Sooo...homebrewing beer...fellow brewers?

[iamwhatiseem]

Who all homebrews?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Seriously?
No one?

 

[Pop23]

Sorry, I don't, just seems like a whole lotta work.

Neighbor does, makes a helluva Rasberry beer!

I have to say it looks like a decent hobby.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

A little expensive at the beginning...to make a solid beer you will end up needing about $600 worth of stuff. And quite a bit more than that as you progress.
It is a great hobby. I mean...you create your own buzz for Christs sake!

 

[Pop23]

Neighbor gave me a bunch of stuff as he upgraded. So I save a little that way.

There's a good brewers shop in town. Might have to check it out cause I think the guy across the street will be moving in six months and I do not want to go without that raspberry beer.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Neighbor gave me a bunch of stuff as he upgraded. So I save a little that way.

There's a good brewers shop in town. Might have to check it out cause I think the guy across the street will be moving in six months and I do not want to go without that raspberry beer.

As well as economics, once you have a system set up - the cost of a high quality beer is about $5 per 6 pack vs. $10-$12 per 6 pack for commercial craft beer.
Plus, as with your raspberry beer, with a little experience you can make a beer that fits YOUR taste.
Right now I have a double-chocolate ale fermenting in the kegreezer. Awesome beer, chocolaty, caramel-toffee flavors with a nice hop at the end to cleanse the palate. Plus...it is 8% alcohol. This is my winter beer.
I am currently drinking a chinook IPA...perfect summer beer. Citrusy, grapefruit-lemon taste that is 6% ABV - better for warmer weather.
I use to spend a good $100 a month on beer, which is easy to do when your buying quality beer with a $2 per bottle price. Now I spend about $40-$50 per month. (For my wife and I both...I don't really drink a whole lot)

 

[Pop23]

Neighbor gave me a bunch of stuff as he upgraded. So I save a little that way.

There's a good brewers shop in town. Might have to check it out cause I think the guy across the street will be moving in six months and I do not want to go without that raspberry beer.

As well as economics, once you have a system set up - the cost of a high quality beer is about $5 per 6 pack vs. $10-$12 per 6 pack for commercial craft beer.
Plus, as with your raspberry beer, with a little experience you can make a beer that fits YOUR taste.
Right now I have a double-chocolate ale fermenting in the kegreezer. Awesome beer, chocolaty, caramel-toffee flavors with a nice hop at the end to cleanse the palate. Plus...it is 8% alcohol. This is my winter beer.
I am currently drinking a chinook IPA...perfect summer beer. Citrusy, grapefruit-lemon taste that is 6% ABV - better for warmer weather.
I use to spend a good $100 a month on beer, which is easy to do when your buying quality beer with a $2 per bottle price. Now I spend about $40-$50 per month. (For my wife and I both...I don't really drink a whole lot)

I wonder if there should be a DIY forum. This would be a good topic for a DIY thread

 

[Pop23]

Should have the rest of my brewing equipment next week, should be up and running in a week or so.

Any online resources would be appreciated

 

[alan1]

Who all homebrews?

I used to brew my own but its been well over 15 years since I boiled some wort.
I used to put together a pretty damn good pale ale that earned me a few blue ribbons at the county fair and the respect of my fellow brewers.
My favorite though, was Dr Alan's Stout. I'd start with a brew formed from dark roasted chocolate barley. When that 5 gallon batch was ready to bottle, I'd bottle most of it. I'd take about 1.5 gallons and add 1.5 gallons of a concentrated wort made from an Australian pale malt extract with added black barley and way over hopped with Kent Golding, Fuggle and Cascade hops. I had to use a champagne strain of yeast because bear yeast just couldn't tolerate the final alcohol content.
The resulting brew was a magnificent mix of dark and medium malts coupled with intense hop scent and flavors but kind of like a concealed weapon because the alcohol content was upwards of 19-20%.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

I used to make it as a young woman living on a remote homestead in Alaska. Just used a five gallon bucket with a clean dish towel over the top.

As I recall...it was warm water, sugar, yeast and malt. That's it. Mix it all up, put it in the five gallon bucket, cover with dish towel. Watch it. When it got to only three bubbles per minute I would bottle it. Use 12 oz. recycled Michelob bottles I got at the dump and sterilized. : ) Put, I think, 1 teaspoon of sugar in each bottle, siphon the brew in, cap. Let it sit about two weeks.

It was pretty good, one bottle would have you tipsy. It would clear up very nicely and have a nice head on it.

Guys on adjoining homesteads made it also, but they often didn't get it bottled, or if they did, they'd drink it before it cleared up. : )

I can remember going to home brew bottling parties. We'd sit around playing cribbage and drinking the brew right out of the vat. Bottle some, drink some. : )

I was the only one who insisted on bottling mine and letting it set a couple of weeks before drinking it. I had standards. : )

 

[ABikerSailor]

Neighbor gave me a bunch of stuff as he upgraded. So I save a little that way.

There's a good brewers shop in town. Might have to check it out cause I think the guy across the street will be moving in six months and I do not want to go without that raspberry beer.

As well as economics, once you have a system set up - the cost of a high quality beer is about $5 per 6 pack vs. $10-$12 per 6 pack for commercial craft beer.
Plus, as with your raspberry beer, with a little experience you can make a beer that fits YOUR taste.
Right now I have a double-chocolate ale fermenting in the kegreezer. Awesome beer, chocolaty, caramel-toffee flavors with a nice hop at the end to cleanse the palate. Plus...it is 8% alcohol. This is my winter beer.
I am currently drinking a chinook IPA...perfect summer beer. Citrusy, grapefruit-lemon taste that is 6% ABV - better for warmer weather.
I use to spend a good $100 a month on beer, which is easy to do when your buying quality beer with a $2 per bottle price. Now I spend about $40-$50 per month. (For my wife and I both...I don't really drink a whole lot)

Yanno................ya might wanna PM me.......................

I like chocolate beer.

How much for a 6 pack?

 

[PredFan]

Who all homebrews?

Man that looks almost exactly like my set up and my brew.

 

[PredFan]

I make a simple ale. I also have tweaked the recipe to my exact tastes. It is my absolute favorite beer. Rich taste, not hoppy, powerful. Yeah, I can buy beer from the store for less, but this is the perfect brew.

 

[editec]

Great hobby if you drink a lot of beer.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Great hobby if you drink a lot of beer.

Wrong editec..................great hobby if you really appreciate beer.

Most people who drink a lot, don't really care about the taste, nor do they appreciate the dedication that was poured into it to make it a great beer.

People who drink a lot don't really care about the way it was made, nor do they care about the flavors, they just wanna get drunk.

 

[Mr. H.]

So, once you make that initial investment in equipment what's the average cost of a 6-pack home brew?

 

[alan1]

So, once you make that initial investment in equipment what's the average cost of a 6-pack home brew?

It's pretty variable depending upon the ingredients one uses. Back in the 80's when I was brewing often, I could make brew equivalent to something like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Guinness for about $2.50 - $3 a 6-pack when it was costing about $4 - $5 a 6-pack to buy it. I imagine it is still cheaper to brew on your own if you don't count your own labor.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Yeah.........................it's still cheaper to brew your own. Matter of fact, you can flavor your own (i.e. make it taste different from every one elses).

But..................like the same question every microbrewery asks themselves...............is it good enough to make money?

Dogfish makes some decent brews, but for the most part, they're overpriced crap.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Damn...I missed this thread!! A week went by with no response so I gave up.
My double chocolate coffee stout is "finished" - and damn is it good. It ended up being 9%, and only at the end of the glass when it has come close to room temperature can you taste the alcohol. (Note I didn't say you couldn't feel it...oh you definitely feel it) But I am saving these till late Oct or Nov,
Right now I have a Chinook/Cascade hopped ale that is 6%, and a Orange spiced ale in the carboy that will be ready in about 3-4 weeks. (Think Blue Moon on steroids...both in alcohol and flavor)

If anyone is interested....I recommend "Northern Brewer" - top notch, fresh ingredients.
After initial investment, you can make very good beer for about $5-$8 per six pack. Some less than that for the simpler pale ales...you can get down to about $3.50 for a pale ale at about 5% alcohol.
But - saving money is not why you would want to do this. It is a great hobby - that has fantastic fringe benefits...heh.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I used to brew a lot more than I do now.

It's just easier to buy a keg at the liquor store.