Homebrewer's Thread

Nice Thread.

As Norg said, he's tried my Homebrews several times.
I even served some to my guests when I hosted the January 2013 Wisconsin Reef Society MOnthly meeting at my home.

I've been homebrewing for about 10+ years.
I've only done the grain/extract technique. I do come up with my own recipes, and
I'm a 'Hop-Head'- and really love the hoppy stuff!
I often do a quad hopping- the fourth as a 'dry hoppin' in the fermenter.
And, I usually get lazy, and don't 'rack off' to a secondary fermenter, as all it seems to do is visually clarify- very little at all if that.

I would like to one day make the jump to all grain, but would want a Good, suitable, DIY solution.

I did do a lager a few times when I lived in TX, using my spa tub as a bath, ;putting isome ice in, a towel over the fermenter and a fan on it- smae out pretty good actually!

I haven't tried a lager since, and I now live in a cold climate. My garage in the winter would be close to ideal. I also now have a fridge in my basement- but we keep extra food in it as well.

As a result of this thread- I'll be starting, I'll be starting another batch next week!

Oh and btw- all my sailing friends in TX who often drank my beer, would contantly say 'Todd, you should sell this stuff, or open a Micro brewery! While a nice compliment- that's not for me, not now anyways.

 

** They allow a stove, right?
Go back to the grain/extract method. I"ve done many batches on my range tops, both electric and gas, works great! It's nice to have a vent hood that actually vents it our of the house however.


The Lager temps are a bit warmer thatn I currently want my 'extra food/beer' fridge in the basement to be at to ferment a lager, I think?

 

I have been brewing for about 10 years now off and on. I usually do IPA's and pales but often do wheat varieties in summer months for those who don't know what real beer is!
I have a converted chest freezer capable of tapping 4 cornies with perlick faucets right next to my reef tank. Try to keep my hobbies close together!

 

My kitchen is tiny and I don't have the space to fit my brew pot on my stove. Additionally, from prior experience, I've found some ranges just don't blast enough heat and it takes forever to get to a boil.

Also, to your point, I would not advise using a fridge for lagering and food keeping. Lager temps are going to hit 45F at the lowest, which is too high for food. Beer would be fine, but not exactly refreshing when you pull them out to drink.

 

Thanks, that was my point about my basement/bar fridge, that it is being used for food.

In the fall/winter/spring, my garage just may stay about the right temp for a lager, we'll see.

I know what you mean about some stove taking forever to get over 3g of water to boil.

I do use my crawfish cooker, propane fired most of the time.

 

Homebrewing is such a water friendly hobby. I feel like these two hobbies can overlap, where water chemistry plays a part in both... All grain, all reef? hmmm, maybe not so much. I have a refractometer for homebrewing, but not for salinity, wth is wrong with me!

I've been homebrewing off/on for the past 10 years or so. Where I'm from (outside of wisconsin) they don't really believe in good beer. Thankfully now I'm in beer country and things are so much better. Places where you can buy more varieties of beer than you can shake a stick of cheese at!

I'm a all-grain snob... I have a converted keg brew setup and a keggerator for corny kegs. It's a great hobby and I've had a lot of fun doing so. I haven't brewed in a couple years and it's time to get it out and dust off the burners!

My two favorite-ish beers to brew are Bell's Two hearted Ale and Left Hand Brewery Milk Stout. My favorite beers to drink are most definitely belgians. I had a tripel the other day that was out of this world. I'm slightly embarrassed that I don't remember the name, but that's just cause it was that good...

 

I have a bell's two hearted clone dry hopping right now! Im exited to see how close it is to the real thing.

 

I have one Left Hand Brewery Milk Stout sitting in the fridge haha

 

BAM!

 

:2thumbsup

I like the nitro, but I'm more partial to the original LH milk stout. Have you had that one?