Thread: New Year's brew is fermenting... it is starting to smell a lot like Christmas!

If I get into it, which it looks like I am, I'll get a few soda kegs and make a kegorator so I can rotate brews in and have a couple different ones on tap... plus a freezer on top for mugs.

And yeah you end up sinking money into it when you realize you could do it better, or more of it, if you just had more stuff! Bottled this batch yesterday afternoon after a quick trip to the brew store for some more supplies. I grabbed everything for another batch (Red Ale this time), more 22oz bottles, a drying tree and pump for sterilizing bottles and a few other things. Oh and a 1 gallon growler and filled it with Big Eye IPA (they are a brewer too).

Was nice sipping an awesome micro while bottling everything up. Now I just need to wait for Christmas to test the first one then new years to enjoy a couple of them. The batch actually tasted pretty good when I bottled it but I couldn't get the % off it as I had no wine thief when I started fermentation so couldn't do specific gravity. No biggie though the first run was mostly to get the procedure down and work out the kinks.

My biggest deterrent is that I like lager a LOT more than ale, so I would want to brew lager, but.... it is harder and would stink. And while I have a walk in fridge at the frat (at around 40deg, thats just asking for it to be messed with.

Ohh a walk in reefer at a frat... you guys start home brewing and you could have a wall of taps in the kitchen or even a full on bar... without the keg prices, and it would be better beer.

LOL. Yeah the problem with that is for us kegs are cheap. The university requires that there are no kegs at parties- we have to serve canned beer, and we have to pour it out into cups, we can't give cans out lol. Obviously this makes no sense and is more expensive, but rules is rules. A brother of mine makes stouts from time to time and they taste alright. I just love my Munich brews... Spaten, Loewenbraeu, Hacker, Augustiner...

edit: we already have a fully stocked bar lol. and a kegorater for private use (not during parties)

[QUOTE=TomSD;502571]Oh and a 1 gallon growler and filled it with Big Eye IPA (they are a brewer too).

mmm aside from stout IPA is my favorite beer. i love the powerful hops flavor and am lucky enough (back home) to live near a brewery that has probably one of the best ipa known to man. if anyone is ever in the NE ohio area and likes beer i strongly suggest trying either the Great Lakes Brewery or The Willoughby Brewing Company, really unmatched beers

-dan-

Love the taste of a good IPA and this one didn't fail me. Then again I don't think I've ever met a beer I didn't like for one reason or another... well besides the cheap canned stuff anyway and even some of that is pretty good.

Well it turned out pretty good all things considered. I know the next one will be much better but not a bad start at all. It will be nice to be drinking my own over the holidays... specially New Years.

Will be cooking up a Red Ale tomorrow and getting it to fermenting. Should be ready to bottle around Christmas and ready to drink middle of January.