Brewing your own beer...

[AlexanderSextus]

My Dad said we could experiment at making our own beer at home. Now i'm trying to find homebrew kits on teh interwebz but they all cost like $100 and up. Does anyone here know where i could get one a lot cheaper???

And, if any of you guys have brewed beer before, feel free to post your stories/tips!

[Surgeon]

eBay?

[Ramashan]

Yeah, the kits you'll find are rather expensive. Really you just need to find a large 6 gallon plastic bucket and a large 5 gallon glass carboy. Those are generally easy to get your hands on, but its the air gauge that is difficult to find. However , I did see someone use a stopper with a hose going into a sink fill with water.

The benefit of getting the kit is that you get everything you need without worrying about it. I just bought one for about $130 and it came with all the ingredients I needed. Think of it this way. Initial investment is a bit costly, but once you have it the second on continuing times you brew the cost drops dramatically.

Also, you'll need to find someplace that sells the grains, hops, yeast, and malt extract. But I suppose you can order that online. I found a place in Culvar City, CA that has a wide variety of this so I can eventually play around with ingredients.

But honestly, I'm still working on my very first brew and will not bottle until Wednesday, so I don't even know if I was successful or not. I think the primary fermentation may have failed due to not regulating the temperture of the of the bucket, but now that its in the secondary fermentor its bubbling away. I wont really know if it all worked for another week or two though.

Good luck.

[Jacob Debroedere]

But honestly, I'm still working on my very first brew and will not bottle until Wednesday, so I don't even know if I was successful or not. .

So that was keeping you from modding lately.

It's certainly possible to make your own beer without buying a kit, my old chemistry teacher has been doing this for years. However, if you're a beginner it can be handy to buy a kit, like pointed out before everything you need is included.

[Musthavename]

The initial investment is costly, but you can then make Beer for practically nothing.

I remember a news report recently that investigated this, and people were churning out beer for next to no cost. Likewise, this was decent tasting beer! They did a taste test with a cheapo beer, a brewery beer and a home-brewed beer and people prefered the home-brew more often than not.

[the_mango55]

Yeah it can be a great value. I had some friends in college that did this.

Your first batch will likely turn out terrible, but your second will be better, and your 3rd and on batch will probably be quite good, so don't give up.

[chamaeleo]

Check craigslist.org daily, and responds quickly...you can get some amazing deals (80% off retail for huge lots), but they go fast! I've missed the last 4-5 listings, even having responded within 24 hours of the post-date.

[Ramashan]

So that was keeping you from modding lately.

Uhm, yeah.... Brewing is actually 4 hours of cooking and two months of waiting with perhaps a half hour of work in the middle and end.

[Lucifer Sam]

ive tried using a stopper made out of a simple party baloon, with some needle holes.

[Chaigidel]

its pretty easy all you need is hops, sugar, some bottles and tubes , and an empty bathtub

[Ramashan]

Just bottled my beer last night. Unfortunately I hadn't acquired enough bottles and had to dump a quarter of it. But I tested it and it actually tastes OK. Sort of like lightly carbonated Newcastle. Hopefully the carbonation process will work well and none of the bottles will explode and I should have something to try by weeks end.

I found that Grolsh (sp?) bottles are great. No need for capping since they come with that pressure lock cap, and the 17oz bottles are fair inexpensive.

[Panzerbear]

oh well, good luck with this .

I made my own beer once from one of those beer making kits and will never do it again. its a very slow, long and messy process. the quality of the beer you end up getting is still vastly subpar to anything you can get in the local liquor store. it was "OK" and "drinkable". thats it. considering the initial investment for the kit, trust me, you will be MUCH BETTER OFF JUST BUYING GOOD BEER AT THE STORE.

[Lucifer Sam]

oh well, good luck with this .

I made my own beer once from one of those beer making kits and will never do it again. its a very slow, long and messy process. the quality of the beer you end up getting is still vastly subpar to anything you can get in the local liquor store. it was "OK" and "drinkable". thats it. considering the initial investment for the kit, trust me, you will be MUCH BETTER OFF JUST BUYING GOOD BEER AT THE STORE.

at £20 for a kit wich makes 30 pints or £2 for one pint you can make easy savings

[Dayman]

I've successfully brewed my own beer.

Before you even try, buy this book and commit it to memory:
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Homeb...5243667&sr=8-1

As you're doing that, google up homebrew stores in your area. Go to it, talk to the owners, if he's cool and knowledgeable then that's you store. The equipment you need runs around ~$60. All the goods to make one batch of beer run ~$30.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, I've done it before and can help you.

I made my own beer once from one of those beer making kits and will never do it again. its a very slow, long and messy process. the quality of the beer you end up getting is still vastly subpar to anything you can get in the local liquor store. it was "OK" and "drinkable". thats it. considering the initial investment for the kit, trust me, you will be MUCH BETTER OFF JUST BUYING GOOD BEER AT THE STORE.

You went wrong some where - besides you used a "kit". Most dedicated homebrew stores sell a "kit" but they're not mass market, they have grains, hops, malt extract, everything you need.

its pretty easy all you need is hops, sugar, some bottles and tubes , and an empty bathtub

Sugar? ewwwwwwwwwwww


Speaking of making bad beer though, I ed up my sanitation and have 5 gallons of crap in my basement I need to dump

[Ramashan]

Speaking of making bad beer though, I ed up my sanitation and have 5 gallons of crap in my basement I need to dump

That's my one thing with this brewing thing, you make it in 5 gallon shots and wait over a month before you find out if it needs to be dumped.

I totally agree with your point about finding a good brew store. There's a really good one in Culver City, Pacific Gravity, and they have a class twice a week now for beginners where they actually brew beer as you watch and ask and answer questions. You can then go in and see the status as it ferments and during the class you can try beers that the workers have brewed.

I'm totally into it now, I have my first, granted a failure since the fermentation stalled and I probably have a virtually alcohol free beer, bottled and just bought the ingredients for a Pale Ale I'll brew up either this weekend or next.

As mentioned, the initial cost is high if you want to do it right, but then the ingredients are $30 which gets you about 45 (give or take) or beer. So, it is cost effective and just takes practice like any baking or cooking skills.

[Dayman]

But half the fun is learning what you did wrong and improving. I can't wait till I can make my next batch.

My first batch got good reviews from everybody, I made an ale version of a marzen.

[Ramashan]

I was toying with the idea of brewing the wort as usual, but then separating it into two or three smaller fermentation buckets and adding different yeasts to explore the differences in taste. Figure, the best way to work with the part that bothers me is to use it to my advantage.

Do you have a recipe for that Marzan by the way? I've always liked that at style of beer.

[Dayman]

Sure.

base - 6.6 lbs plain uhopped light malt extract
specialty - 12 oz crushed crystal malt
bittering hops - 1 1/2 oz Hallertauer
finishing hops - 1/2 oz Hallertauer
lager yeast

[Ramashan]

Thanks man. I'll give it a shot for my next batch.