Home Brewing (Beer. Wine. ETC)
 

Any of you into brewing your own beer?

This is a new hobby of mine and I must say it come VERY close to the excitement and fun I feel when driving and modding the Z. :) :eekdance:

I started my first 2 batches, one Wet IPA with hops flown in from the fine state of WA, and a second Imperial Pumpkin. I am hoping they will be all set and ready to drink by the end of October as fermentation began around 2 weeks ago. They are in the second stage now.

Anyone else into this before I go onto details of what my brewing involved, recipes, etc?:tiphat:

-Ti

Sounds interesting. But I only drink the stuff. That IPA sounds good. Hopefully the hops are very flavorful.

I wish I could brew Corona Extra, I'd never come out the house.

Eeeeooowww!

It definitely is. I went into this store near me that specializes in home brewing, and I was hooked!

There is so much chemistry involved once you get into the serious brewing. It was amazing to hear as I am in the medical industry, and when the manager of the store was explaining to me, it sounded like a different language!!

You would be amazed the types and flavors of beer they have pre made recipes for. I'm sure if a little digging is done you could find one for Corona. Its funny cause at first you think its expensive, but then you realize for >60 bucks you get 5 gallons of any beer you can make. :happydance:

I will upload some pics I have from my first brew. Good times!

I dont know man, Im too lazy, I just wanna reach in the fridge, pop her open, slide a lemon and lime in it... sip away... fricken delicious. It sooothes my soul brother..:tup:

Hey Tibal sounds awesome man Wet IPAs are one of my favorites, what hops are you using?

Funny to run into this post as I haven't been on here for a long while. My dad's been a home brewer for all my life pretty much, and over the last few years I've gotten into it too. Actually earlier this year we took the rather large leap from home brewer to opening up our own micro brewery (80bbl or about 2500gal of fermentation capacity!!)

We primarily specialize in belgian beers, brewery is looking to open mid-November in Temecula CA if your ever out this way you should stop in, could definitely give you a little tour around. It's like home-brew equipment on steroids lol

Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/RefugeBrewery

Dude thats AWESOME!!

I would love to see that if I ever have a chance to get out that way. The IPA I just bottled was I believe it was fresh Cascade from Washington State, but I may be confusing that with the Pumpkin that is almost in second stage.

2500gal!! Haha PARTY! Your, and your dads friends must LOVE you! lol

:happydance: If ever you get any of your brews out this way let me know I would love to sample some for you :rofl2:

Great to see there's more Z/Home brewers on the forum. I've been brewing for about 15 years. I assume that your doing extract because your just starting out? Just wait till you make the move to all grain. It will open up a lot of options for you. PM me if you have any questions or problems in your brews, im glad to help. Cheers.

Right on the money, picked up a extract kit that was really a breeze to work with.

That is what EVERYONE has told me. I luckily have a pretty sweet Brew Store right near my workplace and they are so knowledgeable. They said that once you go all grain, you'll never go back. They also said the same about Kegging :tup:

Most definitely will seek some advice from you once I feel confident enough to make the switch. I actually just picked up a book"Joy of Home Brewing" - by C. Papazian. So far its been great and learning a WHOLE lot about the concept, and what really can be done with some creativity.

Seems like the West Coast guys are the ones on this forum with the Home Brewing Expertise!! Anyone on the East Coast mastered the art?! :P

Years ago in summer, I made hard cider. Juiced apples and bought all the fermenting yeasts, sugar etc. ended up with over 5 gallons of 20% alcohol. The parties, the girls, what great times. It was so sweet tasting that everybody over imbibed.

Then it was all drunk up, and that phase of my life ended.

Ya kegging will make your life and beer so much better. I moved to kegging just before i went all grain. The Joy of Home Brewing is a great book to get you going. If you haven't already been there take a look at Beer Making Kits and Home Brewing Supplies | MoreBeer they have a ton of great stuff. Also check out The Brewing Network.com - Beer radio | The Brewing Network they have a great show.

I won an "All In One' beer making kit at work lol. Never had the time to invest in making a batch. Although I would love to some day!

I am definitely interested in Craft beers and Home brewing.

HAHAH! Just like that came and went like a storm :rofl2:

Hear cider is awesome to make and as you said can get veryyy potent!

I am going to look those up now. I like the idea of a home brewing radio network! hahaha

I also joined homebrewtalk.com and am reading up on a lot of cool stuff. Seems like the possibilities are endless!


Get into it! Another "pricier" hobby haha.

Its really fun, and nothing better than tipping back one you personally made. :tup:

So how did it come out?

Awesome! Here is the first IPA that I made. Was able to really enjoy it this past weekend during the storm. :)

I'm telling you, the head of this beer is comparable if not more than say a Guinness when first poured. Very tasty, but lighter than I would have liked. Almost as if there was too much water used which diluted the flavor a bit. Aside from that, it is as tasty as anything.
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Also, I bottled my pumpkin brew on Sunday so I'm thinking by next weekend I'm going to crack one open.

Nice. A good way to make the hops stand out a bit more is to back off your liquid extract or dry malt extract and sub in corn sugar. The corn sugar will ferment out 100% and leave no flavor. So it will give the beer a lighter body and more pronounced hop character. Just FYI if you want to try it. That's how they make Pliny the Elder and Younger from Russian River.

Your beer looks really good for a first batch. Good job on keeping it clean.

That is so funny that you say that because I have a buddy who has been brewing for a while now and he mentioned the same thing. I am DEFINITELY going to try subbing some out next time. I feel that over the past weeks it has become tastier and tastier.

He said he used that method recently as he mirrored the 2 White House Recipes. Cant wait to try them, but he said he predicts they will be on a lighter note.

Also, I have been drinking the pumpkin and it came out so great. It made such a difference using the Poland Springs gallon jugs to ensure a proper 5 gallon measurement. Tastes bold, with a hint of pumpkin. And also has quite the kick and after 2 22oz bottles I can even feel the kick on my big and tall frame! :bowrofl:


Now comes the time.. Any ideas on what I should brew next??

I would love to get one going within the next few weeks. I probably will pick up two different ones as I now have three carboys and one bucket. I am also trying to decide if I want to try and make one "still using extract" on a whim with random hops etc, or to buy another kit.

I would love to try and IPA again, and am thinking of maybe a Honey Ale or something Christmas'y**.

Buy horse.
Give horse excessive amounts of water.

Wait.

Haha! :p

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Do another IPA just so you can get the comparison down. It's good to do the same beer with little changes so you can really taste the dif. I would say you should make beers that dont have alot of crazy flavors added just so you can get the hang of the brew process. Once you have your brew day rituals down you will know more or less what things to expect. Then you can have at it and go crazy.

Took your advice and last night picked up two new brews. I decided on a Dogfish 60 minute ipa cloan, along with a double white ale.
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The double white is surely going to be a strong brew. 8lb malt for 5 gallons!

Today I am going to get a start in hope to have the ipa by Christmas.

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Nice. I gotta get my a** to the store and get a couple brews going for Xmas too.

You really do! :thumbup: hopefully this ipa will be done before Christmas. :)

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Brewed it last night. Three hop blend and I am very excited to get it right this time. Also pumped to see if there is a difference between dry and wet yeast.

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Use California ale yeast from white labs if you can. It's the best for almost any American style beer e.g. porters, stouts, pales, IPAs.

Oh the Wyeast isn't bad too.

I actually used Wyeast for this batch! I believe British? I couldn't believe how fast it reacted, but couldn't seem to pop that little bugger for the life of me

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Use the american ale from wyeast or cal ale from white labs. It will give you more of the taste your looking for. The british ale yeast is gonna give you a more biscuity flavor and dull some of the hops.

Just got home and heard fizzing sounds and little pops.. saw this beauty after only 19 hours!! It's shooting out the top! Never seen anything like this before :-)

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Jimmy rigged this little blow through due to the amount that was coming out
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I know for the next batch I have a Belgium Ale wyeast. Next time I will definitely try a different packet. Hopefully this doesn't dull too much.

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Good. I was gonna tell you to do the same thing. I use a blow off tube for all my fermentations. Looks like you have a healthy ferment going there too.

Anyone here been brewing?!? I recently picked out up a Kegerator and it is AWESOME!!

Found it on CL for a killer price. Came with 1/4 and full Sanke kegs. I was nervous about the Sanke connection and homebrew, but it was easy and came out great.

Not having to wait for the bottles to condition is so great. Draft beer at home, gotta love it!!

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http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/11/ru4a2u3u.jpg All stocked up!!


Just about to finish a nice Holiday Extract beer I bought off of MoreBeer. I can already tell it is going to be great! Couple days left until kegging.

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Good stuff, I'm a noob though. I need to make me a new batch sometime soon. I have to drink the old 1st first though..