AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Anyone else into making their own beer?

Mrs C and I finished our first batch a couple of weeks ago and it's great - a proper, bright, pub-quality ale that would stand comparison with any commercial beer. Not at all the cloudy, yeasty mush that often passes for home brew. We were amazed - and all for about 50p a pint all-in.

We brewed from first principles - crushed malt and vacuum packed hops - rather than just using a can of malt extract, and the effort was definitely worth it. Barrel no. 2 is fermenting away right now

Audi-Boy

I tried that when I wasn't allowed to buy proper beer.
Bedroom smelt like a brewry BTW!


Easier to buy the stuff in cans and bottles cus homebrew tastes naff and don't drink more than 3 pints of it cuz the head aches aint worth it!!

class_A

Andy, sounds good. Any chance you could do a quick write up of what you did or point me in the direction of a friendly guide? My mum used to do wine all the time, some of it was even drinkable!

Also, anyone any pointers on spirits? "Hypothetically" of course

TIA,
Alex

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

No, it doesn't! - that's my whole point!

We've all had dodgy homebrew, which is pretty horrible, but it doesn't have to be bad. I'd put our barrel of FXB (First eXperimental Brew ) up against any real ale in any pub. I guess it all depends on what ingredients you use and how careful you are about cleanliness and following the instructions correctly.

ajm

Yes. Buy a liebig condenser and a thermometer. Heat your dodgy wine/beer to 78 degrees C and you should be good to go!

p.s. keep pure alcohol away from naked flames!

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Alex: there's a really good guide at http://www.howtobrew.com/, and we followed the technique and a recipe from the Camra book 'Brew Your Own British Real Ale at Home' (link).

It also helps that we're not too far from The Home Brew Shop - a pretty good source of equipment and ingredients so far.

fast bloke

if you follow a decent plan it will be fine - If you throw in an extra 5lb of sugar to keep the alcohol level up it will tase like pish -


Used to make loads of home wine and home brew - never remember it costing more than 2p a gallon though - try out the wine thing - make cherry wine, distill it, - brandy

(A really really close friend used to make poteen - make potato wine and distill it 3 times at appropriate temp - apparently )

Graz

I resumed my homebrewing antics a few months back. I used to make it all the time a few years back but my equipment was starting to get old and unreliable so I kind of gave up back then.

So to kickstart the beer production I purchased two new pressure barrels, a fermenter, some new kits and all the other ancillary bits a peices. I now have an unlimited beer supply

I always buy the decent kits that require no sugar to be added (i.e. all malt), I find these generally produce a beer very close to pub quality. Have yet to try the brewing from first principles route as I always had the impression that it is difficult and a load of additional, expensive, equipment was needed, for example an boiler and a wort chiller. I will have a look at the web site mentioned and the CAMRA book. I would recommend the Woodfordes kits (Wherry, Nog, Nelsons Revenge, etc.) as I have always had very good results from these.

My latest batch that I have yet to sample (still maturing), is from a Brupaks brewers choice kit. This is much more like making beer from malt and hops. The kit comes with several "Tea Bags" containing hops and crushed malt, you soak these for twenty minutes at a time, three times in boiling water (a kettle full). Then you add the supplied spay malt, a can of malt extract, cold water and finally the yeast. These kits are supposed to produce a commercial quality brew. I look forward to trying it

The most important thing to remember with homebrew is that all equipment must be sterile before starting the brew. Failure to adhere to this rule can lead to some disastrous results.

Now here's a challenge for everyone I live in a flat and don't have anywhere cool to store my beer (cellar, garage, etc). Any suggestions for keeping it cool? I was thinking of buying an old fridge to keep the pressure barrel in, set it to the warmest setting, and put it on a time switch so it only comes on for an hour or so a day. Remember this is ale so I don't want it ice cold, kills the flavour! I would need to cut a hole in the top to get the CO2 injector in but could put in a bung when not adding CO2. Any other novel ideas?

Graz

Brendan Hughes

mmm, tiggers like malt extract... Oh boy did we raid that stuff when Dad was homebrewing...

Otherwise, I'm keeping an eye on the contributors to this thread. I want to see in 4-6 months which one posts a new topic "What's the best way to get rid of my beer gut?"

Graz

Already got one That's with two hours of circuit training a week, regular mountain biking and hiking. I shudder to think how big I'd get without regular exercise

Leslie

I make my own Sloe Gin, been doing it for a few years now so about got my own recipe just as I like it. It tastes really good when it has had a couple of years to mature and smooth out.

Great stuff to take fishing with you, after a while it doesn't seem to matter if you can't catch anything!

Les

CrisPDuk

I guy I used to work with has been brewing his own for years, even has his own chiller & pump in his garage/bar I've never had a bad pint whenever I've called in to see him But you could never risk driving after much above one pint, two would deffo throw you way over the limit

We found two bottles of damson gin in my dads loft last christmas that he'd bottled in the mid '80s We opened them in the interests of scientific discovery fully expecting it to smell/taste absolutely vile, only to find that it was like nectar I bet he couldn't pull it off again though if he tried

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Try wine too: I used to make blackberry wine that tasted like a good French red, pineapple wine that was lightly sparkling like a Lambrusco, pomegranate wine that was soooooooooo drinkable, and my all time fave: rose-petal wine, that tasted just like a rose smells, and was almost clear in a glass, but pale pink in the bottle.


Good way of becoming an alcoholic though:

Alcazar

ProperCharlie

been meaning to get into home brew for ages.

can anyone tell me:

how much does the gear cost, to get started?
is it possible to make a decent lager, about 5% (or more ) abv?

i don't mind bitter, but it makes me fart like... well, put it this way - the wife is not keen on a big barrel of bitter in the cellar...

ProperCharlie

will this thing do the business? better warn the missus to get her gas mask serviced.

ajm

I made 40 pints of home brew once. Didn't syphon it off early enough unfortunately so it tasted pretty yeasty! Stuck with it though.... got a bit heavy going when everyone had tasted it I could no longer give it away!

CrisPDuk

Oxymoron (n). A figure of speech in which contradictory terms are used together, i.e: Great Scot, Sun Reader, Military Intelligence, etc.







With apologies to the Oxford English Dictionary

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Lager is tricky because it has to be... well... lagered!

For those unfamiliar with the process: lagering is a long, cold fermentation process that requires both chilling equipment and a lot of patience. It's not really for the home brewer.

Brewing ale, on the other hand, is much easier. You can brew from a kit (basically a tin of malt extract that you dilute with water and ferment) using just a fermenting bin and then a pressure barrel. Total cost of those plus syphon tube, sanitiser, hydrometer and so on <£100.

We went the whole hog and brew using a full mash, so we also use a mash tun and boiler. Even so, the total cost for all the kit including ingredients for the first brew is under £250. At 40 pints a time with total cost of about 50p a pint (about £1.50 cheaper than good bottled beer), we therefore save £60 per batch. After four brews we'll have broken even and then it's downhill all the way

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

LOL
Alcazar:

Leslie

I usually put some damsons in with the sloes and also occasionally make straight damson gin. It does taste good too. Damsons are related to sloes I hear anyway.

Les

SteveLegacyToo

I was bought a kit for Fathers Day...Thanks kids!!!

A place in Burford do a pressure barrel, fermenting tub, a hydrometer, sterilisation stuff, syphon tube and the Beer stuff itself for a massive £32! Bargain!

They also do it with the pressurisation (CO2) injector etc for another £15.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Just thought I'd resurrect this thread with an update

Our winter warmer - brew no. 5 - has been fermenting for the last week (it's quite powerful stuff!) and will be bottled in about 3-4 weeks' time ready for Christmas. We've now done two best bitters, one pale ale and one stout, and have yet to produce a duff pint. Why we didn't start brewing years ago I don't know.

It really doesn't have to be the yeasty, odd-smelling stuff we all remember; my local has definitely lost business.