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jazz guy
Joined: 26 Nov 2002
Posts: 434
Location: Colorado
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 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:17 am Post subject: OT: Any Home Brewers Here? |
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I have been brewing various styles of beer for several years now, and have had a lot of fun while at it. During the learning process I have upped my batch size from 5 gal. to 10 gal., gone exclusively to all-grain mashes, and found another interest on which to spend money.
I am going to start an IPA this week, which is why I am bringing this up. Does anyone else here at the forum brew their own beer?
Cheers, Brian |
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morghen
Joined: 21 Jan 2005
Posts: 9102
Location: Romania
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 4:58 am Post subject: |
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isnt it illegal to brew stuff like that at home ? its illegal here as far as i know...
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StienbargerR
Joined: 28 Oct 2005
Posts: 1362
Location: Richmond, IN
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:19 am Post subject: |
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Here in 'merica, we can just go buy kits to do so if I'm not mistaken.I think I saw one at a pretty common store the other day. I figure the feds don't mind beer brewers because beer usually doesnt contain all that much alcohol. They also make rootbeer brewing kits, if that's even considered brewing.
Ryan
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jazz guy
Joined: 26 Nov 2002
Posts: 434
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:38 am Post subject: |
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We can brew for personal consumption. If I would try to sell it, or distribute it, that would be a different story.
There are brewing kits widely available. You can find them on Ebay, internet brewing supply companies, and local wine and beer making shops in the US. My first batch of brew was made from a kit, and wasn't too bad, though my brewing techniques have progressed a piece beyond the basic kit now.
Cheers, Brian |
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chris24
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 334
Location: boston/nottingham UK
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:09 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, I'm keen on that. My last batch went bad though which was a serious disappointment.
A good friend who lives in an converted village pub grows his own hops, makes the wort etc then barrels it in the old cellar and has it hand pumped up. Superb stuff.
My family (in the 1950s) had a still for making spirits (now that was illegal) but they had to chop it for firewood as the law got to know about it. Shame.
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924RACR
Joined: 29 Jul 2001
Posts: 9108
Location: Royal Oak, MI, USA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:51 am Post subject: |
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I've brewed a few; we used to have a place here (Detroit suburbs) that was a commercial brew-it-yourself facility, was great, about $150-200USD per batch, worked out to be as cheap as Budweiser but better than anything in the store! Made many great batches of beer there... too bad they closed up a few years ago.
Of course, the Midwest, Michigan and Ohio in particular, is home to MANY excellent microbreweries, distributed throughout the area, so you're far from at a loss if you're not making your own.
Bell's
Goose Island
Great Lakes
Arcadia
etc. etc...
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Ozzie
Joined: 12 Mar 2005
Posts: 4448
Location: Townsville, Qld. Australia
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 7:54 am Post subject: |
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Tried beer once but found it a bit messy.
Since then I made a still and make my own spirits.
Its legal here to have a 5 lt still and as long as you are not mass producing and selling the law couldn't care less.
I mostly make bourbon but once I have the white spirit I can do what I like and make just about anything from Baileys to ouzo.
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jazz guy
Joined: 26 Nov 2002
Posts: 434
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:47 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Of course, the Midwest, Michigan and Ohio in particular, is home to MANY excellent microbreweries, distributed throughout the area, so you're far from at a loss if you're not making your own.
Bell's
Goose Island
Great Lakes
Arcadia
etc. etc... |
After the initial glut of microbreweries and their subsequent closings, there remain a lot of good micro and craft brewers throughout the US. The Northwest and Colorado Rocky Mountain regions have numerous excellent brewing companies. Boulder and Fort Collins, CO are particular hotbeds, and I happen to live right in the heart of it!
Examples:
New Belgium Brewing (Fat Tire, 1554 Ale, etc.)
O'Dells (90 Schilling)
Fort Collins Brewing
Big Horn Brewing Co. (CB&Potts sports bar/restaurant beers)
Left Hand Brewing Co.
Boulder Brewing Co. (Mojo IPA... AWESOME)
Avery Brewing (Their IPA is AWEOME too)
Numerous Restaurant/Brew pubs
As well as Anheuser Busch and Coors (big names, bad beer), are all within an hour of my house. And I'm leaving out a bunch of others in the area.
I'm just trying to have fun and brew some good beer at the same time. I've upgraded a lot of my equipment & techniques over the years and generally have good success with my brews. A few haven't turned out exactly as I planned (I consider these "opportunities for learning" rather than failures) but only one batch has been undrinkable.
Beer brewing fits in nicely with some of my other non-automotive interests like fine cooking and red wines.
As they say in the homebrew community, "Relax, and have a homebrew!"
Brian |
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924RACR
Joined: 29 Jul 2001
Posts: 9108
Location: Royal Oak, MI, USA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 9:16 am Post subject: |
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[quote="jazz guy"] | Quote: |
Beer brewing fits in nicely with some of my other non-automotive interests like fine cooking and red wines.
As they say in the homebrew community, "Relax, and have a homebrew!"
Brian |
Amen, brutha!
Fine cooking and wines are popular in our household, too!
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Ozzie
Joined: 12 Mar 2005
Posts: 4448
Location: Townsville, Qld. Australia
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 11:24 am Post subject: |
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My wife reckons I'm like a fine wine- She had to stomp the shit out of me before I was fit to have dinner with.
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Peter_in_AU
Joined: 29 Jul 2001
Posts: 2745
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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Like Ozzie I do spirit, vodka actually, in a 25 litre still. Unlike Ozzie I know that while it's legal to own a still up to 5 litres it is illegal to use it to distil alcohol. As Ozzie says it's pretty low on the police radar, probably just above spitting in public.
At this point all the kiwis will chime in and say it's all completely legal over there.
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endwrench
Joined: 07 Dec 2002
Posts: 1631
Location: Victor, Montana
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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Ya, I've been brewing about 8 years now. Infact I just found a 12 pack of Barley Wine in the cellar while getting out the Christmas lights. Vintage 1999! Poured one off a couple nites ago after a long day and an empty stomache. It was heaven!
You going for an American style hop or a traditional Nobel for your IPA?
I'm going to do a Porter this weekend. Probably just use the St. Chucks recipie. I've made it before and was pretty happy with it except I think I converted at too low a temperature. I like more mouth feel so I think this time I'll try to hit 156° on a single conversion.
Todd
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jazz guy
Joined: 26 Nov 2002
Posts: 434
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 2:40 am Post subject: |
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I still have about 6 bombers of an Imperial Stout that I brewed 5 years ago, but nothing as old as 1999! I have a hard time keeping my brews around very long, they have a habit of disappearing! 
I am brewing an American style IPA this time. I typically brew English style pale and brown ales (predominantly Fuggles & Goldings hops), so I'm trying something different. I'm going to use Simcoe and Amarillo hops in this brew.
I have really grown to like American style IPA's, and intend to explore this area in my brewing. Though, I just tried an English IPA called "Meantime" that I thought was pretty darn good!
Cheers, Brian |
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leadfoot
Joined: 11 Dec 2002
Posts: 2222
Location: gOLD cOAST Australia
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| Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 10:12 am Post subject: |
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That's why you have two going at the same time, funny never had that problem until I got a girlfriend though...
tips I've learned...
keep everything sterile
heater bands are a life saver...
always leave the wort just a fraction longer than you think...
don't be afraid to experiment with ingredients...
go find the 1.5ltr grolsche swingtops that the sell in the gift packs as they make bottle washing a breeze...
don't ever recap twist top beer bottles...
I love malt...
play music to your beer... polka for german largers... ales like barry white... and stouts like tom jones...
brown sugar gives a higher alc/vol and honey should stay on toast.
Leadfoot
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jazz guy
Joined: 26 Nov 2002
Posts: 434
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 2:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | That's why you have two going at the same time, funny never had that problem until I got a girlfriend though... |
Evidently your friends must be more polite than mine when it comes to drinking your brew. My friends don't hesitate to guzzle the remnants of my beer down!  I'm lucky though, that my wife isn't a big beer drinker, so that leaves more for me. 
The tips you provided are well taken. I pay particular attention to cleanliness, and have never had a beer go bad from contamination. I don't bottle that much of my beer, because I have a tap system that uses 5 gal. corny kegs. It also allows me to force carbinate the brew which makes things pretty easy.
One tip I did not understand was concerning the musical choices for the different types of beer. I get the polka music for the German lagers, and even Barry White songs for the ales, but Tom Jones for the stouts!?!? Somehow I just can't envision the strains of "What's new Pussycat?" helping to produce a good stout. But I certainly won't argue with your research, as you seem to have had some experience in this area.
Still..... Tom Jones? If that works, why not Barry Manilow or "Wake me up before you go go" by Wham  for a stout? This just makes no sense to me.
Cheers, Brian |
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