Banzaiii67
Well-Known Member
Got a kit for Christmas, the wife and I are looking forward to it. She's a excellent baker and I love beer so should be a total win win.
I've always wanted to try it myself. I roomed with a budy that tried it, but it was some stout stuff ( dark brew ). I love dark beer but this stuff was harder than I like. I love me some brew. What kind of kit did you get and from where?
I brewed beer for several years. I like beer. Espeacially the good stuff you can make relatively cheaply at home.
I always had 10 gallons on hand to drink while another 5 gallon batch was fermenting. I got into it for the cost savings. In the end, I ended up just drinking more beer because I always had so much on hand and didn't save $hit. Yes, I'm a drunk, just ask my wife.
It's a fun hobby. Especially when you experiment.
2 Tips.
1. Sterilize your gear well. The quickest way to ruin a batch is bacteria.
2. Get the Co2 set up and keg it. Bottling is a pain in the @ss.
Good water is the key. I live in Fort Collins CO, our tap water is some of the best in the country. I still only brewed with bottled spring water. I could taste a big difference.
for the boil or when you added to your wort?
I homebrewed for a few years and found you can make some pretty good stuff. I ran into the problem of not enough space for the process - a utility sink would come in real handy - I only have the kitchen. Like Runner 68 said, sterilization is key and that's tough to do in just the kitchen sink. Some people have said they use the bathtub to clean & sterilize........I didn't want to go there.
Finding the room and a place that has a stable temp for fermenting was a problem for me - no basement. The garage worked during the fall/spring, when temps were OK. Generally, I like lagers better than ales, and lagers need low fermentation temps like you have in the fridge, so it was hard to do that as well.
So why am I sounding all negative?.....I'm not....I found a different way. There is a brew-on-premise business not far from me. It's great.....they have all the equipment, they sterilize and clean-up everything. They have all the ingredients you could ever want...or they can get it. All you have to do is bring a recipe or choose one of theirs, gather your ingredients and cook. They store the batch during fermenting, they can carbonate it if you want, and you go back in a couple of weeks and bottle it. They have bottling machines for 22 oz bottles. Each batch is 15 gals, so you make a lot.....but split it with a couple of people and it's awesome. They will also guarantee the batch - if it turns out sour, they let you brew another batch free. Not sure I'll ever brew in the house again!
As a home brewer myself I couldn't agree more!I brewed beer for several years. I like beer. Espeacially the good stuff you can make relatively cheaply at home.
I always had 10 gallons on hand to drink while another 5 gallon batch was fermenting. I got into it for the cost savings. In the end, I ended up just drinking more beer because I always had so much on hand and didn't save $hit. Yes, I'm a drunk, just ask my wife.
It's a fun hobby. Especially when you experiment.
2 Tips.
1. Sterilize your gear well. The quickest way to ruin a batch is bacteria.
2. Get the Co2 set up and keg it. Bottling is a pain in the @ss.