Home Brew

[McGyver]

Thanks, Eric! I usually do get "the good seat" in the corner! (depends on what I bring with me!) My wares have gotten me far in life, along with MANY happy smiles and faces.

[blackwolfe]

Takes about 3-4 weeks start to finish.  You can go crazy with hygrometers and stuff, but I just use a 6-gallon food grade plastic bucket with a fitted lid and an airlock.  It will bubble right along for about 10 days and when it slows to one burp in 10 to 20 minutes, it's about 24 hours away from bottling.  Add some dextrose or cane sugar to each bottle, fill and cap, then wait another 10-14 days before chilling and enjoying.  There will be a bit of residue in the bottom of the bottle, so pour in one motion and stop just before the sediment exits the bottle.  You will get a beer that's about 10% alcohol or better if you have carefully followed the steps.  If you have any questions, or just want to pick my brain a bit, give an IM or an email and I will happily share all I have learned.  Good luck and enjoy.

Crusader

I don't drink now, but use to make my own similar to CR's method.  Instead of adding the sugar to each bottle I would add the sugar to the mix I think right before bottleing as it was easier to do it that way.  Can't remember exactly how I did it as it has been so long ago.  I did get the residue in the bottom of the bottle.  As I like drinking straight from the bottle, I ended up drinking the residue when it got stirred up.  When I did carefully pour it into a mug it looked like the second picture and was very good.



I use to have a bottle washing nozzle that attatched to the kitchen faucet.  It was u shaped and the nozzle pointed up.  You placed an inverted bottle over the nozzle and pushed down activating a valve.  It did an excellent job of cleaning and rinsing the bottles and was very convienant and a real time saver.  I recommend one of these if they are still available and can find one.


We have a guy a deer camp that did have his own Micro Brewery for awhile.  He would show up at camp with 3 or 4 of the cannisters like are used for fountain pop soda machine of various home brews.  He also would bring a portable tap set up so he could set up the all the flavors at once.  I think the cannisters held 5 gallons each and didn't last very long at deer camp.

 

[crusader rabbit]

Re: the gout and arthritis issues...    I am blessed with a pair of titanium hips--the result of picking improper parents and finding a good surgeon--and I find no difficulty or increased problems with the relatively substantial intake of my homebrewed product.  Not saying that it is not an issue--just that it has not been an issue with me. Of course, I also partake of rather large quantities of red meat and red wine and they are also reputed to impart qout-like and arthritic problems--which I have also managed to avoid.  Personally, I like to avoid those sorts of problems--but not enough to avoid the instigators. 

I am more than happy to post whatever knowledge I may have regarding home-brewed beer, ale, stout, port and whatever else may be available and brewable.  I have also made substantial quantities of wine, both still and effervescent (champaigne-like) with rather excellent results.  I can barely recall wife and friends falling asleep after only one brace of Mimosas using my Home-Made "champagne" or sham-pain.

Finally, while I claim no great measure of expertise, I have managed to catch a buzz on my own stuff for many years.  I will willingly share that accumulation of experience on this blog with my fellow gun nuts.

With great respect for both alcohol and the damage it can do...


Crusader

[crusader rabbit]

CR and Fatman or right on the money!

I would just add, use ONLY brown bottles!  You don't want "skunky" beer!

Absolutely, brown bottles are really important.

[McGyver]

CR, my friend, you are of fine quality! Your wares are of fine substance, I am sure!

The brown bottle reference is a good one, and I'm glad you have no probs with Gout. I do, and have spent many nights trying to figure my way around it, but to no avail! The only other problem I've ever had with homebrew is that everyone else loves it until they're asked to contribute to make it! If I can't drink it, why should I make it?

I know it all works out in the end, but I also like to make deer jerky and other stuff! Care to donate?

[Sponsor]

[crusader rabbit]

It was suggested that the pre-bottling sugar can be stirred into the mix instead of added to the individual bottles--and that's certainly true.  But, to do it that way requires a second 6-gallon bucket and transferring the relatively clear product in the primary fermenter into the second bucket WITHOUT transferring the sediment from the bottom.  Then, sugar can be stirred into the brew in the second bucket and the resulting mix can be bottled. 

I've found that to be an extra step that adds an unnecessary potential for contaminating the brew.  And, being clumsy, it also adds to the potential I have demonstrated for "spillage."  Without the transfer process, stirring-in the sugar would also stir-up the sediment and each final bottle would have a larger amount of junk on the bottom.  My current bottlings have very small amounts of sediment, so I lose very little when I pour a cold one.

If anyone is interested in making wort from scratch, I can shed some light on that process, too.  It's not necessary to buy the Cooper's stuff and it is significantly less costly to make your own.  Plus, you have greater control over the final taste of your beer/ale/porter/stout/whatever.  But, it is a fair bit of work to make your own wort.  And Cooper's, while a bit more costly, has the benefit of being quite consistent.

[TAB]

I make ginger ale every once in awhile... just like caning, you have to make sure every thing is super clean.

[blackwolfe]

Any one here know if you can home brew "nonalcohol beer" and how to do it?

[Fatman]

Any one here know if you can home brew "nonalcohol beer" and how to do it?

This from http://www.brewcraft.com/recipies/lowalcohol.htm

For those times when you're dying for a beer but don't want to get bogged down, you can make a beer that is low in alcohol but high on flavor. You don't even need any fancy equipment. Just a large pot (like your brew kettle) and a way to heat it (like your oven).

You can turn any beer you make into a non-alcoholic brew. You say you can't find a non-alcoholic stout? Then just whip up a batch of your favorite stout and convert all of it, or just part of it, to a non-alcoholic version. It just takes a few simple, extra steps.

You are in control of the amount of alcohol left in your beer. The basic idea is to brew a batch of you favorite beer, heat it after fermentation to drive off the alcohol, then pitch fresh yeast and prime for bottling. The resulting beer isn't really completely alcohol free, but it can be very low in alcohol content.

The temperature and duration of the heat applied to drive off the alcohol will be one factor in determining how much alcohol is left in your beer.

The other factor is the amount of priming sugar used to carbonate the beer. If you use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of priming sugar, it will contribute less than 0.25 percent alcohol to the beer. If you strive to remove virtually all the alcohol, the alcohol content of your finished brew will surely be less than one percent and most likely will be around 0.5 percent.

[crusader rabbit]

This from http://www.brewcraft.com/recipies/lowalcohol.htm

Can't add an additional word.  Go for it. 

When you get your alcohol-free brew chilled and ready to drink, throw a shot of Ever Clear in it, and you have something worth drinking