Homebrewed Beer Facts

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Hopz

Senior Cook
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
272
Location
Utah, near Park City
Thought I would try to start a thread on Homebrew. I suggest we brewers can provide some info to the non-brewers which they might find helpful if not interesting.

So Ronjon and others, chime in. (Lets keep it sort of non-technical unless something comes up.)

Most large American brewers, Bub/Millers/Coors, use a lot of cheap adjuncts (additives) to their swill, er beer, to save money. What we are talking about here is Corn, Corn Sugar and Rice, instead of malted barley. This is a cheap way to feed the yeast to make alcohol. Unfortunately it does not add much in the way of (good) taste.

The beer made in America pre-prohibition was fuller, richer, and more authentic than what is going on in the large houses today. A good homebrewer can make just about any style of beer made in the world toady.

The Craft Brewing movement (brew pubs and microbreweries) are making authentic, real beer with just 4 ingredients, malted barley, water, hops and yeast.

The ingredients and equipment to make your first batch of homebrew can be had for about $50. Most serious cooks can do it for less because they probably have large stock pots. But you do need to come up with about two cases of good bottles. Do not try to re-use the twist off cap bottles. They are thin and weak.

The old wife's tale about exploding bottles has been surpassed by far better kit ingredients and better yeast. As long as you follow the sanitization scheme you will not have bottle bombs.

By the way, you will probably find you spend more time cleaning and sanitizing than actually cooking the beer.

Legality? Homebrewing is legal by Federal statute. The main limits are the volume of beer you make each year, limited to something like 500 gallons (no body keeps score- its the honor system):angel:...and you can't sell it.

Questions?
 
Great info, thanks!

Can you describe the bare bones equipment needed to get started and what each piece is if it is not obvious already?
 
Hopz said:
Most large American brewers, Bub/Millers/Coors, use a lot of cheap adjuncts (additives) to their swill, er beer, to save money. What we are talking about here is Corn, Corn Sugar and Rice, instead of malted barley. This is a cheap way to feed the yeast to make alcohol. Unfortunately it does not add much in the way of (good) taste.

Actually, I think I read once that based on market fluctuations, the rice can cost A-B more than the barley! :ohmy: Probably why they like to advertise how fancy and good their rice is. Me, I use the cheapest rice I can find when I brew with it. I'm just after the starch/sugar.

Hopz said:
The Craft Brewing movement (brew pubs and microbreweries) are making authentic, real beer with just 4 ingredients, malted barley, water, hops and yeast.

I don't really have anything against adjuncts. Heck, Belgian brewers have always used them.

Hopz said:
The ingredients and equipment to make your first batch of homebrew can be had for about $50. Most serious cooks can do it for less because they probably have large stock pots. But you do need to come up with about two cases of good bottles. Do not try to re-use the twist off cap bottles. They are thin and weak.

12 ounce longneck bottles seem to breed like rabbits in my basement, anybody want some?

Hopz said:
The old wife's tale about exploding bottles has been surpassed by far better kit ingredients and better yeast. As long as you follow the sanitization scheme you will not have bottle bombs.
No comment. :angel:

Hopz said:
Legality? Homebrewing is legal by Federal statute. The main limits are the volume of beer you make each year, limited to something like 500 gallons (no body keeps score- its the honor system):angel:...and you can't sell it.

It's 100 gallons per legal adult in the household up to 200 gallons. Thing is, it's next to impossible to find all the beer I drank up until the start of Lent. Unless you're some sort of sewer technician... :dry:

John
 
Great idea for a thread. My girlfriend and I want to get started but we don't have a clue... so a materials list would be nice. We both enjoy our beer so we don't want a 'cute hobby' set. We want to go into production. We both enjoy lighter ales but don't mind it a bit chewy.
 
Of course, there is always hope...

Craft Beer Growth Leads All Adult
Beverages for Second Year​
Volume Up 9 Percent in 2005 Says Brewers Association​
Boulder, Colo. • February 16, 2006​
- America’s craft brewers sold 9.0 percent more barrels of beer in 2005
versus 2004 making craft beer the fastest growing segment of the US beverage alcohol industry for the second
consecutive year, according to the Brewers Association, the Boulder, CO-based trade association for US craft
brewers.

Full release here...
http://www.beertown.org/pr/pdf_Word/pdf/2005stats.pdf

John

 
Great question GB... sure.
As for equipment you need:
a large pot to cook in... at least 3 gallons- larger is better.

(Note: today's kits come with a concentrated liquid malt which you boil with about 2 gallons of water, plus the hops. You boil for about an hour or so adding the hops at various times. After the boil you let it cool and then make up the rest of the 5 gallons with clean water, and then add the yeast.)

You need a vessel to ferment in. This will be at least 5 gallons. Many people start the hobby with a food grade plastic bucket that has an on/off valve at the bottom.

You need a way to keep the air out of the bucket while fermentation is going on, and at the same time let the CO2 gas out from inside the bucket. These little plastic bubblers cost about a dollar.

Next you need at least 4 feet of plastic food grade tubing.

A plastic thing we call a "wand" for bottling. (note: getting the beer in the bottles uses this nifty tool. A clear plastic tube with a valve on the end. Just connect the vinyl tube to it from the fermenter, and insert it into the bottle. Press down and the valve opens and beer flows into the bottle. When the bottle is full, stop pressing, and withdraw the tube,,, the volume of the tube makes perfect "head space" in the top of the bottle.)

Then you need a way to cap the bottle. These are known as crown cappers and they are inexpensive and easy to use. Obviously you need a supply of caps.

Aside from the ingredients, you will need the bottles and some sanitizing liquid, such as clorox.

Like most hobbies, you can add a lot of more sophisticated tools as the need arises. Funny but a lot of home brewers are gadget guys... like to discover and make tools for brewing... don't get me started.

Having said all that... get yourself over to the Homebrew shop. You will find a friend, and a source of info, not just the parts you need!

What else?
 
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Oh wow, great thread!

Just a few weeks ago I went to a bar with my brother and his fiance and we ordered their "Honey Wheat" beer that they brew themselves and I was absolutely blown out of my stool! It was amazing. I told my brother "I didn't think beer could have this much flavor!," after trying it. After that I checked out some homebrew books at the bookstore where I work, but it seemed like it would be complicated and expensive. Complicated isn't bad, but I'm just starting other hobbies right now and I can only handle so much.

I did buy a very large (16 quart) stockpot at a thrift store a while ago and hadn't found a use for it...I think it was desiny :)

brad
 
A great way to learn about brewing is to see it live and in person.

And, as luck would have it, this is coming up....

http://www.beertown.org/events/bigbrew/index.html

It's National Homebrew Day. There are events at brewshops and breweries all over. A perfect opportunity to find out more about what goes into making your own beer.

John
 
Phantom... I suggest you take a close look at The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, by Charlie Papazian.
More people have begin Brewing with this book than any other.

Five years from now after you have become an expert brewer you will think Papazian got a lot of the details wrong. For now- buy it, follow it closely, and you will have a great beer experience.
 
Hopz said:
Phantom... I suggest you take a close look at The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, by Charlie Papazian.
More people have begin Brewing with this book than any other.

Five years from now after you have become an expert brewer you will think Papazian got a lot of the details wrong. For now- buy it, follow it closely, and you will have a great beer experience.

Amen!

To this day (5 years, and a bronze medal at the AHA nationals) I still follow Charlie's philosophy.

Relax
Don't Worry
Have a Homebrew

It always amazes me when I see the numbers of people that want to turn a really fun hobby into TOO MUCH work and worry!

John
 
I thought of another question during work today. Ok so I am in college and young...therefore I will be moving from place to place somewhat often. Is homebrewing more of a permanent thing or can I at least somewhat easily move the equipment around? Thanks!

brad
 
Phantom of the Kitchen said:
I thought of another question during work today. Ok so I am in college and young...therefore I will be moving from place to place somewhat often. Is homebrewing more of a permanent thing or can I at least somewhat easily move the equipment around? Thanks!

brad

Oh yeah, it can be quite mobile. Especially if you're just doing extract brews, which takes away the need for all of the extra equipment for mashing grains and such. I'd definitely reccomend the plastic bucket fermenter route if you know you'll be moving. They tend to hold up to bumping and such a bit better than the glass carboys.

John
 
OK I have a few more questions. I have seen the word carboy a lot in the past. What exactly is this? I think I have an idea, but I am not really sure.

Also, what is the best location in my house to brew? Does it smell? Does it do better in a cool dark environment? How much space do I need?

What is a good type of beer to start with for your first brew? Something that have a larger window for making mistakes that won't matter in the end as much.

Thanks guys. I have found this thread very informative!
 
GB said:
OK I have a few more questions. I have seen the word carboy a lot in the past. What exactly is this? I think I have an idea, but I am not really sure.

Also, what is the best location in my house to brew? Does it smell? Does it do better in a cool dark environment? How much space do I need?

What is a good type of beer to start with for your first brew? Something that have a larger window for making mistakes that won't matter in the end as much.

Thanks guys. I have found this thread very informative!

Hi GB,

A carboy is the glass jug that sits on top of water coolers (or plastic).

carboy.jpg


The best place at least to ferment, is a cooler, usually darker place. Fermenting beers don't like big temperature swings, and UV light can "skunk" a beer. I usually just cover the carboy with the box it came in.

For a first brew, a "bigger" flavored beer is more forgive. (From Pale Ale on up to porters and stouts) Probably the most difficult beer around to try to make, is what A-B and Miller put out. There is nowhere in those beers to hide off flavors.

John
 
Thanks John. I was way off on what I though a carboy was. I thought it was something that fit into the top of the carboy actually.

OK so my basement under the stairs would probably be a good spot right? Or do I need to be able to get in there to do stuff?

I love stout so it is good to know that that would be a more forgiving type to start with!
 
Basement under stairs sounds good for temperature stability, but remember this is five gallons of liquid. It is heavy. Best to put it where you can get to it easily and wrap it in a towel or t-shirt. Its going to have to sit in one place for a week or more, so out of traffic is good too.

Smell? Yes, a little. But it is a plesant aroma. If you graduate to all-grain brewing you will have that fantastic mashing aroma. In the beginning, you will have some aroma from the kit ingredients, but it is sweet and savory.

The fermentation cycle will produce CO2 gas which by itself is odorless (for all practical purposes) but the gas will have in it the wonderful aroma of Hops...

The sweet liquid that we make on the stove is called a mash. To balance the sweetness we add hops. Hops contribute two important things to our beer... bitterness, and aroma.
So, as the beer ferments... that is changes from mash to beer, it gives off CO2 and that smells wonderful!!

There are as many types and flavors of hops as there are spices in your cabinet. There are strong and pungent ones, and mild and sweet ones. How much you use and when in the cooking cycle you put them in all determines the final flavor.

As for stout... there may be other choices for your first brews, but you are right to stick with ales... confused yet? ... a stout is an ale, but to make a stout like a Guiness is a little tricky for a starting beer. Stick with a Pale Ale. Your Local homebrew store will have a kit for it.
 
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Boy Hopz, have you hit a nerve.

Many years ago was a chemist and shared a coach house with a roommate I worked with.

Worked long hours, but we decided to make beer.

Decided to jump right in, no extracts, and made the stuff from the malted grain.

First two batches were a stout and a pale ale, made at the same time.

Youth is fearless.

Came out surprisingly good. But then again we were chemists and knew how to follow a recipe.

Had a few more efforts before we went our separate ways.

Great stuff.

Have only made a few batches of wine since.

Have been meaning to try beer again.

Usually there are too many things to do to add another hobby, so think I will just try a kit with extracts. And there is a homebrew store only thirty miles or so away.

Thanks for posting, I needed a kick in the pants to get going again.
 
I'm sorry I dug up this old thread, but I have an update

I just decided today that I am going to go the homebrew store in our city and pick up some things and get this homebrew business going for real. It was amazing to see my interest cumulate to what it is right now...it was exponential. I had a german bock at Old Chicago with my father and brother and I was just amazed. In the past two weeks I've been trying so many different, good beers and this bock was the deciding factor. Also one of my friends from work started homebrewing and he made some decent beer.

Homebrew ahoy! This is going to be a big step, but a fun one.

I will be able to call myself a brewmaster! yes!

So anyway, I'm not just raving about my passion for beer - I have a question. Are bocks an ok beer for a person new to homebrewing to make?

brad
 
Phantom of the Kitchen said:
So anyway, I'm not just raving about my passion for beer - I have a question. Are bocks an ok beer for a person new to homebrewing to make?

brad

Hi Brad!

Sorry for the very late response, I haven't been around much, and hadn't had a chance to see this.

Bocks are lagers, and if you can't ferment it cool you can't really really make a "true" ne. You can, however, make it with a neutral ale yeast, and that will get you pretty close. If you have any questions, email me through my profile, and I'll see what I can answer.

John
 
Wow! You are one lucky duck to find a 16 qt stockpot at the thrift store! How much was it anyways? Anyone else know of any websites on where to find cheap or used stockpots of that size?
 
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