Home Brewers?

[Kevin]

Anyone out there brew their own beer?

My girlfriend just bought me a "Mr. Beer" home brewing kit. It comes with a brewing keg, some yeast, some beer "mix" and a set of instructions. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for my first batch?

[KSigkid]

Not sure on any suggestions, but my best friend's father brewed his own beer for a few years; was very good, better than most stuff you could buy in the stores.

Good luck with your first batch.

[Lady Pi Phi]

I've never brewed my own beer. But when I was in highschool our OAC biology classes brewed there own beer as a class project. Apparently it was quite disgusting.

[Kevin]

Well, we had a tornado a few weeks ago. 30 people in our storm shelter. One of them kicked my keg over and I guess about half 5 liters poured out. I had enough left to bottle 3 liters today. In a month or so, they'll be carbonated and developed -- then I'm going to get drizzunk.

[Rudey]

Try adding honey. I'm also wondering what mint would taste like in beer. I bet if you thinned out the beer and added mint it would be great. Like an ice cold rolling rock or nat ice with mint. MMMMM.

-Rudey
--I've distilled in chem labs...but i never had the balls to drink it.

[KSig RC]

Originally posted by Rudey
Try adding honey. I'm also wondering what mint would taste like in beer. I bet if you thinned out the beer and added mint it would be great. Like an ice cold rolling rock or nat ice with mint. MMMMM.

-Rudey
--I've distilled in chem labs...but i never had the balls to drink it.

don't add honey post-fermentation . . . actually honey will ferment slightly, then it gives a smooth texture to the beer (specifically in golden ales and weiss bodies)


i'd add some lactose sugar to make a cream fermentation, add vanilla early in the process . . . use a weiss body and brew with orange or raspberry


-RC
--beer is my job, like for real

[Kevin]

Originally posted by Rudey
Try adding honey. I'm also wondering what mint would taste like in beer. I bet if you thinned out the beer and added mint it would be great. Like an ice cold rolling rock or nat ice with mint. MMMMM.

-Rudey
--I've distilled in chem labs...but i never had the balls to drink it.

That's a damned good idea. Have a bunch of mint growing in the front yard.

[amgn253]

My husband brews his own beer. He used to work in the quality assurance lab at Miller. He's made an amber ale that came out really good, except he let it ferment too long, so it wasn't that carbonated. Everyone we gave the beer to said it got them drunk after only 2 bottles. He wants to try making a Hefewizen, which is my favorite. He said he'd name it after me too. What a guy!

[Kevin]

Originally posted by amgn253
My husband brews his own beer. He used to work in the quality assurance lab at Miller. He's made an amber ale that came out really good, except he let it ferment too long, so it wasn't that carbonated. Everyone we gave the beer to said it got them drunk after only 2 bottles. He wants to try making a Hefewizen, which is my favorite. He said he'd name it after me too. What a guy!

Does he use one of the companies that send you the mixes or does he grow and smoke his own grains?

[amgn253]

He orders his supplies from a brewing supply company, but he cooks the wort himself, adds the proper amount of hops (he uses Cascade hops), transfers the wort from the fermenter to the bottling supply bucket. I help out by filling the bottles and capping them. He's made labels too for the finished bottles. He really enjoys brewing his own beer.

We've never tried a Mr. Beer, does it do a good job?

[Kevin]

Originally posted by amgn253
He orders his supplies from a brewing supply company, but he cooks the wort himself, adds the proper amount of hops (he uses Cascade hops), transfers the wort from the fermenter to the bottling supply bucket. I help out by filling the bottles and capping them. He's made labels too for the finished bottles. He really enjoys brewing his own beer.

We've never tried a Mr. Beer, does it do a good job?

I'll tell you when I open my first bottle sometime this week. Maybe on the 23rd or 24th.

It's a more commercialized version. They send you the wort (minus the sugar parts) in a can where you just have to add water.

[madmax]

I brewed a few batches. The beer was good but it was a pain in the ass. Who wants to wash out 2 dozen bottles then bottle the beer and wait a month to quench their thirst? F that. The novelty wears off real fast. For the same money you can just buy a case.

[Kevin]

I might get more than one keg. Plus 9 liters of beer should last me awhile. I'm going to try my first batch tonight. I'm a little worried because it looks like there is waaay too much sediment. It smelled okay when I bottled it. If I post tommorow sometime, you'll know I at least survived.

[Kevin]

Just tried my first bit. It's different than what I'm used to. Has a kind of dark yellow color and it's cloudy. Carbonation is a little weak so I'm going to leave the other bottles to carbonate a little longer. Has a slight bitter aftertaste, but I think it's pretty strong alcohol-wise.

ETA (1 hr later)

Okay, I'm at the bottom of the bottle. I think this batch was screwed up pretty bad. There's definitely DEFINITELY alcohol in it. But all of the sugar didn't dissolve and it's kind of bitter. I'm thinking that's because a lot of the water part of it was poured out accidently. There was a tornado in the area (check my location) and there were a bunch of people down in the storm shelter (where I brew beer). Someone knocked my keg over and I didn't find it til the next morning. Only 3 liters out of 9 were left. So I dunno.

[Kevin]

Drinking my own apple cider tonight.

Good stuff.

Strong too.

Recommend highly.