1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.
  2. We've had very few donations over the year. I'm going to be short soon as some personal things are keeping me from putting up the money. If you have something small to contribute it's greatly appreciated. Please put your screen name as well so that I can give you credit. Click here: Donations
    Dismiss Notice
Cookies Donations 2021

Food Brewing Your Own Beer

Discussion in 'Tilted Food' started by Charlatan, Jun 30, 2012.

Page 2 of 4
  1. ROOKIE_85

    Rookie_85 New Member

    That seems like alot of work....
     
    Rookie_85, Sep 14, 2012
    #21
  2. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    It's not that bad. It takes a few hours but a lot of it is time spent waiting for things to heat up or boil. It's even easier once you give up bottling and switch to kegs. Plus, we've discovered people are generally willing to help out for free beer.
     
    snowy, Sep 14, 2012
    #22
  3. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    I'd like to switch to kegs, but need more fridge space.

    And it might seem like a lot of work, but it's a lot cheaper than buying beer (a six pack of shit beer runs about $15).

    As for the hops, I am using hop pellets and no sock. The next batch I will use one. In the meantime, I will just pour my beer through a sieve...
     
    Charlatan, Sep 14, 2012
    #23
    • Like Like x 1
  4. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    So I have continued to brew and also managed to inherit an extra fridge from a neighbour that moved away. I put a temperature controller on the power supply and now can better control the fermentation temperature... not to mention being able to lager. I currently have a Creemore Springs clone that will be ready in about a month or so. It's sitting very close to 0c.

    snowy , it looks like we are ready to take the next step and go all-grain. I am just deciding between buying or making a mash tun and a wort chiller. Given the costs here, it looks like it is not that much more expensive to buy a ready-made tun. I already have everything else I need for a basic set up.

    Do you have any tips on making your own recipes?
     
    Charlatan, Jan 21, 2013
    #24
    • Like Like x 1
  5. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    We use an app called BrewR.

    Right now, we've got a vanilla bourbon coffee porter in secondary.
     
    snowy, Jan 21, 2013
    #25
  6. spindles

    spindles Very Tilted

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    A friend and I tried to brew our own beer, but we kept making absolute swill (the brew got contaminated etc.). I decided I'd rather pay for beer that I know is properly made :(
     
    spindles, Jan 21, 2013
    #26
    • Like Like x 1
  7. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    I have found that as long as you make sure to sanitize everything after the boil and make sure that it ferments at a decent temperature, brewing is pretty forgiving. I haven't had a bad batch since I made my first all extract beer... and that was probably bad because I didn't keep it cool enough during fermentation.
     
    Charlatan, Jan 21, 2013
    #27
  8. Remixer

    Remixer Middle Eastern Doofus

    Location:
    Frankfurt, Germany
    I would want to experiment with brewing, but I'm pretty sure I'd end up in jail if I did it here, since I'd feel lonely with a big keg of beer and feel the need to share it.

    Definitely when I'm back in Germany. :D
     
    Remixer, Jan 23, 2013
    #28
  9. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    I have been thinking about a full keg system again. Would be nice but I still need to be able to share with three other guys.

    Maybe I should just open a brew pub. Scale all of this up!
     
    Charlatan, Jan 23, 2013
    #29
    • Like Like x 1
  10. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    We've got a competition to brew for coming up, and so we're in the process of brainstorming what we want to do. The competition's guideline is to brew a beer in the American Farmhouse style. While in past years the competition has been pretty specific, this year they left it wide open. I'm free to do whatever I like, so long as it turns out like a farmhouse in style. Right now, the plan is to use White Labs' American Farmhouse Blend. It has a touch of Brett but if we're doing our fermentation at colder temps, we're not supposed to get a ton of bretty flavor. More petting the horse than licking it.

    My husband got an email back from Russian River yesterday with a rough recipe for Pliny the Elder. The grain bill is fairly straightforward: 2-row, Cara-Pils, Crystal 45. He's going to brew a 10-gallon batch of this base and then use half of it in the American Farmhouse and the other half for a Pliny clone. This made me laugh because it is very close to the grain bill I was considering for my beer! He's going to do rosemary as an adjunct and Willamette as his hop. I'm still considering my options. Suggestions are welcome. An adjunct isn't necessary, but it fun to experiment with adding herbs and spices to farmhouse ales. I'm considering using Mosaic for one of my hops, which has a tropical fruit flavor. If you have ever had a beer brewed with Nelson Sauvin, they are similar in flavor profile.

    I'm pretty excited. I've helped design recipes before, but this is the first that I'm doing more or less on my own and that I'm doing for competition.
     
    snowy, Mar 17, 2013
    #30
  11. Craven Morehead

    Craven Morehead Very Tilted

    Location:
    third rock from the sun
    I wish I lived next door to snowy
     
    Craven Morehead, Mar 17, 2013
    #31
    • Like Like x 1
  12. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    Me too. I would love to brew with them.

    As for your question, Snowy, I don't think I have drank all that many Saison style beers, so I can't even suggest what flavours to go with for an addition. Rosemary does sound nice though. If you are going fruity, why not try something like cardamom or nutmeg (you'd have to keep it subtle though).
     
    Charlatan, Mar 17, 2013
    #32
    • Like Like x 1
  13. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    We did two brews today using the same grain bill. My husband brewed a Pliny the Elder clone, and I did what was going to be DIPA but I decided to make some changes to the recipe as we went. He used California yeast; I used California V, which tends to be fruitier. I thought it would pair well with the fruity notes of the Nelson Sauvin hops. The original recipe we got from Russian River adds corn sugar to raise the alcohol; I declined to use corn sugar. My boil was also shorter. I ended up with about 7 gallons in the fermentor to my husband's 5 (he had a 90-minute boil). I hopped at 60 with 1.5oz Magnum, 45 with .5oz Magnum, 1 oz Nelson Sauvin, and at the end of the boil with 1 oz Nelson Sauvin and 1 oz Amarillo. I'm planning on using the remaining 2oz of Nelson Sauvin pellets for dry-hopping. Based on the original gravity readings using the refractometer, I'm looking at about 7.0% in the final product.
     
    snowy, Mar 25, 2013
    #33
  14. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    That sounds very cool.

    I have a Maple Brown Ale in the primary. I will be racking it to secondary either tonight or tomorrow. There is so much maple syrup in this that it will need the secondary to use up the remaining sugars. The usual secondary will be my tertiary. I took a reading the other night and it's currently at 1.020 and has a nice maple flavour in the background.

    I can't wait to drink this one.

    In other news, this looks very cool. A kickstarter for a digital hydrometer.
    eDrometer Digital Hydrometer for Brewers and Winemakers by STM Instruments, Inc. — Kickstarter
     
    Charlatan, Mar 25, 2013
    #34
  15. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    I sampled my beer today prior to dry-hopping. It's tasting really good. Can't wait to see what the Nelson Sauvin dry-hop brings to the party. It's going to be super-fruity.
     
    snowy, Apr 8, 2013
    #35
  16. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    My husband bottled some of my beer when he transferred it into the keg for dry-hopping. It is fruity, but not overly sweet. It's very smooth. I think it will make a nice, light summer drinker. For my first solo attempt, I think it's damn fine!
     
    snowy, May 1, 2013
    #36
  17. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    My Maple Brown Ale was a massive fail. It tasted good when I put it into the secondary, but by the time it was ready for bottling it was vinegar. Not exactly sure what happened. But that was a lot of maple syrup.

    Back to the drawing board.
     
    Charlatan, May 1, 2013
    #37
  18. Azharen

    Azharen Getting Tilted

    Location:
    Springfield, OR
    I'm actually getting back into brewing and will slowly work my way into all-grain. I already have my igloo for my MLT and I Just got my stainless steel wort chiller this week. I just need some plumbing for the MLT and some quick disconnects for my chiller. My cousin is getting married next year and I'm the Beer Meister. I'm actually going to start two batches of apfelwein soon. I'll post some picks, but they are gonna be fermented in buckets. I actually want to build a working fermentation chamber for my garage. Getting consistent temps is crucial for good beer.
     
    Azharen, Aug 16, 2013
    #38
  19. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    We're brewing this weekend--a dry Irish red that should be perfect as fall weather moves in. Should be delicious!
     
    snowy, Aug 21, 2013
    #39
  20. Japchae

    Japchae Very Tilted

    The guys are doing a Belgian tripel this weekend.
     
    Japchae, Aug 21, 2013
    #40
Page 2 of 4