Beer making

[Clandestino]

Who has made their own beer? Was it easy or hard? How long does it take and most important of all.. How did it TASTE?

[Duff McCartney]

It usually takes about a week to two weeks depending on how you do it. It doesn't seem that hard except the preperations...you have to make sure that everything is sanitized really well.

The slightest microbial agents will most definitely fuck up an entire batch of beer.

Check this one out...I saw the episode where Alton Brown brewed his own beer. Very interesting.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_20302,00.html

[SWC Bonfire]

Notorious H.O.P. is who you need to ask.

I haven't homebrewed anything yet, but I've had others, and they are really good because they are fresh and you can get more European-like flavor.

Ales are supposed to be the easiest, and pilsners and lagers are more difficult. Sterile environment is critical.

[easjer]

I've never done it, though I'm interested, since I want to get back to drinking beer. However, we have a couple of students who do, and they say it's pretty easy, but it's also easy to fuck up. Too much of this or not enough of that and the taste can be way off. They also agree that ales are the easiest. I've tried some awesome stuff from them and some really nasty ass shit.

[helwardman]

Making your own beer is pretty much like anything else that requires skill.......it's easy when you know how :spin

As everyone else has pointed out, cleanliness is paramount. Get that bit right and you'll do ok. The best way to start will be with a simple kit...just follow the instructions.

One thing to consider might be to start off making wine. This is simpler due to the reduced volume of manufacture and the results are generally very good.

:drunk

Cheers.

[Notorious H.O.P.]

My first batch of beer was a malt extract pale ale kit. Turned out excellent and I've been hooked on homebrewing ever since. Simple brews like pale ales are the ones that will turn out the fastest.

The brew process takes about four hours from start to finish including prep, sanitizing, boiling the wort, transfer to a fermentor and pitching the yeast. The pale ale kit needed four days in primary fermentation, then you transfer to a secondary fermentor and let it sit 7-10 days. Then you bottle and it'll sit in bottles for a couple of weeks while it builds carbonation. With the pale, we were drinking initial beers three weeks after the brew and it got progressively better the longer it was in the bottle.

But the higher the gravity of the beer, the longer the fermentation process will take. I got a Grand Cru sitting in my closet that I had in primary a month and is about three weeks into secondary fermentation. Even after we bottle it will be a couple of months before we can enjoy that one. A barley wine style ale can sit in fermentation for over a year.

For anyone that wants to brew their own, I would suggest getting a good equipment kit (about $100-$150) right off the bat with glass fermentors instead of dealing with plastic. Although it isn't expensive, its cool to go in with a friend on the startup costs and it helps to have a second person assisting with the brewing. You can also get less expensive kits for about $50. As a beginner, it is easier to get a malt extract kit. They'll start at about $20 and up and will make a five gallon batch although you will lose some of that during the transfers. Ales are the easiest because they ferment at 65F to 75F so you can just put them in a closet. Lagers will require refrigeration during the lagering process and will have to be in the 30s.

The next levels of brewing are partial mash and full grain. More complex as you move up but the materials will cost less and a lot of people will argue that it produces better brew. It also requires additional equipment so the initial startup cost jumps up.

At the height of brewing madness, I was brewing a batch a week but I was running out of bottles and storage all the time. It's also fun to name your brews. We've normally named our brews for specific events that occurered during the brewing process. I've brew several different styles but my favorites where the Imperial Stout (the Imperial Grackle), a Wildcatter Stout clone (Chicken Wing Stout), a Hefe-Weizen (Heavy Weight Hefe for the thermometer we broke in the brew kettle), a trappist ale (the Drunken Monk since we were so hammered when we finished brewing it that we forgot to add a pound and a half of corn sugar to the brew and wound up jamming it into the fermenter), an IPA and an Octoberfest called Ratoberfest (don't ask).

I recommend homebrewing to anyone who loves beer or wants an interesting hobby. There are worse ways to kill an afternoon than brewing up a batch in the backyard, barbecuing, drinking beer with your buds and maybe even some cigar smoking.

[SWC Bonfire]

As a public service announcement, I should add to HOP's post that pale ales have a lot of hops and a bitter taste. You should try several pale ales from the store to determine if you like that kind of beer if not familiar with it. :tu

[thispego]

My first batch of beer was a malt extract pale ale kit. Turned out excellent and I've been hooked on homebrewing ever since. Simple brews like pale ales are the ones that will turn out the fastest.

The brew process takes about four hours from start to finish including prep, sanitizing, boiling the wort, transfer to a fermentor and pitching the yeast. The pale ale kit needed four days in primary fermentation, then you transfer to a secondary fermentor and let it sit 7-10 days. Then you bottle and it'll sit in bottles for a couple of weeks while it builds carbonation. With the pale, we were drinking initial beers three weeks after the brew and it got progressively better the longer it was in the bottle.

But the higher the gravity of the beer, the longer the fermentation process will take. I got a Grand Cru sitting in my closet that I had in primary a month and is about three weeks into secondary fermentation. Even after we bottle it will be a couple of months before we can enjoy that one. A barley wine style ale can sit in fermentation for over a year.

For anyone that wants to brew their own, I would suggest getting a good equipment kit (about $100-$150) right off the bat with glass fermentors instead of dealing with plastic. Although it isn't expensive, its cool to go in with a friend on the startup costs and it helps to have a second person assisting with the brewing. You can also get less expensive kits for about $50. As a beginner, it is easier to get a malt extract kit. They'll start at about $20 and up and will make a five gallon batch although you will lose some of that during the transfers. Ales are the easiest because they ferment at 65F to 75F so you can just put them in a closet. Lagers will require refrigeration during the lagering process and will have to be in the 30s.

The next levels of brewing are partial mash and full grain. More complex as you move up but the materials will cost less and a lot of people will argue that it produces better brew. It also requires additional equipment so the initial startup cost jumps up.

At the height of brewing madness, I was brewing a batch a week but I was running out of bottles and storage all the time. It's also fun to name your brews. We've normally named our brews for specific events that occurered during the brewing process. I've brew several different styles but my favorites where the Imperial Stout (the Imperial Grackle), a Wildcatter Stout clone (Chicken Wing Stout), a Hefe-Weizen (Heavy Weight Hefe for the thermometer we broke in the brew kettle), a trappist ale (the Drunken Monk since we were so hammered when we finished brewing it that we forgot to add a pound and a half of corn sugar to the brew and wound up jamming it into the fermenter), an IPA and an Octoberfest called Ratoberfest (don't ask).

I recommend homebrewing to anyone who loves beer or wants an interesting hobby. There are worse ways to kill an afternoon than brewing up a batch in the backyard, barbecuing, drinking beer with your buds and maybe even some cigar smoking.
i have stars in my eyes

[Clandestino]

awesome.. now, where do i buy all this stuff?

[SWC Bonfire]

You can buy it online or go to a homebrew shop.

[Clandestino]

any places in san antonio? where?

[Horry For 3!]

Nope, never made beer but my good friend's brother did.

[Notorious H.O.P.]

The only place in town to buy right now is San Antonio Homebrew Supply on N St Marys. Its on the strip next to Salute. The only issue there is that Todd, the owner, has a wealth of brewing knowledge but a lack of business sense. He's gotten better but still iffy. The advantage there is that he has a bar in the shop so you can drink a brew while you wander around (not much to see) or while he puts your kit together. He lost my business when my friend and I went to buy our first equipment kit and he had a deluxe kit advertised on a white board but he didn't know what items came with the kit.

Austin Homebrew is another good destination and you can make it a trip. Start in NW Austin, stop by North-By-Northwest Brewing Company for lunch and their beer sampler, play some darts at the Draught Horse and sample their in-house beer, take the ideas from the first two places to determine what beer style you want to brew, then stop by Austin Homebrew for your kit and finish at the B-Side Lounge at the Bitter End (brewpub) or vice versa.

Austin Homebrew also has free shipping on orders over $60. I got my first kit at www.oldwesthomebrew.com for $125 and it has since jumped to $180 (price changes on the second page). www.morebeer.com has the best variety of equipment and ingredients but is a little more pricey. We've bought ingredient kits from www.doublesprings.com and had great success with them. They have a best selling equipment kit that looks good from a price and necessary items standpoint. Add a 6.5 gallon glass carboy to that if you want to go all glass for fermentation.

If your kit doesn't include bottles or caps, go ahead and buy caps but not the bottles. They get expensive to ship and your better option is to buy beer in recappable bottles (non-twistoffs). Basically you buy beer to drink while you're brewing, wash and save the bottles, buy beer to drink during the transfer to secondary fermentation, wash and save, sprinkle in some more drinking here and there and plan to have two cases of bottles on bottling day.

Most beginning equipment kits include some type of book or manual. If the kit you get doesn't come with it, you might want to pick up of copy of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian. It's like the Homebrewers Bible for those just starting out.

BTW - the American Homebrewers Association is having their 7th Annual Teach A Friend to Homebrew Day on November 5th. If SA or Austin Homebrew have any business sense, they might put together some kind of demonstration. I would do my part but I'm going deep sea fishing that day. But maybe I'll invite a couple of interested SpursTalkers over to my house on one of my upcoming brew days to observe the process.

[SWC Bonfire]

But maybe I'll invite a couple of interested SpursTalkers over to my house on one of my upcoming brew days to observe the process.

Consider me interested.

[Marklar MM]

Definitely the way to go with underage drinking. :)

[Duff McCartney]

I've heard from Alton Brown that the best bet to go with on bottles is the ones with the rubber stoppers ALA the Christmas beer they sell around here.

I know those are pretty big in Germany when I went. Alot of the beers have those stoppers in them instead of twist off caps.

[Clandestino]

definitely something i'm interested in..

[Notorious H.O.P.]

can i homebrew malt liquor?

You sure can. And if you really look around, you can find recipes to clone all of your favorites including Mickey's and Old E. But I'm pretty sure you can't clone a St Ides without adding illegal substances to the batch.

Time is short for me this month and if the deep sea thing works out, it puts a brew date possibility on the weekend of Nov 12th assuming I don't go to Vegas on the 12th or 13th. I'll let you guys know.

[SequSpur]

Making beer is stupid when you can just show up to a friend's house and get a free one.

[exstatic]

Sequ had a bad experience at a homebrew store: The owner said "Get out of here, kid, before I call the cops!"

[SequSpur]

Blow me.

[Vashner]

Make a microbrew called "Silver Spur"..

[CharlieMac]

I always wanted to try that "How to make your own beer, in prison." section thata runs in Maxim every few years. It sounds interesting. Aside from possibly poisoning yourself.

[Ballcox]

^ I worked in the prison system for over five years, I was constantly amazed by the various substances those guys would make. They would make home brew/wine/hooch using different types of fruits, some guys at one time actually had an operating meth lab IN THE PRISON if you can believe that. They would also make up rock/crack cocaine, you name it and it was available. I remember every now and then I would take a walk through the evidence room, and there would be just huge piles of cocaine, heroin, meth, crack, all kinds of drugs just lying around on shelves in that room. :smokin

[Gatita]

But maybe I'll invite a couple of interested SpursTalkers over to my house on one of my upcoming brew days to observe the process.

:cat :tu

[Notorious H.O.P.]

Make a microbrew called "Silver Spur"..

What about a Silver and Black Stout?

Clandestino, if you wind up picking up a brewing kit anytime soon, know that you'll need a brew kettle (stock pot). If you choose the easiest form of brewing (malt extract), you can do partial boils of the wort instead of all five gallons at once. Aluminum works but can impart a metallic flavor to the beer. Stainless is the way to go and the thicker the gauge of the bottom, the less stirring you'll have to do. Partial boils will require a kettle between 20-24 quarts and full boils will need 28 quarts and up. If you plan on moving to full grain brewing eventually or want to do full boils, then you might want to just spend the money on the larger size right off the bat. The other day, I noticed that Academy has turkey fryer kits with a 32 or 40 quart stainless steel pot and an outdoor burner which helps if you like to brew outdoors and the price is decent.

Also, other items that help. Grain sacks and hop sacks which make it easier to pour your beer into the fermentor. You can sanitize with bleach but it takes longer so you might want to consider One-Step sanitizer which is no-rinse and sanitizes in five minutes. And oxygen absorbing bottle caps are a good option if you're going to brew high gravity beer that will sit in bottles for an extended period of time.

It sounds like a lot of things and a lot of steps but it is relatively easy. There is a clear set of steps to follow and as long as you sanitize your equipment properly you shouldn't have any problems (that's what she said!).