore I can't tell you about recent forays. All I can say is good
luck if its one of those cheapo small kits.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Jimbo (san) said:

Anyone here done it, doin' it, planning???

I am very interested in brewing ur own... Carla isn't down with any
potential smells.. Afraid the Landlord might have kittens...
I was thinking about this Bag in a box thing for my first foray...

Jimbo(san)

A buddy of mine make some great beers in the Party Pig. Not sure about
smells during the process, but I've never notices his house being stinky or
anything.

Matt

quote='MattB'Jimbo (san) said:

Anyone here done it, doin' it, planning???

I am very interested in brewing ur own... Carla isn't down with any
potential smells.. Afraid the Landlord might have kittens...
I was thinking about this Bag in a box thing for my first foray...

Jimbo(san)

A buddy of mine make some great beers in the Party Pig. Not sure about
smells during the process, but I've never notices his house being stinky or
anything.

Matt[/QUOTE]

I'm looking to start small and do it right... As usual... I started with the internet for some basic info...
My boss had the Mr. Beer kit and it is absolute garbage.
I went at lunch and found a good brew store... The guy working there was a wealth of knowledge. Bought a book and he showed me a real starter kit that I have actually heard of... Brews Bothers
Tells me the smell is not from fermentation just cooking the wort...
I begin the experiment... Looking at watch......... NOW!!!!

Jimbo(san)

Jimbo (san) sez:

Quoted message said:

Anyone here done it, doin' it, planning???

I am very interested in brewing ur own... Carla isn't down with any
potential smells.. Afraid the Landlord might have kittens...
I was thinking about this Bag in a box thing for my first foray...

I've done quite a few over the years. The smell isn't much more than
cooking a stew or soup with lots of goodies in it. That is until you let
it boil over. No one will notice that you're doing anything.

Get 'The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing' or 'The Complete Joy of
Homebrewing Third Edition' both by Charlie Papazian. I have the older
one, which is the one with 'New' in the title. The new one (third
edition) probably has some newer sources of info in it.

Basically, you're just cooking a few ingredients then letting it sit
until it's ready. You can buy liquid malt extract, yeast and hops and do
it very pretty easily, just don't follow the directions on the can of
extract. Get two cans of extract or one can and some powdered malt,
whatever kind of hops you want to add (Don't worry too much about which
on your first brew. Hops add the bitterness and part of the flavor to
beer.), and yeast. Get all this from a home brew store if you can. Talk
to the people there. Go with primary and secondary fermentation, the
beer turns out better. Use a glass 5 gallon water bottle for the
secondary.

For your first beer, you'll probably brew a fairly light ale. Ales are a
bit simpler to ferment (temperature and top vs bottom yeast) and a
lighter beer generally becomes mature enough to drink earlier than a
darker beer. This is important, because you'll be anxious to try out
your first batch.

Do some Googling, talk to the people at the home brew store, check out
rec.crafts.brewing, get the book and start collecting non-twist-top beer
bottles. You'll need to drink up two or three cases to bottle the five
gallons of beer you brew.

Another though, a friend of mine went to one of the places that set you
up to brew in their store. It worked out great. Nothing to buy.
Certainly a good option for testing the waters.

BTW, after the first experience with bottling, I went to kegging. 5
gallon Cornelius kegs work great and are pretty cheap ($10-15). They're
the little kegs used for soft drink despensing. Of course you also need
a CO2 canister, hoses, etc. All the kegging stuff will set you back less
than $100 and it's a LOT easier than bottling.

--
T o m Dillon
Lakewood, CO
Z to S to email

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In article <[email hidden]>,

Jimbo(san) said:

Anyone here done it, doin' it, planning???

_ I've done about 40 or 50 cases worth. I don't have time for
it any more though.

Quoted message said:

I am very interested in brewing ur own... Carla isn't down with any
potential smells.. Afraid the Landlord might have kittens...

_ If it smells bad don't drink it.... Yeast gases should smell
a bit like fresh bread. Even my wife doesn't object to the smell.

Quoted message said:

I was thinking about this Bag in a box thing for my first foray...

_ Yuck, don't bother... it's a waste of money. Any process in
which you don't change containers from primary fermentation to
secondary is going to produce yucky tasting beer[1].

_ All you need to start with is a big enamel pot, 2 five gallon
plastic buckets with lids and one with the little gas release
dohickey. The key to homebrew is cleanliness, you have to keep
everything clean and disinfected start to finish. Dark beers are
much easier to make tasty than light beers. Read a good book
about what's involved. Here's a reasonable book.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380772876/102-0143656-2444134?v=glance

_ Booker C. Bense

[1]- Unless you're brewing in an ancient stone pit in Belgium.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pvosta/pcrbier1.htm

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"Jimbo (san)" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Anyone here done it, doin' it, planning???

I am very interested in brewing ur own... Carla isn't down with any
potential smells.. Afraid the Landlord might have kittens...
I was thinking about this Bag in a box thing for my first foray...

Jimbo(san)

--
Jimbo(san)

Find a brewers supply house. Buy a 5 gallon bucket, and a Muntons kit.
(They will know what you are talking about.) Total cost of 6 gallons batch
is about 15 dollars. Start collecting bottles.

TJ
www.gvii.net/hundtoft

Great info!
Thanks!
I now have a copy of The New COmplete Joy of Home Brewing...
The basic brew kit he sell is called Brews Brothers... Comes with everything... Buckets, racking, hydrometer, thermometer tubes etc...
I am going to give the book a read over and go from there

Thanks again!

Jimbo(san)

Jimbo sez:

Quoted message said:

I now have a copy of The New COmplete Joy of Home Brewing...
The basic brew kit he sell is called Brews Brothers... Comes with
everything... Buckets, racking, hydrometer, thermometer tubes etc...
I am going to give the book a read over and go from there

Booker said it and it's worth saying again. Keep everything CLEAN.
Bacteria grows very well in malty water and can leave your would be beer
a bucket of stinky water.

Of course we expect a report when it's drinkable.

--
T o m Dillon
Lakewood, CO
Z to S to email

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Anyone here done it, doin' it, planning???

Been there, done that, doing it still.

Started with a Mr. Beer kit. It sorta made something drinkable.

While living in Colorado, I searched wide and far for a decent dunkel
hefe weizen, without much success. I really like Franziscaner Dunkel -
the nectar of the gods... I also hated paying +$6 for just six small
12oz bottles of a decent brew.

I then tried extract brewing and also a brew-on-premisis setup. Both
worked rather well. Great for someone who's interested in trying
brewing.

Currently I have a two-tier cooking stand with three burners, setups for
5 gallon and 10 gallon (18 liter and 40 liter) all-grain. A sweet beer
fridge with a Paulaner beer tower mounted with three taps. Six 5-gallon
soda-type kegs. Numerous 2 liter bottles for providing "samples". 3
cases of bottles if I ever get foolish and decide to bottle my beer
again.

I (often) brew better beer, cheaper, than what I can find in stores.

I'm trying to decide if I want to do a pils this weekend (house beer),
as I'm down to about a keg and half of irish red.

Oh, I rode in Lambrecht by Neustatdt today. It was great. That brings
it back on topic, right?

Bruce J.

"Sunastar" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Booker said it and it's worth saying again. Keep everything CLEAN.
Bacteria grows very well in malty water and can leave your would be beer
a bucket of stinky water.

Of course we expect a report when it's drinkable.

In that case, he'll be drinking it first...

- CA-G

Can-Am Girls Kick Ass!

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I tried a Mr. Beer home brewing kit a few years back. It was vile! My
neighbor has a real setup, copper kettle and all. His is still a little
wierd tasting but was much better than mine. Since I don't drink
anymore I can't tell you about recent forays. All I can say is good
luck if its one of those cheapo small kits.

I have one of those Mr Beer things. GAAA!

The best I could ever get was 'mediocre'.

Pete

Carla sez:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Of course we expect a report when it's drinkable.

In that case, he'll be drinking it first...

Ahhhh, c'mon now. After it has time to mature you should both pour a
glass and drink a toast. (You can pretend to drink, just in case he blew
the brew. Don't tell him I said that.)

--
T o m Dillon
Lakewood, CO
Z to S to email

Jimbo(san) <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Great info!
Thanks!
I now have a copy of The New COmplete Joy of Home Brewing...
The basic brew kit he sell is called Brews Brothers... Comes with
everything... Buckets, racking, hydrometer, thermometer tubes etc...
I am going to give the book a read over and go from there

Thanks again!

Jimbo(san)

I've been brewing for about 6 years. My total production is probably
around 600 gallons or so. With the amount I'm riding lately, I find
that I have to drink 3-4 beers a day just to maintain my weight...
Here's a picture of my brewstand, and my fermenter in the fridge.
http://www.geocities.com/patrick_clemensen/brewstand.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/patrick_clemensen/15gal_fermenting.jpg
You don't need any of this to make good beer, but if you like gadgets
there are plenty of them to make or buy. I started with a equipment
kit from the local homebrew store, making 5 gallon batches. I can
make up to 15 gallons at a time, but usually do 5 or 10. Lots of
people think that boiling wort stinks. Make something your
significant other likes and she'll probably tolerate it a lot better.
Or brew when she's not home. As others said, it usually smells pretty
good while fermenting.
Also, check out
www.howtobrew.com - one of the best Homebrew books anywhere, and you
can read it all online.

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi - the Homebrew Digest
Discussion Board. One of the best places to ask questions.

rec.crafts.brewing - Like a.m-b, but about making beer.

NotaKnob said:

While living in Colorado, I searched wide and far for a decent dunkel
hefe weizen, without much success. I really like Franziscaner Dunkel -
the nectar of the gods... I also hated paying +$6 for just six small
12oz bottles of a decent brew.

I'm convinced you can't get a good hefe in the states.

Quoted message said:

Oh, I rode in Lambrecht by Neustatdt today. It was great. That brings
it back on topic, right?

Natuerlich. 🙂

gabrielle

Jimbo(san) <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Great info!
Thanks!
I now have a copy of The New COmplete Joy of Home Brewing...
The basic brew kit he sell is called Brews Brothers... Comes with
everything... Buckets, racking, hydrometer, thermometer tubes etc...
I am going to give the book a read over and go from there

Thanks again!

Jimbo(san)

This is not as OT as one might think. The distributor BTI (Bicycle
Technologies International), is "BTI/Brewers Best."

http://www.bti-usa.com/

So any good bike shop with a BTI account can order you up "kit" beer.

http://www.bti-usa.com/list.asp?class=NV&vendor=BT&showme1=N&showme2=B

Beer kits are listed on the website under accessories.

R

As has already been pointed out 5 gallon batches fit perfectly in 5
gallon kegs.

"Jimbo (san)" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Anyone here done it, doin' it, planning???

I am very interested in brewing ur own... Carla isn't down with any
potential smells.. Afraid the Landlord might have kittens...
I was thinking about this Bag in a box thing for my first foray...

Jimbo:

alt.beer.homebrewing

alt.homebrewing

rec.crafts.brewing

and even:

rec.crafts.winemaking

If yer not already on the groups! They can be very helpful indeed ',;~}~

Not made beer yet, 'cept when I was younger, and that was an extract kit, so
it doesn't count. I do however make plenty of wine from fresh fruits,
vegetables, flowers and dried stuff too - damned fun and damned fine!

You can always use an air-lock, and run a hose from the top of it out a
window or summnink yaknow!

Wish we had the space, time and money to have a big brew room with mash-tun
and everything needed to make real beer from scratch. Now, that'd be damned
fine ',;~}~

Good luck, and don't forget to post a BR when it's done mate!

Shaun aRe

<Reco Diver

This is not as OT as one might think. The distributor BTI (Bicycle
Technologies International), is "BTI/Brewers Best."

http://www.bti-usa.com/

So any good bike shop with a BTI account can order you up "kit" beer.

http://www.bti-usa.com/list.asp?class=NV&vendor=BT&showme1=N&showme2=B

Beer kits are listed on the website under accessories.

R

As has already been pointed out 5 gallon batches fit perfectly in 5
gallon kegs.[/QUOTE]

LOL...
I will ask at my bike shop when I have a couple of batches under my belt...

Jimbo(san)

<Shaun Rimmer

Jimbo:

alt.beer.homebrewing

alt.homebrewing

rec.crafts.brewing

and even:

rec.crafts.winemaking

If yer not already on the groups! They can be very helpful indeed ',;~}~

Not made beer yet, 'cept when I was younger, and that was an extract kit, so
it doesn't count. I do however make plenty of wine from fresh fruits,
vegetables, flowers and dried stuff too - damned fun and damned fine!

You can always use an air-lock, and run a hose from the top of it out a
window or summnink yaknow!

Wish we had the space, time and money to have a big brew room with mash-tun
and everything needed to make real beer from scratch. Now, that'd be damned
fine ',;~}~

Good luck, and don't forget to post a BR when it's done mate!

Shaun aRe>

Wow thanks... Now who said you couldn't depend on ambers for good info!?!?

Carla's dad is a former home wine maker... He has the whole kit in his basement...
This is where Carla has had her experiences with odor and brewing/winemaking.
A lot of work but well worth it... A future project... for when we have a house.
Either I will post a BR or Carla will add a link for my obitutary :-P

Jimbo(san)

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Carla's dad is a former home wine maker... He has the whole kit in his
basement...
This is where Carla has had her experiences with odor and
brewing/winemaking.

As I live in a winery and a town with over 20 vintners, I'll vouch for
the oders of fermenting wine. It's a nasty smell, particulary when the
reds are fermenting. On the other hand, new wine is great. Think wine
cooler, but with a very effective "clensing" ability on par with prune
juice.

I do 10 gallon batches all the time, and the smell isn't that strong,
except for hefeweizens.

Bruce