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0 Subject: Any homebrewers out there?

Posted by: allhair allstars
- [4611820] Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 22:35

Anyone out there brewing their own beer?

I'd been collecting brewing supplies (carboys and the like) for over 10 years, but only finally got into the hobby about three years ago. It's been the most enjoyable time suck I've experienced since the last time I had 10 fantasy baseball teams going at the same time.

Currently fermenting an big bad IPA that I need to have kegged, dry hopped and carbed in time for a live auction draft on the 15th...

Anyone up for a little chatter?
1holt
      ID: 1414114
      Mon, Mar 04, 2013, 04:42
Sounds like a cool hobby. Just curious. Does it work out to being cheaper than buying good beer or is it about the same cost?
2Tree
      ID: 3222128
      Mon, Mar 04, 2013, 10:08
not a home brewer, but i really do drink damned good beer.

i also hang out with a number of home brewers, including one who is now brewing for a local brew pub - first batch is going to be an ESB with myrtle.

a couple other friends just bottled a Peanut Butter Porter and a Peanut Butter Bacon Porter.

previously beers included a Cherry Chocolate Stout (that was actually the chick beer made by their wives), a Double Chocolate Salted Stout, a Black Pepper IPA, a Pumpkin Porter, and a mess of other IPAs.

they also took an old coke machine similar to this one, and turned it into a two-tap kegerator.



3holt
      ID: 1414114
      Mon, Mar 04, 2013, 15:32
awesome! might have to start looking into this.
4ChicagoTRS
      ID: 1550160
      Mon, Mar 04, 2013, 23:12
I have a bunch of friends who brew. It really does not come out much cheaper unless you are really doing big volumes. More of a hobby...fun hobby though as I have had some great home brews.
5allhair allstars
      Sustainer
      ID: 50902421
      Mon, Mar 04, 2013, 23:37
Holt,

"Does it work out to being cheaper than buying good beer or is it about the same cost?"

One of the classic pre-gateway questions... as in "can I save money by homebrewing?" In my experience, I echo ChicagoTRS. I don't ever really seem to brew cheaply enough to say that I've saved money. A standard 5 gallon batch works out to around 9 six packs. You could brew that batch for $20 bucks or spend $60 on ingredients. I can generally overlook the per batch costs (as compared to store bought beer) since I enjoy the act of brewing - not to mention that I end up with some tasty beer when all's said and done.

The kicker is that I've way over shot my budget on equipment. The more I brew, the lower my per unit cost goes down... but it's gonna be a long, long time before I ever really get close enough to justify the cost of my gear. But don't you worry... I gonna keep on brewing until I get there!

In the end, however, it's the pride of ownership - however fleeting - that makes it all worth while. There's nothing more satisfying then cracking open a bottle of a brew that YOU brewed and having people enjoy it. I'm totally addicted.
6allhair allstars
      Sustainer
      ID: 50902421
      Mon, Mar 04, 2013, 23:43
Tree,

You're never going to convince me that a Peanut Butter Bacon Porter tastes good... although I'd love you to try! As much as I believe in the healing powers of bacon, peanut butter just sounds like a crazy stretch. Was it any good?

I'm down to the last couple pints of my "Siberian Antifreeze", which is a bourbon oak-aged vanilla bean Russian Imperial Stout. I'll be very sad when that keg kicks.
7WiddleAvi
      ID: 2211202017
      Tue, Mar 05, 2013, 17:47
I have been home brewing for about 2 years now but I am def still an amatuer. I recently made the white house honey ale beer and it came out really good. About to bottle a Cascade Orange/Coriander Pale Ale and can't wait to taste it. I would love a discussion here about home brew. I have been trying to clone digfish head 60 minute IPA. It has come out pretty good but still not a dogfish.
8Tree
      ID: 12248513
      Tue, Mar 05, 2013, 18:01
I'm down to the last couple pints of my "Siberian Antifreeze", which is a bourbon oak-aged vanilla bean Russian Imperial Stout.

that sounds amazing. where did you get the barrels to age it in?

You're never going to convince me that a Peanut Butter Bacon Porter tastes good

probably won't know until next weekend. haven't popped a bottle of it yet.

the key was using PB2 - regular peanut butter would have been too oily.
9allhair allstars
      Sustainer
      ID: 50902421
      Wed, Mar 06, 2013, 09:21
WiddleAvi,

Knew there had to be some home brewers out there! I'm completely an amateur. Not a newbie, but definitely still learning and experimenting. I've seen recipes for the White House beers floating around... So many beers to brew - not sure I'll ever get to those. I have a sixer of the Dogfish 90 waiting to be enjoyed. Need to get to that soon! I haven't done any clone beers where I tried to formulate a clone recipe from scratch, but I've been ruminating a Stone Ruination recipe I found... :)

Needed a keg for my IPA so last night I bottled the last of my "Siberian Antifreeze", "Kessel Run" spiced ale, and my "Fresh Cream" ale. Tonight I clean kegs and rack the IPA so I can dry hop and carb in time for a baseball draft on the 15th.

Orange/ Coriander? Sounds yummy.
10allhair allstars
      Sustainer
      ID: 50902421
      Wed, Mar 06, 2013, 19:35
Tree,

That beer wasn't actually aged in a barrel... which would have been ideal... Instead I soaked some oak in bourbon for about a month. Probably over a month, actually. This is back in August. Eventually I added both the bourbon and the oak to my fermenter and let it all ruminate for about 4.5 months. Added some scraped and cut up vanilla beans after a while. It turned out pretty good IMO.

I looked at that PB2... Completely new to me but I can see how that would/could work. Would love to hear how it turns out!
11ChicagoTRS
      ID: 149171815
      Fri, Mar 08, 2013, 17:27
Once you own the equipment, brewing pretty much becomes a wash in the cost department. Ingredients cost about as much as buying a quality ready made beer.

Just going to take a long time to recoup the equipment costs. Especially when you consider most people start out with starter equipment...once they find out they like brewing it is not long before they are buying better equipment.

My one friend who brews...and who I would consider ultra frugal...he has started his own yeast colony and buys other ingredients in bulk. He is probably coming out ahead each batch he brews but still it will take him a lifetime to recoup the cost of equipment. Not saying it is a bad hobby or not worthwhile...just do not go into it thinking you are going to save money on your beer drinking tab. Then again if you replace going to the bars with brewing...then you can come out way ahead in no time...those $4-6 dollar beers add up quick and preventing one DUI would pay for the cost of the equipment many times over.
12allhair allstars
      ID: 822821
      Sat, Mar 09, 2013, 17:08
I ordered 110 lbs of grain a little bit ago and I take possession of it today.

I'm hoping that it's not as much grain as it sound like it is. Gonna have a busy spring/summer of ...

ChicagoTRS,
Kinda wish I had you friend's yeast production. I've been researching some fairly basic yeast harvesting techniques but I'm trying to avoid actual culturing. I grow my own hops... Seemed more my style that dealing with microbes.
13allhair allstars
      Sustainer
      ID: 50902421
      Tue, May 28, 2013, 22:28
So... had a party last weekend and had four 5 gallon kegs on tap - a rye IPA, a citra single hop pale ale (think Zombie Dust), a cream ale and a hefe-weizen. The citra and the cream ale both disappeared, which is cool because apparently everyone loved them. It's also a drag, because... well... they're both gone.
14Tree
      ID: 564173012
      Thu, May 30, 2013, 13:17
my local brew pub just finished their third beer, a Berliner Weisse.

their first beer - brewed with myrtle - was really good.

the second beer was not to my liking.

the Berliner Weisse, though, is amazing. sightly citrusy, a bit sour, and an ABV over about 3.5, which makes it perfectly sessionable.
15allhair allstars
      Sustainer
      ID: 50902421
      Sun, Mar 09, 2014, 00:31
Instead of cramming for baseball drafts I kegged a Stone Ruination clone and a hopped cider. Not so sure about the cider, but the clone - which I'm calling "Rue The Day" - seems to have a lot of promise. Just a sample, so far, and I'm dry hopping with 4 ounces of Centennial hops - we'll see in a week or two how things are coming along...
16holt
      Donor
      ID: 308491916
      Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 21:47
Started looking into this again. From what I'm seeing, once you graduate in to all-grain brewing, and once you have the equipment, you can make 5 gallon batches for under $15. That makes the whole thing much more interesting as a hobby. That's about 9 6-packs. Think I'll stop by the local supplier tomorrow and see how their prices compare to what I'm seeing online.
17biliruben
      ID: 41431323
      Tue, Jul 08, 2014, 04:57
Just saw this. We seem to have the same taste in beer. I brewed a rye IPA a couple summers ago. Just drank the last bottle.

I've been brewing on and off for the last 20 years. Gave up doing it in my kitchen, as I wasn't anal enough to maintain consistency, and I never could get myself to invest in top of the line burner and chiller.

There's a nice you-brew place close to me that has all the high-end equipment, ingredients, recipes and a massive sterilizer that just make it so easy we don't do anything else now.

That said, in the NW there are so many new, simply amazing breweries, we can't really compete on quality. There are well over a hundred breweries here in Washington now, and probably 40 in Seattle alone.

When you can get a half gallon of Black Raven Trickster (yum!) for $6, it's hard to justify brewing except just as an excuse to get together with your buddies.
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