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Homebrewing beer

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FamilyBerzerker

New member
First of all, I should mention that I'm a serial hobbyist. I'm a collector of numerous objects, keeper of tropical fish, avid disc golfer, aspiring cigar aficionado, and probably quite a few other things (many of them beginning or ending in 4 letter words). :biggrin: But the hobby I hold dearest and spend the most time with is home brewing. I love good beer and wine, and I love to cook, so it's a great activity for me. Anyone else brew their own beer and/or other beverages?
 
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SeaMaiden

We were homebrewing for a while, but no longer. Hefeweizens were what we preferred for the most part.
 
F

FamilyBerzerker

New member
I've only made a couple hefes, turned out really nice. It's a good style for summer for sure. I'm getting ready to do a pumpkin ale this weekend! :woohoo:
 
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toughmudderdave

I had all the gear for kegging and such. I got pretty good at it. Sold it all. I might try my hand at winemaking sometime in the near future.
 
Growcephus

Growcephus

Member
Veteran
SeaMaiden said:
We were homebrewing for a while, but no longer. Hefeweizens were what we preferred for the most part.
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Ditto.

If this stuff isn't the nectar of the Gods, then I don't know what is...

75px-Aventinus_weizen.jpg


I haven't tried my hand at the stronger beers yet, but I'd like to brew some dopplebocks and trappist ales.
 
Blue Socks

Blue Socks

Member
I've been meaning to get into this, good thread. I figure if I"m smoking my own weed I might as well be drinking my own beer with it right? What would you suggest as a good beer to start learning the process with? I'm no snob I like all different styles and flavors so what is a good one for a complete brewing newbie?
 
Blue Socks

Blue Socks

Member
Can homegrown weed be better than what you buy off some dealer or at the dispo? I would guess that the same principle applies with beer too. I don't know though I have never brewed so maybe it tastes like shit compared to those classics like Coors light and Budweiser! :biggrin:
 
T

toughmudderdave

olddirtybastard said:
is homebrewed beer typically better or worse than storebought? i know many variables, say on average with good technique...?
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With good techniques, sanitation (this is crucial IMO), and good temp stability during fermentation, the typical homebrew will be superior to most commercially available beers/ales.
 
T

toughmudderdave

Blue Socks said:
I've been meaning to get into this, good thread. I figure if I"m smoking my own weed I might as well be drinking my own beer with it right? What would you suggest as a good beer to start learning the process with? I'm no snob I like all different styles and flavors so what is a good one for a complete brewing newbie?
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I'd recommend getting a "kit" for your first couple of batches. Everything is pretty much prepped for you and all you need to do is "cook" it, ferment it, and bottle it. Your hefes/wheats will get you the best and quickest results. Fermentation is something like 5-6 weeks to finish.
 
Blue Socks

Blue Socks

Member
toughmudderdave said:
I'd recommend getting a "kit" for your first couple of batches. Everything is pretty much prepped for you and all you need to do is "cook" it, ferment it, and bottle it. Your hefes/wheats will get you the best and quickest results. Fermentation is something like 5-6 weeks to finish.
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Oh cool idea. Yeah a kit duhh why didn't I think of that? What's stopped me from actually doing this is the fact that I am somewhat lazy and having to go buy all the little things to do it seems daunting but a kit yeah that's a real good idea, all the stuff is already there. I need to get on this, maybe this weekend. Then I can have homebrew in time for turkey day if it takes 5-6 weeks to finish it. I do like wheat beers too so that's also a good idea. Thanks Dave
 
foomar

foomar

Luddite
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Even useing a stale kit pack and doing most of it wrong , it will be better than any cheap canned beer or lager on the shelf , and does not cost much to try out , unlike many hobbies i have played with.

Brew seriously for a year and it will be as good as anything on the market , at a fraction of the cost .

Have integrated brewing and a veg box , the brews use the riseing warmth from being above the lights , the considerable volume of CO2 evolved feeds down into the box.

And if the house smells like a brewery , you cant smell the weed.
 
D

DeltaIX

New member
Nice to see there are some homebrewers on here. Some would call us serial hobbyists, I prefer Renaissance men/women.

I've been homebrewing for about a year and the beer I make is far better than the mass-brewed crap that A-B/Coors/Miller sells. It's as good as (and maybe better than) the craft/micro brews you can buy in the store and costs a hell of a lot less. I thoroughly enjoy the hobby and the things I learn from it. Mostly, though, I enjoy the beer. I find that I'd rather drink my own beer than the stuff from the store, for the most part. There are a few craft brews that I still like to drink from time to time, though. My favorite aspect is the variety of beer that I can make, and that I can customize my beer to my preferences.
 
S

SeaMaiden

High DeltaIX, welcome to ICM. Do you prefer kegging, or the natural carbonation that occurs with bottling? I prefer the natural carbonation, but my husband didn't care for the bottling work.
 
Hemphrey Bogart

Hemphrey Bogart

Active member
Veteran
Dave, that setup you pictured is fuggin awesome, dude. I may decide to give growing a rest for a minute and try my hand at brewing my own.

Any good books you or others on here can recommend for me to read first?

HB
 
T

toughmudderdave

Hemphrey Bogart said:
Dave, that setup you pictured is fuggin awesome, dude. I may decide to give growing a rest for a minute and try my hand at brewing my own.

Any good books you or others on here can recommend for me to read first?

HB
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Thank you. As for good books, I'd recommend "The Complete Joy Of Home Brewing" by Charlie Papazian for starters.
 
who dat is

who dat is

Cave Dweller
Veteran
I've been interested in this concept from time time but didn't know how in depth you have to get or how much coin you have to drop. I'm sure kits are the way to go right off the bat but realistically how much are you spending for the kit and all necessary stuff to get started? I very much prefer pale ales and ipas, the hoppier the better.
 
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toughmudderdave

who dat is said:
I've been interested in this concept from time time but didn't know how in depth you have to get or how much coin you have to drop. I'm sure kits are the way to go right off the bat but realistically how much are you spending for the kit and all necessary stuff to get started? I very much prefer pale ales and ipas, the hoppier the better.
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To get started, you can go fairly inexpensively. A good starter kit can be had for less than $100 dollars and the beer kits can be had for as little as $25 bucks (they'll make 5 gallons of beer). That'll get you going. Where you go from there, once you get a few batches under your belt, is up to you. All it took was bottling a batch one time before I realized that kegging was the better option. The sanitizing/bottling/capping process is a PITA IMO. Easier to just dump the batch in a soda keg, pressurize, shake to infuse the CO2 and VIOLA!...beer on tap. :)
 
smilley

smilley

Well-known member
Veteran
Hi Dave, great thread. Looks like the keg is the way to go................

I made several batches of beer in the early 90's. Although it turned out pretty good, I realized that with my beer consumption at the time I'd have to run several batches a week. With all the time involved with bottling and sanitizing, along with my friends skepticism as to it's quality I returned to store bought beer. Now that my beer consumption has been reigned in considerably I might give it another go.

ps: I found that bottling in sanitized 2 liter pop bottles reduced some of the time required for bottling and seemed to work pretty good.
 
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