Jamaican Beer

[Jamaica]

I need your assistance I am from the Island of Jamaica and i wanted to start making my own beer in Jamaica the most popular here is:
Red Stripe
Heineken.

I am a Lager type of beer drinker. I am going the Florida, USA in 1 week and i want to buy so equipment to make lager beer.
What do i need to buy to make lager beer.

note I have never made beer before and i don't anywhere in Jamaica that sells HOPS/Yeast/ ETC so i might have to buy the seeds and grow the hops myself, but for the first few cases
:) until i grow these things myself i'll buy the hops/yeast etc ...

please tell me where to start

[fretlessman71]

If you're really interested in lagers, the first thing I would do is make sure I had a refrigerator to lager your beer in. I'm sure it gets HOT in Jamaica, and you'll need something that you can be certain will stay in the 45 degree F range. Besides that, there are several online stores that will sell you a beginner's kit. You can check out several stores by clicking this link (http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1944&highlight=online+homebrew) and scrolling through the various responses.

Welcome to the boards - the more the merrier! :D

[Jamaica]

thanks for your prompt reply. Yes Jamaica is hot and a good beer most be Cold so i going to buy another refrigerator just specially for the beer i did actually go on some on the site, for starter kits.

what things are need to make good lager beer for example:
yeast
hops
malt
etc

[Fast_Eddy]

Go to this site and start reading.

www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

[Wilson]

Since you are going to be in Florida for a week, check to see if the city/town your going to has a homebrew shop. They would be able to help you by selling you some equipment, books, and ingredients. If you are looking for specific ingredients try looking up "Red Stripe clone" on the internet, if you want to replicate that.

I would be careful bringing hops, especially whole hops, on to a plane though. Some one might mistake it for ganja. ;)

[fretlessman71]

True, but who in their right mind would bring their own when they went to Jamaica? ;)

[chazwicke]

Keep us posted on your progress too. Are you planning on brewing for your own consumption or commercially? What do you think of Red Strip and Dragon Stout?

[Jamaica]

I think that Red Stripe is the greatest beer ever made :) I don't like dragon scout. Jamaica is the home of Ganja it wouldn't take me 5 mins to find a smoke if I wanted to.
I want to start out first just for consumption then you never know where that will take you. Red stripe and Heineken have cornered the beer market here and it would take A LOT have money compete against them.
I thought it would be interesting to make beer and drink with my friends. I've been told that making lager is ver difficult and i should stick to ale.
are these beer starter kits any good? and if so what is a good one to start brewing lager beer.
I might sound stupid but i hear you guys talking about keeping the beer at special temperture why.

[Acataleptic]

A buddy brought me back a couple bottles each of Guinness and Dragon Stout from JA! If I remember correctly, the Dragon Stout was sweet but had deep complexity and the Guinness was the rich, flavorful 8% version!

Good luck finding a Homebrew store in FL! And twice as much luck getting it all back home. BTW, I think JA is too humid for growing hops.

Listening to: The Stooges 1970 Fun House

[Jamaica]

I live the the hills its not that humid.. In jamaica its hot but not if you dont live never the sea or you live in the hills so its not that bad. does't hurt trying to grow hops.

[fretlessman71]

Lagers use lager yeast, which ferments at 40-45 deg. F. Any higher and you'll get weird flavors, if you don't kill the yeast outright. Ale yeast ferments properly at 68-70 deg. F, so it's a little easier to control the temp without a fridge. Heat hurts the flavor of beer, and even more so with a fermenting lager.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by Jamaica
I live the the hills its not that humid.. In jamaica its hot but not if you dont live never the sea or you live in the hills so its not that bad. does't hurt trying to grow hops.

Many home brew shops will sell hop rhyzomes in late winter early spring. These are actually root cuttings. Hops are not usually grown from seeds. In my experience Cascade has been the easiest to grow and the most prolific. We get plenty of humidity in the summer. Washington DC is famous for it especially in August. Hops grow very high. 15-20 feet is not uncommon. hope you have a trellis or something for the vines to climb.

[Theakston]

Hmmmmmm. Ganja is a member of the hop family. Hmmmmm.;)

[Brownbeard]

Hey Jamaica much respect! I love your country, used to go to Negril all the time. I heard it has become very touristy though. If you got a fridge, the lagers should be no problem.

[Jamaica]

Here goes people , this is what i got in FL

8 bags 3# amber malt
3 bags 1oz cluster
4 bags Perle
1/2lbs crytal
1 start up kit
1 air lock
1 bung
2 114ct caps
3 4# corn sugar
4 priming sugar
1 6 1/2 carboy
5 bags saflager yeast
1 carboy brush
1 plastic spoon

now I am ready brew, only thing left is to take in back to jamaica with me and start the madness.

question
one of the amber malt bags opened and i put in a zip lock bag is that ok.

[chazwicke]

Good luck! keep us posted on your progress.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by Jamaica


now I am ready brew, only thing left is to take in back to jamaica with me and start the madness.

Looks like the "madness" is going to get there this Friday... maybe you want to wait a few days? http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ftp/graphics/AT09/refresh/AL0904W%2BGIF/070303W.gif

[Wilson]

Originally posted by Jamaica
question
one of the amber malt bags opened and i put in a zip lock bag is that ok.

I'm assuming its dry malt. Yeah, I think you'll be fine. Have fun!

[Jamaica]

Yeah
I see IVAN coming to my island, what can i do. I've already called ahead and told them to make sure house is safe as I am going back on Sunday.

Guys please look at my list and tell me if I am missing anything. I don't want to leave and forget anything.


yes is the power/dry extract ...

another question should i keep the HOPS in the fridge before i go back home, because when i bought them the guy took them out of his fridge.

[fretlessman71]

1) What's in your "start up kit"?

2) Do you have bottles enough for this at home? Or are you kegging this?

3) Do you have sanitizer? You could get away with using bleach and water, but getting some Star-San would be a good idea if you didn't get something like that with your kit.

4) Does your kit have a hydrometer as well?

[Jamaica]

Oh yeah I got Star-san
I am going to use either heineken or red stripe bottles:)
6.5 gallon glass "Carboy" fermenter
Two Stoppers (one solid, one with hole)
Carboy cleaning brush
19" stirring spoon
6 gallon bottling bucket with spigot
3 piece airlock
Triple scale testing hydrometer with test tube
Bottle filler & 4’ of transfer tubing
Hand-lever bottle capper
Bottle cleaning brush
Popular reference book - Home Beermaking III

[chazwicke]

I hope your home and Frets Inlaws are all spared this time around.

[BucksBrew]

Are you following a recipe?

Do you have instructions?

Sanitize everything!!!! A dishwasher will probably work for you after you use a heavy duty cleaner on the bottles to remove labels and beer funk. I use TSP to clean my kegs and used to use it on my bottles. Let them soak for a day, labels should come right off.

Keep your wort at room temp until a good ferment takes off then cool it down to 40 - 45 degrees. Could last 7-10 days!

[Jamaica]

I bought 3 books
Drewing for dummies
The Brew-master bible
The joy of home brewing

I have a clone for Red Stripe beer

Malts
1.5l amber malt extract
.7l clucose - using corn suger

HOPS
19gr perle
15gr cluster

GRAINS
Crystal

YEAST
lager yeast

[BucksBrew]

Follow a recipe and instructions and it should be easy.

[davesarman]

Make sure the bottles you use do not have twist off caps. You should use bottles that require an opener.

[fretlessman71]

I have a friend who swears that he's used twist off bottles with no problems whatsoever... he's even used plastic soda bottles! I don't know how he does it, but that's what he said... :rolleyes:

[Jamaica]

Most or all beer bottles in Jamaica are NOT twist off caps.
so I should be ok ...I can't wait to get back on Sunday to start my brew. this darn IVAN is now cat 5 hurricane. there might not be any jamaica when i reach back.

[chazwicke]

It literally destroyed Grenada. Damage to 90% of the buildings on the island. And the roof blew off the prison and prisoners escaped. I heard that it has winds of 166 with gust up to 196mph! My fingers are crossed for you.

[stronk]

2 114ct caps
114-carat bottle caps?! So presentation is an issue with you, then?

[Jamaica]

Ok, I am now in jamaica after IVAN the hurricane. I just got back light after almost 2 weeks:(
i have some questions

does anyone here has the clone recipe for REDSTRIPE beer ?

[chazwicke]

I hope all is well there. I'm guessing that your home survived since you are asking for the clone recipe.

[Jamaica]

Yes all is save. a lot of other houses lost their roofs. I am going to continue reading these book and hopfully by next i can start my wort(wert).

[toneyc]

Originally posted by stronk
114-carat bottle caps?! So presentation is an issue with you, then?

I've made the reverse mistake when ordering gemstones. In this case, ct means count. I once ordered a bag of random gemstones that I thought was a 25 count bag, but was a 25 carat bag.

:)
Toney.

[Neill]

I have a friend who swears that he's used twist off bottles with no problems whatsoever... he's even used plastic soda bottles! I don't know how he does it, but that's what he said...
My Dad when he was brewing beer way back in the 80's used to use large screwtop plastic lemonade bottles and alike. The stuff used to taste bloody awful, but then again I was only about nine or ten.

[chazwicke]

Abbot Ale From Greene King used to be imported to the USA in plastic Litre or 2 Litre bottles similiar to large soda bottles. I thinnk they had a problem with leakage but they discontinued them.

[danno]

I've used plastic (PET) bottles with no problems... keep them out of the light, and drink them relatively quickly...