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Homebrewing

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mouser:
I want to tell you a story about my early days of homebrewing.

This was back in about 1986-1988, that range.

I was walking around the house distracted and not looking where i was going, and our cat ran in front of me and i stepped on the cat.

A cat owner's worst nightmare then occurred -- I heard the cat's bones break under my feet.   I looked down to see blood on my foot and my stomach tightened up and I felt physically ill and started to panic about what had just happened.
Then I saw the cat out of the corner of my eye, and it was just sitting there looking at me, in no apparent pain.
Then I looked down again at my foot, and I saw what had happened.  That damn cat had finally figured out a way to get the glass fermentation lock+stopper off the 5-gallon beer fermenting in the pantry, and had been dragging it around with her and she dragged it right under my foot.  Sure enough I had cut myself on the fermentation lock.

So learn from me: Do not let your cats go near your brewing containers!

40hz:
So learn from me: Do not let your cats go near your brewing containers!
-mouser (July 20, 2014, 05:17 PM)
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Or your servers, or your laptop, or your guitar amps, or keyboards, or your basket of clean clothes, or... ;D

40hz:
I have to say that the mead was the most satisfying -- only because as good as the beer was, and as fun as it was to make, it didn't rival the best store bought beer.
-mouser (July 12, 2014, 08:01 PM)
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Really? I'm pretty shocked.
-Renegade (July 12, 2014, 09:42 PM)
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Me too! :tellme: I've found most decent homebrews are better than 90% of what you can buy. About the only exception is Guinness. If you like Guinness (I do) there is nothing that really quite matches the taste or texture of that brew - which is what makes it Guinness.

I brewed up a white beer and drank it raw because it was so good even at that stage. Warm. That good. Mind-blowingly good. No bottling or secondary fermentation.
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There are many brewers who like a sample of their bathes "raw." And sweet wort is like candy before it's hopped. Even non-beer drinkers like it. I'm surprised nobody bottles it for sale.


I'm going to have to have a go at brewing some mead. I really never considered it until both you and 40hz mentioned it. Mead I find rather sweet, and I tend towards a more moderate sweetness with a rich texture, e.g. stout or brown ale.

Now I'm wondering if I can do it in a very small batch of just a few bottles... should be doable... Cheesecloth over the bottle with a rubber band...



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I'm an ale/double-bock/porter/barley wine type myself. I like my quaff complex tasting but with a touch of sweetness (like a good Scotch ale), amber or darker in color, and with a goodly amount of body. If a spoon almost stands up in it, it's perfect. And if any pond life is swimming around in it, it's a real plus in my book!

FWIW I try to make things you can't get (or get easily) in a store. Why duplicate what's available when there are so many good craft beers available for sale? I go for the more exotic brews when I'm cooking something up for bottling.

As far as small batches go - I'm a believer. I've found smaller batches are easier to make and more reliable in outcome since it's hard to control temperatures accurately on the average home stove when boiling and hopping. And also tricky to sterilize a lot of bottles at once. I think 5 gallons is the absolute limit - and I've found about 2 to 3 gallons is the ideal batch size for a single brew project. I'm also not a big drinker - nor do I have a lot of available cellaring space. And I like to have two or three different brews available at any given time. So I try not to make more of a single brew than I and my fellow homebrew lovers can consume in a reasonable amount of time. If it's something I really like, I'll just make it more often.

But everybody has their own ideas and ways to do it. So take all of this with a sip of ale. ;D

I'd also suggest taking a look at the American Homebrewers Association. They have a wealth of solid information. And you don't need to be a member to get good info from them - although a membership is inexpensive and gets you full access to everything they have. They even have a beginner's mead how-to here.

They just published an 'official' mead recipe (August 2 is Mead Day!) that looks good. I notice it uses Lalvin K1V-1116 Montpellier yeast which is found in a lot of grape-based recipes I've seen. I haven't used this particular yeast myself, but I've heard other local brewers sing its praises. It supposedly produces a drier brew in fairly short order - so if sweet isn't your thing in a mead - maybe this recipe and yeast is worth looking at. If you start it about now you can crack it for Christmas - although I've found the type of meads I prefer need a good year of racking before they're really worth drinking.

 :Thmbsup:

 :Thmbsup:

Renegade:
Small batch processing is easy using a gallon jug or several champagne bottles. Use a fermentation lock for best results or some plastic tubing from stoppers at the top all going to somewhere under some water in a container. Champagne yeast is foolproof and excellent for every fruit I've tried. Vierka (German company) had a very good yeast but I have not used it in years. If you have access to a brewing supply store, there are many gallon concentrate cans that are excellent. Corn sugar works well.
-sword (July 20, 2014, 05:03 PM)
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I've only got the 1 fermenter, and I didn't want to buy bungs & locks as we'll be moving in the near future and they'd just get thrown out. At the moment it is gurgling nicely. :)

So.... the current plan is to simply cover the bottles with cloth & a rubber band. Not ideal, but it should do well enough.

I'm not sure what brands the yeasts are - I simply got what was available at the brew store on a recommendation from the shop keeper.

I probably should have picked up a clarifying agent, but, meh... I'm ok with sediment.

40hz:
I'm not sure what brands the yeasts are - I simply got what was available at the brew store on a recommendation from the shop keeper.
-Renegade (July 20, 2014, 08:13 PM)
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If you have a good store in your area, it's smart to ask their advice. I do at mine. They haven't steered me wrong yet. And why reinvent the wheel if you don't have to?  8)

However, if you're really into it, at least keep a notebook. It's a big help. Trust me.

I probably should have picked up a clarifying agent, but, meh... I'm ok with sediment.
-Renegade (July 20, 2014, 08:13 PM)
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It's ok by me too. I'll just leave half an inch in the bottom of my glass - and dump it if it's too sludgy. I can always get another glass if I want more.

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