Making my own beer!

[thayne]

I am getting into a new hobby of making my own Ale. I have a kit on order and have spent about $300 on all of the equipment I need. The basic kit is only $50, but to do it right you need some extras.

I should be able to start my first batch within a week! But it will be a month or so before I can start drinking it I spent all weekend cleaning out 5 cases of old sam adams bottles so I don't have to buy empties.

Eventually it should pay for itself as I can make my own for about half the price as store bought 8) I can also tailor it to my own taste! and bump up the alcohol content too

I made my own label too

[SLICK RICK]

Sounds great! Hope you get the perfect flavor.

SLICK RICK....

[yoda313]

Hello,

One word:

MOONSHINE!

Kevin

[DVD_Ripper]

Are you gonna go for the brown soup ale or something a tad lighter. So many home brews I've tried have been incredibly strong and black.

[thayne]

I plan on mainly making pale to medium Ale's. Maybe some porter and barely wine once in a while for kicks

I'm thinking of maybe adding a cup or two of rice syrup per batch to bump up the alcohol content 8)

[Doramius]

Careful with the alcohol content. Some places have laws against what proof you're allowed to sell it at. If it's private, then you may not have to worry about it.

[thayne]

I'm not going to sell it.

I don't think there are limits in California cause I can go buy this russian beer that has like 16% alcohol right down the street. I know Utah limits it to like 3%, which is totally lame

[Doramius]

Ah Yes, UT where they sell beer flavored water. Thrice the fat and virtually no alcohol. The sober man's beer. (non-alcoholic beer is not for the sober man. Dogs don't even drink it)

[kiki]

I made my own beer for years. Mostly lagers.
I used to make it 30 gallons at a time.
12 to 13 percent alcohol is a bout the best you
can do with the natural brewing process. At that
level the alcohol kills the yeast and alcohol production stops. To get it higher you have to
fortify, add alcohol to you finished beer if you want
it stronger. That is what they do to port and sherry.
Have fun

kiki

[Doramius]

What if you used stills as help to increase its alcohol content?

[thayne]

What if you used stills as help to increase its alcohol content?

Then it would be moonshine, not beer!

I made my own beer for years. Mostly lagers.
I used to make it 30 gallons at a time.
12 to 13 percent alcohol is a bout the best you
can do with the natural brewing process. At that
level the alcohol kills the yeast and alcohol production stops. To get it higher you have to
fortify, add alcohol to you finished beer if you want
it stronger. That is what they do to port and sherry.
Have fun

I was thinking there had to be a limit before the yeast started dying. any more than 10% is pretty wicked for beer anyway...

[kiki]

THAYNE:
I took a small batch up to 12% and found it rude.
It tasted like lager with vodka in it.
Being canadian, I am used to a 5% brew.
I capped my beer when it hit 5%. It was a fun
hobby, but reguires a fair bit of space. And direct
access to a sewer in case things go wrong like a
cracked carboy. I moved in with my lady and there
is no safe place to carry on with hobby. I have also
made my own port and wines. It's a great hobby.
Have fun

kiki

[thayne]

THAYNE:
I took a small batch up to 12% and found it rude.
It tasted like lager with vodka in it.
Being canadian, I am used to a 5% brew.
I capped my beer when it hit 5%. It was a fun
hobby, but reguires a fair bit of space. And direct
access to a sewer in case things go wrong like a
cracked carboy. I moved in with my lady and there
is no safe place to carry on with hobby. I have also
made my own port and wines. It's a great hobby.
Have fun

kiki

You must have had some pretty serious equipment to do 30 gallon batches!

I plan on putting an old refrigerator in the garage with an external temperature control for my fermenting bin, so if the carboy breaks it should only mess up my garage floor which is no biggie. I may even brew the wort out there on a propane burner, but I havent decided yet. I'll be working with 5 gallon batches for at least a while so even if I do it in the kitchen I'll be carrying it in the stainless steel brew pot and xfering it in the garage to the carboy.

I know what you mean by too much alcohol. Right now I drink sierra nevada pale ale and it has 5.8% which is about right. I'm thinking maybe 8% max for ales and porter and 10-11% for barley wine

[kiki]

Thayne:
I started out with 5 gallon batch's myself. Played
around for a couple of years until I stumbled on
the taste that I wanted. I called it the everyman's
beer. Even people that hated beer liked it. I would
have pool party's and everone would drink my beer
and leave their's. Thus the need for the 30 gallon vat. Carrying something from the kitchen to the
garage would never be an option for me. I can't get
my coffee from the kitchen to the den without slopping. 10% for the barley wine sounds cool. I
never tried to make it myself.
Start a new thread when you complete your first
batch of magic and let us all know how it turned out.
Have fun

kiki

[tgpo]

Samples can be mailed to....

[Guest]

Samples can be mailed to....

Dude,u should really use you twin sister's class photo as your avatar

[thayne]

Crap I just got my tracking numbers... My stuff won't be here by this weekend

[thecoalman]

I know Utah limits it to like 3%, which is totally lame

Guess I won't be moving to Utah anytime soon.

[thayne]

yeah my dad lives there and he's already begging for a care package LOL

[fmctm1sw]

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=234906&highlight=

[Capmaster]

I know Utah limits it to like 3%, which is totally lame

Guess I won't be moving to Utah anytime soon.

Kansas used to be completely dry. Commercial aircraft flying over it were required to put the drink carts away until they cleared the state line They don't do that anymore though

[thayne]

I know Utah limits it to like 3%, which is totally lame

Guess I won't be moving to Utah anytime soon.

Kansas used to be completely dry. Commercial aircraft flying over it were required to put the drink carts away until they cleared the state line They don't do that anymore though

That's odd, because states don't contol airspace. all airspace is federal.

[Capmaster]

I know Utah limits it to like 3%, which is totally lame

Guess I won't be moving to Utah anytime soon.

Kansas used to be completely dry. Commercial aircraft flying over it were required to put the drink carts away until they cleared the state line They don't do that anymore though

That's odd, because states don't contol airspace. all airspace is federal.

Maybe it was politeness on the part of the airlines and not based on a law. But put away the alcohol they did.

[thayne]

yeah that's what I was thinking, maybe some backroom deal.

[Capmaster]

yeah that's what I was thinking, maybe some backroom deal.

Or just consideration for the requests made by Kansas, or the church groups in Kansas. I thought it was nice of them, although it doesn't look like they do it anymore. It might have annoyed me more if I had been of drinking age on those flights

[enstg8er]

very rewarding hobby. my expreience-
start simple and keep detailed records of all you do. that way you can repeat what works best for you. learnand experiment with hops. clean, clean, clean. any contamination ruins alot of work. yeast is the forgotten ingredient. yeast has quite an impact on flavor and consistancy
cheers

[Red96TA]

Thayne...PM sent from the Visalia area

[thayne]

yeah that's what I was thinking, maybe some backroom deal.

Or just consideration for the requests made by Kansas, or the church groups in Kansas. I thought it was nice of them, although it doesn't look like they do it anymore. It might have annoyed me more if I had been of drinking age on those flights

I remember back in the mid 80's when I was in the marine corps the drinking age in most states was 21, but once in the air it was 18 no matter what state you were flying over 8) Then again, I don't know if I ever flew over kansas...

[Capmaster]

yeah that's what I was thinking, maybe some backroom deal.

Or just consideration for the requests made by Kansas, or the church groups in Kansas. I thought it was nice of them, although it doesn't look like they do it anymore. It might have annoyed me more if I had been of drinking age on those flights

I remember back in the mid 80's when I was in the marine corps the drinking age in most states was 21, but once in the air it was 18 no matter what state you were flying over 8) Then again, I don't know if I ever flew over kansas...

Funny how when you're 19 or 20, how important drinking ages are.

And how unimportant they become for the rest of your life once you pass 21

[NamPla]

I'm actually about to get started back in the home-brew biz... I used to make it heaps. Once I made this black radioactive brew - too much hops & barley or something - and it was f@#king sludge. I drank it all, and I was seeing snakes & having gravity spins for a whole week!!!

Homebrew rules - no dastardly hangovers!

I can make 30 bottles (ie 2 and a half cartons) for the price of half a carton. Beautiful.