how long have you been brewing

[barleyburps]

just curious as to how long the average person here has been brewing. Either homebrew or professional.

[barleyburps]

i've personally been brewing ~ 17 1/2 years. . . refining all the time. . .

[corkybstewart]

The best I can figure is I've been brewing 13 years, but I can't really pin it down. I do know that I really can't remember life before homebrewing.

[BrewDog]

My sister-in-law gave me a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas in 2002.

[zaphod]

Just started a little over a year ago, but I am hooked, or obsessed if you ask the wife. I made a deal with her last year, I tried 2 extract kits before I bought AG equip. Hoping to start kegging in a few weeks.

[barleyburps]

hitchikers guide one of my favorite series of books. . . big fan of doug adams. . . .has he put out anything lately?

[danno]

been brewing about 6 years... all grain for the past three or so...

hitchikers guide one of my favorite series of books. . . big fan of doug adams. . . .has he put out anything lately? looking for some relevance here, did I miss something? and anyways to answer your question, no. he passed away in 2001...

[barleyburps]

looking for some relevance here, did I miss something?

I was referring to zaphod's handle. . .sorry to hear he is no longer with us. . .

[chazwicke]

Although I don't brew anymore, I started back in the mid 70s before President Carter made it legal (78). I brewed with intensity for several years then slowed some until the mid 80s. Had another burst of brewing then for a few years. I last brewed in 1994. Too many great beers that I can now buy. But I do enjoy brewing. Everything from the wonderful smell to watching the airlock bubble. If I were to do it again* I'd want to go all grain and keg the beer. Lots of better new equiptment and ingredients are available now.


* I may be brewing soon. My nephew has borrowed all of my homebrewing books and wants to use some of my equiptment. I'm hoping he get into it and then I'll help him out.

[darylM]

I got a mr beer kit last christmas and made my first brew in January. She thought it was a gag gift where I would make a bad batch and that would be it. It ended up being pretty good and I took the implied permission she gave me and ran with it. I am about to start drinking my fifth batch(happy wife). It is my first full 5 gal batch so I have graduated from mr. beer. It's just as much work to make 5 gals as 2 gals so it works out better.

[corkybstewart]

And with the right equipment 10 gallon batches are easier and faster than 5 gallon. Before I had my 3-tiered setup 5 gallons (all grain)took me 8 hours to brew. Now I do 10 gallons in 6 hours.

[darylM]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
And with the right equipment 10 gallon batches are easier and faster than 5 gallon. Before I had my 3-tiered setup 5 gallons (all grain)took me 8 hours to brew. Now I do 10 gallons in 6 hours.

That's some funny math. Double production and shorten brew time by 2 hours. You should start doing 20 gals so you only need four hours to brew.

[dparsons]

Originally posted by darylM
That's some funny math. Double production and shorten brew time by 2 hours. You should start doing 20 gals so you only need four hours to brew.

And with a 6 tiered setup you could do it in 2 hours!

[Quarkstorm]

Brewed my first batch last August which was a success, second batch in January less so. Up until then I didn't think it was possible to add too many hops :D Though if I'd known more at the time I'd have stored it for 6 months to let it mellow, a lot of people still quite liked it, but I'm my own harshest critic. Currently I've got some spare time between graduation and starting work so I've a beer in the secondary (first time I've used one) and a cheap cider in the primary.

The beer tasted and smelt great when I racked it. The cider is doing surprisingly well, considering that literally all I did was buy 5 gallons of apple juice and add yeast.

[wortchillergoal]

I got divorced in Dec of 94 and was brewing by the end of Feb in 95. My first wife thoguht I would not be able to do it. The woman I am married to now enjoys watchin me brew. She likes drinkg my stuff as well.

[Xdredo]

[i]The woman I am married to now enjoys watchin me brew. She likes drinkg my stuff as well. [/B]

Since making my first bactch about 3 months ago my wife has gone from "Oh great, here we go again..." to telling everyone how much she likes my new hobby. Today when I got home from work she was in the basement showing one of her girl friends my new home-made mash/lauter tun and wort chiller. As the old Geritol commercials used to say "My wife - I think I'll keep her".

[cul8rv8]

My first brewing experience was with my cousin many, many years ago. I enjoyed it, but never had the time, patience, or the desire to do so, even in college with nothing to do.

Fast forward a few years, I decided I really wanted to start brewing, as I was spending so much time and money at the local brew pubs as well as the local liquor store picking up new and exciting brews. Around last November (2006), a friend was asking me what I wanted for Christmas, and as a joke I said a home brewing kit. Low and behold, she got it for me. Kit had a primary bucket, secondary carboy, all the lines, a wort chiller, bench capper, etc. etc. My first batch was a Vanilla Weizen kit that came with the equipment, and it turned out wonderful. After a lot of reading and what not before, during, and after that weizen, my second batch was a recipe I created mostly on my own.

So far I've made the weizen, a blueberry ale, california common, ordinary bitter, jalepeno pilsner, and I'm ready to make an IPA and a blonde ale. Not bad for only 6 months. Just seems to me I have a fairly good beer palate, so I figure rather than reading what others say about different hops and grains, I will make my own recipes and learn the taste on my own to hopefully one day make the perfect beer. Well, at least for me. Though I'm not sure that's possible, so I will just have to keep striving for the unattainable. :D

[BrewMax]

I brewed my first recorded batch of all grain beer in December of 1984. I brewed monthly for 7 years but quit after I moved back to PA. I finally started brewing again in March of 2005 and am enjoying it even more now.

[Salty]

I am enjoying brewing again. I brewed my first over ten years ago, and got away from it until recently. I've brewed three kits over the last few months and the beers have been delicious.

I’d also like to compliment this community and I glad to be a part of it. I found tons of useful information and thank you to all who share their knowledge.

[corkybstewart]

Welcome to the site and welcome back to the addiction. I bet you've noticed some changes since you quit.

[BrewMax]

I certainly have as you well know. Seems that plastic is much more respectable these days. Plus, there is a myriad of ingredients available now. On the other hand, costs have skyrocketed. I used to brew for $.09 a bottle.

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by chazwicke
I'm hoping he get into it and then I'll help him out. Would that be with the production or the consumption?

I've been brewing about 4 years, went minimash on my third batch and AG on my fifth. When I was in college a fraternity brother did a little homebrewing with Cooper's kits that I think used cane sugar for 3/4 of the fermentables. That stuff made the Olympia we had on tap seem rapturous. It took another friend who was using a 5-gallon kit to get me try it again, and my wife now actively abets my obsession.

BrewMax, exactly how did you manage dollar-a-gallon batches?

[BrewMax]

In 1984 homebrewing was in it's juvenile years so ingredients were priced to sell. Also, I mashed with lots of store bought flaked adjuncts and cut costs by using cane sugar for priming. (I still make invert sugar with it by boiling it in slightly acedic water for 5 minutes per Dave Line's book.) Admittedly, today's ingredient selection is vastly superior and craft beers easily attained. However in those days, we WERE the craft brewers.

[BrewMax]

Originally posted by BrewMax
In 1984 homebrewing was in it's juvenile years so ingredients were priced to sell. Also, I purchased in bulk and mashed with lots of store bought flaked adjuncts and cut costs by using cane sugar for priming. (I still make invert sugar with it by boiling it in slightly acedic water for 5 minutes per Dave Line's book.) Admittedly, today's ingredient selection is vastly superior and craft beers easily attained. However in those days, we WERE the craft brewers. Here is an actual recipe for a lager I brewed in 1986 for 10.5 cents per bottle.
5 gal.
in mash
3 lbs. pale malt
6 oz. crystal malt
12 oz. brown rice (boiled)
mash water treatment
in boil
1 oz. leaf hop blend (40 min. boil)
1/2 oz. leaf hop blend (10 min boil)
1 lb. honey (free)
1 lb. cane sugar
1 packet dry lager yeast

cold aged at 40 degrees after fermentation to "lager in bottle"
My notes say: 10-16-86 superb "light" beer - great flavor and crispness - good hop flavor & bitterness is correct - good head and conditioning 16 of 20 points

I know that by todays standards that this is a lightweight beer at 1.042 initial sg. and lack of grain bill, but it did taste good. My how times have changed!

[Salty]

The biggest change is the impact of the internet…access to information and products. I don’t remember having the internet on my home computer when I started brewing…but boy how times have changed. There is a ton of useful information at the touch of a button or click of a mouse. It is easy to research techniques, recipes and the availability of products is much different.

[Salty]

I want to take advantage of this groups expertise…It seems my palate is leaning towards lager beers with a good balance between malt and hop flavor. I fermented my Bohemian Pils at room temperature, about 72F-74F. I used lager yeast. The outcome seems to be delicious.

I live in the South and do not have a cellar or basement, so the temperature is controlled indoors but it is hot outside this time of year and could be too cold in the winter months. It seems that I’m looking at an investment in equipment of a few hundred dollars to address temperature control that I’d like to avoid/reduce/invest wisely. If I could brew at lager temps without the big investment that would be cool too. What equipment are you lager brewers using for temperature control and what advise do you have for a newbie?

[corkybstewart]

Originally posted by Salty


I live in the South and do not have a cellar or basement, so the temperature is controlled indoors but it is hot outside this time of year and could be too cold in the winter months. It seems that I’m looking at an investment in equipment of a few hundred dollars to address temperature control that I’d like to avoid/reduce/invest wisely. If I could brew at lager temps without the big investment that would be cool too. What equipment are you lager brewers using for temperature control and what advise do you have for a newbie?
I brew lagers in the garage in the winter right now, but I'm trying to improve my setup so I can do them year round. I have a room in my garage that stays fairly uniform around 50F, even though morning temps are mid 20's and afternoons are around mid 50's.
You can buy a cheap fridge and a $50-75 temperature controller and do lagers all year round, for much less than "hundreds of dollars".

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by Salty
What equipment are you lager brewers using for temperature control and what advise do you have for a newbie? If you have had such good results with a particular lager strain that didn't get all estery when fermented at room temps, keep on with what you're doing. If not, I'd look at some very neutral ale yeasts such a White Labs WLP 001 or the Anchor brewery lager yeast that performs well at near-room temperatures. That way you can ferment in an ale temperature range yet keep the yeast flavor profile low.

[barleyburps]

i use an old refrigerator year round in my basement to ferment and age lagers.

[petitbilbo]

What equipment are you lager brewers using for temperature control and what advise do you have for a newbie? [/B]


Google the words "son of a fermentation chiller" or click here (http://home.elp.rr.com/brewbeer/chiller/chiller.PDF)...

I build one and it's working great!
All for less than 25€ (make that about $35-40)

I'm lagering a Kölsch at about 6°C right now.

[BrewMax]

Originally posted by petitbilbo
Google the words "son of a fermentation chiller" or click here (http://home.elp.rr.com/brewbeer/chiller/chiller.PDF)...

I build one and it's working great!
All for less than 25€ (make that about $35-40)

I'm lagering a Kölsch at about 6°C right now. I was thinking along these lines too, but I want to make a keg chiller that I can keep in a cabinet and have the tap just above it. That way I'll have cold draft on tap. I would use the 2 " polystyrene insulation too but for cooling why couldn't I use a portable 12 volt car type can chiller? It may be a bit undersized for 2 kegs, but it should chill them down in a couple of days. I think they have their own built-in thermostats too. Any thoughts?

[corkybstewart]

If I can get off my lazy ass this weekend I'll finish my conical chiller and post pics. It uses a large cabinet with 2" of styrofoam insulation and a dorm fridge on top dropping cold air thru 3.5" holes. A buddy of mine on another forum uses something like this as a kegerator, but I figured with a digital temp controller I can use it for fermenting. Then I can brew year round woo hoo, no doubt my wife will love that!!!

[Bob E.]

Originally posted by BrewMax
for cooling why couldn't I use a portable 12 volt car type can chiller?
I've been thinking along that line. Except I've got a thermoelectric module out of an old dehumidifier. I haven't gone much further than thinking about it and crunching some #'s from this site:
http://www.tellurex.com/cthermo.html
It is one hell of a source of information, but they don't seem to care to answer any questions...

http://www.ibrew.com.sg/Chiller.asp
cool the air

http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/conical_ice_probe.htm
Cool the beer
I like the ice probe idea. All I need is some aluminum bar stock.

[BathroomBrew]

i started January of 07. and i've probqably brewed an average of 3 batches a month. Lately my friend and i have been brewing every week, often times doing 2 batches simultaniously.

lol, as of last night, we have 5 conry kegs filled, another 6 gallons of misc brews bottled, 2 5 gal batches in primaries, and 2 5 gal batches in secondaries, and we still amazingly have enough equipment to have another 2 batches going simultaniously. with plans of getting a 14.5 gal conical fermentor in the next few months.

[BrewMax]

Originally posted by BathroomBrew
i started January of 07. and i've probqably brewed an average of 3 batches a month. Lately my friend and i have been brewing every week, often times doing 2 batches simultaniously.

lol, as of last night, we have 5 conry kegs filled, another 6 gallons of misc brews bottled, 2 5 gal batches in primaries, and 2 5 gal batches in secondaries, and we still amazingly have enough equipment to have another 2 batches going simultaniously. with plans of getting a 14.5 gal conical fermentor in the next few months. Wow, sounds like you guys really got bit by the brewing bug! Remember, the joy of homebrewing IS experimenting. Have fun!

[jones'soda]

i've been only brewing for about 6 or so months. I did one extract brew before going to all grain. I sort of forced a learning curve on myself with all grain because of the cost. (its cheaper by far to do all grain than extract) and being that i'm a poor college student, money is a pretty big deal. I also live down south, (Mid MS) so its finally started getting cold around here, and by cold i mean 65-70, so yeah, temperature control is the first main issue i've been dealing with in controlling effectively(and without being costly). But i get to learn about all the same stuff in my college courses [chemical engineering major] like thermo, so brewing is pretty supplemental to my schooling [talk about a good way to rationalize a hobby]

i've made about 6 or 7 batches so far(of AG) and gonna do another this weekend which will be my last for the semester[out of grain, hops, money]. I've tried something new, and experimented each time, i've only done one batch that i've strictly followed a recipe. Experimenting is just more fun for me since i'm in class and in labs all day where i have to follow a strict procedure, so its nice that i can pick and choose from things people have already done and kind of run with it. Of course, not all of my batches have come out as awesome as i would hope, but thats why its called experimenting right?, i mean, as long as you learn something from it, then its not a waste, or not as big of a waste if you didn't learn from your mistakes.

I lucked out when i decided to go to all grain so quickly because i won an ice chest from my old job, and was able to get some spare cpvc piping and ball valves (given) there also before i left for school. So i was able to go to all grain in a cost effective/cheap transition.
Of course i already have more improvements i'm planning and/or designing than my (limited) budget can keep up with, so i've sort of been forced to think outside of the box on finding materials that not only are cheap, but also fit the purpose their being used for.

definitely an awesome hobby that is for anyone [that enjoys good beer]

[Powhatan]

I've only been brewing since Feb 07. I went all grain around batch #7 and just bottled #16 last weekend. #17 is currently in secondary and I've got one planned for this weekend.

I went all grain for many reasons - primary because I like all those wonderful toys! I also have more time than money. I stopped using kits too for more control and savings. I'm eyeballing a grain mill so I can buy grain in bulk.

This week I'll be going to my first homebrew club meeting. I look forward to finding out what that's about and meeting others with the same interest. It will be nice to have someone who can help evaluate my efforts. Friends and family always say the like it.

I think I'm past the hop monster/alcohol bomb stage - but you never know...

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by jones'soda
I sort of forced a learning curve on myself with all grain because of the cost. ... [chemical engineering major] ... As a fellow engineer, I can see right through that ... it's about control of the process, and not having the guessing game of what's really in the malt extract! :D

[garym]

i started about 2 years ago. it was on a suggestion from my wife as a hobby!
(dam,,, but im glad i married that lady!!):D