Who Brews Their Own Beer???

[sdalton]

Bottled beer just leaves a little to be desired. I think I might try brewing my own some time. Anyone here a expert on it? What are your favorite home brews?? Share with us the costs of getting started, and the ease of home brewing. How long does it take to brew a good batch??

 

[Champane Flight]

Used to

I used to, still have all the fixins. Have a ten gallon crock, bottles ect. Will have to look up some of my Dads recipes. He also made wine, Dandelion, grape, watermelon, ect, ect. There are ready made kits on the market, just never cared for the taste of beer made in plastic. I don't drink anymore so will part with crock and bottles for a price. It usually took four to five weeks for a batch of beer.

 

[vinconco]

Try it, it's fun. I was really into it a few years back but a local brewery opened and their beer was so good I slacked off on the home brew. Brewing you own will teach you a lot about beer that you will never know drinking the big three. The first thing to do is get Papazian's book " The Joy of Home Brewing" This has been considered the brewers "bible" by many and a great place to start.

 

[sandbrew]

Sdalton, Wow finally I have something to offer fellow TDR members instead of just lurking and learning about my truck.

I am probably as close as you’ll get to an expert on homebrewing. I’m actually a professional brewer and have been for the last 10 years. I really do get paid to make and drink beer every day! I started out brewing at home in 1989 and “went pro” in 1992. I’ve run two microbreweries and help start up 5 other breweries. I got started homebrewing because of the lack of variety available. Today however things have changed a lot there are 100s of different beers out there if you know where to look.



Homebrewing is a great hobby. But don’t expect to make great beers right out of the gate. It takes a while and a few $ to get a good setup and start making beers your friends will like. Homebrewing is just like TDR once your hooked it you’ll need more and better brewing equipment. Don’t expect to make beer cheaper at home than you can buy in the store. Stay away from the mail order kits the beer they make is marginal at best. The best thing to do is check around your area for a local homebrew club or check to see if there are homebrew classes at places like a local college. (lots of beer drinkers in colleges) Having friends to help clean up the mess and drink your brews is what its all about. If you do get into brewing at home “The Joy of Homebrewing” is the bible. There are copies for sale on eBay.



The time for a batch varies depending on the style of beer you end up making. Lagers take longer and need to be fermented 2 weeks cool or cold50-60 degrees and aged cold for 4-6 week then bottled or kegs and allowed to carbonate for 3-5 days. The total time is going to be 6-8 weeks. Ales on the on the other hand ferment at room temp and can be ready in 3-4 weeks. Once you have all of the pieces of equipment rounded up a brew could take 4-8 hour depending on if you are using extract (pre-made stuff) or all grain starting from scratch. The single biggest tip I can give is be EXTREMELY CLEAN with everything that will touch your brew.



Good luck!



Post any question you might have here and I’ll try to answer them.



Sandbrew