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Home Brewers...

Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,927
edited November 2010 in All Encompassing Trip
Anyone here brew their own beer? Did you just get started by buying one of the starter kits that come with everything? Any suggestions on a kit to get or are they all basically the same?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • RKCNDYRKCNDY Posts: 31,013
    I have heard bad and good from the kits. If this is something you really want to pursue, I'd look for brewing classes in your area. Most community colleges have them, or call a local brewer, they may have something there as well. In a class, they can teach you more tricks and answer questions you may have. You'll also want a good distributor for hops. Good luck, I know it can be addicting (drinking your own beer that is!)
    The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

    - Christopher McCandless
  • Yield151Yield151 Posts: 267
    I have been brewing my own beer for 4 years now..... do not use a starter kit. Go to an actual home brew store (sometimes they are hard to find). Get yourself the real stuff there. I have been to several in the Los Angeles area and when I was starting out they were all very friendly with what I needed to get started, none of them tried to rip me off by getting me to purchase the best stuff. Trust me the basics when you start out is enough, but make sure you dont go buy the Mr Beer home brew kit... that is NOT the same thing.

    My biggest tip is : keep things clean and use good water
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,927
    Great stuff. Thank a lot guys. Good to know about the kits, was kind of searching around and they seemed like an easiest way to get started so this is good to know. I am pretty sure there is a store not too far from me, I will have to check it out.
  • Yield151Yield151 Posts: 267
    no problem..... one other thing I would suggest is a copper coil to cool the wort .... some people use an ice bath but I suggest the copper coil. I did an ice bath the first time and it was a pain keeping the water cold enough.... I made my own because I didn't want to spend the cash on a premade one. It was pretty easy to do. Just went down to the hardware store and bought the stuff (check them out at the brew store or online to get an idea of what you will need). I just hook mine up to the faucet or garden hose in winter and it works great..... just be careful because the water may go in cold at first but the wort is VERY hot, so when the water comes out it is VERY hot. If you have any questions along the way shoot me a PM

    this is the link to the brew store I go to most.... they have a good beginners guide and step by step directions
    http://www.brewsupply.com/HowTo/index.html

    Amy
  • Johnny AbruzzoJohnny Abruzzo Philly Posts: 11,879
    Amy - lady homebrewer? Awesome!

    I just went to my store - Brew Your Own Beer & Wine in Havertown. John helped me along and iss super friendly. He has kits, but he'll gladly help you follow a recipe in one of the books he has sitting around in there.
    Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13;
    Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
    Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24

    Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
  • FenwayFaithfulFenwayFaithful Posts: 8,626
    I thought this thread was about the baseball team in Milwaukee, to be honest Cliffy.

    Never tried making my own brew, but always wanted to.
    "FF, I've heard the droning about the Sawx being the baby dolls. Yeah, I get it, you guys invented baseball and suffered forever. I get it." -JearlPam0925
  • mca47mca47 Posts: 13,301
    I've been meaning to try it...been wanting to for some time now.

    There are a couple of brew shops in town. Gonna have to check 'em out.


    One of the problems I have is that I don't really have a lot of extra space. Not sure where I'm going to keep a giant bucket for 3 weeks or so... :D
  • dunkmandunkman Posts: 19,646
    I have been doing it for almost a year now.
    Have made 3 excellent kinds of real ale and all using my £60 starter kit... I appreciate the posts above were saying do not use the kits but thats fine if you have tons of money to lay out on a hobby you've never attempted before.

    It's sorta like someone saying they want to start learning guitar and there is a $100 starter package by Fender available and then have some folk on here come on and say "don't buy that... you need a Gibson 72 Les Paul and a Fender Blues Jr amp ... also get a music tutor at $900 an hour"

    my advice is to start off with a kit... if you enjoy that brewing process and obviously you'll enjoy the beer... then maybe then spend a bit more on getting a 'proper' homebrew set up going.
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
  • Yield151Yield151 Posts: 267
    Johnny Abruzzo wrote:
    Amy - lady homebrewer? Awesome!

    I just went to my store - Brew Your Own Beer & Wine in Havertown. John helped me along and iss super friendly. He has kits, but he'll gladly help you follow a recipe in one of the books he has sitting around in there.


    yep lady home brewer :D
  • DissidentmanDissidentman Posts: 15,378
    home-brew.gif
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,927
    edited September 2010
    Thanks again everyone, this is all great info.

    Yield, if I were to not go the starter kit route, what should I expect to spend the first time around?
    Post edited by Cliffy6745 on
  • The JugglerThe Juggler Posts: 49,431
    think the brewers are on the road this weekend...
    www.myspace.com
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,927
    mca47 wrote:
    I've been meaning to try it...been wanting to for some time now.

    There are a couple of brew shops in town. Gonna have to check 'em out.


    One of the problems I have is that I don't really have a lot of extra space. Not sure where I'm going to keep a giant bucket for 3 weeks or so... :D

    I dont have a whole lot of space either but I think I can make it work.
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,927
    FenwayFaithful wrote:
    I thought this thread was about the baseball team in Milwaukee, to be honest Cliffy.

    Never tried making my own brew, but always wanted to.

    There is more to me than baseball, man. haha.
  • The JugglerThe Juggler Posts: 49,431
    Cliffy6745 wrote:
    FenwayFaithful wrote:
    I thought this thread was about the baseball team in Milwaukee, to be honest Cliffy.

    Never tried making my own brew, but always wanted to.

    There is more to me than baseball, man. haha.


    guy i sit next to me brews from home. he was actually talking about it recently and is in the process of brewing his first home brew in years. i think its going to be ready in a few weeks.

    i've always wanted to give this a go myself. had a roomate in college who did it. i just remember drinking that huge white vat full of crappy beer which must have had an insanely high alcohol content cuz we got hammered at an unusually high pace. good times.
    www.myspace.com
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,927
    The Jeagler wrote:
    Cliffy6745 wrote:
    FenwayFaithful wrote:
    I thought this thread was about the baseball team in Milwaukee, to be honest Cliffy.

    Never tried making my own brew, but always wanted to.

    There is more to me than baseball, man. haha.


    guy i sit next to me brews from home. he was actually talking about it recently and is in the process of brewing his first home brew in years. i think its going to be ready in a few weeks.

    i've always wanted to give this a go myself. had a roomate in college who did it. i just remember drinking that huge white vat full of crappy beer which must have had an insanely high alcohol content cuz we got hammered at an unusually high pace. good times.

    Thats cool. He going to bring any in for you?

    A guy I worked with for a while was really into it and was pretty damn good. He got me interested in it and I have been kind of getting an itch to try it out recently. Could be a fun hobby.

    Thats pretty funny, I had a couple buddies that tried doing it and a couple made some really shitty beer.
  • Johnny AbruzzoJohnny Abruzzo Philly Posts: 11,879
    The brew your own beer store I was talking about has monthly get togethers, where everyone brings their brews. The one I went to made me feel really good about my beer. There was some bad stuff there.
    Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13;
    Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
    Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24

    Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,927
    Johnny Abruzzo wrote:
    The brew your own beer store I was talking about has monthly get togethers, where everyone brings their brews. The one I went to made me feel really good about my beer. There was some bad stuff there.

    How far from the city do you think that is?

    Edit: One on 20th and samsom too

    http://www.homesweethomebrew.com/
  • Johnny AbruzzoJohnny Abruzzo Philly Posts: 11,879
    Cliffy6745 wrote:
    Johnny Abruzzo wrote:
    The brew your own beer store I was talking about has monthly get togethers, where everyone brings their brews. The one I went to made me feel really good about my beer. There was some bad stuff there.

    How far from the city do you think that is?

    Edit: One on 20th and samsom too

    http://www.homesweethomebrew.com/

    It's about 3-5 miles from 69th St., near the Norristown High Speed Line too (although it's good to have a car to carry the supplies back). I've heard good things about a store at, I think Front & Snyder; not sure if it's still there though. And of course there's 20th & Samson.
    Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13;
    Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
    Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24

    Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,927
    Johnny Abruzzo wrote:
    Cliffy6745 wrote:
    Johnny Abruzzo wrote:
    The brew your own beer store I was talking about has monthly get togethers, where everyone brings their brews. The one I went to made me feel really good about my beer. There was some bad stuff there.

    How far from the city do you think that is?

    Edit: One on 20th and samsom too

    http://www.homesweethomebrew.com/

    It's about 3-5 miles from 69th St., near the Norristown High Speed Line too (although it's good to have a car to carry the supplies back). I've heard good things about a store at, I think Front & Snyder; not sure if it's still there though. And of course there's 20th & Samson.

    Yeah, I have seen the one at front and snyder many times and its right near me but every time I pass by it seems to be closed. The website actually looks pretty good though.
  • markymark550markymark550 Columbia, SC Posts: 5,177
    home brewing where I come from means you're making some 'shine....not this pansy ass beer stuff :D


    although, I wouldn't mind trying my hand at brewing my own beer
  • djjazzy276djjazzy276 Posts: 229
    Joining this conversation a few months late, but I just finished my very first batch of home brew a few weeks ago. It was a quick fermentation/bottling process so I was able to try it for the first time last night! Not bad, but more malty and less hoppy than I anticipated. But considering it was my first batch, I'm very pleased. I think my next batch will be a Raspberry Stout. Cheers everyone.
  • Johnny AbruzzoJohnny Abruzzo Philly Posts: 11,879
    markymark550 wrote:
    home brewing where I come from means you're making some 'shine....not this pansy ass beer stuff :D

    although, I wouldn't mind trying my hand at brewing my own beer

    2 months later, but that sounds like fun, although it's clearly illegal. Homebrewing is perfectly legal up to 100 gallons a year.
    Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13;
    Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
    Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24

    Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
  • Jearlpam0925Jearlpam0925 Deep South Philly Posts: 17,193
    I've done both the kit and making my own setup. Don't go the kit route. That's like thinking you're good at the guitar because you play guitar hero. Make your own setup and trial and error is the best.

    My next step is I want to do a cranberry ale. For some reason I haven't found one that tastes the way I want it to, and I'd love to get this right.
  • djjazzy276djjazzy276 Posts: 229
    Jearlpam0925 wrote:
    I've done both the kit and making my own setup. Don't go the kit route. That's like thinking you're good at the guitar because you play guitar hero. Make your own setup and trial and error is the best.

    My next step is I want to do a cranberry ale. For some reason I haven't found one that tastes the way I want it to, and I'd love to get this right.

    Trial and error is right. After one batch you see where you could have done things better and you're itching to make another. I've been reading The Brewmaster's Bible by Stephen Snyder and that's proven to be a wealth of information to reference as I go through the brewing process.
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