The Beer Thread
- Thread starter Brahma
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opiate82
Bronze Squire
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I have had everything but the Odell on that list. My favorite on that list is the Firestone Double Jack, but everything there is quality. If I were attending that event I would be in for a bad morning the following day, but it would be totally worth it!
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Don't look at lagers yet. Go with a brown ale (or pale), they're pretty simple. Get really anal about cleaning (and sanitizing, they're different).
Do you have a kit? Midwest and Norther Brewer both have some nice starter kits. The betterboys are nice and light, but can crack from chemical cleaning/sanitizing.
Vanderhoof
Trakanon Raider
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Going to start brewing once I finish grad school in the Summer. I'm pretty excited; I read "The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing" over Christmas break and I am fucking pumped. I've been reading HomeBrewTalk forums in my free time to prepare my mind.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum.php
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum.php
McCheese
SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
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I just found an old Mr. Beer Home Brewing Kit in my attic. It was unopened, but it's been there for at least 7 years. Would the 90 degree summers and freezing winters combined with the long time mean I'll die if I use the ingredients it came packaged with?
Haast
Lord Nagafen Raider
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The yeast is unlikely to be active and the mix has probably degenerated. You won't die, but you won't make something that resembles beer either. Order yourself a new refill kit. Preferably one that uses hopped liquid extract.
opiate82
Bronze Squire
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Homebrewing is pretty awesome. For your first couple of batches, just concentrate on your sanitation. As long as you do that right, minor mistakes here and there won't stop you from eventually making beer. Might not turn out exactly how you want it to at first, but it will still be beer.
Joy of Homebrewing is a good guide, but there is some out of date advice in there (by the authors own admission). Big one I can think of is transferring your beer to a secondary fermenter after a week or so in the primary. The fear was that leaving the beer sitting on the yeast for that long would impart off flavors in the beer. However advancements in the availability to higher quality yeast strains to homebrewers has eliminated that worry. Unless you are adding some sort of additional flavor and/or a dry hop that requires you to move the beer to a secondary (which you probably shouldn't be doing for your first beer) or brewing something that requires some prolonged aging, just leave the beer in the primary fermenter the entire time.
One other thing (and there are differing schools of thoughts on this, so this is just my opinion) is that I prefer using plastic bucket style fermenters rather than carboys. They are much easier to work with and much easier to clean.
Joy of Homebrewing is a good guide, but there is some out of date advice in there (by the authors own admission). Big one I can think of is transferring your beer to a secondary fermenter after a week or so in the primary. The fear was that leaving the beer sitting on the yeast for that long would impart off flavors in the beer. However advancements in the availability to higher quality yeast strains to homebrewers has eliminated that worry. Unless you are adding some sort of additional flavor and/or a dry hop that requires you to move the beer to a secondary (which you probably shouldn't be doing for your first beer) or brewing something that requires some prolonged aging, just leave the beer in the primary fermenter the entire time.
One other thing (and there are differing schools of thoughts on this, so this is just my opinion) is that I prefer using plastic bucket style fermenters rather than carboys. They are much easier to work with and much easier to clean.
McCheese
SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
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Thanks for the information guys.
Since it looks like I'll have to buy a refill kit, any recommendations? I was looking over the official Mr. Beer refills kits and it seems like the only difference is the style of beer you want to make. Are there any 3rd party/other brands refills I could buy that would work just as well with the Mr. Beer "keg" I have?
Since it looks like I'll have to buy a refill kit, any recommendations? I was looking over the official Mr. Beer refills kits and it seems like the only difference is the style of beer you want to make. Are there any 3rd party/other brands refills I could buy that would work just as well with the Mr. Beer "keg" I have?
Lenas
Trump's Staff
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I bottled up my first brew on Monday and man is that a long process. Takes forever to siphon 5 gallons. The whole experience was pretty fun though, picked up my own ingredients, not one of the pre-made packs. Cost per beer is somewhere around $1/bottle. I tried one last night after cooling it down and it's only slightly carbonated so far but the taste came out better than I expected for my first batch, very drinkable. American brown ale, it's much darker when poured than it looks in the siphon:
Can't find my exact one but this is similar to the kit I'm using:http://www.homebrewing.org/Beginning...Kit_p_352.html
opiate82
Bronze Squire
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Yeah, I quickly moved onto kegging my brews. Hated having to worry about saving all the bottles and cleaning them and what not, plus having a kezzer is awesome. If you find a cheap chest freezer on Craigs List it actually isn't that expensive to build one. I was pretty lucky and had a corny-keg hook up from my business though.
Vanderhoof
Trakanon Raider
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That's awesome, man. I'm jealous. I seriously want to drop out of school so I can practice a few batches and have an Imperial Stout ready for Christmas.
