codswallop
Member
If you've got a better way to store your home made booze, I'd like to see it.
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Home Brewing |OT| - The tastiest thing that will ever come from your bathtub
- Thread starter Angry Grimace
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Wasn't ment as some kind of attack, just reminded me of that episode and Rex Banner. I didn't know that's really a way to do it, also I no nothing about home brewing, but it's definitely interesting to read.
codswallop
Member
My response wasn't meant to sound negative either.
Home brewing can be incredibly easy. The first thing I actually ever made was (virtually non alcoholic) ginger ale. Here's the recipe I used (all you do is chuck stuff in a bottle, leave it somewhere warm for a few days, and voila you've made it fizzy and it's technically alcohol!): http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/ginger_ale_ag0.htm
just poured the first glass of my latest, a pliny clone with 12 oz of hop goodness, and its flat out amazing. without a doubt the best batch i've ever done. its clear, nice carb, awesome aroma, and oh so good. never had pliny, but this tastes every bit as good as my favorite, hop stoopid.
so proud.
so proud.
Doing my first all-grain as we speak. A New Glarus Spotted Cow clone.
I'm using BIAB, and learning some things too late for this batch. For instance, after I got home I read that for BIAB you're supposed to crush your grains more finely than normal. I'll also be eager to see how well the electric apartment stove+blanket retains the mash temperature.
Overall, I'm expecting a pretty low efficiency for my first BIAB brew but I want to see just how low
I'm using BIAB, and learning some things too late for this batch. For instance, after I got home I read that for BIAB you're supposed to crush your grains more finely than normal. I'll also be eager to see how well the electric apartment stove+blanket retains the mash temperature.
Overall, I'm expecting a pretty low efficiency for my first BIAB brew but I want to see just how low
Doing my first all-grain as we speak. A New Glarus Spotted Cow clone.
I'm using BIAB, and learning some things too late for this batch. For instance, after I got home I read that for BIAB you're supposed to crush your grains more finely than normal. I'll also be eager to see how well the electric apartment stove+blanket retains the mash temperature.
Overall, I'm expecting a pretty low efficiency for my first BIAB brew but I want to see just how low
You might be surprised. BIAB supports a finer crush but it's not mandatory for good efficiency.
Well, something went terribly wrong and I don't know what. After it had come down to the right temp, I took the OG and it hadn't really extracted any fermentable sugars; OG was right in the middle of the 'beer - finish' range. I didn't have any extract lying around, so I had to dump it. Very sad.
codswallop
Member
Bottled the last of the beers I'm leaving to age under the house for three months yesterday. Got around 55 longnecks (aka bombers, some 500mL, some 750mL) that will be hiding away for three months over winter while I'm away, and when I return I'm expecting some great beer. Or at the very least a lot of decent beer.
Next time, make sure the temperature is spot on and the mashing container is well sealed/kept warm. You can also use iodine to check that the conversion is properly working. I did this the first time (and haven't since) to feel comforted it was all working out.
All my all-grain brewing has only been BIAB and I've never had to request a specific type of crush. Efficiency is around what you'd expect.
Hmm. That's a real shame. I like measuring the gravity after mashing and before the boil, just in case. It also lets me know what my rough OG will be before I've even boiled. I've never had any BIAB miss by that amount.
Next time, make sure the temperature is spot on and the mashing container is well sealed/kept warm. You can also use iodine to check that the conversion is properly working. I did this the first time (and haven't since) to feel comforted it was all working out.
I'm just going to shelve the all-grain idea for now. It was a gigantic pain in the ass and ended up not working, so this weekend I'm just going to brew an extract version of it.
Absolutely nothing wrong with sticking to mini-mashes. I still do them when I want a quick brewday.
codswallop
Member
Give it another go in a few months after getting a couple of other brews under your belt maybe.
BIAB is definitely viable as a brewing method because it's all the all grain I've ever done, but it's taken me a few attempts to get it where I'm really comfortable with it.
5 gallons of brown ale, English style, chilling down to pitching temperature right now. Straightforward brew day, though I lost a few degrees more than normal during my mash.
While the boil was going on, whipped up another 5 gallon batch of Ed Wort's apfelwein. Easiest brew ever.
While the boil was going on, whipped up another 5 gallon batch of Ed Wort's apfelwein. Easiest brew ever.
Brewed a pilsner smash last weekend. Took a nice long time on my fly sparge (over an hour for 7 gal into the kettle and first gallon took 20 minutes) and ended up with a brew house efficiency of 58%
Started with 12lb of weyerman pilsner, 2oz of hallerteau
Ended up with 5.25 gal of 1.050 OG wort in the fermenter.
Didn't leave anything but sludge in the bottom of the brew kettle, so didn't leave loads there. Mash tun has a false bottom and doesn't leave much liquid there either.
I think I'll just size for 60% brew house in my recipes and leave well alone.
Edit: I love dry cider but not much success in making it from fresh pressed apple. Time to try ed wort's recipe! Have some red star cote des blancs - think that will work?
Absolutely.
Got my honey-orange wheat chilling right now. Another straightforward brewday, thanks to the kids being at a pool party for most of it
Just bought 3 gal of apple juice. Going to make my first ed wort apfelwein this afternoon. Using cane sugar instead of corn sugar as the LHBS isn't open on Sunday
Edit: done!
Double Edit: Holy Sulphur - that stuff stinks! Day 2 at 68F fermentation temp...
and after a couple of days
Edit: done!
Double Edit: Holy Sulphur - that stuff stinks! Day 2 at 68F fermentation temp...
and after a couple of days
Received ingredients for a British IPA, an oxygenation kit minus the tank (I'll get one from the local home depot) & a homebrew related t-shirt for Father's Day. Go me.
Decided to split the honey-orange wheat I mentioned above. One half will get the orange infused vodka (which is smelling /delicious) & the other half is going to sit on a pound & a half of blueberries/raspberries for a week before kegging...
Decided to split the honey-orange wheat I mentioned above. One half will get the orange infused vodka (which is smelling /delicious) & the other half is going to sit on a pound & a half of blueberries/raspberries for a week before kegging...
I got a copy of Brew your own real British ales for Father's Day. Great book and not available in the USA (my parents bought it over with them).
Some really interesting comments about Maris Otter and going to brew the Courage Directors bitter with my dad next weekend. It was brewed in my home town so that's appropriate
Some really interesting comments about Maris Otter and going to brew the Courage Directors bitter with my dad next weekend. It was brewed in my home town so that's appropriate
For a July 4th party a friend is having, I brewed a five gallon batch of honey orange hefe a few weeks ago. Basic hefe (9 lbs of German 2-row + White wheat malt, 1 oz Hallertauer, WLP300 yeast + 1 lb of local orange blossom honey). Decided to split it to increase the variety, and try something new as I've never done a beer with fruit in it.
On the left, first sample of my berry hefe. Three days on the pound & a half of berries mentioned a few posts ago. Definitely a berry smell & taste to it, with a little bit of the raspberry tartness as an aftertaste. It's not quite as pink as it looks in the photo, but it's definitely not beer coloured
On the right is about a cup's worth of orange-infused vodka. Peeled two large organic sweet oranges, skipping the white pith, soaked in vodka for about two weeks. It smells *incredible*. About a half cup of that went into the keg containing the other half of my hefe batch. I might add a little more in a couple of days, once it gets a taste test with my wife's friends, the intended audience of the beer
I'm definitely buying a bottle of vodka & doing some fruit infusions - that glass of vodka smells *so* much better than the nasty artificial stuff my wife & her friends drink occasionally.
On the left, first sample of my berry hefe. Three days on the pound & a half of berries mentioned a few posts ago. Definitely a berry smell & taste to it, with a little bit of the raspberry tartness as an aftertaste. It's not quite as pink as it looks in the photo, but it's definitely not beer coloured
On the right is about a cup's worth of orange-infused vodka. Peeled two large organic sweet oranges, skipping the white pith, soaked in vodka for about two weeks. It smells *incredible*. About a half cup of that went into the keg containing the other half of my hefe batch. I might add a little more in a couple of days, once it gets a taste test with my wife's friends, the intended audience of the beer
I'm definitely buying a bottle of vodka & doing some fruit infusions - that glass of vodka smells *so* much better than the nasty artificial stuff my wife & her friends drink occasionally.
That sounds like a cool read! I'm a big fan of British styles, particularly the classic basic Scottish styles as that's what I grew up drinking as a teenager (Heavy for the win). Is it hard to find back in the UK or should I be able to import it easily enough at a decent price?
Easy to find on amazon.co.uk (3rd editoon was published in 2009) and plenty of Scottish recipes 60/- to 80/-. The recipes are normalized to use pale malt and pretty similar mash schedules for all. While I was initially disappointed by that, it makes sense as they are all similar styles. The adjuncts and hops set each recipe apart from each other.
The yeast is left as a choice for the brewer, but safale 04 or danstar Windsor would be my dry choices.
Going to be brewing with my dad who is a former chemistry teacher. We are going to brew Courage Directors and in talking with my dad he had a summer job at Courage in 1962 brewing Directors! Ok it was more cleaning kegs and lugging sacks of malt, but still really cool. They had free beer on tap for employees which was a bit much at breakfast time.
Directors brewed! Had my first stuck sparge (fly sparking) but recovered fine. OG 1.045 and recipe called for 1.046 so very happy about that. Beautiful wort colour and its in the bucket with safale-04 at 66F. Bottling in 2 weeks. I normally keg, but will keep this one in the celler until my dad visits again.
6 hour brew day due to sparge, long boil and long mash (90 minutes each). Dad really enjoyed helping and we drank the pilsner he made last summer which is now pretty nice
6 hour brew day due to sparge, long boil and long mash (90 minutes each). Dad really enjoyed helping and we drank the pilsner he made last summer which is now pretty nice
sharkmuncher
Member
Sparging my first sour mash this morning. Taste is excellent, very similar to pineapple juice, but with a bit of a cooked vegetable smell. Turns out it is not particularly easy to sparge a 50% wheat mash when it is sitting at 100F for 3 days. Oh well, maybe add some rice hulls next time.
Brewed up a British IPA yesterday from a mini-mash kit I got as a gift. I normally do all-grain BIAB but after seeing a bunch of friends start the hobby this year using the basic minimash process in a small pot, I decided to go "old school' & do the same for this. Used my original brew-pot & did a three gallon batch, topped up in the bucket. Made for an extremely straightforward brew session and definitely quicker - less water to heat, shorter mash etc.
Was also the first time I used my new oxygenation kit. Combine that with a nice starter, and my yeast are going crazy. The airlock has a nice one inch 'afro' of sanitizer on top and there's a nice steady quiet "putt putt" you can hear.
Was also the first time I used my new oxygenation kit. Combine that with a nice starter, and my yeast are going crazy. The airlock has a nice one inch 'afro' of sanitizer on top and there's a nice steady quiet "putt putt" you can hear.
codswallop
Member
Growlers aren't generally designed for the pressure created during refermentation and thus have a higher likelihood of failure.
People have used them successfully before, but others have had them explode. I personally wouldn't recommend it, if you're bottling something with a very low level of carbonation you might be OK. It would depend on your specific bottles.
People have used them successfully before, but others have had them explode. I personally wouldn't recommend it, if you're bottling something with a very low level of carbonation you might be OK. It would depend on your specific bottles.
Thanks. I'll stick to my standard 12 oz bottles for now then.
So the July 4th party was a success - the half keg of honey-orange wheat was emptied pretty quickly, and they went through one & a half growlers of the berry beer. People were going back to my beer over the commercial beers & mixed drinks on offer. I consider that a success & a nice pat on my back as a brewer
So the July 4th party was a success - the half keg of honey-orange wheat was emptied pretty quickly, and they went through one & a half growlers of the berry beer. People were going back to my beer over the commercial beers & mixed drinks on offer. I consider that a success & a nice pat on my back as a brewer
It's great when that happens. I take a keg to the work Christmas party and last year it was kicked in 40 minutes with a queue at the tap. I labeled what it was (Vienna lager) but not who brewed it and the comments I heard during the day were wonderful and they didn't know it was made by me.
Nothing better than other people enjoying beer you have made.
I can't wait until I can get into kegging beers, not quite to the point where I can afford it, but I've got most of the equipment. For now, I've been brewing a couple beers with my brother, a Red Irish Ale, which is conditioning in the bottles at the moment, and a Russian Imperial Stout, which I'm transferring to secondary this weekend.
The Red Irish barley ended up being very under-milled, so I was about.010 short of the OG I wanted. Luckily, I decided to dryhop with 0.5oz of Simcoe to make up for the watery taste, and got not only a nice nutty taste at the end, but a really nice smooth kick of hops. Balanced out nicely.
The Red Irish barley ended up being very under-milled, so I was about.010 short of the OG I wanted. Luckily, I decided to dryhop with 0.5oz of Simcoe to make up for the watery taste, and got not only a nice nutty taste at the end, but a really nice smooth kick of hops. Balanced out nicely.
My first attempt at growing hops. Planted a single Goldings rhyzome (let it grow in a bucket and then transplanted it). Found a grasshopper sitting on a leaf munching away at the weekend, so going to get some organic aphid control spray and see if that helps.
Hoping for a good harvest, but know that it won't be much for the first year.
Hoping for a good harvest, but know that it won't be much for the first year.
GameplayWhore
Member
Well, I'm close to starting up my first brew, a chai mead. I have nearly all the equipment I need (save for a hydrometer, which is optional, though I may pick one up before I begin). This week, when I get some time, I'll ransack my spice cabinet and mix up some chai. I'd start up the brew ASAP, but I'm waiting for my girlfriend to have an opportunity to come over. She's really into making things, so she's excited to see this in action!
I'm more or less following the instructions at http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Mead-Honey-Wine/. I'm using a polyester bottle instead of a glass bottle, though, as it's been highly recommended from various folk. The plan is to do just one fermentation, maybe some bottling, and some sit time to generate some leftover carbonation.
Right now, a question is whether or not I should actually put in the lemonade concentrate or simply put in an equivalent amount of citric acid -- I have plenty of that from when I made cheese earlier this year.
If all goes well, I'll probably get another carboy and try to make a second mead using some of what promises to be a very strong yield from my pear tree. I also have some apples, almonds and fig trees which will likely start bearing fruit by next year or 2015, so they'll be put in the "ferment with me" queue (well, maybe not the almonds, or at least not them alone).
I'll be back once things get interesting.
Ah, neat, that's the site I used to learn how to make Neufchâtel and Mozzarella. Fantastic resource, great teacher!
I'm more or less following the instructions at http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Mead-Honey-Wine/. I'm using a polyester bottle instead of a glass bottle, though, as it's been highly recommended from various folk. The plan is to do just one fermentation, maybe some bottling, and some sit time to generate some leftover carbonation.
Right now, a question is whether or not I should actually put in the lemonade concentrate or simply put in an equivalent amount of citric acid -- I have plenty of that from when I made cheese earlier this year.
If all goes well, I'll probably get another carboy and try to make a second mead using some of what promises to be a very strong yield from my pear tree. I also have some apples, almonds and fig trees which will likely start bearing fruit by next year or 2015, so they'll be put in the "ferment with me" queue (well, maybe not the almonds, or at least not them alone).
I'll be back once things get interesting.
Ah, neat, that's the site I used to learn how to make Neufchâtel and Mozzarella. Fantastic resource, great teacher!
i transplanted some simcoe hops from a friends garden near sacramento up into the mountains last fall and its now beginning to flower and is about 14 feet tall! cant wait to check out the harvest.
i've also upped my equipment for my next batch. built my own immersion chiller and converted a fridge into a fermentor by simply adjusting the thermostat calibration. it now hovers between 62 to 68 F and has plenty of room for this massive plastic tub i put in it to act as a water bath for my carboy.
also, just wanted to say if anyone is looking for a great online site, northern brewer is awesome. i've been using them for quite some time but recently ran into an issue with some inactive yeast that failed to get going in my starter. sent N. brewer a quick email and within an hour i got an email response with them sending out a replacement vial shipping with multiple cold packs that should be here in a few days - all at no charge. pretty great customer service.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I recently used a specialty candi syrup in the boil because I was looking for some kind of Orange-tinged IPA. It basically didn't work because the boiling apparently boiled off any kind of interesting flavor. Nuts.
You're asking a question about doing something that is potentially illegal. Evaporative stills are certainly illegal, and in honesty quite dangerous since you're putting a flame to a highly flammable substance. However, fractional freezing may or may not be legal (e.g. making a hard cider and then concentrating the liquid by freezing off the water, which is essentially the same process used to make Eisbock), which is something you'd have to look into since I don't know whether its considered distillation or not. I've been informed, but have not checked the claim that the ATB and TTB do not consider fractional freezing to be distillation. Wikipedia claims that fractional freezing can cause methanol concentration, but my own logic tells me that anything in a concentrate was probably in the base product in the first place, but I certainly would not vouch for it and would suggest you do some research before doing it.
You're asking a question about doing something that is potentially illegal. Evaporative stills are certainly illegal, and in honesty quite dangerous since you're putting a flame to a highly flammable substance. However, fractional freezing may or may not be legal (e.g. making a hard cider and then concentrating the liquid by freezing off the water, which is essentially the same process used to make Eisbock), which is something you'd have to look into since I don't know whether its considered distillation or not. I've been informed, but have not checked the claim that the ATB and TTB do not consider fractional freezing to be distillation. Wikipedia claims that fractional freezing can cause methanol concentration, but my own logic tells me that anything in a concentrate was probably in the base product in the first place, but I certainly would not vouch for it and would suggest you do some research before doing it.
Take the peel from two oranges - be very careful to /not/ get any of the white pith - and soak it in a cup or two of vodka for two weeks. Strain out the peel. Put vodka into the secondary or keg. I used that trick & a pound of orange blossom honey for my recent "Honey Orange Wheat". The vodka adds no flavour & minimal alcohol but keeps the orange peel sanitary & pulls out tons of flavour.
Words don't describe how good that vodka smelled.
GameplayWhore
Member
In some US states, you can get a license to do this.
In New York State, specifically, the cheapest license to legally distill spirits runs something like five hundred bucks (I had a link handy to the specifics but can't find it) the first year and something like $128 each additional year. It allows you to make up to thirty-five thousand gallons of alcohol.
The reason (well, *a* reason) why it's illegal is that it's pretty easy to slaughter your friends by failing to remove the rubbing alcohol which the fermenting process happens to create with the drinking alcohol. This is a tricky step.
edit: Ah. It's $603 the first year including all the extras
sharkmuncher
Member
Well, I'm close to starting up my first brew, a chai mead. I have nearly all the equipment I need (save for a hydrometer, which is optional, though I may pick one up before I begin). This week, when I get some time, I'll ransack my spice cabinet and mix up some chai. I'd start up the brew ASAP, but I'm waiting for my girlfriend to have an opportunity to come over. She's really into making things, so she's excited to see this in action!
I'm more or less following the instructions at http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Mead-Honey-Wine/. I'm using a polyester bottle instead of a glass bottle, though, as it's been highly recommended from various folk. The plan is to do just one fermentation, maybe some bottling, and some sit time to generate some leftover carbonation.
Right now, a question is whether or not I should actually put in the lemonade concentrate or simply put in an equivalent amount of citric acid -- I have plenty of that from when I made cheese earlier this year.
If all goes well, I'll probably get another carboy and try to make a second mead using some of what promises to be a very strong yield from my pear tree. I also have some apples, almonds and fig trees which will likely start bearing fruit by next year or 2015, so they'll be put in the "ferment with me" queue (well, maybe not the almonds, or at least not them alone).
I'll be back once things get interesting.
Ah, neat, that's the site I used to learn how to make Neufchâtel and Mozzarella. Fantastic resource, great teacher!
Couple of comments on that mead:
1 - skip the sugar do all honey, look up honey:water ratios, but I believe 2-2.5#/gallon will give you a decent semisweet mead.
2 - CONTROL YOU TEMPERATURE! My first mead I did in a closet in my apartment. Temperatures rose into the mid 90s and my mead tasted like rubbing alcohol even 2 yrs later. I would try to keep it in the mid to upper 60s, no warmer than the low 70s.
3 - I would suggest using a wine or mead yeast instead of champagne. I have heard good things about Lalvin 71B for mead from some commercial mead makers.
4 - Skip the heat. Its hard enough to get your yeast to ferment in the must, no need to ruin the honey flavor to get rid of the tiny amounts of contaminants, you'll be adding so much of your yeast that nothing else can take hold. Just add honey to clean bottled or boiled and cooled water and shake/stir really well to combine and aerate.
5 - As far as the chai, add the spices after the fermentation in complete. I would wait 6 weeks to 2 months to be sure. The easiest way to do it would be to add chai spices to some vodka or grain alcohol and let them steep for a few weeks, then add your chai tincture in measured amounts to you mead to your taste. Also, I would add just spices, no tea.
There is a ton of information here if you want to really get into it. I am just trying to steer you away from that instructables article, because it will get you passable "mead" at best.
Joe's Ancient Orange Mead (JAOM) is another good place to start. Just don't use bread yeast or whole orange peel. I did, it was OK, could have been better with wine yeast and zest.
Good Luck
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
The reason its illegal is because you can blow your house up putting flame to 150 proof spirits. Methanol is fairly easy to run off in a still.
First attempt at a Hopslam clone. An involved recipe but I had a blast with this one on brew day.
Kegged it just under two weeks ago and so far it's amazing. The honey tones don't leave the same impact as the original, but the smoothness and aromatics are definitely there. There's no harshness when going down at all. I hit a little under my predicted OG and was worried about it coming out too bitter, but the final result (80 IBU)seems spot on to me.
Kegged it just under two weeks ago and so far it's amazing. The honey tones don't leave the same impact as the original, but the smoothness and aromatics are definitely there. There's no harshness when going down at all. I hit a little under my predicted OG and was worried about it coming out too bitter, but the final result (80 IBU)seems spot on to me.
Where did they get a simcoe rhyzome from? They are not available normally.
Looks awesome. Congrats!First attempt at a Hopslam clone. An involved recipe but I had a blast with this one on brew day.
Kegged it just under two weeks ago and so far it's amazing. The honey tones don't leave the same impact as the original, but the smoothness and aromatics are definitely there. There's no harshness when going down at all. I hit a little under my predicted OG and was worried about it coming out too bitter, but the final result (80 IBU)seems spot on to me.
I just bottled my first homebrew, an attempt at a basic amber ale. It tasted delicious between primary and secondary (as well as before bottling), so I'm super-excited to try it.
I'll probably go for a pilsner next while it's still hot out.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Pilsner is impossible to brew correctly without very specific temperature control. Pilsners, like all lagers require ~50 degree fermentation temperatures and 4 weeks or so of 32 degree "lagering" before they are ready to drink.
I would recommend you attempt a Cream Ale, which uses ale yeast rather than lager yeast.
Ok. I'll look into it, thanks for the advice.
I was aware that lagers require cold fermentation, but for whatever reason I didn't know a pilsner is a lager.
What can I say, I'm an amateur.
he got it from a friend who has been homebrewing for a very long time and knows his shit. buuuut, i wouldnt be surprised if it isnt in fact simcoe, the guy i got it from talks out of his ass from time to time.
Thanks to some 'fun money' for my upcoming birthday, I'm contemplating buying a grain mill + a 55lb bag of 2 Row
My local supplier doesn't always have a lot of choices for 2 row so I'm usually buying Cargill.
You just missed a pretty good deal on the Ceral Killer grain mill too
.(It was $79 for a while)
http://www.homebrewing.org/Cereal-Killer-Grain-Mill_p_2310.html
My local supplier doesn't always have a lot of choices for 2 row so I'm usually buying Cargill.
You just missed a pretty good deal on the Ceral Killer grain mill too
(It was $79 for a while)
http://www.homebrewing.org/Cereal-Killer-Grain-Mill_p_2310.html
Ah, I was meaning reviews/brands of grain mill, not 2-row
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