[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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Speculums /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davesrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyPeN /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davesrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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.

 

[Davesrose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyPeN /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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.

Kind of figured yours had sugar as well: I did read that it's really used in the high gravity Belgian beers......and at least one beer kit that a certain brewing supply store sells!

I think I'm also going to have to argue about yeast not eating sugar. This Scottish Ale kit just has the regular dose of malt extracts, with 1lb of candied sugar. Raised my OG to 1.07. Papazian says that in fermentation, yeast converts sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide. A higher gravity beer gets more alcohol because it either has more malt (which has its own sugars) and/or sugar additives. My imperial stout has a higher gravity because it did use twice as much malt extract as my other recipes have been

To eleborate, I'll even include some quotes about sugar (in his Joy of Homebrewing book)....I'm that much of a nerd!:

" Sucrose (and invert)-Sucrose is rapidly fermentable by beer yeasts. It occurs naturally in malt. Commercially it is available in crystalline form, usually as common white table sugar. Invert sugar is a type of sugar that is made from an acide treatment of sucrose. The name "invert" refers to the optical effect that a solution of invert sugar has on light.
Like sucrose, it is a combination of one glucose and one fructose molecule. Pure invert sugar is as fermentable as sucrose; because of by-products that are produced during the acid treatment, inver sugar may be 5 to 10 percent less fermentable then sucrose and can contribute unusual (both desirable and undesirable) flavor characteristics."

"Candi sugar- Used by Belgian brewers in several traitional strong ales, Candi sugar is nothing more than slowly crystallized pure sucrose. The crystals are large and clear, coming in white, amber, and brown colors. The darker colors are the crytallization of caramelized sugar and add a degree of flavor to the beer. These sugars are commonly used to lighten the body of stronger beers while producing more alcoholic strength".

The sugar that came with this kit was pretty dark: so on top of adding alcohol, it probably explains that really sweet smell too

I gotta find a beer smiley BTW!!

 

[KyPeN]

Thanks for the write-up, Dave! That's interesting. I stand corrected.

Yes, we need a beer smiley. With headphones on. And a camera around its neck.

What do you think our chances are of talking Jahn into adding one?

 

[Joeywhat]

I've homebrewed on and off for about 2 years now...I don't do it now because I lost most my equipment during a move, and I can't justify spending money on it right now. Plus, my kitchen is REAL small and I don't have a good place to ferment (living in an apartment now).

I've made a few "good" beers...my friends liked them, but I thought they were weak, needed more body. My nut brown ale is the best thus far. I've also made a damn good raspberry hefe.

If I end up starting up again in my apartment I think I'll also try brewing some root beer...that's always looked like fun. When I grab a house sometime soon I'll be making a LARGE investment into some high quality equipment, and will switch to all grain. It also helps being 21 since I can't go out and try new beers very easily to get ideas (I'm 20).

 

[Joeywhat]

I definitely suggest "The Complete Joy Of Homebrewing" for anyone who homebrews and hasn't read it yet. Even for the advanced user. I bought it straight off the bat and was really happy I did. Saved me a lot of trouble.

Reading through the advanced section really got me going, too. VERY advanced stuff going on...you better have done well in chem class to be reading that. As the book states, one of the advantages to going all grain is having COMPLETE control over your brew. You get to choose exactly how the malt turns out, and even slight temperature changes or cooking times will yield different tastes in your beer.

I'm actually thinking of making a career out of homebrewing...open up a brew pub with some of my chef friends. I think I'll actually be grabbing a chem degree in the future, just so I can understand all the processes going on inside the beer.

In any event, that book is a good read for any homebrewer at any level.

 

[Davesrose]

Oh, I also picked up another Papazian book that's good for every homebrewer. He goes around visiting lots of microbreweries and actually gets recipes. What's especially good is that he includes an all grain recipe as well as a malt extract counterpart. "Microbrewed Adventures", Charlie Papazian

It's got more then 50 recipes....including Sam Adams tripple bock. Eventually I'll find the space to try out all grain brewing.....for now, I'm content with my malt extract concoctions. The candied sugar has mellowed out a bit in my Wee Heavy. It's still foaming, and is now smelling like beer!!