Official Home Brewing Thread.

[baracuda]

I started Home Brewing about 2 months ago and now have 4 batches under my belt and will be brewing a 5th this weekend style still to be picked out. I am wondering if any one else is also a home brewer, and also have a discussion thread to post up pics, reviews, tips, and general B.S. about home brewing.

List if batches I have done: (All mini-mash worts)
1. Bavarian Hefeweizen
2. Magic Hat #9 (clone)
3. Honey Blonde Ale
4. Belgian Double Wit

Tip: I was looking around online and looks like someone has found out that the best way to remove labels from bottles for reuse is to fill your sink with hot water and then toss in a couple scoops of oxyclean (save money by using generic store brand oxyclean its the same.) let the bottles soak for around half an hour, swirl them around and the labels and glue with fall right off in the water. No scrubbing required at all, works so damn well, and saves so much time.

[fatboy1185]

1st











and foremost, can you ship me some?

[baracuda]

1st











and foremost, can you ship me some?

I'm not sure, what kinda beer are you into?

[fatboy1185]

Love me some Hef.

[GeoffM]

I'm not sure, what kinda beer are you into?

All of it.

[mtnbikaah]

ooooooo i've always wanted to make some home brew....

[Chrisisiced]

Thick, heavy, creamy stouts with one or a combination of these flavors: chocolate, honey, maple, oatmeal, coffee/espresso

[AbsurdNY]

I have never made my own beer yet but I have made my own wine, ice wine, and low proof liquor.

It's incredible easy to make wine. Perfecting it is the hard part. It's a art

[deevergote]

I've been anxious to start brewing beer myself.

What's your brewing setup? A lot of people tell me that the cheapie "Mr Beer" kit is actually a very good place to start.

[s2cmpugh]

I started home brewing about 9 months ago and have been hooked since. If you ever want some hints or tips let me know! So far I've only brewed using extracts, but have made some wonderful beers.

Deev, I would avoid Mr. Beer. You can get MUCH better beer if you just shell out the cash for a full blown 5 gallon kit. Not to mention, most ingredient kits sold are for 5 gallon batches, not the 3 gallon Mr. beer uses.

Be warned, this hobby is extremely addictive, damn fun, and a great way to have people over and hang out. My next big purchase is going to be kegging equipment! Home beer on tap, on demand!!

Baracuda, how did your Honey blonde ale turn out? After I brew up my summer time jalapeno beer this weekend, I might try the Honey blonde. Have you created any of your own recipes yet?

Cris P.

[baracuda]

I started home brewing about 9 months ago and have been hooked since. If you ever want some hints or tips let me know! So far I've only brewed using extracts, but have made some wonderful beers.

Deev, I would avoid Mr. Beer. You can get MUCH better beer if you just shell out the cash for a full blown 5 gallon kit. Not to mention, most ingredient kits sold are for 5 gallon batches, not the 3 gallon Mr. beer uses.

Be warned, this hobby is extremely addictive, damn fun, and a great way to have people over and hang out. My next big purchase is going to be kegging equipment! Home beer on tap, on demand!!

Baracuda, how did your Honey blonde ale turn out? After I brew up my summer time jalapeno beer this weekend, I might try the Honey blonde. Have you created any of your own recipes yet?

Cris P.

I just bottled it monday, but the taste test was great, it came out very clear and awesome flavor,cant wait to try it once its fully carbed.

Deev, its best if you get a full 5 gallon sets. I pieced my own set together as I already had a propane burner and few 6.5 gallon stainless stain pots,and buckets that were the prefect size for fermenting. The for the rest of the equipment I went down to my local home brew supply store and spent less then $60 bucks on the rest of the equipment. (I dont use a secondary fermenter carboy, only a single primary.)

My local supply store sells everything you could ever need, my buddy bought their set and it has worked out awesome for him. These kits come with all of the equipment you would need to brew a 5 gallon batch. the only thing they dont have in the kits and which I highly recommend getting is a "wort chiller", as you have to cool what your brewing down from boiling to 80 or less degrees in around 20 mins. Now they sell these at the stores but they cost around $60. Since i pieced my own brewing set together and after looking at what these chillers really where I knew I could make my own. so I did, I bought everything from lowes and it cost me around $30 total.

Single stage Fermenting Kit (This is how I do it, Alot of experienced brewers say the glass carboy/ second stage is a waste, you just have to ferment in the right conditions.)

Two stage Kit (most commonly used set-up)

***Pic in album; Below is just a description of what steps are being showed.
http://barrcudacb7.imgur.com/home_brewing#Lcpl0

-My set-up: Not the best pics
-Me steeping some grains:
-Bavarian Heff. sitting in its primary fermenter:
-Transferring to the bottling bucket:
-All bottled upyou get around 50 or so bottles of beer per batch)
-MagicHat #9 *clone*(opened last night, 1 week tester bottle, taste was spot on just needs week or 2 more to finish.)
-Bavarian Heff: Fully carb'd and aged.

I have more pics, will try and get some more up later.

[s2cmpugh]

Awesome job!

Deev, I'm sure there is a local home brew store (LHBS) close by that can get you set up with a kit. And as you brew more, you can purchase additional tools to help you out.

Since starting I've brewed up:
1. Bavarian Hefe.
2. Pumpkin spice (this one tasted damn good)
3. Scotch ale (think I had a yeast issue as the whole batch tasted a bit like granny smith apples)
4. Boddington's pub clone (not too bad)
5. Cream Ale (damn good beer, nice amount of hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma)
6. Vanilla Oat Stout (heavy, dark beer, but smooth and flavorful)
7. Paulaner Hefe. clone (this one tasted FANTASTIC, and just got bottled up 2 weeks ago)
8. Jalapeno fire ass (will be brewed this weekend using extra light DME, 3 roasted on the grill jalapenos, and Saaz and cascade hops)

Baracuda, have you tried the "late addition" method using extracts?

How did you put together your wort chiller? I'd like to do one, but would rather make it myself to save some money.

[foamypirate]

Baracuda,

Mind sharing the name of the store you bought your stuff at? I've been looking into brewing my own for a while now, just haven't gotten around to it. Is it Austin Homebrew Supply?

[baracuda]

Awesome job!

Deev, I'm sure there is a local home brew store (LHBS) close by that can get you set up with a kit. And as you brew more, you can purchase additional tools to help you out.

Since starting I've brewed up:
1. Bavarian Hefe.
2. Pumpkin spice (this one tasted damn good)
3. Scotch ale (think I had a yeast issue as the whole batch tasted a bit like granny smith apples)
4. Boddington's pub clone (not too bad)
5. Cream Ale (damn good beer, nice amount of hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma)
6. Vanilla Oat Stout (heavy, dark beer, but smooth and flavorful)
7. Paulaner Hefe. clone (this one tasted FANTASTIC, and just got bottled up 2 weeks ago)
8. Jalapeno fire ass (will be brewed this weekend using extra light DME, 3 roasted on the grill jalapenos, and Saaz and cascade hops)

Baracuda, have you tried the "late addition" method using extracts?

How did you put together your wort chiller? I'd like to do one, but would rather make it myself to save some money.

The jalapeņo one sounds like it will come out awesome. By "late addition" do you mean by adding extra extract to the final brew in order to bump the alcohol content? if so yes I have tried it,and I have also tried 1% alcohol booster pack my homebrew store supplies.

For building the wort chiller, I wanted to make a good one that I could use on double sized batches as well as normal 5g batches.
so I went to Lowes and bought everything I needed, started with 3/8 Inner diameter copper piping(20ft), bought I think 20ft of rubber hosing in the fit the copper piping(only sold it in large amounts), also got hose clamps like the ones you tighten down with a screw driver, then I got a hose attachment that was the correct outer diameter for the water source. to bend the pipe they sell a special tool that allows you to coil the tubing with out getting any kinks in the line. I didnt buy the tool, I just got a smaller bucket and slowly and carefully wrapped the pipping around that to help make it coil and it worked out find for me. It was hard not to get kinks when wrapping it, but its possible and I got it right on my 1st try.(IF you click the link I have for the "wort chiller" I used that design and remade it my self...its a total of 4 parts and only cost me $30 compared to $55 plus tax from my homebrew store, its worth it for sure as I can now cool my wort in under 15 mins for a 5g batch.)

Baracuda,

Mind sharing the name of the store you bought your stuff at? I've been looking into brewing my own for a while now, just haven't gotten around to it. Is it Austin Homebrew Supply?

Hey Foamy,
I use Austin HomeBrew Supply They are awesome and give great service, If you ever have questions about brewing or anything Homebrew they are more then willing to help you out. Just let me know if there is anything you are wondering about, and I can try and help you out. I have around 5 friends here in town that are also homebrewers. Like I said I mainly pieced my set together my self, but they sell great starter kits for a good price. I would recommend borrowing or buying a propane burner for your brewing days, as doing it on your stove top takes waaaaaay more time and is a lot harder to bring to a boil and keep a steady temp.

They are located off 183 north and metric.

Address:
9129 Metric Blvd
Austin, TX 78758

Directions:
Our new store is located on the east side of Metric Blvd between the 183 Access Rd and Rundberg Ln in north central Austin.

[deevergote]

Awesome. Sounds like you guys really have a handle on the process! I think I might look into piecing together a setup this weekend.

There is a local home brew store that I just recently discovered. An old friend of my drummer happens to be renting the apartment above it... and oddly enough, he's a homebrew fanatic!

If the ingredients are often properly portioned for 5 gallons at a time, then I'll definitely go with that, even if it costs a bit more.