Beer brewing

[xekushnr]

Has anyone brewed beer before? I've been thinking about starting for fun, and maybe asking my dad to chip in to cut the costs. Was it worth it? Was the beer any good? What are some good starting kits to buy? Help a brotha out.

[Oatmealman]

ya i brewed beer a few times.I f*** the first batch up badly.the other batches weren't too bad but it was nothing like a bought beer

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Look around your town for any home brewing shops. Go and talk to them. They usually know their s***. Also there is tons of literature out there to help out the homebrewer.
My Dad and I brewed for about 5 years. Our setup ended up being :
5 gallon stainless steel pot for boiling the mash
a cold water coil to cool it
an outdoor propane burner (Because making the mash creates a huge stink that lingers for days
3 5 Gallon plastic fermentation barrels (Carboys are good too)
EZ-Cap 16oz Glass bottles
And an assortment of measuring devices that fills a huge rubbermaid bin.

We usually had 2-3 batches going at one time so we always had a beer to drink.
The key to making a good batch is cleanliness...sanitizing every piece of equipment helps tremendously when the mash and water go into fermentation.
Quality of our beer varied depending on what beer we were trying to make. Our rasberry wheat beer was amazing....but our Imperial Stout didn't work out so good.
It tastes different than store bought beer... being unfiltered and everything.
Oh...we also grew our own hops...which our now taking over our yard.
I'd say it was worth it. Got to spend time with my Dad and we calculated an average batch, depending on the ingredients, came to about 40 cents per 16oz bottle...not factoring in the cost of equipment.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

My brother tried brewing wine a few times. 100% of it sucked, then again, everything he does sucks, so I wasn't surprised. Came out tasting like sweet vinegar. Took forever and was relatively expensive.

Moral of the story? Don't try it if you suck at life like my brother.

[elwesso]

A few of my buddies tried doing some of the home-brew stuff... One of my friends is hardcore into, bought everything from scratch and hes made some really good batches.. He actually made a batch and put in a bunch of chili powder and gave it to a bunch of unsuspecting underagers... The look on their face when their mouth lit on FIRE was PRICELESS..

He actually gave us a beer for every 12 empty bottles we saved, so that worked out pretty well over the course of a few months...

Another one of my buddies bought one of those DIY home brew kits you can get at some stores, it comes with everything you need in proper proportions to make like a basic pilsner.. Turned out pretty delicious IMO.. I think it was called Mr. Beer or something like that, you can get them at walmart or places like that...

Like was said though, you have to be careful with it though because it is unfiltered so if you drink all that stuff that sits on the bottom its pretty bitter... You would probably have to brew a LOT of beer (or drink a lot of beer) to make it worth the money and effort, especially since you have to plan a few weeks in advance...

[RCA]

Who was the dude on NICO who was in the process of making peanut butter beer?

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Mr. Beer is fine..until the plastic starts leeching into your batches.

[sbird1]

http://www.asciimation.co.nz/bender/

DO IT!!!

EDIT: Good info on page 4.

[JimmyMethod]

I've been doing it for a bit more than a year. Probably brewed close to 100 gallons. If you live near Detroit (which I assume you do) there's a fantastic place in Taylor right off of I-94 (Telegraph rd exit) called Adventures in Homebrewing. They're generally considered the best regional resource around (I know people from Chicago that get their stuff from Adventures, even people in CO order stuff from there and ship it).

My co-brewers and I are in the process of making our beer blog go live (waiting on the person who owns the domain we want to sell it to us) but I can send you to the post that should answer your question.

http://www.panel-creations.com/varsity_ ... -homebrew/

Forgive the terrible formatting, it's a stand-in until we get the domain.

[xekushnr]

Looks good, thanks guys. Lots of good info here. I'm pretty excited to start doing this soon. I love beer, and being able to take over the creative side of the process would be a lot of fun. I'm going to talk to my dad about it tonight and see if he wants to help.

Thanks for the info Jimmy, I'll stop by that place sometime after I get paid next. I hate looking when I have no free money to spend. I have been doing some thorough reading in hopes of producing a good first batch which I have heard some folks have problems doing. Man, its going to be hard waiting after the big brew day but I know it will be worth it.

[seang]

Just don't skip, or skimp out on, sanitizing the equipment, the utensils, and anything that will come into contact with the unfermented beer. Off flavors (acidic, mediciny, sour, rotten egg) are just that and can bring down an otherwise quaffable beer.

Those off flavors are caused by wild bacteria found in places like your fridge and kitchen sink. When you do eventually get the beer into the fermenter, don't open it until the yeast has flocculated, stuff can linger in the air, too. Strange thing is, in some regions, beers are brewed in buildings with open windows so that the wind can move naturally occurring yeast over open-top fermenters, like Belgian farmhouse ales.

[Looneybomber]

I've wanted to brew my own beer for a while now and have been saving my 22oz and 750mL bottles for a while now. The downside is I don't have time and doubt I can brew beers as good as what I can buy.

like Belgian farmhouse ales.

Not a fan of those...and now I know why.

[drksolest]

Looks good, thanks guys. Lots of good info here. I'm pretty excited to start doing this soon.

after u make it, send me some... and some oberon!

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Open top fermenters? Beer is only created in the absence of oxygen...so I don't see how that would work

[numbnuts240]

Looks good, thanks guys. Lots of good info here. I'm pretty excited to start doing this soon.

after u make it, send me some... and some oberon!

me too. idk wtf oberon is, but you can send that too

[JimmyMethod]

Oberon is the fairy king from A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's also a thouroughly mediocre wit brewed by Bell's that people say is their favorite beer because they've had 3 craft brews in their life.

Also, xekushnr: Are you coming to the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Festival? It's in Ypsi in the middle of July. If you're going to be there, lmk.

[numbnuts240]

Oberon is the fairy king from A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's also a thouroughly mediocre wit brewed by Bell's that people say is their favorite beer because they've had 3 craft brews in their life.

i knew about the fairy thing, but she said "some" so i was thrown off. i couldn't imagine why anyone would want one male fairy prancing around, let alone a few. your description of the beer made me lol.

[JimmyMethod]

Open top fermenters? Beer is only created in the absence of oxygen...so I don't see how that would work

This is true, when there's oxygen present, the yeast just grows and makes CO2, it doesn't make Ethy-OH, but there is only so much O2 in the wort to begin with (which is why you agitate the beer when you pitch the yeast, because it puts O2 in the liquid so the yeast will grow some so it doesn't take forever to ferment). However, CO2 released from the beer is heavier than air. It forms a barrier between the air and the beer, preventing any O2 from disolving into the beer. This lets the beer keep fermenting anaerobicly (no O2).

[drksolest]

Oberon is the fairy king from A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's also a thouroughly mediocre wit brewed by Bell's that people say is their favorite beer because they've had 3 craft brews in their life.

not my fav... i actually don't like beer much (wine drinker myself) but when I do drink beer, I do like oberon. I can't get it since i've moved to TN so I do actually miss it.

[Looneybomber]

not my fav... i actually don't like beer much (wine drinker myself) but when I do drink beer, I do like oberon. I can't get it since i've moved to TN so I do actually miss it.

Check around to see what kind of availability your area has over Boulevard beers. In their smoke stack series (corked 750mL bottles) they brewed a Two Joker's (double wit) that would be worth looking into. Because of Boulevard's size, you may be able to find it in your state.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/49700

[seang]

Oberon is the fairy king from A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's also a thouroughly mediocre wit brewed by Bell's that people say is their favorite beer because they've had 3 craft brews in their life.

What do you recommend instead?

[xekushnr]

Also, xekushnr: Are you coming to the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Festival? It's in Ypsi in the middle of July. If you're going to be there, lmk.

I never knew of such a thing. I think I may have to make an appearance then. A quick google search says its happening on the 23rd and 24th. I'll have to try to take at least one day off work. When will you be going?

[JimmyMethod]

Oberon is the fairy king from A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's also a thouroughly mediocre wit brewed by Bell's that people say is their favorite beer because they've had 3 craft brews in their life.

What do you recommend instead?

For what style?
Everyone has different tastes, but when people have tried only a handful of beers of any given style, their ability to judge a certain beer as 'good' or 'bad' is lacking.

Also, xekushnr: Are you coming to the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Festival? It's in Ypsi in the middle of July. If you're going to be there, lmk.

I never knew of such a thing. I think I may have to make an appearance then. A quick google search says its happening on the 23rd and 24th. I'll have to try to take at least one day off work. When will you be going?

My buddies and I are probably just going Sat. since that's the longer day and we're too poor to afford tickets for both days. Also: Line up a ride to and from. You won't be able to drive afterwards.

p.s. Get tickets soon. They will sell out.