Home Brewing

[Kurt Cocaine]

Quotes from YLZ and StoutAndAle:

I swear to god it's one of the easiest things you can do. All you have to be sure of is cleaning everything, and there's nothing difficult about that, just a case of being thorough. It's well worth it.

Indeed. Once you have patience and are somewhat methodical then it becomes a doddle. I've been home brewing for over a decade now. I even made 200 bottles of Helles and a Pale Ale to serve at my wedding.

The initial outlay can be costly but after you're up and running you can make some great stuff.

As YLZ said - cleaning and sanitising is of the utmost importance.

I'll give you a few pointers but there's quite a lot to mention. Even with my penchant for verbosity.

I never used an out of the box kit - the ingredients tend to be sub par and old. The key to a good beer is hops that are as fresh as possible and a dry malt bill - plus clean water obviously.

You can make an extremely passable American style pale ale as a beginner using only a few kilograms of medium or light spray malt extract (or a mixture of the 2), hops, yeast and a few other bits and pieces. This beer is not a match for all grain batches etc. but it is how I learned the process of how and what needs to be done and when. Also - I have made all extract beer that are better that some of the stuff I have paid cold hard cash for in pubs.

I'll send you both a  message in a minute.

How bulky is the whole process? A friend of mine made stout in his shed years ago. My shed is full of crap currently.

There's a fair bit of gear needed to do a brew - if you want to do it any way seriously. There are people that make box kits using the bare minimum - a pot, a bucket and some bottles but you run the risk of making 10 litres of ethanol, mucky piss or by the grace of dog - a decent beer.

I'll send you a list.

This should be fun. I'm hopefully moving house soon and will have a full shed to use so I was thinking of trying home brewing at some stage.

[CorkonianHunger]

Replying to follow this thread.

[ochoill]

Metal Warfare: Botulism Edition

In seriousness though, this will be interesting, not something I am likely to do given the lack of space at the minute but I do like reading about it.

[Kurt Cocaine]

Metal Warfare: Botulism Edition

In seriousness though, this will be interesting, not something I am likely to do given the lack of space at the minute but I do like reading about it.

I'm the same but hopefully in a few months I'll be in a bigger place and it will all systems go.

[Slaughterday]

This thread has reminded me that I havent brewed since November. Did a stout for Christmas, so planning something a bit paler for the summer, might do a Leffe clone again.

Still haven't migrated to all grain but don't know if I'm arsed to be honest. Extract with steeping grains seems to be working well.

[boozegeune]

Haven't brewed (at home) in a while and probably won't with the new baby, but I will do another batch of cider. Here's a cheap and dirty one for ye, with shockingly good results.

I buy 10x 1litre bottles of cloudy cider from LIDL (€15) to fill 2x 5 litre glass demijohns. Split a single packet of yeast (I use Fermentis US-05, €2) between the fermenters, shake them up well to oxidise the juice, leave them with their airlocks for around 4-5 weeks.

Clean and sanitise everything to death, and this is easier than making a fucking cup of tea. For the effort and cost and time you put in, the results are way too good. Cloudy, lightly sparkling medium or dry cider.

Edit: someday I will share and actual recipe too. For Those wondering about going to all grain, I can definitely recommend brew in a bag as a way to go. That said, my extract w/steeping grain beers were mostly as good if not better than some of my all grains, there's just a few more things that can go awry in a full mash.

[Grim Reality]

Been brewing 7 or 8 years. I tend to brew the styles I like that aren't too common on the run of the mill craft beer shelves - British style bitters, brown ale, stouts etc. I don't bother with hoppy pale ales as that is all that's available in the shops anyway.

I don't think you need a shed or much space. A forgiving missus is more important. I brew using as much of a stripped down process as possible. A Peco boiler for BIAB mash and boil in the back bathroom . Quick fly spare with a jug. No chill process. 24 hours later trans to fermenter and leave 3 weeks. Bottle and bag it up (recently bought a real ale style beer engine - awesome) and leave it 3 or 4 weeks to drink.

Get great beer out of it. Class hobby

[boozegeune]

Where did you get the beer engine? I'm intrigued

[Kurt Cocaine]

Came across this on HiFi Tower of all places....
They have cheaper options available too. Would this be any addition?

https://www.hifi-tower.ie/Home-Living/Large-Household-Appliances/Beer-dispenser/Maischfest-Mash-Kettle-Mash-Tank-5-Pieces-1500-3000W-25l-LCD-Touch-Stainless-Steel-25-Ltr.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw1a6EBhC0ARIsAOiTkrEREp1l_aYkt_8mv3CWMBqP7zIstQH6dceDg-Qnz_Gkd76ee2xJeTsaAoPHEALw_wcB

[Grim Reality]

Where did you get the beer engine? I'm intrigued

Ebay. It cost me almost 200 including postage but is simple to set up, obviously no pricking about with gas and its a sublime pleasure to have your own hand pump pint if you are a real ale man.

Off the top of my head I think the crowd selling them on ebay is called RBS.

[Necr0rceN]

Right-o lads, how does one get started without forking out €300?

I'm very interested as I've mastered a few crafts while in lockdown, sourdough etc..

[Pagan Waltar]

If anyone is interested I have 2 Igloo coolboxes and a 33L stock pot for sale, among other home brewing items.


PM for details

[Kurt Cocaine]

For the professional brewers among us....

https://brulosophy.com/2021/05/13/bru-it-yourself-japanese-rice-lager/