Want to start home brewing?

[jporter12]

Check out today's woot! Get started for $25! (19.99 + 5 shipping)

[MidgetTodd]

I would...... but I'm lazy and Bud Lite is readily available

[madcat6183]

Just posted this on another site too LOL

[Mykill]

The real homebrew kits Ive considered are $150+.... Saving bottles now for when I buy one.

[Bad324]

haha my roommate got that from his brother for last Christmas. Never opened it or left our kitchen so he re-gifted it back to his bro this year!

[DrewsBrews]

This would be for the folks who's drink of choice isn't bud light.

I believe the ingredient kits are pre-hopped Liquid extract. Super simple, and small enough batches to brew up in your average soup pot (No aluminum. Stainless or enamled steel only). A good way to try out the hobby if you arn't sure. Cheap enough that if you don't like it, pass it on to someone else. Last time I was at Listermann I believe they even stocked a few ingredient kits for this.

I've never used one of these little kits, but it doesn't take much to do.

1) Sanitize the fermenter. Boil tap water and malt extract, let cool to about room temp (ice water bath is best for speed) pour into the fermenter with the yeast.

- Let it ferment for 2 weeks. Its fun to watch, the first few days is the most vigorous.

2) Sanitize the bottles then add a little sugar to them so the yeast can munch on it and carbonate. Pour beer into bottle and cap it.

- Let sit for 2 more weeks at room temp for carbonation (75-78deg is best, no lower than 70deg) then chill, open and pour into a glass slowly as to not disturb the yeast at the bottom of the bottle.

Edited December 27, 2011 by DrewsBrews

[redkow97]

^ My "Mr. Beer" kit is essentially what is described above. It's really "home fermenting" more than "home brewing," but still results in decent tasting stuff for cheap.

if anyone in the cleveland area needs bottles, I probably have 100 extra in my basement. All are clean, and have been stored in a manner that they shouldn't be getting dusty. Obviously you'd still need to sanitize them before use, but I've done 80% of the work for you.

most of them are Great Lakes Brewing Co. bottles, and their labels will survive the apocalypse. Budweiser American Ale has different shaped bottles, so you can easily use those to determine the difference between your brews even w/o a label.

[Mykill]

This would be for the folks who can't stand bud light.

I believe the ingredient kits are pre-hopped Liquid extract. Super simple, and small enough batches to brew up in your average soup pot (No aluminum, stainless or enamled steel only). A good way to try out the hobby if you arn't sure. Cheap enough that if you don't like it, pass it on to someone else. Last time I was at Listermann I believe they even stocked a few ingredient kits for this.

I've never used one of these little kits, but it doesn't take much to do.

- Boil the water and malt extract, let cool to about room temp (ice water bath is best for speed) pour into the fermenter with the yeast.

- Let it ferment for 2 weeks. Its fun to watch, the first few days is the most vigorous.

- Add a little sugar to the bottles so the yeast can munch on it and carbonate the bottle. Pour beer into bottle and cap it.

- Let sit for 2 more weeks at room temp (75deg is best, no lower than 70deg) then chill, open and pour into a glass slowly as to disturb the yeast at the bottom of the bottle.

Ill be in touch if/when I dive into this so I can pester you with ignorant questions.

[Cheech]

I just got one from my GF for Christmas, along with 2 other recipes for a total of 3. Apparently the one that's packed in the box with the Mr.Beer package is kinda gross, so I'd suggest getting the noob kinks out with that and pick yourself up a better one later.

The support forums have a shitload of info on proper procedures. Be advised, if you pick this up you still need a hydrometer (measuring alcohol content and if fermentation is complete), temperature gauge (for keeping a consistent fermenter temp), and other odds and ends that I can't think of because I haven't started the process yet.

Mykill's right though, the big boy kits are $150+. The reason for this is the vast majority of homebrew beer recipes are geared for 5 gallon containers (or multiples of 5 gallon containers). The main purpose of Mr.Beer, I think, is to get you comfortable with the process and give you a low-cost platform to make some mistakes and experiment a little until you want to expand and try to make stuff on your own without the need for the pre-canned extracts.

[Cheech]

Ill be in touch if/when I dive into this so I can pester you with ignorant questions.

I'm going to try and start a batch this week if you want to come down from Lewis Center.

[DrewsBrews]

Ill be in touch if/when I dive into this so I can pester you with ignorant questions.

No problem, ask away.

...if you pick this up you still need a hydrometer (measuring alcohol content and if fermentation is complete), temperature gauge (for keeping a consistent fermenter temp), and other odds and ends that I can't think of because I haven't started the process yet.

After the first few batches I stopped using my hydrometer. It's going to ferment fine. As long as the room temp is above 72deg I havn't had any problem bottling after 14 days. You just want to be sure it's finished fementing so the bottle doesn't get overcarbonated. It won't hurt the beer to let it go for longer either. I've let a beer sit in the fermenter for 3months before out of lazyness. It came out fine. Monitoring temperature of the ferment I also find unnecessary, it won't get too hot unless the room temp gets up to or over 80deg.

However it is a good idea to check the temp of the wort before you add the yeast. If it's over 85deg it can shock the yeast.

I find the best thing you can do is keep things as sanitary as possible. The biggest danger zone is the time after the boil stops and before fermentation begins. That's when other bacteria can take hold. It won't hurt you (It's not backyard moonshine), it would just make the beer taste funny. Keep the lid on the pot when cooling, and cool as quickly as possible. Don't let anything touch the wort that isn't sanitized.

Edited December 27, 2011 by DrewsBrews

[SecondLiar]

You don't need to buy a $150 brewing kit to get started. I brewed my first batch this fall using this tutorial: It turned out great.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/

Ordered a kit for $18 from here: I didn't have big pots so I cut the ingredients in half and made two separate 2.5 gallon batches. You can also get a hydrometer, thermometer, grain bag, a few airlocks, and sanitizer from here:

http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/advanced-all-grain-kits/2,1351.html

I fermented in gallon jugs and bottled in soda bottles.

[flounder]

Ive got one and used it, It worked just fine.

[TheBrown57]

GF's dad got one of these for Christmas Friend of mine said the stuff tastes awe full but we have different tastes.

[Jst2fst]

I don't think I'd trust myself making this. Only thing I've made was with my roommates and it was some apple beer from the Internet turned out pretty well to.

[Cheech]

No problem, ask away.

After the first few batches I stopped using my hydrometer. It's going to ferment fine. As long as the room temp is above 72deg I havn't had any problem bottling after 14 days. You just want to be sure it's finished fementing so the bottle doesn't get overcarbonated. It won't hurt the beer to let it go for longer either. I've let a beer sit in the fermenter for 3months before out of lazyness. It came out fine. Monitoring temperature of the ferment I also find unnecessary, it won't get too hot unless the room temp gets up to or over 80deg.

However it is a good idea to check the temp of the wort before you add the yeast. If it's over 85deg it can shock the yeast.

I find the best thing you can do is keep things as sanitary as possible. The biggest danger zone is the time after the boil stops and before fermentation begins. That's when other bacteria can take hold. It won't hurt you (It's not backyard moonshine), it would just make the beer taste funny. Keep the lid on the pot when cooling, and cool as quickly as possible. Don't let anything touch the wort that isn't sanitized.

The sanitation bit was my thought as well, if there ever was a moment for me to be totally anal about sanitizing stuff, this would be it. Good to know about the hydrometer, I'm going to get one just so I have some insight as to what's going on since I tend to get a little antsy about stuff like this.

[Cheech]

Well, decided to give it a go sans hydrometer. Followed the instructions on the Mr. Beer pamphlet and it's now sitting in my closet fermenting away. I totally forgot to check the wort temp before I pitched the yeast, I think it was good but I'll give it a look tonight and see how it's progressing. Worst case there's a local homebrew shop in Clintonville I can get good yeast from.

Just a few notes for everyone else with a kit:

The instructions say to sanitize the keg, swish around, then put the tools inside the keg to soak for 10 minutes minimum. Make sure that none of the tools (like the can opener) will start to rust after a soak. I think it was OK, but still not the best situation.

The bowl that the instructions reference needs to be big enough to hold the spoon/whisk and anything else you have. Bonus points if you're able to submerge the tools in the pool. I just dumped out the sanitized water from the keg directly into the bowl when I was done soaking.

A whisk works the best for breaking up the booster when you add it to the water. Just keep a circulation going with the whisk and add the booster slowly, it'll take care of itself. Beat it around a little to break up any chunks that you missed, it'll all dissolve.

Make sure the water for soaking the canned extract is HOT. This stuff gets very viscous, VERY quickly. Next time around I'm going to add a silicone spatula to the tools so I can get all the stuff out of the can and the pot when I transfer.

Once you have the wort in the pot and you're ready to transfer to the keg, DON'T SPILL IT. It gets retardedly sticky, and cleaning up the mess is a huge pain in the ass. Make sure you have the 4qt of COLD water to absorb the thermal shock from the wort. When I am ready to put my big boy pants on and get a proper brew kit, a wort chiller will definitely be in my future. Waited the 5 minutes then pitched the yeast. I wasn't sure what the 5 minutes were for, I figured out now that it was to allow the wort to cool further so I should have waited a little longer just to be sure.

Put that shit away and have a beer!

Edited January 4, 2012 by Cheech

[DrewsBrews]

Relax, don't worry have a homebrew!

It's a "Papazianism".

I'd say keep it on the counter so you can watch it work. In 12-24hrs the sugar feast will begin.

Seriously though, as a good first book, check out "(The complete) joy of homebrewing" I picked up the second edition at half priced books for a few bucks.

Edited January 5, 2012 by DrewsBrews