brewing beer

[mountain beer]

I enjoy making beer. I still brew with the kits. I have not attempted partial grains or all grains yet. I dont think I have enough time to do it. But I do enjoy brewing beer and adding my own ingrediants. I just got done brewing a Weizenbier while relaxing and enjoying some English Brown Ale and a bottle of home brewed Shiraz wine for dinner. I still cant believe how enjoying making a brew is, knowing that it will someday taste great.

Obviously with the amount of people on this and other sites, you all must have that same feeling of knowing that you can make a great brew.

Cheers,
Mountain

[bazooka]

I've only tried it once using a kit, and the results were terrible! I transferred my beer into a keg, which leaked and soaked everything in my basement. My wife was furious at me, and I ended up dumping the remainder of the batch, as it tasted like shit. My biggest mistake was not doing enough research before getting started. After reading an assortment of material on the subject, and getting tips and advice from this board, I'm ready to give it another shot.

[batkins]

I'm about 4 days from kegging my first batch :D . So far, so good.
Looks like beer.....smells like beer.....lets hope it's GOOD beer!! If so, I'll be pretty damn proud of myself.

[CaptHook]

Originally posted by batkins
I'm about 4 days from kegging my first batch :D . So far, so good.
Looks like beer.....smells like beer.....lets hope it's GOOD beer!! If so, I'll be pretty damn proud of myself. As you should be. Haven't you tasted it yet? It's a little green, but you'll
get a good idea what the finished product will be.

[YamahaXS]

It is an immensly satisfying hobby. Especially when I can share my beer with my wife and our friends. Though, to be honest, i usually stash a 12 pack or so for just me!

[Moboy]

"I have not attempted partial grains or all grains yet. I dont think I have enough time to do it."

Doing a partial grain brew will only take an extra 30-40 mins (steeping the specialty grains) than a kit brew and the much improved flavour/appearance is well worth it. I urge you to give this a try and you will never go back to kits.

[paul84043]

I have been using kits prepared by my favorite local HomeBrew shop "The Beer Nut" they have a website.
The kits contain the specialty grains typically along with the good high quality malt exrtact and the White Labs liquid yeast.
As far as I can tell, it's as good as a kit could possibly get.
I tasted my first batch last night, an Amber Ale that has only been aging for 2 1/2 weeks, but it was fantastic!!! I don't think the rest of the batch is going to make it to a month old...

I have heard people say how much better partial mash and full grain brewing is, and I have a hard time imagining it getting better!!
I am somewhat space and time limited, so I don't know if I will get any more complex tham I am now. Time will tell.

Steeping the grains is one of the best parts, it's like a combination of making beer and making coffee, It smells soooo gooood!!

This is one of the most interesting and satisfying hobbies I have ever done and that says alot!

[YamahaXS]

Paul,

congrats on your first beer... sounds good.

BTW, I know exactly what you mean in terms of making the beer as fast as you drink it. Two suggestions for you:

1)Start another batch the night you bottle the previous batch.
2)Do 2 batches within a short period of time (say a week). Soon you will have enough beer so that you can keep a 2 case reserve. As soon as you dip into that second case, its time to start again!

Btw, this method is a great way to compare variations in ingrediants. I have a IPA i am drinking (my god its good) and a pale ale that is about to be drinkable.

[joejoe]

I have to agree that buying a kit that includes the malt and the grain is the best way to go if you want really good beer. The last kit I made contained liquid malt extract, dry malt extract and specialty grain. this is as advanced as I want to get right now. The next step is all grain which sounds like a lot of work. The kit I just brewed took me a total of 2 1/2 hours from start to finnish. That means 2 1/2 hours from turning on the stove to steep the grain all the way to pitching the yeast in 70 degree wort. the 2 1/2 hours spent on a Sunday morning will definitely be worth it when I crack open the fruits of my labor in about 4 weeks. I ahve definitely found a new hobby and am loving every minute of it. My kids are even in the act watching the yeast move up and down in the wort and the airlock bubble.
I now have 3 batches going and am contemplating a fourth. Another carboy is only $13 and a kit with yeast goes for $25.
Much cheaper and more satisfying than sitting at a bar drinking Miller Lite....

[drstandley]

I have a book called 150 clone beers. Has recipes for 150 well known beers. And for every one it has an extract only recipe, partial mash and all grain. It's a great book, very easy to follow. I've made 3 beers from there, and they were all great. My neighbor's killed 3 mini-kegs of mine this weekend. Now they all want to brew too.

It's way too easy to use some grains. Once you've done it, you'll wonder why you waited.

[paul84043]

Who publishes the book?? I would be interested...

I am actually going to buy a second, larger conical fermentor that will do a 10 gallon batch, then, I'll just do 2 - 5 gallon recipes at the same time (actually about 15 to 20 minutes apart so that I can cool them off with the one wort chiller that I have....)

I figure that I'll do ales and warmer fermentations in the big fermentor and lagers in the smaller one in the refrigerator in the garage.

I do exactly as YamahaXS said, get the next batch going a.s.a.p. after bottling. Downtime is unacceptable!!

It's really cool to run into other people that have made awesome home brew, most that I have talked to in person tried and, (I don't know how) they say it came out terrible, thus....since they screwed up, home brewing makes bad beer....sad and funny at the same time...

What's also scary is that I am beginning to understand Wine people....I never really got them before, but I now find myself with a vastly improved appreciation for the time and ingredients that go into beer.

I must also say that this forum is awesome, if I hadn't read it somewhere I would never have guessed that it was a new forum just getting on it's feet. It's really a great resource and a totally cool bunch of people to talk to.

[iowabrewer]

Paul,
Good job on the beer! Welcome to a great hobby! Go and check out a book by Tess and Mark Szamatulski called "Beer Captured". It has some killer recipies that will keep you interested in beer and it's history while being able to brew beers with flavor profiles that cannot be found in the United States. Keep up the good work!

Prost!

[yonkersbrewer]

A trick I use because I have to is to brew a second batch right onto the yeast of the first. I have room only for a 2.5 gallon set up so I have to split kits. Not a problem except that it may mean having to get extra yeast. Or it did until I realized that I can boil the second batch while I am bottling or racking the first into the carboy for seconary. I cool the wort, leave a big soup spoon full of yeast slurry from batch one right in the fermenter, and then pour the new batch right on top. I have had good luck with this system and get excellent fermentation. I have not gone beyond two uses of the same yeast.

I too am amazed at how much I enjoy this hobby. The damdest thing is that I was not a big beer drinker before I started brewing. Oh, I liked beer well enough, but a beer a month was a lot. LOL...now my wife worries that a couple of beers a week is a huge increase in consumption. I remind her that it is not even enough to get the heart healthy benefits from it!

[paul84043]

Yonkers, I agree with you completely, I liked beer, but my fascination and appreciation of GOOD beer has increased a hundredfold!
I'm sitting here drinking a Rolling Rock, and it tastes like watered down crap! (I'm trying like hell to let my beer age)

I saw an excerpt from an actual AMA (American Medical Association) journal touting the use of "one or two average beers a night"
The health benefits are many including reductions in tooth decay, gastro-intestinal problems, heart disease, sleep disorders, and several others that I can't remember, and the negatives are none unless you overdo it as it is with anything.

I find myself actually drinking less beer in quanitity and enjoying the quality MUCH more. These real beers actually taste GOOD as they warm up, not WORSE!
And I love the smell as much as the taste, it's really amazing.

Re-using the yeast in that fashion is a fantastic idea, I hope to get to the stage where I can have a couple of starters on hand in the refrigerator for a few months at a time.

Thanks for the line on the books, I am really interested in the history of the whole culture as well. I have an extensive stein collection that I am very proud of.

Thanks for everyone's input on this forum, it's growing faster than almost any I have ever seen, and I feel like I'm beginning to identify with some of the people here. It's really great!

[Richard English]

Quote: "...These real beers actually taste GOOD as they warm up, not WORSE!..."

You know, when I first visited the USA in 1979, people would say to me, "...is it really true that you drink WARM beer in England...? No explanation of mine would convince them that not all beer should be drunk ice-cold and that good beers taste better at a warmer temperature.

If any of you haven't yet risked it, let your English ales warm up a bit and keep trying them until you find the temperature that suits you. You will find that the taste will get more and more intense as the temperature of the drink rises and, because it's a good taste, the drink gets more enjoyable.

Chemical fizz beers taste so vile that they are served ice-cold to disguise the taste. As a chemical fizz beer warms up its taste, too will intensify, but, because it's a vile taste, the vileness will just get more apparent.

There is a trade-off, of course, since you wouldn't want to drink beer that's actually warm on a hot day as it won't be thirst-quenching. Around 45 - 55 degrees fahrenheit is likely to be about right for most occasions.

There is a beer serving style which used to be common over here in the days before central heating. Mulled ale is beer to which spices have been added and which is heated (traditionally by inserting a red-hot poker into the glass) and served piping hot. The same trick can be done with wine (Austrian Gluhwein is an example) and mulled wine is probably better-known than mulled ale.

[Tweek]

Who publishes the book?? I would be interested...

I believe the book he is referring to is Clone brews by Tess and Mark Szamatulski. Publisher- Storey books.

I have never brewed a recipe out of it, but have used it as a reference for my own recipe formulation from time to time. I have talked to people that have and the results seemed to be pretty good.

Cheers

[drstandley]

Yes, that is correct Clone Brews. Actually they have a few other out now as well. They have done a fantastic job of getting you close to the real thing. Often it's hard to get the exact ingredents, so you get as close as you can, and that will change the taste a little. The other book that is great is "The Joy of Homebrewing". really supper insight into brewing beer.

[paul84043]

I had a chance to taste my second batch last night, a black and tan that's supposed to be a Mississippi Mud clone.
We were amazed at the difference in the tastes. I tried some real Miss. Mud a few weeks ago so that I would know what it was supposed to taste like.

My first batch, an Amber ale is very nice, aged for three weeks now, it's got a definite malt flavor in the beginning and then it changes to the hop with a mild but very noticeable hop finish with a mild bitterness. It's really good, and has a fantastic aroma that I can't seem to get enough of... The amazing part was comparing it to my Black and Tan! It smells exactly like Miss. Mud, it's very sweet smelling, but still very young. It's carbonation is acceptable to sample at this point.
It starts out very smooth and malty, but not as watery as the real Miss. Mud. It's a "full" flavor, It was incredible how smooth it was, it's like it's there, you taste the malt, no real hop presence, though the recipe did have bittering hops and Saaz hops for finish. It finishes as smoothly as it started, it just sort of slips away not leaving a strong aftertaste. It's also got a fantastic aroma that's very interesting to try to pick apart.

I never thought I would be sitting around analyzing beer trying to describe it in words. It's alot of fun with a couple of good friends that also appreciate beer.

I now have a Mexican Cerveza that's a gnat's hair from being done, I used an ale yeast because my temp controller wasn't hooked up to the fridge yet. I tested the SG yesterday, the reading was good and the color was dead on, but a bit cloudy which I ecpected. The beer smelled a bit fruity due to the ale yeast, and it smelled fantastic! I want to try the very same recipe and use the lager yeast that the recipe calls for to see the difference.

I also have an Apricot wheat that we cooked up last night. 7 pounds of malt, no specialty grains and only bittering hops. It was very easy to cook up and I think we're getting our technique down. This baby was going to town after only 8 to 10 hours in the fermentor.