I just started brewing my own beer at home and was wondering if any fellow UMers have ever made wine or beer before?

I'm just about to put my first batch of brew into the carboy, its been in the fermenting bucket for about a week now, I'll post some pics next week. I plan on buying a few more carboys and buckets to get a few more kits of beer on and maybe some wine.

This is my carboy, well not quite, mine is plastic



I've got 23 liters of brew sitting in my house and I can't touch it for another month..... its smells good at least.

Hay Pal that is one huge glass flask you have there, I said a sample of it...

Can't wait for the Picture and updates Bro...…
Pavot

yeah, it doesn't fit in my pocket very well

LOL... since I'm so close I'll have to stop by one day once the brewing has finished and try it out. I'll critique it for all of UM.

uuugh- you have to wait a whole month...

id never be able to do it

I tried making ginger-beer once, arent I a total rebel!

In my wardrobe I've got a small bottle of some greenish, heavily fermented and likely poisonous stuff, which is the pitiful result.

Greenish Pitiful poisonous Bio Hazard Swill, hay lets crack it open and sample it shall we…

I get the Chips…


Pavot

Getting alcohol from dissolved sugar is quite easy...trickier is to get it to taste.

I have absolutely no idea how to make beer (I despise it) but when it comes to wine I could give you a tip or two.

A MONTH...that's nothing.....I used to make loads of home-made wine.....elderberry, blackberry,
elderflower, marigold flower, dandilion flower.....to name a few.... and they took a YEAR minimum.

But if you kept it going for a few years...then you always had some on the go....

I think I nearly over did it ....because I never tested how stong they were...
but I think they were pretty strong.....so half a bottle could blow your socks off.

I don't make it now....because I've got a bit lazy......and I just like some red wine from the shop....

In MODERATION you understand....

ha yes finnaly,i posted on of these a wile back and got nothing,

i have tons and tons of sights you can read for some good tips.but to be honest if your starting off with the kits as long as you follow the directions its really hard to mess up,everything is pre measured,and they give exact times to put them in,,its just the waiting and the little things that make the diffrence..

like you cant be clean enough
when in doubt if the beer is done wait a couple more days
and have fun......


ill post some more for you when i have time i just seen this on my way out the door

so far ive used "brewers best" kits and have been very happy with the results,,altho i found their poter was a little lighte,it was really dark and had a nice body but the robust taste wasnt there just seemed to fall a little short,,but the IPA was really great and hoppy.

good reads
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter9-4.html <----tons of good info
http://www.brewsupportforum.com/index.php
http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?act=idx


these guys are on my list to try next heard nothing but good things
http://www.northernbrewer.com/beer-kits.html

http://xtremebrew.readyhosting.com/default.asp

and a couple fun tricks i learnd,got to the pet shop and buy a air pump for a fish tank,,(nothing expensive)get a few air stones they come in a pack of 5 for 2$,,,after you cool your beer and are pouring it into your ferminting bucket place the air hose and airstone in to the bucket and turn it on pour the beer let it run for a few mins before adding your yeast,,that way gives it plenty of O2 for the yeast to help feed on (you loose lots of it during the boiling process)realy gets that fermintation started.

a bottle tree realy helps keeping your bottles clean and out of the way.

and dont drink your beer all save a few bottles and place a piece of paper on them with the date and let them age a little youll be really surprised at how some beers that are bottle condidtioned get better with age...

o and never drink them out of the bottle,,and dont pour 100% of the beer in your glass the last little bit is the dead yeast from the carbonation process and really taste bitter and can throw the taste of your beer off...

any questions drop me a pm im always up to talk about brewing beer

*HIC*

I haven't tried my paw at it yet,although I do have a bunch of friends who make beer,wine,and the best drink of all....Mead!

well I've got the wort in the carboy so now i'm waiting a few weeks to bottle. My good friend who does this for a living told me to siphon out of the carboy every week and then put it back in to help make the beer much clearer. I'm really looking forward to doing more. I need to buy a few more carboys. I have an irish stout I'm going to put on next, then a honey lager i think. The wife wants wine, but I'm going to get the hang of the beer first.

it smells so damn good I just want to stick my head in it..



thanks for those sites, they are loaded with info. I'm going to finish up these kits that I bought and then I really want to try starting from scratch, it sounds like good fun.

There for a few years I did some home beer brewing. Not totally from scratch though. I skipped the grain conversion part and started with the malt extracts. I thought they turned out pretty well. There are alot of varieties of hops and yeasts to choose from. I did use some grains though. But only as a starter in the mix before the boil started.

I plan on doing some again. I just haven't gotten around to it. I have about four glass carboys.

One nice thing was that I used those 16 ounce Grolsch bottles for bottling. They have the porcelin flip top lids. So there's no fuss with the capping. It's much easier.

Mmmmmm Beer! I use to make a good drop, but I got sick of cleaning bottles all the time, so I am thinking of making spirits instead. Initial set up cost is a little more to start with, but in the end it is way cheaper.

I've got my first batch of red ale in bottles and now I'm sitting here twittling my thumbs for 2 weeks waiting. I put an irish stout on on saturday and thats churning away in the primary fermentor.

I really want to get a keg/fridge set up so i can have all this brew on tap and don't have to mess around with bottling.

my dad donated his kegerator for the cause,right now i have a keg of guinness waiting to be changed out,,im looking to change over to the corni kegs to hold my brew and dew multi tap set up..but its hard to convence the wife we need to spend a couple hundred dollars more just to drink beer sooner haha.

I know what you mean


..hunny can I have say $600 for a very important cause?


it never goes smoothly.


So do you brew from bag kits, extracts or from scratch? I have only done the first two so far, money has been mostly going toward home repairs, so I haven't been able to buy all the stuff for grain, I'm dying to do it though, I want to do it from scratch, enough of the easy stuff.

so far ive done 4 kits. with extract im wanting to take the next step but im gonna do a few more bastches kit wise so i know for sure if something goes wrong its not with my measurments,,,that way when i work on my own recipes..ill know its the mixes not the steps im taking...if that makes sence haha

I just bottled a batch of brown ale. Hope it turns out OK.

One thing I always do, is after the primary fermentation, siphon it over into a secondary carboy and let it sit for a day or two before bottling. It allows even more deposits to settle to the bottom and not make its way into your bottles.

What's you guy's opinion on yeast ? Do you spend the extra money on the liquid yeast " smack packs " ? Or use the dry packets ?

I usually use the dry packets, I haven't had an issue with them yet.

I let my brew ferment in the primary for usually a week, then I transfer it to a secondary where it sits for three weeks, then it gets bottled then it sits for another two weeks. The longer you give it the better it turns out. The instructions on the kit said I could bottle after 1 week in primary and 1 in secondary, but I'm glad I let it sit (as per instructions from a good friend who runs a store doing this stuff) I really saw the beer settle and clear out in those extra weeks.

so far ive used the smack packs and havent had any issues,,,i smack it then place it ontop of my fridge i find the warm air coming from the back of the fridge lets the yeast swell with no problem,,i also use a airator form a old fish tank after my wart is chilled and im pouring it into the fermintator i place the air hose with air stone in the primary and let it re-0xygenate the wart before i add the yeast,,then let it run a few minutes after everything is in the fermintor,,really gives the yeast a good head start..and you dont have to shake 5 gallons of sticky liquid to get half the results.

i also do a second fermintation but i wait till there is no more bubbles in the air lock,do a smooth transfer with a racking cane and then let it set for another week before bottling just seems to clean up the beer nicely..also this is a good time to add things like vanila beans or fruit extracts,,i also take a second gravity reading and even taste the beer to get someidea of how that sweet smelly liquid will taste...




my next experiment will be a vanilla bourbon porter with 3 gallons being bottled and the other 2 going into wooden barrel thats been soaked with bourbon

http://www.1000oaksbarrel.com/?OVRAW=oak%2...WID=88866190521

I'd love to make my own beer and wine. But doesn't it have a pretty strong odor as it ferments?

I had a bad batch a few years ago. That's whyI stopped for awhile. It was a holiday beer with different spices in it. I think I added too much ginger. It turned out pretty nasty. But I just started getting back into it. I have an India Pale ale kit ready to go next. ( An extract kit with steeping grains added before the boil).

But I've wanted to experiment more with the liquid yeasts. I know they make many different varieties depending on the type of beer you're making. And apparently they're just an all around better yeast than the dry packets.

But I enjoy reading the suggestions that you all have wrote. I'm trying to maximize the quality that I can get from extract brewing before I even attempt brewing from scratch. ( It looks very difficult ). Plus I know that there are many tricks to getting the most from extract brewing.

And No Expatriate. There really is no smell at all. Only if you stick your nose right down beside the airlock. And even then it's next to nothing.

The above pic of the carboy doesn't show the airlock. It's an airtight plug that fits in the opening. You add a little water to it. And what it does is allow Co2 to escape without outside air being able to enter it. Sort of like the way a plumbing check valve works. It prevents the beer from becoming contaminated while it ferments.

Give it a try. It's fun.

My great grandfater used to make shine. Granted its not the same as beer and wine. Have you guys ever thought of make the hard stuff? Or are you just going to stick with beer and wine?

A Month!

Jesus are you using stone age equipment, mine brews in 4-6 days.

I've thought about it. I've got a book on how to make an electric still and how to produce shine from it. Just never tried it yet.

I just like drinking beer. And all of the unique different styles that are out there.

But sure, I'll probably give it a try sometime. I think I need a small electric water heater. ( Sounds dangerous doesn't it )?

Water and electricity? Nah. Sounds safe as can be.

i dont know what your making but its not beer,,,it takes time for the yeast to ferment then after you bottle it it takes time for the priming sugar to carbonate the beer..this is real beer not some mr.beer kit that makes vile liquid,,,hell some beers like porter and stouts arnt ready to drink for a couple months and if you make a abby style ale you can look at 6 to 8 months before thinking about tasting it..


distilling liquer in the united states is still illegal,,having said that after i fence in my back yard and have some where to hide ill be ordering from these people...

http://www.stilldrinkin.com/Turbo-New.htm

ive talked to them on the phone and they are really cool and super helpful,,,,shine is just the oppesit of beer,,,,first it fermints then you boil it,,,well not really boil right under boil where it evaporates,gets cought in the condencer coils cools and turns into the liquid,,that liquid is the shine run it threw some carcoal filter and you have whiskey,,haha ive been reading a lot on it i cant wait to make my first batch of hootch

I just had some 21 year old shine about a month back, that stuff was so damn good.

and Atom286 beer shouldn't even leave the primary in under a week, so I'm guessing your using one of those get drunk quick kits. Which is fine if you like it, I'm not snob about that, but there is a huge difference in quality with brews that have had a chance to ferment and mellow out a bit.

The stout I have on right now I'll most likely let it sit for 8-10 days in primary and then 3-4 weeks in secondary, then it will stay in the bottles for maybe a month or two before I drink it. Patience is the key, and its hard to have when you have 6 gallons of brew in the other room.

I'm heading up to my buddys place, they have a beer/wine making store, I'll pick up maybe 3 more carboys, and a bunch more kits. Another red ale (my fav), a lager if they have one and a blonde ale or something like that.

ciraxis, take about 5 or 6 bottles of that stout and put them away for a later date,,the porter i made i put a 6pack of 22oz bottles aside for a friend and it was 2 or 3 months before he was able to get them and i drank a few with him,and those had a diffrent taste then the ones i drank when they were ready,,,the complex flavors had a chance to mature and it seemed to grow in body a little,,so now i hold onto atleast a 6er of everything i brew to save till a later date,,,my ipa seemed to improve with a little age as well..


man you got me wanting to kick off a brew just ben realy to busy to do it lately,,,but im ready and i think if i do the vanilla bourbon porter now or in the next month or so it should be perfectly aged by winter time,,,woohoo

I might be making some hard lemonade for the wife, just a small 3 gallon batch of it. One week to go till I can pour myself my red ale!

lately ive been driinking "sailor jerrys navel spiced rum" im not a huge rum fan but this stuff goes own real smooth and has a great taste..

also a fun summer time recipe
"bullfrog"
12oz lime concentrate
12oz lemon concentrate (both the frozen kind)
2 liters sprite
1 fith vodka (dosnt have to be the good stuff you cant taste it,, taka works fine,, 100 proof if your feeling frisky)

mix everything together pour over ice,,and sip,, real close to a hard lemoneade goes down real easy haha sometims to easy

I'll be making a batch of this maybe this weekend.

Apfelwein


pic of this guys batch

i wish we were neighbors haha,all my friends drink waterd down lite beers and just dont see the facination with brewing anything,,,i guess it just how we were raised,,as long as its cold and made by miller its good to go.

ive never had a hard cider befor dont know if i would like it but i would def. like to give it a taste sounds easy to make,,,and the rum groug sounds like a good winter warmer after a long day on the river (im a boat captain)

does your friend that owns the beer store have a web address,,,i have to order most stuff online anyway might as well support a friend of yours if i can throw some bussiness his way

my buddy is up in canada, and they don't ship anything, its all stuff bought in their store, but its great that you would be willing to buy from them. We have a brew store in town, but they cost 15-20 dollars more than my buddy robs kits and they only make 5 gallons, my buddy robs are 6 gallon kits of higher quality stuff too.

ok enough gloating... it would be bad if we were neighbors, we'd either be drunk all the time or stinking up the neighborhood brewing. actually that sounds good.

the hard cider I've never been a huge drinker of, but this sounds really easy and I know the wife will like it. besides it doesn't get easier than apple juice sugar and yeast. So I might make a small batch this weekend, if it screws up so what, I'm out three gallons of apple juice.

man, you and rudeboy better be careful... brewing home beer could be a gateway to harder stuff sounds all innocent brewing your own beer... next it will be wine, then whiskey and shine, then I'll hear that wasn't good enough for you and you'll get busted with a meth lab

So, when will that beer be ready for me to stop by and try? It's kinda on my home from work ya know.

Sampled my brown-ale this weekend. Not too shabby. I wish the hop character was a little stronger though. But that's probably because I've developed a taste for beers having a stronger hop character. Probably from the pale ales and IPA's that I like.

I think I'm going to start experiementing more with the various liquid yeasts.

let a few bottles set a couple more weeks and give them a try,,might open up those hoppy flavors your looking for..and when your looking at beer kits or recipes,look for west coast style,or california style,,usually that means its realy hoppy compared to the other kits..for some reason thos boys on the west coat like their beer hoppy enough to chew,haha

every try any of the stone brews? arrogent basterd ale,and thei ipa are by far the best over hoped beer i ever had,,supper supper hoppy but still goes down real smooth

I made my own Beer once.... powerful stuff... one glass and it blew yer head off.
Although, there was only one slight drawback; yep, it tasted like monkey's crap mixed in with dog's piss.

My redwood ale is finished and tastes pretty good. My stout is going into bottles this weekend and I've got a brown ale fermenting as we speak. beeeer

Isn't this illegal or do i have the concept of "moonshine" wrong?

no, moonshine is illegal, making beer and or wine at home is perfectly legal, at least in the states and canada it is.

Oh wait so it's illegal to make Whiskey at home i thought moonshine was all home brewed alcohol.

In Australia our homebrew shops sell still's and different types of mixes to create anytype of flavoured wiskey, bourbon, rum, etc. It is only illegal if you try and sell it, because the government will not get it's tax cut.

http://www.ozbrew.com/default.asp?menuI=4&...untry=Australia

i think thats similar here, its more of a selling issue

I tried making beer about 4 years ago. It was a bust for me. I was so excited to make it. I had my little beer machine and everything. Lets just say mine was undrinkable.

I did make a nice tasting batch a few years ago, again only one minor draw back; you went blind for a week.
We had a right laugh with that stuff... "I can't see... no really...I'm not kidding.. I've got work tomorrow.."
Not sure if it would've been classified as a Beer, wine, spirit or new form of petroleum.
sigh happy days.

the last batch of moonshine i had was smooth as silk, it was good stuff

western mountain yee-ha juice