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Brewing Beer?

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BrewskiJr
Posts: 5738 - Karma: 1,478
Anyone here brew their own beer? My future roommate does it at home and wants to bring some stuff to brew it at college. Im pumped. His family is real into it so he knows what he is doin i guess.
Jun 11 2010 5:37PM
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pat_in_the_hat
Posts: 3019 - Karma: 2,695
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Jun 11 2010 5:45PM
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theabortionator
Posts: 51664 - Karma: 162,542
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moonshine baby
Jun 11 2010 5:46PM
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Tasche
Posts: 5422 - Karma: 99
I brew quite a bit. Not really worth it unless you are doing an all grain setup. I usually have about 10 gallon of home brew on tap.

In the end it is a cool thing to say you do, but it takes a ton of work and is not worth the money and hassle. But doing it once will be tight and you will see how everything works.
Jun 11 2010 5:51PM
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T.L.
Posts: 4729 - Karma: 3,008
i brew occasionally.  actually started growing hops a few weeks ago.  they're just barely poppin' outta ground now so i probably wont get much of a harvest this year.  oh well. 
Jun 11 2010 6:15PM
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noparking
Posts: 1123 - Karma: 50
Just bottled a batch yesterday
Jun 11 2010 6:17PM
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BrewskiJr
Posts: 5738 - Karma: 1,478
Yeah, thats what im hoping for. At minimum it will be fun and a cool experience
Jun 11 2010 7:27PM
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snwbrdmilf
Posts: 22441 - Karma: 2,805
That's really awesome...how is your tap set up? I'd love to try and brew beer, but good beer. A couple of friends have done it a couple times with meh results. I guess practice makes perfect.
Jun 11 2010 7:32PM
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MatRich
Posts: 4789 - Karma: 1,813
my friend brews his own beer, it tastes realy good, strong barley taste that only pleases amatures, I think it tastes great. dont do it expecting to save money or time, your just going to have beer that you probably wont like but thats the fun part, finding the good combinations that makes a good tasting beer is the whole pleasure of it. Once you found the right combo its time to apreciate some good beer for a bit and expirement some more
Jun 11 2010 7:41PM
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yuck
Posts: 8384 - Karma: 2,090
have fun blinding yourself hahah
Jun 11 2010 8:11PM
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naturday
Posts: 493 - Karma: 238

brewing your own stuff is beyond sweet. the start up kit we got was only 130. the cloning packages were 35 plus. you should def get into this as well, it makes you feel real manly and appraciate your brew more then you ever have before.

Jun 11 2010 8:33PM
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naturday
Posts: 493 - Karma: 238

brewing your own stuff is beyond sweet. the start up kit we got was only 130. the cloning packages were 35 plus. you should def get into this as well, it makes you feel real manly and appraciate your brew more then you ever have before.

Jun 11 2010 8:35PM
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freezed
Posts: 12973 - Karma: 500
I brew. It's awesome. If you propagate your own yeast and buy ingredients in bulk, it's really cheap. I've made some legitimately good beers too...An orange wheat ale that was killer, and I'm bottling a stout tomorrow that I think is gonna be pretty good. It takes some learning to progress and get stuff right, but I think it's definitely worth it. Also, all-grain is not that difficult, don't bother with using extract, it's definitely worth it to do it right.
Jun 11 2010 8:45PM
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Tasche
Posts: 5422 - Karma: 99
Drunk right now, but can somebody post so I remember tomorrow. Thxq
Jun 12 2010 12:58AM
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Dan-Man
Posts: 7488 - Karma: 3,621
I some times make my own wine... nothing like making beer.. but still, it get's me fucked up homade stylez.
Jun 12 2010 11:06AM
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fsscott
Posts: 4684 - Karma: 114
my old man used to do it
Jun 12 2010 11:33AM
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ECB
Posts: 6991 - Karma: 622
A few years back my biology teacher brewed his own beer. He one day was bored and basically taught us step by step how he did it. He showed us pics, his beer was basically black. Then one of my friends got in a fist fight with him a few days later. The teacher was the shit. He's since retired, and occassionally I'll see him buying a keg (for when he runs out of home beer haha)
Jun 12 2010 12:03PM
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Red_Shirt
Posts: 292 - Karma: 8
I make home distill vodka. It's a great hobby. On average, the stuff coming out of my distiller is 90% abv. (reflux, not pot still) and it makes pretty tasty vodka. You can make your own setup pretty easily if you know your way around metalworking.
Jun 12 2010 3:15PM
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Dan.
Posts: 7201 - Karma: 1,126
I share a 32 gallon setup with my dad that I brew with, yields a Barrel a batch. I haven't brewed anything in the last 5 months or so, but next week I am going to start on a cask aged imperial porter for which I acquired a used whiskey barrel made of american oak. should be real baller when it finishes aging.
Jun 12 2010 3:23PM
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skiingpimp
Posts: 1176 - Karma: 31
32 gallon! that is huge like 2 kegs big!

On a different note I am making a delicious batch of IPA tonight and can't wait for my house to smell like beer for the net couple weeks. Thanks student loans for coming through
Jan 22 2011 9:16PM
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C-Burg
Posts: 4729 - Karma: 130
my neighbor and I started making our own beer and ended up making a still and our own whiskey
Jan 22 2011 9:25PM
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gr4
Posts: 1499 - Karma: 945
i just bottled my first batch a couple days ago. just an american pale ale. i really enjoyed brewing though. probably gonna brew a steam tomorrow.
Jan 22 2011 9:43PM
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asapCferg
Posts: 3057 - Karma: 358
my cousin does..its dope
Jan 22 2011 10:14PM
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JosephStalin
Posts: 1673 - Karma: 100
a friend of mine does it with his dad, i havent asked him much about it though
Jan 22 2011 10:15PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
I brew my own beer. Who ever said it is really expensive and a lot of hard work is nuts. It's easy and not really all that expensive at all once you get your equipment. The initial investment in equipment is about $150-$200. Then, I can make five gallons of beer for less than $50. Price per beer....that's pretty damn cheap in the long run.

Each batch takes maybe three hours of actual work to make. Most of the time it's just sitting there doing it's thing - it usually takes between 2 - 4 weeks per batch. Figure a couple of hours of initial "cooking". Twenty minutes a week or so in to transfer from one container to the second. And a week or two later it'll take about a half hour to bottle everything up. Bam, five gallons of beer are ready to go.


Jan 22 2011 11:12PM
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KrazyistKarl
Posts: 1725 - Karma: 599
im quite interested in starting, im buying my own house very soon so il have plenty of room downstairs, and i wouldn' mind saving a few pennies. what all is needed to start
Jan 22 2011 11:25PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
they sell kits for less than $100 that pretty much gives you everything you need. basically, all you need is a big ass pot capable of boiling about 3 gallons of water, two sealable 5 gallon buckets, a thermometer, a hydrometer, a siphon, bottles, capper, and i would highly recommend getting (or making) a wort cooler.

then you can get kits in the $35-$50 range that contain all of the sugars, hops, and grains to start off. once you become more familiar with brewing, you can start buying this stuff individually so you can customize your brew a little more to your liking.

just google brew kits and you'll find all kinds of info.
Jan 22 2011 11:42PM
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Elijah.
Posts: 9322 - Karma: 76
All grain setup with two kegs on tap (inside the fridge). Shits tasty.
Jan 23 2011 2:32AM
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buddychaps
Posts: 1817 - Karma: 583
I'm actually in the process of brewing right now. Honey nut brown ale. Bottling starts tomorrow, so hyped!
Jan 23 2011 2:36AM
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OAK_TREE
Posts: 2683 - Karma: 12
I just started brewing a couple months ago. Got a present for a cheap kit from my girlfriend. Just bottled a hefeweizen last night, and enjoying them on a nice spring day. saving up for a nice 5 - 10 gallon kit so i can brew more beer. it's nice living around Milwaukee, so many brew stores to choose from.
Jan 23 2011 9:26AM
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Tasche
Posts: 5422 - Karma: 99
It is pretty expensive. If you reason for brewing your own beer is to save money you shouldn't do it.

Depending on your set up it takes a lot of time as well. Doing 3 gallons on the stove then adding water is a fine way to go. But the quality and control are not there. Plus doing it on the stove just sucks in general, if you have a boil over you have to clean for days.

Bottling also really sucks, cleaning bottles and getting the labels off is terrible. I bottle once a year, I make a holiday barley wine and give it out for Christmas. After you bottle once you will want to go to a keg set up.

If you want to brew beer of high quality and make something original you are going to have to brew in a converted keg with an all grain system.

So godspeed on making beer everyone but know that to do it right takes time and money like any other hobby.
Jan 24 2011 11:24AM
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