I’m kind of a hack brewer. I use extract , kind of pick ingredients willy-nilly at the brewer supply store, and never keep track of recipes. I like additives (ever try adding a pot of strong coffee to a porter? Good stuff! Sometimes a little honey is good. Dark corn syrup is nice for a caramel flavor in a brown ale).
I usually use two cans of extract and a three pound bag of the dried stuff, plus plenty of fresh hops (sometimes plugs, never those nasty little pellets) and always start off the wort by boiling some cracked grain. I ferment in a 7 gallon bucket.
I’ve tried all grain brews before, but never noticed a significant difference in the results to justify buying the extra equipment and spending the extra time on all that boiling and sparging.
Enough rambling. Who are the brewers on the board? What have you got (or plan to have) in your hopper?
I’m thinking I’m going to start off the season with another one of those extra hoppy coffee porters. Drunk and wired with one drink! What a beverage!
This is Great Gatsby! I just bought a five gallon glass bottle the other day. I’ve fermented hard cider, but I’d rather make a batch of really fine pilsner or lager. Either a Cascade, German, or Czech type of hops is what I have in mind.
Glass carboys look cool whilst fermenting, but are a major pain in the ass to clean. I prefer my 7 gallon bucket that I can clean with a sponge and some bleach and water, and yields an extra case of beer at bottling time.
I prefer my beers amber to black. If you have a style in that range that you would like to hear my experiences about, let me know.
The recipe thread was way too long for me to wade through. The only thing I can cook is beer, which for some reason smells exactly like artichokes.
Maybe I should try cooking artichokes some time. Na, rather cook beer. There are many good books on the art of home brewing, and I don’t claim to be any kind of expert, but if you have any questions, I shall do my best to help.
Know who needs to be in on this discussion? beagledave. He’s an avid–and dedicated–home brew-meister.
Let’s just say Chris and I rendevoused (which isn’t a verb) with Dave. The hound wasn’t present, the wandering inflatable 6’ penis was, but amidst the frivolity great discussions ensued about worts and yeasts and all kinds of stuff grateful drinkers don’t ever want to think about when quaffing a brew.
Don’t wanna know about sugars and what yeasts excrete to make beer,
Veb
Ahhh…it has been awhile since I fired up the propane tank. I just tapped a corny keg of oatmeal stout …it is DEE-LISH…next on tap is a nice Pumpkin Ale that should go well with the Thanksgiving Day fixins in our house.
I’ve been brewing about 3-4 years…switched to all grain last fall. Unfortunately, our local home brew shop went out of business right about the time I switched to all grain. I get my stuff from Northen Brewer now.
i can never find enough people to help me drink my homebrew…so it takes me at least a month to go through a keg…if you ever pass thru Davenport…
I know a couple folks that used to homebrew and by God, I’d love to do it myself! What books/resources might be ideal for someone who’s just starting out?
I do a lot of homebrewing, but mostly mead and ciders. I make beer for friends, but don’t drink much of it myself.
What I really love is recreating historical brews. I mostly do medieval / renaissance brewing, but lately I’ve been looking into American Civil war-era brewing.
I just moved and discovered I’ve got about 80 pounds of honey, so it’s going to be all mead all the time for my house this fall.
I’m a dedicated mead brewer myself. I use the basic recipe from Pappazian’s book (antipodal) and jazz it up with spices and fruit juices. Unfortunately, my friends drink faster than I brew…mead takes so long to make! Time to fire up another carboy.
