Home Brewing.....Whats the action??

[Beerambassador]

I only save New Glarus bottles. I just recycle everything else. Too much soaking and scraping with just about any other brewery.

[logan82]

Bell's were the worst by far. New Belgium wasn't to bad. I soaked for 10 minutes then the label peals off pretty easy. After the glue is exposed and soaked for about another 10 minutes it wiped off pretty easy.

[logan82]

6 hours to make my first batch. I think I can easily cut it down to 4 and probably closer to 3 though. We are buying a wort chiller(does anybody actually pronounce it wert) should cut out quite a bit of time. Not messing around with a LP tank that had a bad seal(don't worry, I didn't use it) should cut an hour out. Not wasting time trying to get the stove to boil 4 gallons of wort should easily cut out another half hour. We are already planning our 2nd beer.

 

I think I made a few mistakes. Nothing that will ruin the beer though. Added the first hop addition 5 minutes before the wort was boiling and turned off the burner just after the 2nd addition of hops instead of boiling for 2 more minutes. I think we did ok on our sanitization though.

 

 

My biggest problem so far is coming up with boxes to store bottles. Everything we buy is in 6-paks.

[Baldkin]

6 hours to make my first batch. I think I can easily cut it down to 4 and probably closer to 3 though. We are buying a wort chiller(does anybody actually pronounce it wert) should cut out quite a bit of time. Not messing around with a LP tank that had a bad seal(don't worry, I didn't use it) should cut an hour out. Not wasting time trying to get the stove to boil 4 gallons of wort should easily cut out another half hour. We are already planning our 2nd beer.

 

I think I made a few mistakes. Nothing that will ruin the beer though. Added the first hop addition 5 minutes before the wort was boiling and turned off the burner just after the 2nd addition of hops instead of boiling for 2 more minutes. I think we did ok on our sanitization though.

 

 

My biggest problem so far is coming up with boxes to store bottles. Everything we buy is in 6-paks.

If you have a local store and it's small, I'd bet if you asked them to save some of their 4x 6 pack boxes for you, they would. All they do is toss 'em anyway.

[sgtcluels]

I use bankers boxes. Put one under the sinks, drink rinse and place in box. When it fills up just move it downstairs. I really need to bottle my sierra nevada clone, but I simply hate bottling already.

 

If you are remotely handy, you can make your own immersion chiller on the cheap (About 40% off what they sell it for). Go to your favorite hardware store, buy 1/4" copper tubing (Doesn't need to be the expensive K kind), a few feet of tubing, a barbed hose connector and SS clamps. Find a round object that'll fit in your boil kettle, us bending springs and start bending it on the pot. Once you get one or two wraps around it, it'll go very fast and easy. The hardest part is bending the entrance and exit bends with out kinking the copper (I lost about 2 feet of copper trying to do that, but I have 60' of copper). Bend it into your desired shape, connect it up.. bam easy.

 

 

What I need is a sightglass attachment for my boil kettle. I have to guess on volume of wort after it comes out of my MLT. Looks like you can get weldless connections for about $15 bucks.

[logan82]

Which Sierra Nevada beer did you clone? My brother in law wants to start brewing again but also hates bottling. He wants to keg if he starts again. I just bought some bigger bottles for now. I have also been picking up O'Hara's Celebrations Stout once in a while for my wife. Comes in a 22oz bottle with a Grolsch type top. She likes it so I tell her I buy it because I know she likes it. Don't think I am fooling her but she lets it slide.

 

Ask the Grocery store, duh, should have though of that. I used to work at a grocery store. Long time back but we had people ask for boxes now and then. I will check that and also look into banker's boxes.

 

Sounds like the other guy I brew with isn't interested in making a wort chiller so we are buying one. What size pot would 60' of 1/4" copper tubing fit into? I only have a 5agallon pot for now but at some point I want to go full boil. Maybe after Christmas.

[sgtcluels]

Just the pale ale. I just bottled it last week, another couple of days it should be carbed enough where I can try it.

 

Just bought a kegging system, so bottling be damned!

[logan82]

I bottled over the weekend and it only took about 2-2 1/2 hours including cleaning and sanitization. I think the actual bottling only took 30-45 minutes with 2 of us. One filling, one capping. I think we turned off the boil to soon on our first beer. There is not much hop flavor. We were supposed to add the last hop addition and boil for 5 minutes. We pretty much turned off the boil right after the last hop addition. Of course that may be the style.

 

 

Already have our 2nd beer kit in hand ready to brew. I think I will do a few more kits but at some point I want to do a Hennepin clone to be ready for opening day. From what I have read it is a 4+ month brew including conditioning.

[sgtcluels]

Very cool. I'm going to be an hoppy Oatmeal Brown Ale (Surly Bender Clone) soon, that'll get in the keg. Then I think I'll brew some kind of long term beer, perhaps Lager. (Maybe an Octoberfest).

 

It's going to take a few brews for you to get your system down pat Logan. Make sure you check your thermometers, temp readings can be off by a lot. I've found that I brew best with the brew log and timers (I use Brewpal App on the iPhone).

[logan82]

Yeah we were kind of sloppy on our first brew with almost everything except sanitation so I am happy with how it turned out. We didn't actually temp much of anything. Didn't take an OG reading.(FG was at 1.008 though and we just left it ferment for 3 weeks, if they explode at least it is at my brother's place http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif)

 

We are working on a procedure sheet for bottling and boiling. That way the 2 of us are not stepping over each other to do things. There was a lot of idle time while one of us was standing around watching the other guy. Not a bad thing for our first time so we both learn. In the long run though I think we will be much more likely to continue if it doesn't take to long.

 

Edit: I have made up some spreadsheets on Excel to print out and put in a 3 ring binder to keep notes on.

[Beerambassador]

I want to do a Hennepin clone to be ready for opening day. From what I have read it is a 4+ month brew including conditioning.

Ohhh. That sounds tasty. Hennepin is one of my favorite beers. Is that a kit someone sells, or did you just find a nice recipe?

 

I was going to brew a "mini" saison this summer, but when I went to buy my supplies they were all out of saison yeast so I had to take a pass. From what I've heard, saison yeast is incredibly tricky. It likes to stall out a lot, ferments really hot...but will eventually finish really dry.

 

I've got Northern Brewer's Patersbier bottle conditioning in my basement right now. It's about 8 weeks old now and I've heard it doesn't get really good until about 10-12 weeks. I've been limiting myself to one bottle a week and it's slowly getting better and better.

 

I'm starting to think about a winter beer, but with a toddler and a newborn in the house it's hard to undertake something that takes effort and planning.

[logan82]

Ohhh. That sounds tasty. Hennepin is one of my favorite beers. Is that a kit someone sells, or did you just find a nice recipe?

Both actually. I found this recipe. There is a also an internet store that apparently does pretty good clone kits that has it cheaper than putting together recipes on your own. Austin Homebrew Hennepin clone. I tired putting together the Hennepin recipe on Midwest Supplies and it came out to over $60 and I think that was before the yeast.(which with a big beer like this I think they recommend double pitching or making a big starter)

[logan82]

Well I opened a beer last weekend because I couldn't resist. It was a little under carbonated which wasn't much of a surprise. It was still pretty good and drinkable. I think it was a good idea since now that my wife has tasted the homebrew she is much more interested.

 

We started a dunkel weisse today. We got down to 4 hours cleanup and everything. Would have been less time but we had to contend with the wind during the boil. Once things boiled though it all went smooth.

 

We also ordered a trappist we plan on doing in 2-3 weeks to have ready for the Super Bowl. Might be a little ambitious so soon but I think we should ok.

 

Forgot to add that I picked up some Bar Keepers Friend since the first time I brewed. I couldn't get my boil pot clean even with 20 minutes of scrubbing. Got the pot wet then put a little of this stuff on the stain, went to pick up my cloth and was able to wipe off the stain. Less than a minute. I had the pot clean in less than 5 minutes after this brew day and we even had a mess on the side from spillover. I would have only taken a minute to clean just the inside. Best $1.30 I ever spent and it should last for quite a while.

[hurricanecrush]

I've enjoyed this thread even though I've never attempted to brew my own beer. I've been seeing ads for this show and thought it looked interesting, even though it may end up just being a commercial for Dogfish Head.

 

http://dsc.discovery.com/...ers-series-premiere.html

[logan82]

Very addictive hobby. We have 3 fermenting right now and ingredients for 3 more. Our favorite so far has been the Deep Dark Wheat from Midwest. The next one we make we are harvesting the yeast to use on making that one again. I will eventually want a stir plate but next is a Son of Fermentation Chiller. Found a decent looking stir plate for $44. Came pretty well recommended over at Homebrewtalk.com.

[sgtcluels]

Nice Logan. I'm getting a temp controller and a freezer this week. Got my stir plate last month (It's awesome) and graduated to keg beer last month as well. I only have one batch working but a ton of beer still in the fridge/on tap.

[logan82]

I would get a chest freezer with temp control if I had a basement or garage. Of course if I had a basement temp control wouldn't be as high on my list. If I had a garage I would probably seriously consider all-grain. A week ago I wasn't even consiering all-grain. After doing more reading about batch sparging it doesn't look to difficult or expensive to step up to all-grain. The biggest investment would be a 7.5 gallon or bigger pot. Of course then I will probably want to do double batches and want a 13 gallon pot. I see no end in sight.

[sgtcluels]

Making a MLT isn't hard at all. You can do it on the cheap pretty easily. I'd go with a 10 gallon rubbermaid cooler, a few pipes and ball valves ($25 bucks) and you have a mash tun. Doing full boils will require a turkey frier or banjo cooker or something of the sort. But you can get a lot more variety going all grain. I enjoy it.

[logan82]

I would lean towards a rectangular or square cooler with either a SS braid or CPVC in the bottom. Mostly because I already own a cooler I rarely use that would work. That would make most of the investment just the pot. Probably January at the earliest. We have a turkey fryer already but without a garage it blows out way to easy. I would hate to go through with a mash only to be unable to brew because of weather. Besides, I think me wife would freak out if I bought any more brewing stuff. She likes the beer at least.

[sgtcluels]

I have the SS braid, but I'm not happy with it and am moving away form it. Depending on the grain bill the braid would collapse causing the sparging to go stupid slow. I'm talking hours to sparge. So I'm going false bottom.. should be picking that up tomorrow and migrating my current 5 gallon MLT to a HLT.

 

I've brewed outside all last winter, the key it to make a wind break. The boils take a lot longer to start, but it'll get there. Just be patient.

[logan82]

I was leaning towards CPVC since I could put it together without glue and it would be easier to take apart and clean.

 

I'll have to figure something out with the fryer then. All-grain looks like is will come down mostly to whenever I buy a new pot.

[logan82]

No all-grain till at least the fall for me. Not sure if I will switch to all-grain. I am pretty happy with just extract so far. Our rotation consists of a cream stout, dunkel weisse, Amarillo American wheat(not as good as Gumballhead but we are trying), and a Belgian Dubbel. Every third beer is experimental.

 

 

Just brewed a Belgian Specialty ale/Saison today. I was going to do a Belgian IPA but decided I wanted something less bitter more malty/sweet so I cut back the first hop addition. 1214 yeast and Sorchi Ace hops with Crystal 10L and Special B for steeping grains. Probably not a good combination but I will get beer. I have been doing something like hop bursting with just very small hop additions at the beginning for bitterness but most as late additions for flavor and aroma. I didn't bother with temp control so we are done brewing after a couple weeks. I don't want to ferment in July and August.

 

The only thing I am thinking about buying at this point is a bigger boil pot. We are making beer for about $9 a six pack figuring in everything and $6 with just ingredients. I have about 3-4 lbs of hops in the freezer so my next few batches only need extract and yeast. We are saving a little money over craft beer in the store but unfortunately I think we are drinking more than we used to so we are coming out behind.

[ewizabeff]

We are saving a little money over craft beer in the store but unfortunately I think we are drinking more than we used to so we are coming out behind.

That's to be expected. Also, now when we buy beer we buy much more expensive stuff so we can try what we haven't had before.

Psst....SgtClueLs won 2 blue ribbons at the State Fair home brewing competition http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[logan82]

We already drink the $8-9 a six pack beers with the occasional $12 a 4 pack thrown in. Of course we don't drink in volume like I did when I was younger.

 

Congratulations on winning. What categories?

[sgtcluels]

Category 14 - IPA and Category 10C American Brown. Results

I brewed the Northern Brewer Furious Pro kit for the IPA, but the American Brown is based on Bender but it's been changed enough to be it's own beer.