*OFFICIAL Home Brewing Thread*

[1yankeesfan]

Sorry if there is already a home brewing thread but I couldn't find it. Anyways, I was thinking about getting into home brewing my own beer and I was wondering if there are any fellow Ants out there brewing at home. This could be a good place to share tips, recipes, etc.

"Relax. Don't Worry. Have a home-brew."

[recentlyJTR41]

I'm all for this. It'll get deleted because we already talk about it in the Beer thread. But good thread idea man.

[Arby]

I have a friend who bought some equipment from this site: http://www.brooklyn-homebrew.com/index.php


Its stuff designed for apartment living, which is great in the city. I havent used it myself, but he likes it so far, even tho he just started. I'll have to sample a brew before I can really say anything about it. I would love to do this, but it seems like somewhat of an expensive hobby.

[jrod41]

been thinking about doing this for the past week. perfect timing man.

[recentlyJTR41]

Originally Posted by jrod41

been thinking about doing this for the past week. perfect timing man.

Do it! A very, very fun hobby.

Pm me if you have any questions brah.

[Beefsteak1138]

Been way too long since I brewed, I need to get on that. I bought a kegerator a few years back, best investment ever.

[drop2d]

Kegging an IPA I have sitting in a bucket sometime this week. Love homebrewing... just wish I had more time to do it.

[jmkratt]

Originally Posted by recentlyJTR41

I'm all for this. It'll get deleted because we already talk about it in the Beer thread. But good thread idea man.

There's a beer thread?

[Beefsteak1138]

What a coincidence....I read this thread, express my urge to brew again only to check my mail and see that the newest Northern Brewer catalog has come. It's a sign.

[Arby]

For those who have been brewing:

How many batches did you ruin before you were able to make something good/drinkable?

[Beefsteak1138]

Originally Posted by Arby

For those who have been brewing:

How many batches did you ruin before you were able to make something good/drinkable?

Zero. Be meticulous about sanitizing and you'll at least brew something drinkable, unless you really, really screw up badly.

[handsareme]

Just ordered four pin-lock kegs from www.homebrewing.org and with shipping, cost/keg came to $40. Pretty good deal. Now, for everything else. I got the fridge for free.

[handsareme]

Originally Posted by Beefsteak1138

Zero. Be meticulous about sanitizing and you'll at least brew something drinkable, unless you really, really screw up badly.

Same here.

[drop2d]

Originally Posted by Beefsteak1138

Zero. Be meticulous about sanitizing and you'll at least brew something drinkable, unless you really, really screw up badly.

This... so much this. It's probably the biggest reason I don't brew as much as I'd like. Takes forever to get everything as clean & sanitized.

[Tak_a_Tak]

Been homebrewing for years, love it. No matter how bad a batch might turn out, it's still beer!

[Tiduwho]

Originally Posted by Arby

For those who have been brewing:

How many batches did you ruin before you were able to make something good/drinkable?

First batch was ehh but drinkable. Second was good.

Most have been pretty good. Even if you're a first timer, you can cover up impurities with a helping of hops.

[dmb9howell]

I just don't get the love for the home brewing hobby. I have a lot of friends who do this, and they are always wanting me to try their new batch and spend obsessive amounts of time on it and the beer is always sub par, sometimes undrinkable. I will leave it to the experts, drink beer that I know is good, and stick to growing my own weed.

[jmkratt]

Just like anything else it takes practice.

I brewed for years but quit a couple months back. Going All Grain and utilizing a fermentation chamber to control temperatures of different stages in fermentation allowed for a vast improvement in quality. I thought most of what I brewed was very good, some was less so but it was fun to experiment. I mostly brewed what I wanted to brew but I did several commercial "clones". In blind side by side of Founders Breakfast Stout and my homebrew people couldn't tell the difference, I couldn't tell the difference. My Zombie Dust recipe was pretty damn close, a little hazy, but when compared to the real thing it was basically there. You can absolutely make good homebrew.

Home brewing is great. In hindsight having 5 taps in the basement with 25 gallons of beer on hand at all times turned out to be too much so, I brew no longer, at least until the kids get older

EDIT: Oh yeah I tried Colby's IPA a couple years ago, he did a good job

[mposey34]

was just about to start this thread and decided to do a search first... good thing. Any talk of homebrew is lost in the huge beer brag thread

I've finally decided to make the switch over to all-grain brewing after 2 years and about a dozen batches of extract beers. I finished my mash tun build over the weekend, and glad to say it didn't cost nearly as much as buying one already put together, and was very easy to do.

Also finally found a fridge to convert to a kegerator. I've had the equipment for a 2-tap system since Christmas (Santa loves home brew) and have been searching for a cheap garage fridge off and on since. Picked one up Friday and had it ready to be filled on Sunday. I have a Rye IPA in the fermenter now that I will dry hop this weekend and then again mid week next week, then cold crash and keg the following weekend.

First all grain batch will be a simple single hop pale ale to see how my system will work out.

[tmm786]

Originally Posted by mposey34

was just about to start this thread and decided to do a search first... good thing. Any talk of homebrew is lost in the huge beer brag thread

I've finally decided to make the switch over to all-grain brewing after 2 years and about a dozen batches of extract beers. I finished my mash tun build over the weekend, and glad to say it didn't cost nearly as much as buying one already put together, and was very easy to do.

Also finally found a fridge to convert to a kegerator. I've had the equipment for a 2-tap system since Christmas (Santa loves home brew) and have been searching for a cheap garage fridge off and on since. Picked one up Friday and had it ready to be filled on Sunday. I have a Rye IPA in the fermenter now that I will dry hop this weekend and then again mid week next week, then cold crash and keg the following weekend.

First all grain batch will be a simple single hop pale ale to see how my system will work out.

I am also in the process of changing to all grain. I have pretty much decided on how to build my mash tun, but how did you yours? Other than that I have pretty much everything ready except for some hoses and connections for my wort chiller.

[mposey34]

Originally Posted by tmm786

I am also in the process of changing to all grain. I have pretty much decided on how to build my mash tun, but how did you yours? Other than that I have pretty much everything ready except for some hoses and connections for my wort chiller.

I basically followed this plan:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/chea...version-23008/

where I changed it was with this false bottom:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and this tubing to connect it to the drain valve:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also couldn't find stainless steel fender washers in the correct size so I just used flat washers. The only difference I can see is that flat washers are thicker, which means you need fewer anyways.

attached are photos of it and a bonus photo of the fridge conversion

[MVDMB]

Originally Posted by dmb9howell

I just don't get the love for the home brewing hobby. I have a lot of friends who do this, and they are always wanting me to try their new batch and spend obsessive amounts of time on it and the beer is always sub par, sometimes undrinkable. I will leave it to the experts, drink beer that I know is good, and stick to growing my own weed.

What if you feel the same way about their beer as they do about your weed?

[mposey34]

pulled a sample of my Rye IPA on Friday. It's down to 1.013 and at 6.7%, right where I want it. Dry hopped it with an ounce of Citra and an ounce of Amarillo. Will do it again Monday night, cold crash it Thursday, keg it Friday and start drinking Saturday

The sample tasted fantastic. Really excited for this one

[MDPrompter]

^u ever dry hop in the keg? I usually add 0.5-1oz leaf hops to hop sack with marbles at kegging for IPAs .

[mposey34]

Originally Posted by mdmarvich

^u ever dry hop in the keg? I usually add 0.5-1oz leaf hops to hop sack with marbles at kegging for IPAs .

I have not, but to be fair this is my first time kegging a batch. I've heard good and bad about dry hopping in a keg, I just worry about not going through it fast enough and the hops being in it too long

[mposey34]

Kegged my rye IPA yesterday, was reminded of an easy science lesson, then enjoyed a couple pours off the keg tonight. Easily the best homebrew I've made to date.

Making a calypso pale ale tomorrow. Will be my first all-grain batch

[tmm786]

Planning on making my first all grain batch tomorrow. Hope all goes well. It will be a hefe.

[Tak_a_Tak]

All grain normally goes very well, it's just more time. Good luck!

[1yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by tmm786

Planning on making my first all grain batch tomorrow. Hope all goes well. It will be a hefe.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out :-)

[mposey34]

I hope your first all grain went better than mine:

Today is the first all grain batch I've made. I knew it would be a learning experience, but I had no idea just how much.
I heated the strike water to 168, just like Beersmith said. Added it to the mash tun, then stirred in the grain. Set my timer, and waited.
With about 10 minutes left I started heating the sparge water. When my timer went off(60 minute mash), my sparge water was just about right. I then realized that it might be a little too soon because I still needed to drain the wort. I opened the drain valve on my homemade mash tun.

Nothing. Not one drop.

I grabbed the end of the drain hose and blew into it. Bubbles came up. That's good, right? nothing drained still. I stirred. I added sparge water. Nothing.

I dumped the entire mash into my 7 gallon fermenting bucket. I pulled out the false bottom, made sure it wasn't gummed up. Something didn't look right in the nipple. put everything back together. Dumped the mash back in. Stirred. Opened the drain.

Nothing.

hit it with the air compressor.

Nothing.

Dumped everything a second time. Pulled out the false bottom. Found a steel braid hose I bought for something lying around. cut off the connections on the ends, pulled out the rubber hose inside the braid, and made a new false bottom.

We have flow!

let the wort drain out, (I did remember to recirculate some to avoid the grain getting into the kettle) and started taking apart the non-working false bottom. As I looked inside it, I noticed that where a hole should be in the 90, there was only a small crack. The hole had not been drilled out completely!

I will back up here a bit to say that a buddy was trying to help me through this, and he asked "You did check the tun with water before using it, right?" to which I replied just to make sure there were no leaks. never checked the false bottom.

I drilled out the 90 degree nipple, re-installed it after completing the sparge with the remaining water I needed, hooked everything back up, and we have flow!

Meanwhile, I manged to get a little over 9 gallons of wort at a gravity of 1.045. Target was 9 gallons at 1.043.

Proceeded with the boil as usual, and at 60 minutes, the OG is 1.057. Target was 1.056.

Money

I think it is safe to say I wont forget my first time with all-grain for a very long time.