Modern Vespa

My other "hobby" is brewing my own beer. Most of the pictures I see show scooterists drinking PBR, but I'm guessing there are few other beer geeks out there.

I started brewing with malt extract kits about two years ago and have moved up to all grain recently. I have a picnic cooler set up for an MLT and Hot Liquor tank with the capability to do 10 gallon low gravity batches.

Currently, I've got a Double IPA in the fermenter that will ring in around 10% abv, I'm calling it Face Melter. Oatmeal Stout is up next.

I used to brew my own. The tricky bit was making it weak enough! About 4% ABV gave the best flavour while allowing sensible quantities to be quaffed. Used to brew about 5 gallons (IMP, 6.25 US gall) a week.

No, I don't brew my own, but i love the stuff. And i love to try alot if it. Especially microbrews and independent brews. I love to try yours if you want to send me some... 8)

Yeah, a 10% beer isn't one that you sit down and drink 6 of. You could, but...

I'm more of a quality over quantity person. Granted, I do like a good "session" beer.

Just getting into it. I had a fantastic harvest of hops this year. They're in the freezer now waiting for me to find the time to brew.

If you're even in Boston and missing good beers, I recommend going to the Sunset Grill and Tap. They have 112 different beers on tap.

My homebrewing friends and father all are fans. The ambiance could be more pub-ey, but it's not bad. Food is good too.

Since 1960, my family has been growing Hops in the Yakima Valley in Washingto State.

We grow for Anchor Brewing Co, AB. Lagunitas, Longtrail and Bell's. I have brewed my own but I have never been satisfied with the end result. I guess after working Anchor Brewing company I realized I could not achieve the quality at home... I have tasted some great Home Brews...Just not mine...

Wonderful business case story on PBR. Pabst was one of the top beers from Milwaukee. Through the late 1800's and for most of the 1900's Pabst had one of the most beautiful breweries in Milwaukee. Family mis management contributed to their demise...Now PBR is back but in a totally different identity. At $3.79 per six-pack makes beer drinking affordable. But people who can afford a Craft priced beer buy PBR. Makes for an interesting marketing story. As my signature always states "All Beers are good but some are better".

You can PM me if if you are intersted in some free hops. I have some Willamettes and Palisades (a new higher alpha hop to replace Willamettes)in my fridge. Whole hops alphas are around 5% to 8%. Will accept Home Brew samples in return for the hops hehehe.

Cheers,

Gianni

we have been planing to try our first kit... for several months now- a porter.

i hate pbr.


my parents used to brew a lot when i was a kid. we tried some rootbeer as a practice run this summer- it didnt fizz right.

being in Colorado is great because were in micro brew heaven. love a good porter, imperial Russian stout, nut brown or chili beer.

had an amazing 40/60 apricot brew from a micro brew in paonia, co- at a small beer festival in Ouray this summer. [but small i meant 5 local brews in a park.]

My good buddy has been home brewing for about a year now. His dad was big in the mendocino brewery scene. It is great having a friend in the business! Every now and again he passes me a box of bottles (everything from ciders to IPAs). He also works at a new brewery in Napa (Napa Smith). Free beer = awesome!

You're damn right I'm interested in free hops. I'll gladly send beer in return...

Hi Jeremy,

I could be a tester...I'm relatively nearby! Pizza and beer is my favorite meal, and I make a pretty mean homemade pizza!

Candice

Hops are on the way. Just remember these are whole Hops so you will need to do an extra filtration. I doubt you have a Whirlpool at home so Cheese Cloth will work...

Most Home Brewers and brewies today use Hop Pellets.

Cheers,

Gianni

I use pellets in the boil and whole hops for dry hopping.

I'm also not afraid of chunks in my beer.

Nice to hear about people making their own. Used to brew a bit myself years back. I think more than anything, I got fed up with trying to achieve the correct constant temperature when fermenting the beer, especially lagers. I just didn't have the facilities for it. "Steam" Maerzen just doesn't cut it! I felt my bitter was fairly good, and I made a killer Oatmeal Stout back in the day.

Enjoy!

It's like any other hobby / obsession. I could easily go buy beer from a store, like everybody else. But I want to know every little detail about the beer so making it gets me there.

There is also the feeling of accomlishment that comes with making something from scratch that is good. I get just as much enjoyment out of sharing the beer I make, as I do from actually making it, and drinking it myself.

The endless pursuit of perfection keeps bringing me back. I want my beer to be better.

Hej Pastorn!

I just finished a couple of Bavarian ales, one was a ginger/hibiscus, the other a Delirium Tremens clone. Also did a nice stout for the coming winter evenings. One thing is for sure you'll always have friends if you brew!

Cheers,
Rob

Just getting around to brewing my own, since I have fairly recently moved and now have the space I need...

I am even growing my own hops (cascade) which didnt yield too much this year, but I hope will do better next year now that the rhizhome is good and established.

I will probably start with a pale ale for my first batch, just to get dialed in, and then the madness begins! I think I have too many ideas and not enough time in the day.

Till then I have to settle for being an avid consumer!

Wife bought me a kit or two for Christmas

Now have enough beer to keep a pisshead happy for a decade

Love doing it - love watching my mates rolling around whent the 7-8% catches up

Coopers of Course - Stout with honey.

Also like the Malt Shovel Brewey kits, and Toohey Dark Ale (from Nuh Zulund, but absolutely wonderful!).

This story takes me back a few years, growing up in England ....

I made my first homebrew about the age of 13.

It was a lager out of a "make it at home" packet. And you know what? I don't know if it was the conditions it was in or what (airing cupboard with hot water tank) but it was bloody brilliant!!! Me and my mum had a fair few glasses from that drop!!
I could never replicate it though. Just a one-off experience eh?

BTW, I do have a liking for Cider - that can't be hard to make... or can it?

You know, all this talk of home brewing had me thinking of what got me into the hobby to begin with. It was a CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) festival that I attended in England. Not to date myself, beer was then 1 Pound ten Pence per pint! I had never realized that there were so many delicious flavors, styles, and brewers of ale before then.

I learned what I liked (Yorkshire Bitter, Ordinary Bitter, Best, Porter, Stout, Russkie Stout) and what I didn't like (Barley Wine). It was a wonderful experience, and really opened my eyes. When I go back to the U.K. nowadays though, I find that weird things have happened on the beer scene. Everyone seems to be drinking lager again, and the pubs are serving "Extra Cold" Guinness. Do these things go in cycles or is the drinking of ale becoming more of an historical phenomenon?

what would I need to start brewing? I see several kits online but have no clue where to start.

There are a lot of good suppliers out there. I don't have a local homebrew store so I get everthing online and through catalogs.

I use Midwest Supplies their prices are very competitive and they have a ton of different starter kits.

For a starter equipment kit, I would suggest this one. You'll need about 48, 12 ounce bottles too. Not the screw off cap kind.

Give them a call and ask them to send you a catalog.

I don't brew my own - but have a neighbor 2 doors down that does and his brew's tastes really good better than the store bought stuff really - plus after having a few of them I can just walk home

cool thanks a lot it's something I've always wanted to get into, just never knew where to start.

Mmmmm, beer. I recently worked at GABF. www.beertown.org I finally joined too. Great pub discounts around the USA.

I was too busy and let my hops sit on the vine too long.

I buy my supplies from http://www.austinhomebrew.com great company and people. For a first time, try extract brewing , its very easy and simple. Don't forget about bottles, I prefer Japanese beer bottles, try your local sushi place for their recycles.

Cheers,

Rob

Shit Jim that's 40 pints.... hope you didn't drink all that yourself....

USED to brew. Started in '85 with kits. By the time I stopped (just in time for my first AA meeting) I had a 1/2 barrel full mash homebrewery in my garage. Even had the 5 gallon cornelius kegs with dedicated fridge. This was before The Drew Carey Show. Had 3 variety of hops in the backyard too. They still try to sprout every spring but are getting weaker with each passing year. Gave it up in '03. For some reason I can't part with my equipment, it's still in the shed. Holding on to it for the future maybe...

My best brews were IPA's and British milds. Even did a couple of attempts at Lambic in an old oak barrel.

"Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew"

you know were snobby enough that we should appreciate IPAs. but i just ..dont.

how ever i do like lambic.. over icecream...mmm

That sounds pretty good Erin.

If I remember correctly, you like the small, fiberglass egg campers too. We have a Scamp. Our music tastes are similar too. Were we separated at birth?

What's the cost for a starter kit? How much for the equipment? How much space needed? Can a person who got mediocre grades in O-Chem be able to do home brewing or will my place blow up like a crystal meth lab?

try dropping a couple of rasins in the bottle before you cap it and keep a partition between the bottles. the bottles that survived sure had a kick.

I started out with the basic Home brew kit - Coopers of Course - and use heaps of screw top PTE bottles.

So far, these have worked well - none have detonated. One did explode after it was dropped. THe advise I was given is that these are good for most brews, just not darks such as a stout or porter. for these, I use Coopers glass bottles - my relos drink heaps of Sparkling Ale and Stout - so the supply is reliable.

never had one go bang - but summer is just around the corner!

The glass screw-tops (which I assume you are refering) are made of a crappier glass, and it has been suggested that they are more likely to fail, and are harder to seal.

Ohhh, I knew I shouldn't have started reading this thread...

Used to brew. Don't have so much time now with two littlies around. The necessary cleanliness of it all used to drive me nuts too. But I am looking for something else to keep me busy....
..and I am more patient these days.

Mostly did Cooper's Brown Ale and Stout kits (hey Twin01!) in the good old plastic bucket with the bubbly thing on the top. Nothing that hi-tech. Brewing with grain??? Man that's hardcore. Tip my hat to you guys.

"Face Melter" brings back memories. Did a few variations on Chilli beer, with varying degrees of failure. Most of them were too hot to sniff, let alone drink. Some of my friends thought they were up for anything - talk about sifting out the men from the boys.

There is nothing like enjoying a drink that you have created yourself, and sharing it around.
"...wow....did you make this??"

Gold, gold, gold.

Judging from your avatar I think it would be more likely that you are my spawn. I always wondered what happened to that girl I dated briefly in '84

'84!?!

Why I was in Elementary school then - couldn't be me.

To answer a question above, if you can make Macaroni and Cheese on your own, following the directions on the box. You can brew beer.

yes, except the level of patience required for the finished product is much longer....

If you happen to be in the neighbourhood............