Any Homebrewers or Meadmakers around here?

[jsteinhauer]

If there are, what are you all up to. I'm mostly an all-grain homebrewer, but I dabble a little in meadmaking. I also roast coffee, and on occasion make a cheese. I have an affinity for microorganisms, I guess you would say (except for the coffee, but that's the second juice of life (after beer)). My wife also preserves the fruits of our garden, much by natural pickling, which is also fermentation.

I always have four homebrewed beers on tap in a converted chest freezer. Right now, I have a Bavarian Helles, an IPA based on Stone Ruination, a robust porter and an English style ESB. The ESB isn't quite right. It's got too much 75L crystal malt, and it's a little to roasty. It's good, but just not true to style. I have a Czech style Pilsner and a Marzen lagering, and several others conditioning. I have two fully temperature controlled conical fermenters (7.5 gallon). One has a strong stout conditioning. I think I will put some oak chips in that. The other was just brewed. Another American IPA based on Stone Ruination.

I have two 5 gallon batches of mead aging in bulk. Both medium sweet. One white sage honey, and the other orange blossom honey.

I have well water here that is very high in bicarbonates, so I use a RO filter for brewing (and for coffee, for similar reasons). I've brewed with the Big Lake water, too, which is pretty near free of minerals, but has kind of a fishy aroma and needs charcoal filtration. I grow some hops, too. Centennial, Sterling, Nugget, Northern Brewer.

I'd love to discuss good beer, hops, malt, water, methods, etc. I'll discuss mead, too, but I'm a novice there.

[Go Blue]

I'm not a brewer, but I love Stone Ruination! It's almost as good as Rogue Imperial IPA. There is some good beer talk here: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ight=alcoholic

[jsteinhauer]

Originally Posted by schultz

I'm not a brewer, but I love Stone Ruination! It's almost as good as Rogue Imperial IPA. There is some good beer talk here: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ight=alcoholic

If I really want to talk beer, I'll go to the Homebrew Digest forum. I've not posted there for a while. They're good folks, but it's like any other forum. It's good to speak with a new crowd, sometimes.

I prefer Ruination to IsquaredPA, myself. I've unfortunately never been to a Stone brewpub. I must admit, though, that one of my finest pub visits was to the Dogfish Head brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, DE.

[quirkmanly]

I've considered trying some homebrewing here in FL, but my place really isn't conducive to holding a constant temperature. Being a Brit, homebrewing is very familiar to me and back in my teenage days my older brother used to brew a beer that tasted like Boddingtons spiked with hairspray which, after a glass or two, really grew on you.



jsteinhauer, what do you do to keep a constant temp in your brewing set-up?

Oh yes, and thanks to Schultzy I am now an IPA fiend

[jsteinhauer]

Originally Posted by quirkmanly

I've considered trying some homebrewing here in FL, but my place really isn't conducive to holding a constant temperature. Being a Brit, homebrewing is very familiar to me and back in my teenage days my older brother used to brew a beer that tasted like Boddingtons spiked with hairspray which, after a glass or two, really grew on you.



jsteinhauer, what do you do to keep a constant temp in your brewing set-up?

Oh yes, and thanks to Schultzy I am now an IPA fiend

Well, if you noticed, I live in Minnesota. You can pretty much brew year around here. However, I started brewing in Alabama. I found that I could primarily ferment lagers in my dining room in the summer. If I moved the dining table (with a tablecloth on it) over the air conditioner vent and kept the fermenting bucket or carboy under the table with a damp towel around it I could keep it pretty darn near 50F. Without the damp towel you're in the 60'sF. If you have a wife, SO that won't allow, you're screwed, but it can be done.

About 8 years ago, my wife and I took a trip to London armed with the CAMRA guide to good pubs. It was a fantastic trips. Our favorites were The Market Porter near the Tower Bridge and the Head of Steam, which was above one of the big stations. We were still on a budget at that stage in our lives and we stayed in the Earl's Court area. We also took daytrips to York, where we visited a fine brewery that had self-proclaimed "apathetic" witches as tour guides and Burton-upon-Trent, where the tour of the Bass museum and a visit to the Burton Bridge brewpub were high points of the trip.

I must admit, at that time, we felt much more welcome outside of London at that time. We could definitely tell that Londoners held Americans in disfavor. If only they had taken the time to find out we were not there as tourists, only as drinkers of genuine British Real Ale.

[petenad]

I just started a West Coast India Pale ale it smells good so far.

[Go Blue]

Originally Posted by quirkmanly

Oh yes, and thanks to Schultzy I am now an IPA fiend

Your very welcome. Fair trade, you gave me some great music and I gave you some great IPS's. PM me if you ever want some more recommendations.

[jkwest]

yay! now I want a beer...and its only 7:30am....

[Go Blue]

Originally Posted by jkwest

yay! now I want a beer...and its only 7:30am....

Me too me too!!!

btw, I tried Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner last weekend. The word pilsner threw me off a bit at first, but it tastes more like an ale to me. Very good, but a bit expensive. They sell it in 4-packs at BevMo for $9.99.

[jono_0101]

i am just getting started with homebrewing, i got some equipment for christmas, anybody have any good suggestions for me? i dont really know what im doing at this point, i havent had much time to look into it yet

[Petermkw]

Originally Posted by jono_0101

i am just getting started with homebrewing, i got some equipment for christmas, anybody have any good suggestions for me? i dont really know what im doing at this point, i havent had much time to look into it yet

Hey, depending on what equipment you got, I suggest you dive right in. It requires a bit of bravery, but stumbling through the process can be it's own reward, and as long as you follow pretty simple instructions, the beer is always drinkable. My first batch was a premade IPA*, made with three jerry cans as the carboid, and primairy fermenter** and 2 leter pop bottles*** as the secondary fermenter and serving method. The results were... suprising for my first time. Alot of comments of 'wow... i've had worse beers' which isn't exactly high praise, but it's definantly a starting point. (People were a little suprised by my setup producing actually drinkable beers.) I've more or less perfected my method now that I reasonably compete with domestic beers, not just dollar beers. I'm still miles behind craft beers, but one day. So yeah, my advice is get started now! And don't be discouraged by initial set backs. If you had started brewing on boxing day, you'd already be drinking you're first beer. No time like the present

*Here in ontario, you can't buy hopps outside of a kit, or else I would be making from scratch. Hopefully next year we have a better hopps crop.
**Check to see that the plastic is food grade, but if it is, then any plastic container with a moderate sized opening works. You can fashion a pressure release from securing half of a plastic baggie over the opening with elastic bands.
***Don't drink enough pop? Raid you're neighborhood's recycling bins. You're going to be cleaning the heck out of everything anyway, doesn't much matter where it comes from. (Although your neighbors may look at you strange)

[jkwest]

Originally Posted by jono_0101

i am just getting started with homebrewing, i got some equipment for christmas, anybody have any good suggestions for me? i dont really know what im doing at this point, i havent had much time to look into it yet

CLEANLINESS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!!

also, hit up the home brew forums jsteinhauer suggested...tons of info there.

[jono_0101]

thanks to the both of you, ill definitely check out the homebrew forum for some info, im sure theres a lot to learn, ill have to bookmark the thread and let you know how it turns out

[jkwest]

Thats it.....I'm brewing my own beer....just bought a cheap $120 kit...stealing one of my father-in-laws glass carboys this weekend...lets make some beer...picture is just to get me in the mood...