Beer - home brew

[Pontifex Maximus]

Does anyone here home brew?

I recently bottled five gallons of amber ale which turned out really nice. I was wondering if TWC had any other home brewers? I could certainly use a bit of advice about my next round of brewing.

[Owlparrot3]

I brew some root beer in Las Vegas with the help of a mate of mine when we get a week off .

[Pontifex Maximus]

While I wish you the best in your root beer brewing process I cannot stress enough that the process for creating beer and the process for creating root beer is so far apart as to not even warrant comparison.

[Flinn]

interested in becoming a wine maker? I could help you a lot with that

anyhow, I've some friends here who are beer makers (semi-professionals, there are plenty of them nowadays in Italy); anything in particular I should ask them?

[Finlander]

Not yet a brewer myself but I have been looking for essential equipment from local stores. Most likely not going to be snob about the product - maximising quantity with the lowest cost is what i am aiming for.

[Pontifex Maximus]

interested in becoming a wine maker? I could help you a lot with that

anyhow, I've some friends here who are beer makers (semi-professionals, there are plenty of them nowadays in Italy); anything in particular I should ask them?

Is there any easier way to bottle and cap the beer when it's done? Surely there has to be a better way that using gravity, a hose, and filling them up one by one.

And I'm off the wine, too sweet for me X_X

Not yet a brewer myself but I have been looking for essential equipment from local stores. Most likely not going to be snob about the product - maximising quantity with the lowest cost is what i am aiming for.

If you've got all the equipment and you live in the US look no further than this site for recipe kits. They send you everything you need to get brewing right away along with impossible to mess up instructions. I needed idiot proof instructions haha. Here's the one I brewed. Here's the one I want to do next. Even if you have none of the equipment this site will help you get started, they've got everything.

As for the cost, I bottled 48 bottles of beer that if I were to buy in a store would cost anywhere from $60-70. So there is somewhat of a savings. The recipe kits go as low as $19.99.

[Flinn]

Is there any easier way to bottle and cap the beer when it's done? Surely there has to be a better way that using gravity, a hose, and filling them up one by one.

indeed there are, all of them use bottling machines; of course, depending on what is your production (48 bottles aren't that much) you might want to consider if it's worth to actually buy a similar machine. Single bottling machines can cost from few hunders euros/dollars, while multi-bottling ones can cost up to many thousands if you want a bigger, professional machine. As a wine maker (I'm producing between 900 and 1300 lt of wine per year, depending on the season), when I have to bottle I of course use a similar machine, which makes things easier and faster; as per putting the cap, it of course depends on if in metal, cork or silicone (I suppose you'll use metal, but here in Italy many small companies use cork for plugging the beer).. in general it is possible to find filling machines which also have the plugging machine (automatic), while you can certainly buy simpler and cheaper manual ones (they should not cost more than 50 euros or so).

And I'm off the wine, too sweet for me X_X

not to contradict you, but well this is a bit reductive there are so many different wines that "sweet" is only one of the many possible tastes

[Lifthrasir]

I'm not a brewer because it's not worth to be one where I live. But if you need a tester, I'm your man

[Pontifex Maximus]

I may consider something like that in the future, the whole bottling process is slow and not the most enjoyable part. If I start working either with multiple batches at once or in quantities closer to ten gallons in the future I'll probably consider the investment.

Now I have a question about priming solution....I've sort of figured out on my own that I should have used a lot less than I used even though I measured it out very carefully. It's left some residue in the bottles which has made it impossible to drink the beer straight from the bottle. Once you pour it out into a glass it fizzes and bubbles away, which is good of course. However, this means that if I go for a hike and bring a bottle, I'll have to bring something to drink it out of too. Kind of annoying

[Flinn]

mm I've lost you here, I can't get what you refer to with "priming" to be honest... I got that you add something to the beer and that this only goes out when the beer fizzes, but what's this thing precisely? can't you filter it before you bottle the beer? or has it to be added to the beer once it is in the bottle?

ps. filtering is one of the few secrets when it comes to home made beverages, if you don't want to use chemistry of course (something I wouldn't suggest you in any case)

[Pontifex Maximus]

Basically it's what carbonates the beer for lack of a better term. It's what adds the fizz and creates the foam head

[Flinn]

ah I see, so you actually can't remove it until the beer is in the glass; kinda annoying I agree, but I don't see how you could do differently

any alternative to this product? I guess that you have to add it because the beer doesn't have a "natural fermentation".. am I assuming it right? What's precisely the production process?

[Pontifex Maximus]

I mean I add yeast for fermentation so I'm not sure if that's the reason. Then again I'm not too scientifically inclined, I treat it more like a recipe to be honest

[Godfrey I of Leuven]

The only thing I ever somewhat make from scratch is bread. You guys make me feel like such a disappointment.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

On the other hand, this does raise potential for an international TWC farmers' market.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Beer is just bread in liquid form, basically.

[Godfrey I of Leuven]

That really sounds like a good traffic stop excuse.

[Flinn]

On the other hand, this does raise potential for an international TWC farmers' market.

Indeed! Amongst the other things, I'm doing my summer vegetable garden and I'm producing my own tomatoes, potatoes, salad etc. Anyone wants something? I accept payments in kind (gold/silver nuggets, slaves, relics..)

[Frunk]

Do you accept Bitcoin?

[Flinn]

no, only goods that can be bartered.. is it possible to eat a bitcoin, though?

[Pontifex Maximus]

We've got Godfrey's Bread Corner, Flinn's Vegetable Stand, and Ponti's Bar. We're off to a great start.