Do any of you brew your own beer?

I've been looking at it lately, and have been very interested. It seems pretty easy.

I have tried home brewed beer many times and it is nasty except when my next door neighbor brewed some and it was not bad at all. He made a fruity Mexican style, Pilsner, and a dark German style. All three types were pretty good. Other than my neighbors brew all the others I have tried were not fit to drink.

I've never had any that was any good. Not to say that here isn't someone out there who brews a good home brew, it's just that I've never had any. Everytime someone brings out a bottle for me to try, I cringe a little, take a sip and tell them it's not bad. Thank goodness no one has asked me if I actually like it.

I brew beer, used to do it almost every weekend but have slowed down due to work and such.

the advise i would give you is:
1) get "The Joy of homebrewing" great book.
2) dont bother with the "just add water" systems.
3) Find a well stocked home brew store.

it can be lots of fun, i make a liberty ale for 4th of july every year and keg it. Its great at parties.

sometimes you get crap, but most of the time the
brew comes out really good.

good luck and hit me up if you have questions.
badfishbrewer at hotmail dot com

go for it, i've had many many good home brews. and its fun.

I've brewed 4 batches of beer at this point. All but one have come out very good, the bad one tasted like Soy Sauce but we think it was because the wart was contaminated. At any rate, the key to a good batch of beer is being nerotic about sterilzation and making sure you use good, fresh hops/malt kits. I highly reccomend
https://hoptech.com/index2.html
As they have the freshest kits I have been able to find (more fresh than the local beer brewing places). Also, make sure you ferment in a glass car-boy.

I've only had one homebrew it was a chocolate stout and it was AWESOME.

My brother and I used to make beer before I got into making wine. It is fun but takes some serious patience. You also have to keep all your equipment immaculately clean. I use a sterilization solution that you triple rinse followed by a no-rinse solution on all my equipment. I also use filtered water and only the freshest ingredients. Also, get glass carbouys when avaiable. The plastic jugs are ghetto. Also, get a stainless steel brewkettle because aluminum is reactive. There are a ton of tutorials online that can help as well as a bunch of good books. The quality of the product you put out is directly a result of the time and money you put in. If you do it right, homebrew beats most commercial beers by a mile.

I used to brew all the time. One thing I learned was to be patient. A lot of times guys will try and drink it before its time. It pays to wait. If you enjoy it then you have just started another pricey hobby. Pretty soon you will go to all grain brewing, keging and brewing lagers. Now you have purchased a triple terre burner system, kegs, CO-2, a freezer to ferment and a kegerator. Go for it!!!!!!!!!and good luck!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yea almost forgot.
if you are married, dont brew in the
kicthen, one boilover and she'll
end your hobby quick.

HAHA, Thanks for the advise everyone!

I used to have a customer who brewed his own. About once a month he would bring me a little keg, each time was a different recipe.

It was always good.

He told me that the hardest part (besides the long wait to try the brew) was maintaining a consistant temperature for the weeks/month. He said the variations in temperature could cause major differences in flavor.

If you brew Ale....you don't have to wait very long at all before you have a nice tasty brew (especially English Ales - but Porters take a little aging time).

Lagers, Pilsners, etc can be very nasty when young...but I've got a couple of Ale recipes that are great after only a few days in the mini-keg (I don't mess with bottles), and I have a one Strong Pale Ale that you can drink right out of the fermenting tub if you want.(Damn good too)

I don't brew as much here in Florida as I did when I lived in Virgina...getting too lazy in my old age.

As PMP stated...with brewing, Cleanliness really is next to godliness....most home-brewers never quite get this part of it down...and end up with bottles of something akin to carbonated urine (yum).

rbihari, how long are you talking for english ales?

What is the easiest least maintance brew to make?

quote:

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Originally posted by Mamboy:
rbihari, how long are you talking for english ales?

What is the easiest least maintance brew to make?

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Most top fermenting British Ales are very easy to brew and are very drinkable within 3-4 days...but get better after a week or so. Ales actually don't benefit much from excessive aging, and tend to be better consumed within a month or so. A lot depends on the ingredients (especially the type of Hops you use, and if you add any sugar to increase alcohol content), and the type of Ale you want to brew.

Some of the Export Pale Ales - high alcohol content - can stand a few weeks of sitting to smooth out, but still don't take as long as a Lager. Ales don't need to be kept as cold either, just cool. Part of the lagering process requires low temps.

I would recommend picking up a copy of Charles Papazian's "Joy of Home brewing" (Probably the best single source on the subject, and considered "The Bible of Home brewing").
He has lots of good recipes to get you started, and it's very informative and enjoyable reading (he's a very humorous writer).

Be prepared though...it can become a totally engrossing hobby....but when you get it down, you can make beers and Ales that you can be truly proud of.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rbihari,

Yep! It's the way to go! I've been brewing my own since the late 80's. I agree with Badfish.."The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" will give you all the information that you will ever need,unless you want a degree in Zymurgy (brewing). Three tips to success:
1. Keep everything super clean,clean,clean!
2. Use the freshest, best quality ingredients that you can afford.
3. Follow the recipe exactly until you develop a "feel" for brewing.
Experimenting is a lot of fun-I only have one loser batch to my discredit-it wouldn't carbonate ( but it still was massively ALCOHOLIC).
If there is a brew pub in your area, get to know the brewmaster and ask his advice!
AND WE ALL KNOW THAT CIGARS GO GREAT WITH FRESHLY BREWED BEER!

Sweet. Thanks rbihari, and brianbzed. I shall now try to master this.

I don't know if you have a local homebrew store that is any good. I have a couple around me here in Arizona and the kinda suck. I used to go to this place up in Northern California when I lived there. Real cool people and are willing to give advice almost all the time. They also have everything known to man when it conmes to homebrew. They now have a website that I use to get things delivered. Here it is...............
The Beverage People
Click on the Brewing tab at the top of the page and then on the left click on Beer Catalog.
They also offer free shipping on orders over $50.00. Anyway at least you have a price to compare to.