Home beer brewing

[SlitheryDee]

So I think I'm getting into brewing my own beer at home. The genesis of this idea came when my girlfriend bought me a Mr. Beer craft brewing kit for valentines day. Now, from looking at forums and literature on the subject it became pretty clear to me that Mr. Beer must be essentially the lowest rung on the ladder in terms of home brewing. I've heard it called the "easy bake oven" of brewing. That still didn't curb my fascination with the fact that I was going to take this can of sticky, syrupy malt extract and somehow it was going to become beer in about 6 weeks. The kit came with 2 extract kits, one for American lager, and one for Mexican cerveza. I felt duty bound to use both of them before I moved on to more advanced brewing equipment, so Saturday I bottled the American lager that had been fermenting for 3 weeks and put the cerveza on to ferment. In another three weeks the lager will be ready to drink and the cerveza will be ready to bottle, so I figure I'll use the intervening time to research some 5 gallon brewing kits.

I know there are a few beer brewers on this forum so I figured I would see what you guys have to say about it.

Right now my frontrunner is this 5 gallon kit from Midwest supply. It includes some stuff that I often saw people suggest that didn't always seem to come with starter kits such as an auto siphon, hydrometer, carboy, and thermometer for a better price than many of the less complete kits I've looked at. Is there any reason not to go with this one?

I'm also looking for some general pointers from experienced folk. In order to be able to bottle my second batch of beer from the Mr. Beer while the first batch is cooling in the fridge, I had to buy a second set of 12 plastic (PET) bottles. I figured I could just continue using those when the first batch comes out of the 5 gallon kit. That's assuming I've consumed all the beer I've made by then of course and the bottles are ready to use again . Will those be ok for the near future? Is there any compelling reason for me to switch to glass bottles with crown caps? Where do people get their recipes and ingredients from? Any good beginner level recipes you could suggest? What are your habits when it comes to cleaning and sanitizing your equipment? Anything else I should know about?

 

[Denly]

Just bought this book The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian. Was recommended by everyone for newbies, I remember it state that Mr. Beer craft brewing kit is fine just take out the sugar. I might not remember correct but it is a book worth reading.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah, Mr Beer is bad, but it's a start. Do you have a local brewer/cheesemaker/wine maker supply store? Become very friendly with those guys.

Once you have a nice source for whole grain that you can grind yourself, and select your own amount of fresh hops for whatever you want, then it really starts to take off. Go with recipes and avoid pre-selected kits altogether.

 

[Uppsala9496]

I buy my extract kits from: http://www.homebrewing.org/

Decent prices in my opinion for the beginner kits.
http://www.homebrewing.org/Beginner-Beer-Making-Kits_c_205.html

I'm not a big fan of the glass carboy's. Too much of a pain in the ass to clean. I stick with the plastic pails.

Can't offer advice on the bottling as I went straight into kegging. A lot less cleaning involved.

 

[Hinda65]

I had a buddy who worked at a restaurant and he'd get me 16oz beer bottles to use...He also got me empty grolsch bottle which saved a step in capping, My main tip as far as sterilizing would be boil everything that can be boiled....Get a big pot, fill the bottles with boiling water and let em sit in there for 5 minutes, then put them on a clean towel and cover them with another clean towel..throw the caps in too and let them boil, if you add sugar to your bottles, boil the spoon first..

nothing sucks more than going through all that work and have your batch contaminated along the way

 

[SlitheryDee]

Just bought this book The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian. Was recommended by everyone for newbies, I remember it state that Mr. Beer craft brewing kit is fine just take out the sugar. I might not remember correct but it is a book worth reading.

Well I used the kits exactly as instructed already, but I figured I shouldn't expect miraculous results anyway. I'm already about halfway through "How to Brew" by John Palmer, which seems to be well recommended. I'll add your book to my reading list as well.

 

[joutlaw]

Seems like Mr. Beer is the gateway "drug" for most homebrewers. I definitely recommend moving up to a 5 gallon all in one beginner's kit for brewing extract beers. This will get you most of the equipment you need to get started.

The next step is all grain brewing. I've gone from brew in the bag using propane to my 3 vessel 15 gallon 50A electric system. Looking back, I would go with something like the Grainfather or other automated electric systems if I was start over at all grain today. You can make great beers with extract, but all grain allows you to really nail certain styles. I've also found it cheaper to brew as well since extract kits have gone up in price in the last 10 years.

You can get bottles from anywhere. Just buy good beer with non screw cap bottles and rinse each bottle after drinking. After soaking in some hot water and non fragranced oxy clean, the labels will come right off. Keep a look out on craigslist for homebrewers seller their old gear. This is a great way to get equipment for cheap and corny kegs if you are lucky. Kegging is the way to go for sure. I would recommend getting ball lock kegs versus pin lock kegs. Ball lock is more common and will be easier to work.

Temperature control is pretty critical for fermentation. Lager yeasts like lower temps 40s-50s and ale yeasts typically have a specific range - around 68F. If you can't control temps at this point, brew beers that won't showcase the flaws of lack of temperature control - hefeweizens, belgians, porters/stouts, etc.

I can't stress enough how critical sanitizing is in making beer. A small amount of bacteria can ruin a batch (or sour if intentional).

 

[KB]

Mr beer kits are a good way to start and learn. The problem is that they aren't complicated enough to make a sophisticated beer. The recipes include too much sugar and not enough malt which means most of the beers actually taste the same and are a bit watery.
I get "Brewers Best" recipe kits from Amazon and get hops/malt extras from a local homebrew shop to tweak the recipe kit to my liking.

I never did the PET bottles and instead used bottles form the start. The benefit of bottles is that can be re-used more times, but sometimes bottles can be hard to re-cap.
The /homebrew subreddit on reddit is a good resource.

 

[soulcougher73]

Seems like Mr. Beer is the gateway "drug" for most homebrewers. I definitely recommend moving up to a 5 gallon all in one beginner's kit for brewing extract beers. This will get you most of the equipment you need to get started.

The next step is all grain brewing. I've gone from brew in the bag using propane to my 3 vessel 15 gallon 50A electric system. Looking back, I would go with something like the Grainfather or other automated electric systems if I was start over at all grain today. You can make great beers with extract, but all grain allows you to really nail certain styles. I've also found it cheaper to brew as well since extract kits have gone up in price in the last 10 years.

You can get bottles from anywhere. Just buy good beer with non screw cap bottles and rinse each bottle after drinking. After soaking in some hot water and non fragranced oxy clean, the labels will come right off. Keep a look out on craigslist for homebrewers seller their old gear. This is a great way to get equipment for cheap and corny kegs if you are lucky. Kegging is the way to go for sure. I would recommend getting ball lock kegs versus pin lock kegs. Ball lock is more common and will be easier to work.

Temperature control is pretty critical for fermentation. Lager yeasts like lower temps 40s-50s and ale yeasts typically have a specific range - around 68F. If you can't control temps at this point, brew beers that won't showcase the flaws of lack of temperature control - hefeweizens, belgians, porters/stouts, etc.

I can't stress enough how critical sanitizing is in making beer. A small amount of bacteria can ruin a batch (or sour if intentional).

My friend and I went in on a Grainfather. Love that thing. We skipped bottling also and went straight into kegging. Got a Tank 7 clone that should be about ready to drink soon

 

[SlitheryDee]

Seems like Mr. Beer is the gateway "drug" for most homebrewers. I definitely recommend moving up to a 5 gallon all in one beginner's kit for brewing extract beers. This will get you most of the equipment you need to get started.

The next step is all grain brewing. I've gone from brew in the bag using propane to my 3 vessel 15 gallon 50A electric system. Looking back, I would go with something like the Grainfather or other automated electric systems if I was start over at all grain today. You can make great beers with extract, but all grain allows you to really nail certain styles. I've also found it cheaper to brew as well since extract kits have gone up in price in the last 10 years.

You can get bottles from anywhere. Just buy good beer with non screw cap bottles and rinse each bottle after drinking. After soaking in some hot water and non fragranced oxy clean, the labels will come right off. Keep a look out on craigslist for homebrewers seller their old gear. This is a great way to get equipment for cheap and corny kegs if you are lucky. Kegging is the way to go for sure. I would recommend getting ball lock kegs versus pin lock kegs. Ball lock is more common and will be easier to work.

Temperature control is pretty critical for fermentation. Lager yeasts like lower temps 40s-50s and ale yeasts typically have a specific range - around 68F. If you can't control temps at this point, brew beers that won't showcase the flaws of lack of temperature control - hefeweizens, belgians, porters/stouts, etc.

I can't stress enough how critical sanitizing is in making beer. A small amount of bacteria can ruin a batch (or sour if intentional).

Good info. It hadn't occurred to me to use bottles from beer I'd been drinking. Temperature control is definitely going to be an issue, although in the warmer months I shouldn't have much of a problem keeping it in the the 68-72 degree range I've seen recommended. The batch I've got on right now is probably a bit cooler than it should be though.

 

[SearchMaster]

The Papazian book is good recommendation. I have the buckets and a carboy...I can't say there was a big taste difference between them but I don't have a super sensitive palate. I've also done the Grolsch bottles and the cap bottles...the Grolsch bottles are easier because they're bigger (fewer bottles to fill) and caps will sometimes crimp incorrectly so you have to redo it. You'll use ~50 12oz bottles per batch, so about two full cases.

As for temperature, lagers ferment at lower temps than ales so a lot of people will brew summer ales and winter lagers. On the subject of grains, I tended to do a hybrid - malt extract primarily with some specialty grains steeped in. The extracts are just easier and storing a small can is easier than larger bags of grains.

Don't fret TOO much about sterilization. Cleanliness is obviously important but I probably made 40 or 50 batches over the years and never had one ruined (I was careful but not obsessive). The simple recipes seemed to be the best received. I made a mistake once and basically doubled the malt that I should have and ended up with a very high alcohol brew. I couldn't stand it and was about to throw it out but my brother-in-law said it was the best beer he'd ever had and wanted the rest of it. Go figure.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I started home brew in 2009 or 2010 and did it nonstop until 2012 when we had our daughter and I started home construction projects... Beer hasn't been a priority because of kids and the lake we have property on has been below normal levels (so summer lake parties haven't been happening)...

I have equipment to do all grain brewing up to 10 gallons per batch and I've got kegging equipment and I built a stir plate out of a computer fan and hard drive magnets in a hobby box. My recommendation is to research all the side projects you can get into....after you learn the ropes of doing LME brewing, switch to DME. You need to experiment with the right amount of hops and how to add them. I'm a german lager guy so I almost brew exclusively with Hallertau hops for bittering and then use Tettnang Hops in the last 5 minutes for aroma....and try to make brown lagers that are similar to Tecate or Modelo in color (yes, those are Mexican beers, but are german style)....the Vienna style lagers. I've brewed around 100 gallons of beer in the few years I did it, but only had 1 bad batch and that was more of an issue with the liquid yeast I was using being too authentic and giving the beer bad flavors. What I learned was when I followed those hops profiles (1oz of each kind...no more, no less), all my beer was consumed by friends/family and I could keep brewing. You want something that's drinkable and something that people keep coming back for....concentrate on finding what you like, what friends like, and hone your craft. After you get a few recipes down, you can experiment if you wish.

1. Get good equipment (stainless pot, turkey fryer, boil bags, auto-siphons)
2. Use food-grade sanitizers like Iodophor or Starsan to clean your equipment...don't use bleach on steel, etc...
I use Iodophor and B-Brite (soak) to clean my equipment. I dilute the iodine in water and use the same water to make contact with all my equipment....saves iodine AND water ...just make sure it makes contact with everything for 10+ seconds so it'll kill any bacteria. Don't mix iodophor and hot water. Use a brush on any metal parts and avoid using brushes or metal on plastic parts....scratches in plastic buckets or carboys are grounds for getting new plastic as bacteria grows in them...
3. I put hot water in my carboys with B-Brite and shake vigorously for a long while to make sure they're clean. Occasionally, I'll fill them with plain water to the top and let them sit overnight so the water will leach anything it can from the sides of the bottle.
3. I typically will pour my beer into a fermenting bucket for 2-3 weeks, then move it to another bucket or a carboy to finish....then I move it again before bottling and kegging to reduce sediment from what I bottle/keg. Remember if you are using a carboy and brewing lighter beers, cut a hole in a trash bag and slide it over the neck of the carboy. UV light is your enemy. Want proof? Go grab a green-glass bottle of Yuengling lager....then get the same beer canned.... Compare the flavor. UV Light will skunk a beer (Heineken, Corona, etc..)

Any questions, there are good forums out there for home brew. It's really a process to learn and you can get kits readily from a few companies...I like Northern Brewer, but there are many others that have decent prices.

 

[joutlaw]

Support your local homebrew shop if one is available. Northern Brewer/Mid West brewing is owned by AB/InBev.

 

[TonyG]

Definitely find a local shop to deal with, and stick with starsan for your sanitizer. All grain brewing and bulk hops is the cheapest method, but more time consuming then the LMD/DME brewing methods, but you also have more control with all grain. I would highly suggest moving towards all grain via brew in a bag(BIAB), and have your local shop double mill the grains, as biab works better with a finer crush. You can get buy with fairly minimal equipment, or you can jump in a far as your wallet will allow and then some, but a basic big aluminum pot will get you started, my first one was a 8 gallon "tamale" pot from Target and I brewed quite a bit of tasty beer with it. The other decision I made when I started brewing was that I did not want to deal with bottling, so while my first batch was fermenting, I purchased some corny kegs and a kegerator off of craigslist, which is also a good place to find used brewing equipment in general.
Did I mention to stick with Starsan? When properly mixed, it keeps well in a bucket or spray bottle, and is safe to drink. It is great for sanitizing your fermentors or bottles/kegs, as you don't have to rinse it or let it completely dry like other sanitizers, and while it will foam up, the foam is a good thing.

TLDR:
Local shop - Good
Starsan sanizer - Good
Craigslist for equipment - Good

 

[elitejp]

Read the books if you want but the internet has enough info to answer any questions you run into. Its very basic stuff really. Main things that will make a difference in an otherwise good beer recipe will be the mash temp (when using grains ), fermenting temp and sanitation. It can be fun to brew your own just like i enjoy cooking but in reality most of your active time will be cleaning and sanitizing

 

[SlitheryDee]

I've been reading the complete joy of home brewing by papazian lately (It's a little less dense than "How to Brew"), and I have a question about his instructions for those who are familiar with the book. In the book he recommends putting 3 gallons of "clean cold water" into the fermenting container that the wort is to be poured into to cool it. It makes sense to me that you would have to preboil this water to sanitize it before pouring it into the fermenter, but I can't find anywhere in the book where he says that is necessary. I'm going to use gallon jugs of store bought drinking water to brew with because the municipal water isn't great. Is just sticking three of these in the refrigerator the day prior to brewing and pouring them directly into the fermenter before the wort meeting his requirements, or is it supposed to be understood that they're to be preboiled?

 

[SearchMaster]

My tap water is good - it's a neighborhood system that basically comes straight from the aquifer, and I never pre-boiled and never had a problem. I think this falls into my previous statement about obsessing over cleanliness...if you're obsessive, go ahead and boil your store water. But the chances of contamination from not boiling has to be extremely small with a higher chance of airborne contaminants while the wort/water is exposed to the air.

BTW if your batch is contaminated, you're not going to be unsuspecting and drink 3 beers and die. The beer will have a funny smell, will have a strange foam, etc. Remember that some beers are intentionally soured (e.g. Guinness) and you can tell from their unique taste (and that's just a very small bit soured).

 

[zinfamous]

Most recent batches we made, we always used Arrowhead bottled water, or whatever our supplier was. Our order was too large, so we always had extra 5 gallon bottles. ...those were re-purposed for beer-making. Never worried about sterilizing it. And yeah, we reserved 2 gallons or 3 gallons to add later and cool down the wort.

 

[SlitheryDee]

My tap water is good - it's a neighborhood system that basically comes straight from the aquifer, and I never pre-boiled and never had a problem. I think this falls into my previous statement about obsessing over cleanliness...if you're obsessive, go ahead and boil your store water. But the chances of contamination from not boiling has to be extremely small with a higher chance of airborne contaminants while the wort/water is exposed to the air.

BTW if your batch is contaminated, you're not going to be unsuspecting and drink 3 beers and die. The beer will have a funny smell, will have a strange foam, etc. Remember that some beers are intentionally soured (e.g. Guinness) and you can tell from their unique taste (and that's just a very small bit soured).

Good to know. I don't plan on being obsessive about sanitization if I can help it. I would like to avoid making any obvious mistakes though. It seemed like one of those things that could be either "he doesn't say it because it's not an issue" or "he doesn't say it because it's so obvious it should go without saying". I'm going to go without preboiling and see how things turn out.

 

[SearchMaster]

It'll be fine.

Relax. Don't worry. And have a homebrew.

(yeah I got sick of that phrase while reading his book)

 

[SlitheryDee]

Just as an update, I have put my first batch in to ferment. My parents happened to be in the same town as the nearest home brewing supply shop, so I enlisted them to pick up a 6.5 gallon glass carboy, 5 gallon brewing kettle, and a cream ale kit that they apparently make in-house. My stuff from Midwest supplies also came in, but I basically only used the fermenter from it as a bucket to hold sanitizer. That's ok though since I'll definitely be using the bottling bucket in a couple of weeks. This also gives me enough fermenters to have two batches going at any given time. Just wanted to say thanks for the pointers guys!

 

[Carson Dyle]

The big glass fermenter is nice to have. If you check the specific gravity to determine finished, be careful not to contaminate the batch. Happened to me with one of my first.

 

[ToniSalmonelli]

Cheers !

http://mcrow.usermd.net/s-04.mp4
Stout in progress

 

[OutHouse]

i used to make my own root beer. it was sooooo good.

i have been wanting to get my feet with with making moonshine. Stills are expensive and i wish i know how to make my own copper still like the hillbillies on the Moonshine reality show.

 

[bbhaag]

Looks great man. Love the pics and the vid of the air lock in action is cool to. The only advice I have is to use an ice bath or chiller to cool the wert and don't use your stove top to bring the wert to a boil because it takes to long and ruins the flavor.

Looks like your brew will be tasty. Send me a few when they are bottled.