Brewing your own beer..

[.spec]

Do it man,get some pics up there please.I'm about to start brewing for the 1st time and am just getting me kit together so any pointers will be most useful.

Will do. I'll try and snap some tonight. If you're serious about making beer I'd also recommend getting a book or two. They're invaluable as references on different things from techniques to ingredients. My favorites are The Complete Joy of HOmebrewiing and How to Brew. The first is a really great starter book and the 2nd is good for the more sciency parts of brewing (and there are a lot of those).

One thing I will say about them is they both tend to talk about beer in perspective of American beer styles. They talk about pretty much every style of beer at one point or another but a lot of the recipes they give tend to be more geared towards American craft beers rather than traditional English ones. I just felt like I should throw that in since it seems like most of you are in the UK.

[Pi-Krust]

Do it man,get some pics up there please.I'm about to start brewing for the 1st time and am just getting me kit together so any pointers will be most useful.

Will do. I'll try and snap some tonight. If you're serious about making beer I'd also recommend getting a book or two. They're invaluable as references on different things from techniques to ingredients. My favorites are The Complete Joy of HOmebrewiing and How to Brew. The first is a really great starter book and the 2nd is good for the more sciency parts of brewing (and there are a lot of those).

One thing I will say about them is they both tend to talk about beer in perspective of American beer styles. They talk about pretty much every style of beer at one point or another but a lot of the recipes they give tend to be more geared towards American craft beers rather than traditional English ones. I just felt like I should throw that in since it seems like most of you are in the UK.

Nice one man,just ordered meself this a few days ago . http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=byo Strictly British Baby!

[.spec]

I figured I'd bring this thread back from the dead since I brewed last weekend. I made an IPA with orange and corriander in it. The process I'm doing is probably way different then what you guys are doing. I'm doing all grain brewing (no liquid or dry malt extracts) so it's a lot more grain (this brew was 11 lbs) and for this style of beer A LOT more hops. Things turned out ok so far, I need to rack it into the secondary probably tonight or tomorrow. Anywho I figure you guys might be interested in seeing the equipment and whatnot.

http://flickr.com/photos/60058591@N00/s ... 389798995/

[__________]

i heard that brewing your own beer is just like having a cup of teaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[.spec]

It's the most complicated and sensitive cup of tea you'll ever brew.

[LEQ]

Nice one Spec, I had some 'issues' with CO2 but all good now, ready for tasting tomorrow, I allowed an extra week or maybe 2 (?) on secondary fermentation as it tastes better apparently. I want to get into all grain next. Is it fairly easy to get it right or is the margin for fucking up quite slim?

[.spec]

Nice one Spec, I had some 'issues' with CO2 but all good now, ready for tasting tomorrow, I allowed an extra week or maybe 2 (?) on secondary fermentation as it tastes better apparently.

This totally depends on the beer, and how much trub (shit in the bottom of your carboy) is in there with it. Really you should be aiming to hit your final gravity reading more than anything. If you've hit that then you should think about bottling. Two weeks can be a long time for a secondary unless it's a darker beer.

I want to get into all grain next. Is it fairly easy to get it right or is the margin for fucking up quite slim?

The process itself is pretty straightforward but it's very dependent on how much temp. control you have and how exact you are. When you're mashing (the part with the big fuckoff cooler) you need to be within a degree or two. A difference of 154 degree water vs 151 degree water is big. Before jumping to all grain make sure you're:

- Taking ridiculous amounts of notes when you're brewing. Get in the habit of this early, write down every step, how much water, what temp etc.

- Read, read, read. It was hard for me to wrap my brain around the process at first but after a while I was able to hammer it in.

- Take a look at this video. It's a pretty basic but good video showing the process of doing a batch sparge all grain brew. Helps put things in perspective.

[drokkr]

fair play boys. homebrew ftw!

[LEQ]

Yeah I hit my final gravity reading spot on, so going well. I've kegged it rather than bottled it, and the forum at the place where I bought it said to leave an extra 2 weeks in secondary as it helps with clearing, and its a fairly dark ale, I can let you know where if you want, so it's all ready to go!

A fair bit of trub went into the keg when I siphoned (sp) as well which is why I left it a bit extra too, but all temp readings etc have been on the money so fingers crossed it tastes OK. Either way I'm drinking the 40 pints regardless.

I've been reading into the all grain and to be honest I need to do a load more before getting stuck into it, but I'm definitely going to give it a go. ANy good kits or bits to get started with you recommend?

[.spec]

Yeah I hit my final gravity reading spot on, so going well. I've kegged it rather than bottled it, and the forum at the place where I bought it said to leave an extra 2 weeks in secondary as it helps with clearing, and its a fairly dark ale, I can let you know where if you want, so it's all ready to go!

Did the recipe call for any Irish Moss? I almost always drop that in the boil with about 15 min. left to help with clearing. If you hit your gravity (which is awesome) then you'll be fine. At worst, you'll have 40 pints of beer. Hah I shouldn't say that, I made a cherry/chocolate stout back in Nov. that didn't come out very well and I now have 50 bottles still unopened.

A fair bit of trub went into the keg when I siphoned (sp) as well which is why I left it a bit extra too, but all temp readings etc have been on the money so fingers crossed it tastes OK. Either way I'm drinking the 40 pints regardless.

Lately I've really been working on getting as little drub from one container to the next as it can lend some off flavors later. If you use a racking cane get one of these. They do wonders. Some amount of trub is fine, but IMO there's an upper limit you don't want to surpass.

I've been reading into the all grain and to be honest I need to do a load more before getting stuck into it, but I'm definitely going to give it a go. ANy good kits or bits to get started with you recommend?

Your first all grain is probably going to be batch sparge so something like this is the way to go. I have more or less the same setup except instead of the braided tube for straining the wort I have a false bottom in mine. It makes for a more even flow over the grain, and lessens the chance of a stuck sparge when you're draining.

[surface_tension]

I figured I'd bring this thread back from the dead since I brewed last weekend. I made an IPA with orange and corriander in it. The process I'm doing is probably way different then what you guys are doing. I'm doing all grain brewing (no liquid or dry malt extracts) so it's a lot more grain (this brew was 11 lbs) and for this style of beer A LOT more hops. Things turned out ok so far, I need to rack it into the secondary probably tonight or tomorrow. Anywho I figure you guys might be interested in seeing the equipment and whatnot.

http://flickr.com/photos/60058591@N00/s ... 389798995/

Yea man, Hops gives it all that goodness. Mo Hops = massive win.

[.spec]

Yea man, Hops gives it all that goodness. Mo Hops = massive win.

haha Surface_Tension I think we've found our common ground

420 Smoke Hops Everyday

[Pi-Krust]

I figured I'd bring this thread back from the dead since I brewed last weekend. I made an IPA with orange and corriander in it. The process I'm doing is probably way different then what you guys are doing. I'm doing all grain brewing (no liquid or dry malt extracts) so it's a lot more grain (this brew was 11 lbs) and for this style of beer A LOT more hops. Things turned out ok so far, I need to rack it into the secondary probably tonight or tomorrow. Anywho I figure you guys might be interested in seeing the equipment and whatnot.

http://flickr.com/photos/60058591@N00/s ... 389798995/

Looking good man looking good,also liking the idea of the orange and coriander IPA.Damn I need to get my finger out and get brewing, lazy bastard that I am.

[_v_]

bump.


plan on doing this soon....



cant wait, tasted few home brews and been impressed everytime.....