Home Brew

Water Cooler
#1

Anyone here brew their own beer? I’ve just read this article and I really want to give it a shot. Any words of wisdom on getting started?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/29/brewdogs-open-source-revolution-is-at-the-vanguard-of-postcapitalism

#2

I used to brew about 20 years ago. I had my best results brewing darker beers. When I tried to brew something lighter, it was sometimes cloudy and sometimes smelled like cat piss. I didn’t have any legit home brew supply stores in my area back then, so I had to get everything through the mail. I suspect you can get better ingredients now.

#3

Clean, sanitize, clean, sanitize, clean clean clean everything must be as clean as possible. Be OCD with it.

#4

I have brewed at home four times – two successfully and two unsuccessfully.

We also went to a brewpub around here where they supply the ingredients and equipment and let you brew and bottle the beer (which was a lot of fun…a good birthday present from my fiance).

It is a lot of fun, but can be pretty finnicky.

Words of wisdom:

  1. Clean and sanitize everything repeatedly…This is the fastest way to ruin the beer (and you won’t know it until you’re already done with the process).

  2. Use a thermometer to make sure you keep your wort within an appropriate temperature range…This is a piece I’ve had trouble with.

  3. Recognize that it is a hobby and will be a process of trial and error to get the result you want. You need to enjoy the process.

#5

There used to be a great guide on the internet which detailed different methods and started people off with malt extracts. But I can’t find it now so: https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/

This might be it:

http://howtobrew.com/

#6

I was looking for that same site! I think that must be it…But it definitely got a facelift. I remember the name “John Palmer” – and that seems to be his site.

#7

I do it often. Have probably brewed 30 or so beers. It is a lot of fun. Buy Papazian’s book “The Complete Joy of Homebrewing” for a start. There are essentially 2 ways of brewing. Extract (easier way) already does most of the work for you. This is great for just starting out and you can certainly make good beer doing it this way. The drawback is you are very limited in the types of beers you can make since extract comes in only a few varieties. All Grain is the more advanced way. With that you are buying all of the individual grain types, so you have endless amounts of combinations to try out. This way is certainly more advanced though and you will need more equipment to get going.

For extract, you could get going for under $100 with the equipment you need. All Grain is going to probably run you around $250 if you really want to have a good set up.

I certainly am not making any earth shattering beers, but it is still a lot of fun on a Saturday to sit outside for a few ours, have a few beers, and brew some beer. I also keg my beer after I make it. Bottling is a complete pain.

As others have mentioned, cleaning and sanitation is very important. Thankf ully I have not had an infection in my 30 or so beers, but you still need to make sure everything is very very clean.

#8

I brewed a lot in college and when I moved home for a few months post grad. Ever since I moved to NYC, I have not had to space to brew.

I recommend starting out with extract kits to get a general sense of the process, specifically the importance of sanitation. Once you do a few of those, move on to all grain brewing.

Some words of wisdom:

  • Start saving bottles now, it sucks when bottling day comes along and you realize you don’t have enough bottles for your beer.
  • Read as much as you can, and watch as many videos as possible, even if you think you won’t start brewing for a few months
  • Invest in some quality equipment (Temp controlled mini fridge for fermentation, quality thermometers, good boiling kettles etc…). Even though these can seem expensive at first, it will save you time, effort and money in the long run. If you are handy, you can make a lot of the equipment yourself
  • See if there is a local homebrew club in your area
#9

I used to be an avid homebrewer until I moved out of the country.

My advice is to buy a starter kit to learn the basics before you start buying $200-500 worth of equipment. The hobby can get expensive so you need to decide if you even like homebrewing in the first place. I was able to put together a nice home brewery from people who bought a ton of equipment and only used it once or twice and sold it to me at a discount.

I was given an old Mr. Beer kit from an old roomate who never opened the box. The beer is not great but it really got me into the hobby. Before I moved I was brewing 5 gallon all-grain batches, which was awesome and I miss it so much! There is nothing better than drinking your own beer that you made with your own hands and on the plus side you don’t have to pay any of that beer tax since you’re just buying the grains.

Have fun!

#10

Thanks for all of the great advice. It looks like I have some reading to do.

#11

This is totally on my list of things to do if I move out of the city and have enough space. Seems like a lot of fun!