Homebrew-Fi

[KyPeN]

Now don't you dare try and tell me that I'm the only one here who home brews beer/wine/cider/etc.

So let's hear some success/failure stories and some friendly tips. I'll start.

I brew with a friend of mine and we usually brew 2 batches at once. We are each more or less "in charge" of our own brew and have the other fellow just assisting. My friend is currently making a pumpkin ale. He added the spices (cinnamon, cumin) near the beginning off the boil. Unless you want a more bitter tasting brew, save that until you shut off the boilers, especially with cinnamon. He may have to scrap the batch just because it is quite bitter.


Another friendly fun tip: beer bread! All you need is beer and flower! The yeast in the beer becomes reactivated in the presence of the flower so you don't need to add anything else. The alcohol is, of course, cooked out, so you can share the fun with the kids on this one.

[Davesrose]

I can't speak for wine or cider, but there is at least one other beer brewer around!!

OK, well I'm still new to it.....currently brewing my 4th (Imperial Stout) and 5th ("Wee Heavy" Scottish Ale). Their my first high gravity beers too....both are 8% due to the extra malt and sugars. I'm currently just trying out the intermediate recipes in Papazian's book, and also trying a couple kits from a brew shop. Eventually I'll strive for making my own mashes....currently using the malt extracts and hops suggested in the recipes.

The fun toys I've just gotten are 4 5L mini-kegs and the "Tap a draft" system. I've had a couple bottling goofs....so I'm looking forward to eliminating that!!

[tyrion]

jp11801 and I used to brew beer. There is a place very close to my house call Brewmasters. We did all our brewing and bottling there. It was a good time but I ended up having way too much beer around for too long. It's easier to go to Whole Foods and pick up some of my favorites.

[Speculums]

Ah, the art of Homebrewing. I've been brewing for just over 12 years now, my favorite style of brewing is all grain brewing, no extracts involved. It takes a bit longer, but is more fun in my humble opinion. 8 years ago, my then roomates and I were brewing about 15 gallons a week, and unfortunately for me, consuming almost that amount (we did have friends over). That was The year of dynamic weight gain, ive never recovered..lol Its good to see that some fellow Headfier's enjoy this most excellent hobbie.

[KyPeN]

Originally Posted by Speculums

Ah, the art of Homebrewing. I've been brewing for just over 12 years now, my favorite style of brewing is all grain brewing, no extracts involved. It takes a bit longer, but is more fun in my humble opinion. 8 years ago, my then roomates and I were brewing about 15 gallons a week, and unfortunately for me, consuming almost that amount (we did have friends over). That was The year of dynamic weight gain, ive never recovered..lol Its good to see that some fellow Headfier's enjoy this most excellent hobbie.

I've been looking into all grain brewing just to get a little more advanced. The fellow I brew with (we all need a brew buddy!) doesn't want to get into the "science" of it and wants to just enjoy the fun, and to a certain extent, I agree, but all grain looks cheaper and I like the idea of doing it all by hand. :-)

I'm also brewing my first high gravity beer. It's gonna total over 13%! It's a belgian cherry ale. I tried some and really enjoyed it, so the gentleman gave me the recipe. I can post it if anyone would like.

[mrarroyo]

To me the best part of home brewing (besides the drinking) is the wonderful smell throughout the entire house. Of course the wife does not find the brewing smell so wonderful.

[happyangryhappy]

I just recently began brewing myself as well. So far I have only made recipes from my local homebrewer supply, but look forward to branching out into my own recipes as well.

Originally Posted by Davesrose

The fun toys I've just gotten are 4 5L mini-kegs and the "Tap a draft" system. I've had a couple bottling goofs....so I'm looking forward to eliminating that!!

I just purchased a couple 5g cornelius/soda kegs for my next batches to use in my kegerator as well... which I am really looking forward to.

[bugsjr]

well I cant say that I have ever brewed my own beer, Im more of a consumer when it comes to that. But I have grown some really killer weed in my back yard before. Does that count?

[Davesrose]

Originally Posted by KyPeN

I'm also brewing my first high gravity beer. It's gonna total over 13%! It's a belgian cherry ale. I tried some and really enjoyed it, so the gentleman gave me the recipe. I can post it if anyone would like.

Does your Belgian Cherry Ale have candi sugar by chance? My "Wee heavy Scottish Ale" does, and this is the first additive I've used. Started the brew on Sunday, and have noticed the smell is quite sweet....wondering if that's just the sugar being eaten away. Strong smell of banana right now, and I'm kind of worried about how sweet it smells. But the fermentation is still peaking (foam is pretty high right now). Hope it does mellow out when I get to aging it. Can't wait to bottle it, as I always sample the left over bits!

[KyPeN]

Originally Posted by Davesrose

Does your Belgian Cherry Ale have candi sugar by chance? My "Wee heavy Scottish Ale" does, and this is the first additive I've used. Started the brew on Sunday, and have noticed the smell is quite sweet....wondering if that's just the sugar being eaten away. Strong smell of banana right now, and I'm kind of worried about how sweet it smells. But the fermentation is still peaking (foam is pretty high right now). Hope it does mellow out when I get to aging it. Can't wait to bottle it, as I always sample the left over bits!

It does indeed have candied sugar in it. That is the essence of a Belgian, I'm told. The purpose of adding the sugar is to make the brew sweeter. The yeast is not capable of eating it, that's why you don't just add more malt and use the candied sugar.

Mine was overflowing. Try using a blow off tube instead of a bubbler for the first week-ish.

Good luck with your brew.