Anyone here brew their own beer?

[mcdrier]

When kegging you usually carbonate under pressure. No sugar needed. I carb in the keg under about 20 lbs of CO2 pressure.

It lowers cost as well. But you need a gas regulator and carbon dioxide tanks, those are expensive...You can buy a lot of carbing sugar for the prices of those items. I got my tanks off of Craig's list, so that helped. Gas regulators are about $60. You need two of them...one to dispense the beer and leave it to your dispensing system, and one on a small CO2 tank to help clean, purge, sanitized tanks and lines. Otherwise you will need to remove your dispensing regulator all the stinkin' time.

 

[mcdrier]

That is funny, being a small apt, you did it all the time. Now in a big house with space, you never do it. Always too many things to do around the house. When in a small apt, all your stuff is always in your sight. In a house, you can put things away and it will be out of sight and out of mind.

I am kind of like that too. But I can place my items in the open to remind me. Like I will place a fermentor on a table to help transfer, but I will move it to the table or bar a night before to help settle out any trub.

 

[Clonefan94]

When kegging you usually carbonate under pressure. No sugar needed. I carb in the keg under about 20 lbs of CO2 pressure.

It lowers cost as well. But you need a gas regulator and carbon dioxide tanks, those are expensive...You can buy a lot of carbing sugar for the prices of those items. I got my tanks off of Craig's list, so that helped. Gas regulators are about $60. You need two of them...one to dispense the beer and leave it to your dispensing system, and one on a small CO2 tank to help clean, purge, sanitized tanks and lines. Otherwise you will need to remove your dispensing regulator all the stinkin' time.

Why don't you just disconnect the lines from the keg and use those rather than buying a whole new regulator and tank?

I have 2 tanks on hand, just because I hate running out of CO2 and it always happens when you don't want it to. But with ball locks, it's pretty easy to just disconnect a line and attach it to another keg for purging, etc, rather than dealing with a whole separate CO2 set up. Just run your out lines to a bucket if you don't have a sink near by.

I'm not bashing your way of doing it, what works for you works, keep doing it. Just saying this for potential first timers who are worried they have to shell out the money for 2 CO2 set ups, when really it's not a necessity.

 

[mcdrier]

That could work...I did use that method for many times.

I do not have a sink near my fridge, so that is one issue.

No bashing taken, always could use the ideas and thoughts!

The other issue I have is that when I drilled a hole through the side of my fridge, I then siliconed around the hose going through the side of the fridge. So now the gas line is kind of in place, the slack I do have is all I got.

The gas line is not super long and I have to lift up a keg everytime I would need to use the gas line to purge, clean, and sanitize...Just a pain. So I have a small CO2 tank I can move around where and when I need it. I have a bottom freezer type fridge as well. So it is not like the fridge is all the way to the bottom of the appliance. I also do not like standing there with the fridge open for long periods...call me weird, just feels like I am wasting energy and draining the life of the fridge.

 

[BKLYNCyclone]

That is funny, being a small apt, you did it all the time. Now in a big house with space, you never do it. Always too many things to do around the house. When in a small apt, all your stuff is always in your sight. In a house, you can put things away and it will be out of sight and out of mind.

I am kind of like that too. But I can place my items in the open to remind me. Like I will place a fermentor on a table to help transfer, but I will move it to the table or bar a night before to help settle out any trub.

Actually, it's even worse... I fermented in my bathroom closet, but when I switched to AG I ended up getting a 4x4x8 storage unit at Uhaul in brooklyn. I'd go to uhaul, grab a cart, haul all my stuff home stopping at the brewshop on the way, and brew, clean up, and haul it all back. I should have mentioned this was also pre us having twins.

 

[ripvdub]

I really gotta get to the home brew shop, haven't brewed in months. Love beer crazy, but it's like 20 min away. C & S in Ankeny is hit or miss on their grains.

 

[mcdrier]

Actually, it's even worse... I fermented in my bathroom closet, but when I switched to AG I ended up getting a 4x4x8 storage unit at Uhaul in brooklyn. I'd go to uhaul, grab a cart, haul all my stuff home stopping at the brewshop on the way, and brew, clean up, and haul it all back. I should have mentioned this was also pre us having twins.

Dang! You were really dedicated back then...Yeah with kids everything changes. You think you have a weekend day to brew, and then something comes up.

I brewed one day when I called in sick to work one time. It was cold and I brewed in the house, brought burner inside. Prolly not the smartest thing to do, but it made the house smell nice!

My kids are old enough now and do not need supervision all day everyday. They actually help out on somethings. They measure out my hops, fill up kettle, and brings supplies etc. They also help transfer...I hate trying to transfer and the tube falls out of where it is supposed to. I have clips but they do not work all that great. I hate losing wort, or spilling.

 

[mcdrier]

I really gotta get to the home brew shop, haven't brewed in months. Love beer crazy, but it's like 20 min away. C & S in Ankeny is hit or miss on their grains.

I use Northern Brewer.com...Not an endorsement, but I live 2 hours away from DSM. I just got to know the website and take advantage of specials that will reduce shipping costs, like take 10% off of everything purchased, etc. Or buy this, and get something free, etc. They ship things well (nice boxes, well secure), stand behind their products, and are pretty quick. In fact, I had a broken gas regulator which I order back in October (broke in March), and they allowed me to ship it back to them and they shipped me a replacement one even before they had the broken one in hand. The new web site keeps track of your orders so you can go back and reorder things you need over and over again.

 

[ripvdub]

I'm gonna brew tomorrow for the coast time in a few months, what should I brew? A Negra modelo clone or my American pale ale? I've never brewed the Negra modelo clone, but NM is one of my favorite summer beers.

 

[cyclonesurveyor]

I'm gonna brew tomorrow for the coast time in a few months, what should I brew? A Negra modelo clone or my American pale ale? I've never brewed the Negra modelo clone, but NM is one of my favorite summer beers.

well it is almost summer!

 

[mcdrier]

I like (trying to ) brew lighter colored beers. I like starting with a Pilsen Liquid Malt extract, or a wheat liquid malt extract.

I like amber colored brews too. The dark ones are just too dark for me. And no I am not racist, as the kids would say.
I get to move a 4 gallon brew from my secondary fermentor to the keg today and I will let it chill over night and then start carbonating early Sat. morning and I am sure I will begin drinking by Sat. evening....Maybe I can wait until Sunday though. I had to buy store bought beer to get me through the week. I have a few of those left. Then that opens me up to move what is in my primary fermentor to my secondary and I can brew again to fill my primary fermentor! Then supply line is full once again!

 

[mcdrier]

Got to brew on Mother's Day, but never played golf....After church and taking everyone out to brunch the wife went upstairs and took like a 5 hour nap! So I got some brewing done! After going over my supply line, I have one more week to brew! Dang, I thought I would be filled after Sunday, but I got one more to go! I got plenty of supplies though. I should be able to take a week or 2 off after that though...No brewing Memorial Day weekend at least!

 

[Clonefan94]

Brewed my house amber this past weekend. Great brew day with no issues at all, even though it was a yard work intense day. While heating the strike water, I mowed the yard, then during the mash I did all the trim work. As I said, the boil is my time alway though, so I enjoyed a nice pipe of Dunhill My Mixture 965 and the cup of coffee I didn't get to have earlier in the day.

For those wondering though, It was only 10:00am when I started the boil, so coffee was still a good fit. I like to get up early to brew and be done by noon.

 

[mcdrier]

Brewed my house amber this past weekend. Great brew day with no issues at all, even though it was a yard work intense day. While heating the strike water, I mowed the yard, then during the mash I did all the trim work. As I said, the boil is my time alway though, so I enjoyed a nice pipe of Dunhill My Mixture 965 and the cup of coffee I didn't get to have earlier in the day.

For those wondering though, It was only 10:00am when I started the boil, so coffee was still a good fit. I like to get up early to brew and be done by noon.

My brew time was about 2 hours when it was all said and done. I started well after 1PM and I think I was done just past 4PM.

I got a high end burner and it has dramatically helped me control brew times. I have had some boil overs b/c it heats up so quickly.

I normally like brewing early in the day as well. I like having it done by Noon as well. It is nice and relaxing early in the AM.

 

[BKLYNCyclone]

I always aim for the morning... Then I end up not getting started until the evening. Feel like my last 5 sessions have all ended with me cleaning kettles and mash tuns at 1am. I need to plan better I guess. Going to try and get the wife to let me brew this weekend one day. (She loves negra modelo in the summer, so I'm going to brew a clone..).

 

[NickTheGreat]

I always aim for the morning... Then I end up not getting started until the evening. Feel like my last 5 sessions have all ended with me cleaning kettles and mash tuns at 1am. I need to plan better I guess. Going to try and get the wife to let me brew this weekend one day. (She loves negra modelo in the summer, so I'm going to brew a clone..).

There hasn't been a time where I've cleaned my kettle on the same day as brewing. I usually just leave it outside, full of water. :twitcy:

 

[Clonefan94]

My brew time was about 2 hours when it was all said and done. I started well after 1PM and I think I was done just past 4PM.

I got a high end burner and it has dramatically helped me control brew times. I have had some boil overs b/c it heats up so quickly.

I normally like brewing early in the day as well. I like having it done by Noon as well. It is nice and relaxing early in the AM.

Extract though, right?

I have a high end burner as well. When doing All grain, there are just things that take time, no matter what. I could definitely heat strike water faster, but natural gas is a lot cheaper than propane, so I heat that in my kitchen on our stove. That takes about 45 minutes. But that also allows me time to crush the grain and get my hops measured out, as well as pre-heat the mash tun and just get all my other supplies together. Then mashing is an hour, plus whatever time it takes to run-off and sparge. Then boil with the propane burner. I could definitely speed things up if I wanted, but I enjoy brewing itself. I don't mind taking the time. And it still leaves me plenty of time in between steps, if need be, to get stuff done.

I'm at about 5 - 5.5 hours for a brew day, but that is from grabbing the first piece of equipment out of the closet, to putting that last piece back, cleaned and dried.

 

[ripvdub]

Building a wort chiller really cut some hours off my brew time, now if my turkey fryer/ propane burner could bring it to boil a lil faster, it seems to take forever.

 

[BodeClone]

Your home brews are always horrible. The best home brew ever still isn't better than the worst commercial beer I have ever had. What's more sad is it took a month of killing yourself to make it. Can of warm Natty Light > Your home brew. Home brew sucks, and the worst part is you home brew people won't EVER drink any other beer!! Life is too short to drink a glass of sediment. Pathetic. Stick to your day time jobs.

 

[ripvdub]

Your home brews are always horrible. The best home brew ever still isn't better than the worst commercial beer I have ever had. What's more sad is it took a month of killing yourself to make it. Can of warm Natty Light > Your home brew. Home brew sucks, and the worst part is you home brew people won't EVER drink any other beer!! Life is too short to drink a glass of sediment. Pathetic. Stick to your day time jobs.

Wow. So much ****** coming from a boy named Bode. You sound like a Jenner/kardashian not Johnson.

There are lots of bad brewers, yes, but it's not that hard to make great beer. Almost every commercial brew... Nevermind, you aren't worth arguing with. I bet your parents are proud.

And I also drink lots of other beer. I keg mine so I get no sediment. It doesn't take a month, it takes a few hours of work, then you wait a week or 3 with very little work along the way. Do some research Before you throw blanket statements about **** you have no clue about. That or just STFU.