[JoeProBono]

[dynachrome]

Making your own beer be good.

New tax opportunity for o-bozo be bad.

[unixfox]

I've been brewing my own beer for about 4 years now. I do a batch every couple of months or so. It's been fun and of course a lot less expensive if you like to drink premium beers. Which I do.

[coprtim]

I have a batch of Viking Ale fermenting as we speak

[Gator113]

I have often thought that this would be fun to do, but I figured I’d just make myself sick.

Now, due to the meds I have to take, I would be restricted to no more than one a day at best, so I guess it’s no longer worth the effort.

I envy some of you folks.

[bigbob]

“it’s up to individual states to decide whether to allow home-brewing”

Like I was going to ask permission???

What do you homebrewers recommend? The “kit” or what?

Been wanting to give this a try, now that Jimmy Carter has removed the barriers, well now is the time!

[Mr. K]

I once had some real moonshine distilled from fresh conr and it was the most incredible thing I ever tasted.

Sweet and smooth like Karo Corn Syrup, but AT LEAST 100 proof... 3 shots and I was toasted.

And no hangover the next day

[djf]

I was surprised by how easy it was.

I started with Cider, which came out GREAT!! Nice and bubbly, quite dry. Stuff’s got a kick!

Then I did a Coopers Bitter. That one also came out great. Full bodied, flavorful but smooth, terrific head. That batch is long gone...
:-(

Turned around and did a Muntuns Premium Lager.
Almost worthless. A can of Bud has more flavor. Never again.

So today I was at the brew store and grabbed another Bitters while they had it, it’s just about the best selling of the Coopers that they have. Not sure if I will do that one next, cause I also have a Coopers Stout and a Coopers Real Ale in the storeroom. Might try the Stout next.

But I need more Grolsch bottles...

[Zuben Elgenubi]

I've had a specialty since college. I make applejack from hard cider.

I was the first to attend college in my family. ChemE. When I came home for my first Thanksgiving, I set up a small still in our barn that housed the cider.

My father, my he rest in peace, said college was the best thing for me. Heh, heh. I got him so smashed he was trying to climb up the barn door! LOL.

[RandallFlagg]

Bookmarking

[Poser]

I used to make beer, but there are so many microbreweries in my area now that I don’t need to anymore. When I had to drive 70 miles to purchase a decent brown ale, home brew was a necessity.

[starlifter]

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I’ve mentally developed the design of a production home beer maker that will deliver a large quantity of quality product with some consistency.

The basic set up is about the size, and uses the same fixtures, as a side by side washer and dryer combo. The process begins by putting bottled water into the washer side, then adding concentrated hopped wort and yeast, possibly along with additional fermenting sugars. By using pre-made wort, there are far more possible good recipes and variations. The CO2 is vented through the dryer vent, and to heck with what Al Gore thinks.

The washer provides the right fermentation for either Ales or Lagers, then the green beer is pumped to the conditioning tank in the dryer side to age and become bright beer. The fermentation tank goes through a rinse cycle while this is being done. Then the bright beer is pumped back to the washer side for additional aging. The conditioning tank in the dryer side is washed out during this process, then the aged beer is pumped back to the dryer side while being filtered. The beer is almost ready.

The dryer side then has a keg of beer in it, and is portable, so can be detached, then plugged in to refrigerate the keg. A tap is installed on the top to dispense the draft, and a CO2 cylinder can be used to both augment the carbonation and help pump the beer out instead of just using air.

In the time it takes to drain the keg, the washer side may be making the next batch. And as needed, the dryer side can cool a commercial keg as well.

Ideally, I suppose, the CO2 produced in the process could be pumped into a greenhouse, but what would you do with a bunch of veggies? Make salsa?

[SuziQ]

Bump for Sat. reading

[ATLDiver]

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.

[Rudder]

After 3-4 years of home brewing beer, I could approximate the appearance and taste of Anchor Steam Beer, except mine was about 6% etoh.

Six bottles and you were in bed.

[Welsh Rabbit]

I love good small-batched craft beers, whether from microbreweries, small breweries, or homemade. But I have a problem with a friend of mine.

He's a homebrewer and he's terrible. And he's always insisting I try his newest brew. The last batch tasted like the smell of fresh, green wood being burnt. But the poor guy is so enthusiastic and proud of his beers, I don't have the heart to be honest with my opinion, so I dutifully choke the vile brew down and tell him how great it is and agree to take some bottles home.

I've been thinking about telling him I joined AA, but we'd probably eventually run into each other at a pub or party.

[djf]

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!

[hunter112]

I've had an itch to try home brewing, but I need two things. First is a place, when my lady finally gets some corner of the garage cleaned out, I might have that. The second is that I'd sure like to find someone else who is experienced at it, and watch that person on brewing day. It looks like it could easily be messed up, I really don't feel like spending a lot of time, and all that much money on less than mediocre beer, when there are some good brewers right across the state line in Pennsylvania!

[Magnatron]

Here's how I do it: