BYOB (Brew Your Own Beer)

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So over my last break from school, I started brewing my own beer. The first batch turned out ok, but I made a few mistakes in the process and the taste was a little off. So I tried fine tuning my methods and am currently waiting for my second batch to ferment: a blood orange hefeweitzen. I have high hopes for this one.

Anybody else byob?

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(My god.. he LIVES! )

I dont brew my own, but I have several friends who do and I have helped them some.

There are several books out that give you recipes for beer, even the more popular beers.
Is this a recipe from a book? Or did you just create it ?

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Home brewing is great fun. I have had quite a few off flavours. I think you have to get everything as clean as you can, the brewing tub, the bottles, even the caps. I used a solution of sodium metabisulphite (metabisulfite in America) to sanitise absolutely everything. I filled up the bath, made the solution to the right strength, put on new rubber gloves and gave everything a good dunking and scrub out followed by a good thorough rinsing under the cold tap (faucet). In England you can get the chemical from home brewing suppliers under the name of "Campden tablets". You have to guard against rogue yeasts such as those on your skin getting in the brew. You are talking about lab standards of hygiene for best results.

Usually even the off tasting stuff contains enough alcohol to make it worth drinking!

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I got this recipe out of the book Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione who is the founder owner of the best microbrew in the world: Dogfish Head Brewery

Yeah sanitation is crucial. I got some no rinse sanitizer that seems to work pretty good. It really is a science making proper beer and the slightest little mistake can ruin your whole batch. The hardest part, I think, is waiting for it to ferment and age.

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My brother and his friends brew their own. I find it undrinkable, but they love the stuff.

One's even made a business out of selling the equipment.

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Yeah, people take it pretty seriously. Spend a lot of time and a lot of money buying and setting up equipment. I haven't gone that crazy but it does cost a decent chunk of change up front in order to get started.

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You don't post for 3 months, and then just think you can waltz in and start talking about brewing beer?

I've never done it, but had some housemates in law school who did. There stuff was pretty good, but I wasn't involved in the process (aside from the drinking part), so I don't have any pointers.

If it's any good, I'm placing a request for a shipment out here.

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I brewed beer with several youth groups in a couple of youth centers (part of drug/alcohol prevention program).

Since I used the same hops and yeast (from a local brewery) at all places, the water made the difference of some generally quite good Pilseners.

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

I brewed beer with several youth groups in a couple of youth centers (part of drug/alcohol prevention program).

Did you guys grow marijuana too?

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Ticomaya wrote:

You don't post for 3 months, and then just think you can waltz in and start talking about brewing beer?

I figure I have to start out slow and work my way up...

I'll know in another week and a half if this batch is any good or not. I'll save you a bottle.

Walter... got any of those hops left? There is a bit of a worldwide shortage right now and they are getting kind of difficult to get your hands on. I cm limited to brewing ales right now though. Pilsners and lagers take a cooler temp to ferment and I don't have a spare fridge in order to do that yet.

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jpinMilwaukee wrote:

Walter... got any of those hops left? There is a bit of a worldwide shortage right now and they are getting kind of difficult to get your hands on. I cm limited to brewing ales right now though. Pilsners and lagers take a cooler temp to ferment and I don't have a spare fridge in order to do that yet.

I'd heard that. They did a story about how all the microbrews around here are calling around all over the world, trying to get handfuls of hops where they can.

And real hoppy IPAs are my favorite right now, wouldn't you know?

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I've never brewed my own beer, but a friend use to. He spent much of his leisure time investigating, and fine tuning his methods. It was barely drinkable. It's difficult to beat the big companies in taste.

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Ticomaya wrote:

Did you guys grow marijuana too?

No, I didn't use illegal drugs (in reality) but only wanted to lead young folks to a responsible use of legal drugs.#
(My program was supported - and later partly financed - by our state's Office of Criminal Investigation, btw.)

jpinMilwaukee wrote:

Walter... got any of those hops left?

No, and that was years ago.

As an aside: when I started, I used #real' hops, but due to the price later changed (that is, the brewery did it) to hop pellets.

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Okay, Walter ... I've just never heard of brewing beer for youth groups as part of an alcohol prevention program.

You wacky Germans.

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My grandfather used to have a hop farm in California... may years ago, probably around 1905.

http://www.freshops.com/garden.html

(I know nothing about growing hops, much less the best zones for them, but have seen some potted (!) in nurseries - and the blossoms were rather pretty.)

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Ticomaya wrote:

Okay, Walter ... I've just never heard of brewing beer for youth groups as part of an alcohol prevention program.

You wacky Germans.

That certainly was the most interesting part of it - for the media as well as for the youth. But actually the smallest (though the media interest was good for getting new sponsors!).

Oh, and I was quite known for "unusual" projects :wink:

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Ticomaya wrote:

And real hoppy IPAs are my favorite right now, wouldn't you know?

Then you absolutely have to try DogFish Heads 60, 90 or 120 Minute IPA. The 120 Minute is the most hoppy but runs you around $10 for one bottle. The 90 Minute IPA on the other hand is still real hoppy but costs only $10 for a 4-pack. If you like IPAs, it's worth every penny.

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Haven't brewed in a couple years now. Did about half a dozen batches in the couple of years before that. Broke my big glass carboy in the last move, haven't got around to replacing it. (Those mothers just splash tiny shards of glass everywhere, too. Probably would be best served with a new food-grade bucket, too.

I know someone who's abled to keep a bower of hops growing out here in Madison, might be possible over in Milwaukee, too. I think it's an English hop, dunno if the stinky Cascade/New Zealand hops would do well out here.

Eventually I just settle to using pelleted hops for the bittering and dry hop later with the more flowery hops. Dry hopping with good, fresh, clean hops will add a lot to the finish, even if you don't do it very aggressively.

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jpinMilwaukee wrote:

Ticomaya wrote:
And real hoppy IPAs are my favorite right now, wouldn't you know?

Then you absolutely have to try DogFish Heads 60, 90 or 120 Minute IPA. The 120 Minute is the most hoppy but runs you around $10 for one bottle. The 90 Minute IPA on the other hand is still real hoppy but costs only $10 for a 4-pack. If you like IPAs, it's worth every penny.

I'll try it. Right now Stone IPA is my favorite.

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Yeah I had some fresh dried hops left over from this last batch that is fermenting now. I figure once it is done I will bottle half of it and use the remaining hops to dry hop the other half before bottling.

That way I get half that is nice and hoppy (the way I like it) and half that is not as hoppy (the way the Mrs likes it).

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BYOB (Brew Your Own Beer)

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