Thread: Any brewers in the house?

I'm thinking this is my next project after I get the garden going. I'll probably stick to beer since that is mostly what I drink but mead is a similar process or so I hear.

Anybody else do it or thinking about doing it? What was your experience/expectations? How did everything turn out? Come on spill it...

First and foremost... don't get into it thinking that it will be a "project". Hombrewing quickly becomes an obsession. As you've heard, it is very easy to do. I highly suggest reading "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by Charli Papazian, andto a lessesr extent, "How to Brew" by John Palmer. These two books will give you enough information for a lifetime of brewing at home, and should be read multiple times.

It is a lot of fun though, and only gets better with time. But honestly, if you can boil water and do a half decent job of cleaning... then you can homebrew. The hardest part by far is ensuring sanitary environments to ferment the beer, but even that is fairly simple with today's sterilising solutions.

Yeah it along with many other things I've wanted to do for so long but being tied to an apartment I didn't feel comfortable putting the time in.

Now that I'm in a house though I'd really enjoy making my own brew. Not only the experience and sense of accomplishment of doing it but being able to tweak it exactly how I like it flavor wise.

Thanks for the reading list! I'll be sure to pick those up in preparation of getting started.

Tom

I'm a big fan of beer and it is something I'd like to have a crack at. I don't really understand the process, well, I think I do, but it just seems too simple!

plus one on the papazian book, it's the bible of homebrew. papazian is an engineer and his book is well written and he treats beermaking as an engineering problem, so i found much more accesible than other brewing books that were more like cookbooks.

if you want to get started on the cheap, there's no shame in a mr. beer kit. that's how i got started, and then as time went on i slowly upgraded my gear one piece at a time, now it's all glass carboys and precision hygrometers and such. i'm lucky enough to have a brewing shop nearby that sells good ingredients, but you can mail order stuff without a problem.

That Papazian book sounds like the ticket. I don't mind cookbooks, but it doesn't feel like you're doing anything except following directions. I want to know what'll happen if I put in 1 more egg! I'm going to keep that book in mind once I get into a real place

Do it! Do it!! Do it!!!
Another good book is home brewing for dummies… I started with this book… I have brewed a few batches and have gone from bottling to kegging. It is easy and you can make whatever kind of beer you like. I made a honey mead once that was awesome, but I normally stick to dark beers. Be warned this is another hobby that can turn into an obsession, Totally worth it. Everyone should have a Keggerator!!!

Yeah I was thinking keg also. Easier to store and use with the side benefit of being not nearly as fragile as bottled.

Originally Posted by TomSD

Yeah I was thinking keg also. Easier to store and use with the side benefit of being not nearly as fragile as bottled.

I looked into it but it was prohibitively expensive for a halfway decent setup. I do secondary fermentation and storage in 2L soda bottles now, very easy, and if one DOES pop during priming, then i don't have broken glass going everywhere. plus, they are practically free.

Went a head and ordered both of the books you suggested homebrew... around ten bucks each on Amazon I figure why not, heh.

So what flavor additions have you tried and what do you think were your best results? And what thread would be complete with the question... what were your worst failures?