Home Brewing

Wife got me a home brew kit for Christmas. Single hop (citra) ipa.

Just a basic stove top kit. It was a real blast brewing. Got it in the fermenter now. Read a ton of articles and adjusted the “kit” recipe a smidge (dry-hopping in the fermenter, adding a little more malt, little more hops, etc. ).

Probably another 3 weeks before it’s ready and I will update. Told my wife if it turns out ok then she’s created a monster. Too fun

 

How many gallons and are you bottling or kegging it?
I just did a porter in November. I bottled it after 5 weeks and able to drink 2 weeks later.

 

@buckeyes1975
Single gallon. Small kit. I want to do a few IPA’s and some other Belgian styles before I upsize my setup. I’ll make the jump to 15-20 gal size (and brew 5-10 gal batches at a time due to the volume loss of imperial IPA style - my favorite style- brewing). And that way I can brew and ferment multiple styles within the same time frame.

From everything I’ve read ipas are meant to drink as soon as possible to maintain a pungent aroma and flavor. Despite being able to travel to India without getting spoiled, they don’t “age well” like porters and cask style saisons etc..

 

Let me know how it turns out. I plan on brewing again soon.

 

Yeah definitely. I’ve always wanted to start... every time I saw the initial setup cost for this small kit of $100 I always thought “I can just buy $100 of good beer” hahaha.

Hopefully it turns out ok. Wouldn’t mind sending folks some of it if it’s drinkable.

 

Yeah. She’s okay

 

Send some across country!

 

Bought my 5 gallon kit for about $125 from Northen Breeing and I'm glad I did. I also received a free big mouth carboy, which i like cause I can see how the yeast is working. Make sure you start saving bottle for your large batches in the future, unless you decide to keg. I plan on kegging in the future.

 

My wife won’t let me have a still.... go figure? Not sure why....

MMMMMM... Bourbon....

 

Yup I was looking at that one too. I think I’m gonna make moves on several carboys just to get more beer in the fermentation/ bottling process. At first bottling but I’d like to keg. I haven’t had a real decent bottled ipa in a while. I think they do better in cans (not happening) or kegs.

Just my opinion though.

 

Getting ready to try to brew again.

 

I've been brewing for around 8 years. First got into it to "save money" on beer. Ohh man, was i wrong. Its an expensive hobby but man its a blast! You can really shave down your batch cost by going all grain (and buying base malt in 50lb sacks), but give it a good amount successful brews using extract before you talk yourself into all-grain.

If you think you are going to be serious about brewing, start shopping for some ball lock corny kegs and a kegerator. Forget bottling, way too much time cleaning/sanitizing bottles.

Good job with starting simple. I started with an old turkey fryer burner, a 8gal pot from a kitchen supply store, a carboy and an extract ingredient kit. Now i've got a 4'x8' hanging rack in the garage full of brew equipment. Each time i would brew, i would pickup a new piece of equipment to enhance my brew. Made it easier than going all in on a large "deluxe" kit.

If you are looking for some good reading, pick up John Palmers How to Brew.

Feel free to ask any questions. And why the hell haven't you posted any pictures of brew day/fermeting?

 

Yeah I started with a basic beginner 5 gallon kit for my 1st brew. I have a siphonless big mouth bubbler carboy and love how easy it to clean and use. I got it free with my starter kit.

I've planned on kegging eventually and even a keezer. I have access to free kegs and haven't made the trip back down home to get them. 4hrs from where I live now.

My neighbor and I have talked about all grain. He has talked about a 15 to 20 gallon conical fermenter.

I did post pics just not here. It was on Tundras Live. LOL

 

Here are the pics I have from my 1st time. POPPED my cherry in my neighbors garage. LOL

 

Any of you guys gone the homemade wine route....I've brewed a couple of times, enjoyed it, but like some have said, its definitely alot cheaper to just buy beer LOL. I've tossed the idea around about possibly doing the wine route, seemed a little less intense than the "brewing" of beer.

 

You sure have the beard to be a brewer. I swear, every time i go into a brewery and either do a tour or talk with the brewers they have a gigantic beard. It must be a requirement or something.

Its nice to not be on a solo-mission when you are popping your cherry

 

I've thought about it. The reason is I have a pear tree that we have a shit ton of pears from and no use for them. I thought about using them for other spirits to, if you know what I mean.

 

Would be awesome if this became more mainstream. Id love to try to make some white lightening but not enough info out there (or maybe i haven't been looking hard enough)

 

Thank you and yeah the beard may be a lot shorter soon. LOL

It was nice to have a help or ask questions the 1st time around.

He is actually working with a local brewery to make a beer where some of the proceeds go to help preserve local hiking trails and parks. It's a pretty cool idea. He's looking into a recipe. Brewery is as excited as he is about.

 

Oh it's out there if your in the right part of the country. Seriously though the internet has a few things about it on there. The internet is a great thing and a bad thing at times.

 

Same here...I have 6 pear trees that produce some great pears, which we usually make "pear"sauce out of, but always wondered about wine or.....brandy

 

Focused too much on the brew to snag a few photos. Maybe after I get this first batch completed. Assuming it’s not dumpster runoff I’ll brew more and be more comfortable getting pics.

Plus I don’t want anyone harshing my vibe by seeing pictures and telling me I should’ve zigged instead of zagged.

 

It's a brew day.

 

BREW DAY!!!!!!

Wait....i've been scouring the background of your pictures and cant find a glass of some amazing craft brew.
That's rule #1

 

No glass needed.

 

It's not in order but Damn It Smells GOOD!

 

I can smell it from here!

 

I can't get my brew in with my beard. WTF