[tortie]

Any recommendations from someone who has tried one of these?

Im planning to buy a Mr. Beer kit.

http://www.mrbeer.com/

 

[nysulli]

i haven't personally tried brewing my own beer, though i've looked into it, and know several people who do, i would suggest avoiding that thing at all cost and checking your phone book for a real home brewing shop, i looked into it maybe a year ago and all the equipment to start brewing and bottling was between 100-150 bucks, but some of the beer i've tasted that was brewed with similar setups has been quite good, not to mention some really interesting brews, ie jalipio (sp?) beer

heres a few quick links i found, again, if you search hard enough there should be a local place that has this stuff, and hopefully an owner or employee with years of brewing experience who can help you get started, past that i can just tell you not to get discouraged if your first batch or 2 isn't that great, the people i know are the first to admit their first few batches sucked, but after a few attempts they got much better

https://secure1.nexternal.com/shared...t=products.asp

http://www.morebeer.com/browse.html?...36807c4b1a9d2d

 

[armaniwearr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nysulli ie jalipio (sp?) beer

i dont know but i think jalapeño!

 

[gratefulshrink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nysulli i haven't personally tried brewing my own beer, though i've looked into it, and know several people who do, i would suggest avoiding that thing at all cost and checking your phone book for a real home brewing shop, i looked into it maybe a year ago and all the equipment to start brewing and bottling was between 100-150 bucks, but some of the beer i've tasted that was brewed with similar setups has been quite good, not to mention some really interesting brews, ie jalipio (sp?) beer

That sounds about right. My friend started home brewing about 15 years or so ago, and I remember him telling me it was about $150 start up costs, but then getting extra hops and yeast later was cheap. So, you figure it pays for itself after a few cases of beer.

The stuff generally tasted great! He would save/collect good, amber-colored bottles and just re-use them.

 

[sleepkyng]

it generally comes out to 50 cents to a dollar a beer but the stuff you brew is tasty fantastic!

Beer Brewing bible - http://www.alibris.com/search/search...8Vv3JsLJCAPrNQ

Papazian is amazing.

 

[Jahn]

You want self-brewed beer? Ya got it! Head-fi specialty beer!

 

[grawk]

The best bet for brewing beer is to find someone else who's selling off their equipment. You can brew with a couple 7 gallon buckets, some tubing, a big pot, and a collander. Good Eats did a great show on how to brew beer. I second the recommendation for the pappazian book.

 

[tyrion]

tortie, if you want me to check into the cost of a good home brew kit at Brewmasters, where jp11801 and I are brewing some Head-Fi IPA. I would be happy to ship it to you.

Our brew will be ready to bottle after 11/3. Hopefully, we will have it done for the weekend.

 

[MrEcted1]

For brewing your own beer try going to

www.beeradvocate.com

they have home-brewing forums... plus lots more.


BEST BEER EVER: St. Bernardus Abt 12

 

[Lavalamp]

Even though the directions on the tin say to add sugar, do not. Sugar leaves an after taste that is more like cider than beer.

Find a good home brew shop. They will be able to sell you packages of powdered malt, hops and corn syrup (it gives a creamy head). It will be ready packaged, and all you do is tip it in to your boil up.

This gives good, consistent results.

Be patient. Try and leave the beer in the bottle for at least 3 months before you drink it.

 

[nysulli]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrEcted1 For brewing your own beer try going to www.beeradvocate.com they have home-brewing forums... plus lots more. BEST BEER EVER: St. Bernardus Abt 12

that is good stuff, tried it for the first time last night, very thick, my friends joked about log cabin coming out with a beer flavored syrup

 

[coco]

Yeah, buy a good kit and follow the instructions exactly the first time you do it. That way you'll know how to make it better. Go to a brew-shop and ask about the best kits, think about the kind of beer you tend to like. Usually malt (think sweeter, german beer vs hops bitter english beer. The equipment is pretty basic, maybe about $40-50. Start from there. I have brewed beer for years, cheaper than audio equipment, no upgrades and guaranteed to give you a buzz!

!

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lavalamp Even though the directions on the tin say to add sugar, do not. Sugar leaves an after taste that is more like cider than beer. Find a good home brew shop. They will be able to sell you packages of powdered malt, hops and corn syrup (it gives a creamy head). It will be ready packaged, and all you do is tip it in to your boil up. This gives good, consistent results. Be patient. Try and leave the beer in the bottle for at least 3 months before you drink it.

Sorry,
Don't use corn syrup either, malted barley only (Otherwise it won't legally be considered beer.....at least by the German purity standards

)

But seriously folks, adding corn or rice sugar will increase the alcohol content, but will lighten the flavor. Just look at the ingredients on a can of Budwiser (yuck!) I would not recommend it.

I homebrewed for years, but haven't done it lately.

I would suggest getting a copy of "The Joy of Homebrewing" from Michael Jackson (no, not that one!)
Great instructions and lots of recipes.

 

[nspindel]

I used to brew my own beer for several years, back when I was single. This is going back several years, but I used a company called Bierhaus. I just found them on Google:

http://frontpage.erie.net/bierhaus/

I have no idea if they're still as good as they used to be, but they were great about 15 years ago.

A few things to keep in mind:

1) It's messy. When you have to start boiling up that concoction, then keeping it in the barrel(s) for a week is not for the faint-of-kitchen.

2) You'll need to bottle-age it for about 45 days at least (preferably 2 months), in a dark, still, somewhat cool place (but not cold). I kept cases stacked up in a closet in the hall.

3) Bottle aging = Yeast. You don't drink home brew out of the bottle, because a byproduct of the whole thing is a thick layer of yeast at the bottom of the bottle. So you'll want to invest in good set of beer mugs, keep them frosty in the freezer and then carefully pour each bottle into the mug so the yeast stays in the bottle.

4) Don't dig into your first batch too quickly. You'd be amazed at how much better the beer is if you age it 8-9 weeks as opposed to 6.

It's good fun, and they have all different kinds of kits for different styles of beer. My friends used to love it, I used to call it Spindlebrau.

 

[MrEcted1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nysulli that is good stuff, tried it for the first time last night, very thick, my friends joked about log cabin coming out with a beer flavored syrup

Bah! It's not that thick

If you want thick, then try Dark Lord Imperial Stout (if you can find it let me know!) Or try Yeti (either oak aged or not, doesn't matter)

If you like that beer (Belgian style) then it definitely wouldn't hurt to try
- Chimay Blue Label, Red Label or White (Cinq Cents)
- Westmalle
- Orval
- Rochefort
- Trois Pistoles
- La Fin Du Monde
- Maudite
- Stone 7th Aniversary (hard to find... they are on 9th aniv, which is more of an IPA... still VERY tasty)
- Hennepin
- Any other St Bernardus beer (except I'm not a big fan of Prior)

... need more suggestions, just ask =) I have tried hundreds upon hundreds of different micros from around the world... Belgian beers are my specialty!