Six bottles and you were in bed.
Posted on 03/27/2009 3:22:53 PM PDT by JoeProBono
If 10 guys gather in a garage on a Sunday afternoon, it’s a good bet that beer will be involved.
What made the gathering March 9 at Mark Sheftick’s home in west Springfield unusual is they weren’t there just to drink beer. The guys were there to make it.
Like the car enthusiast who just can’t help but tinker under the hood, these home-brewers have figured out what goes into a good beer, and now they’re concocting their own. They’re equal parts chemist, chef and regular ol’ beer lover.
Homemade alcoholic beverages make many people think of moonshining. But those expecting to see a still would be disappointed at the equipment that was spread out on Sheftick’s driveway. There was some coiled copper tubing, used as a cooling apparatus, but most of the other tools of the trade could be found in many homes: turkey-frying burners, paint buckets, Rubbermaid coolers, thermometers and stainless steel pots.
Home-brewing became easier in most states in 1979, when President Jimmy Carter signed a bill lifting some federal restrictions that had been left over from Prohibition (it’s up to individual states to decide whether to allow home-brewing). Sheftick, a forensic diagrammer for the Illinois State Police, doesn’t have to worry about revenuers smashing up his works and hauling him off to the pokey.
Not to pimp my blog or anything, but if you are curious about the process from beginning to end, read this...
Homebrewing 1A (Homebrewing for beginners)
http://knewshound.blogspot.com/2006/03/homebrewing-101.html
It will give you a pretty fair idea about what the process is, what it costs and what materials you will need.
Personally, I brew quite a bit, right up aginst the 200 gallon limit, but we do entertain a lot and at our parties, it is amazing to see people lined up 3 deep to drink YOUR beer.
Give it a shot, you only have about 50 bucks and about 5 hours to lose. In return, you get 2 1/2 cases of top quality brew for the price of bargain swill.
And you made it yourself.
Cheers,
knewshound
Bump for Sat. reading
Good point. I think what I may do is get the thing started and get my adult son involved with his friends. They are all responsible outdoor playing and fun loving guys that enjoy an occasional beer. After they are involved, it won’t cost me a dime. ;>)
My son started making home brewed beer when he got a set up (I know nothing about any of this) one Christmas from his wife.
He loves it! I have a beer once or twice a week for my health (you ought to read how good hops are for you!) and he makes a very hoppy brew just for me. Just excellent flavor.
There’s a biergarten in Germany with our family name, he’s going to see about sending them some home brew as a gift, if that’s possible. MIL went there on a trip, said it was really quite a nice place.
Seems like a relaxing, sociable hobby.
I have a nice Belgian Saison ready to keg tomorrow. It’s a 10GAL batch, 5GAL will go in keg and 5 will go into bottles.
There ya go. Now you just need to figure out what kind of beer is their favorite. you can’t entice them to take over if you make stuff they don’t like.
Six bottles and you were in bed.
L
Beer Ping!
A low to medium ping list aimed at all of us who, well, love our beer…
FReepmail rzeznikj at stout or GOP_Raider to be added or struck from the list…
OK!
I decided next will be the Coopers Stout, so I am spending the early part of the day cleaning the carboy.
Something I tried:
I use almost exclusively the Grolsch bottles. When I was at the brew store yesterday, I picked up some new washers, but was somewhat displeased, they seem substandard.
So I removed all the washers from my current bottles. The biggest enemy of rubber is drying out and cracking. So I put them in a cup, and put in about 3 tbsp of olive oil.
Checked (and washed them off) this morning. The dents caused by the bottles being closed are almost gone. They are much firmer and more pliable than the unoiled equivalents.
So y’all might want to try this!
I’m jealous.
I need more Grolsch bottles!!!
At the brew store, they sell Grolsch bottle wannabees. Six of them will cost you abt $12.50
But I can go into Top Foods (when they have them) and buy FULL ones for $2.39 each.
BTW, I gave up on the bubbler. If you try to move the carboy, it just sucks all the stuff back down in!
So I do this: Cover the top with Saran Wrap (sterile) held in place by a rubber band. Take a needle and poke two or three very tiny holes in the wrap.
Then, another layer of Saran Wrap, held by another rubber band LOWER than the original rubber band. Being careful, poke holes in the second layer LOWER than the holes in the first layer.
Within a day, the saran wrap is ballooning out. I must be doing something right because it has never burst on me. Plus, then I can move it at will and not worry in the least!
I just brought y’all up to 10,021 Saturday afternoon....
BEER BUMP! :)
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