I just started brewing my first batch of home brew (dark ale) after a little while of planning as a trial run. ive got about a week until its ready but want a good (different) recipe for my next batch to plan out. anyone got any suggestions as to types or ingredients?

1/17/2006 10:21:21 PM

thank god possumdog got terminated!

1/17/2006 10:53:59 PM

word

1/17/2006 10:59:18 PM

i heard that "American light" is good and there are plenty of recipes on the internet.... for me im sticking to wine brewing for now because its so easy

1/17/2006 11:20:55 PM

did you buy a kit, use extracts, or actually go all the way with all grain?

1/18/2006 12:39:54 AM

we got the fermentor, tubing and the hydrometer together in a setup that was cheap but efficient. but we wanted to get the ball rolling with as few snafu's as possible so we went with the grains/hops/etc mixes off the shelf to keep a log of so we could fully understand what we were doing as far as the process goes (and to appease our alcoholism quickly) but i would like to get into making other recipes with pick of the hops, yeast(dry or liquid cultures), sugars, etc besides whats normally on the internet.

1/18/2006 1:01:17 AM

dark ale?

wtf?

1/18/2006 9:34:21 AM

Recipe Calculator:

http://www.cellar-homebrew.com/brewercalc.htm

i highly recommend http://www.homebrew.com , Homebrew Adventures website. I made their St Nick's Christmas Ale (8.5% alcohol) to give out to friends this year, and it turned out really well. They're based in Charlotte, so you can save the S&H by dropping by their store if you're in the area (call first, they're closed on saturdays right now)

I'm working on an oatmeal porter of theirs right now - about 3 days into primary fermentation. Stick to DME (Dried Malt Extract) recipes at first - the simpler, the better when you're learning.

And do yourself a favor - save or buy a bunch of 22oz bottles for bottling - only need 24 of 'em for a 5 gallon batch, instead of 48 12oz.

1/18/2006 11:08:02 AM

or buy a brew keg and avoid bottling

1/18/2006 11:36:39 AM

bttt

10/13/2006 9:58:40 AM

supplies:
http://www.americanbrewmaster.com
http://www.morebeer.com

instruction:
http://www.howtobrew.com

recipe software:
http://www.promash.com

10/13/2006 1:38:59 PM

Starting an oatmeal stout on tuesday, after I bottle my barleywine and transfer my pumpkin ale to secondary.

10/13/2006 2:46:45 PM

If you're doing 5 gallon batches at a time, kegging is the way to go, you dont' want to clean and bottle 53 beers everytime you make beer do you? I wouldn't.

I haven't made any beer yet but I've made a few batches of cider and wine and everyone I've talked to said they would only keg, and this was after they've bottled their first few batches.


Plus you can drink the beer quicker if you keg as opposed to bottle.

10/13/2006 3:11:36 PM

^ By "drink the beer quicker" do you mean because the brewing process is shorter? That's what I have heard from my roommate who has done a few brews. The pressure of the keg makes it go faster. But other than, I don't know much about the beer process until it reaches a cup in my hand.

10/13/2006 3:14:49 PM

Ferment some milk in that shit, creamy dark ales are teh best

10/13/2006 3:16:35 PM

^^

Ive never brewed beer but from what I understand it has to condition in the bottle for a few weeks before you can drink it, I mean you can drink it right after you bottle but I would image it wouldnt be as good. With kegging and the pressure its drinkable right after you keg it.

10/13/2006 3:20:53 PM

Quote :

" Ive never brewed beer but from what I understand it has to condition in the bottle for a few weeks before you can drink it, I mean you can drink it right after you bottle but I would image it wouldnt be as good. With kegging and the pressure its drinkable right after you keg it."

It only has to condition for about a week before it is carbonated.

While kegging will add carbonation instantly, most ales benefit from at least 2-3 weeks of aging.

You can of course drink it immediately though.

[Edited on October 13, 2006 at 5:02 PM. Reason : .]

10/13/2006 5:01:54 PM

Quote :

"It only has to condition for about a week before it is carbonated"

Not always...for most of mine I've found that it takes 2-3 weeks for full carbonation. I had a high gravity beer that took almost 3 months to properly condition.

10/13/2006 7:22:11 PM

some sites I use to order and check out the forums.


northernbrewer.com

basically the same site but specifics for beer/wine
morebeer.com
morewine.com

There is another one I go to but I can't remember the url...

10/13/2006 7:27:16 PM

^^Yeah, I suppose you're right. I was speaking generally though, for an average gravity beer (around 1.060 OG).

It would of course change with many factors including type of yeast, gravity, type of beer, how you fermented it, etc...

10/13/2006 7:35:00 PM

we now have 50 bottles of nut brown conditioning in the spare closet.

10/20/2006 7:25:16 AM

1 can of Brewferm Tripple malt extract, 1 lb of light dried malt extract and 1 lb of Belgian Candy sugar.

Not an exotic brew, but the batch I had a few weeks ago was really good.....a blegian style ale with a nutty flavor...Had a bit of a bite at the end, it was around 8%.

10/20/2006 9:33:13 AM

http://hbd.org/recipator/

Have fun there is a ton on there.

10/20/2006 10:59:16 AM

"Designing Great Beers" by Ray Daniels is a must for anyone serious about formulating their own recipes.

Just brewed an Oatmeal Stout this past monday, and will be staring on a cherry/honey wheat sometime next week.

10/20/2006 11:06:49 AM

i checked some shit outa the library yesterday

10/20/2006 3:56:01 PM

homebrewed beers are usually pretty bad

i guess it's kind of a fun hobby that rewards alcoholism, but all of that trial and error cuts into time that could have otherwise been spent drinking

10/20/2006 4:02:07 PM

Quote :

"homebrewed beers are usually pretty bad"

I'd be willing to bet you haven't sampled the work of more than one or two homebrewers...or maybe you just dont like good beer

Quote :

"it's kind of a fun hobby"

yes

Quote :

"rewards alcoholism"

?

[Edited on October 20, 2006 at 4:28 PM. Reason : edit]

10/20/2006 4:18:45 PM

i like good beer, but most of the homebrews i had weren't good at all. i'll admit i haven't sampled hundreds of varieties, but i have tried more than enough to pressume that people often don't know what theyre doing- or at least the people i know anyway...

and as far as rewarding alcoholism? there are countless other hobbies that contribute to this as well: wine tasting, beerpong, bar hopping, happy hour, card games, over the line, horseshoes, sloshball, trivia, karaoke, flip cup, etc...

10/20/2006 4:47:39 PM

Quote :

"or at least the people i know anyway..."

Fair enough, but it should be known that most homebrewers who actually put some time and research into what they are doing produce good stuff. I find it very rewarding to have ultimate control over my brews, and understanding how every little variable has an effect on the final product.

Homebrewing is a fulfilling hobby. If anyone considers beer pong, barhopping, happy hour, or flip cup a hobby, well....that's pretty sad. Those things you listed are just drinking games, or activities often done while drinking; and while they may have their place, it's hard to say that they actually reward alcoholism.

[Edited on October 20, 2006 at 5:10 PM. Reason : ']

10/20/2006 5:05:11 PM

i'd say anything that devotes more time to alcohol, than say DRINKING IT, is kind of sad, but whatever. that's just my opinion.

people have various approaches to different things and who really cares so long as it makes them happy?

10/20/2006 5:31:59 PM

Sad?

You mean the tards that create the stuff that you like to drink?

10/20/2006 5:34:23 PM

i was being a wiseass throughout the entire thread, but i guess now i've pissed off the home brewing elite

my deepest apologies

10/20/2006 5:41:24 PM

apology accepted

back to beer

10/20/2006 6:16:28 PM

finally bottled my sour ale yesterday that i brewed back in march. fermented with only wild yeast and bacteria. no brwers yeast. 2 strains of brettanomyces and 1 strain of lactobicillus. i repitched with a pack of champagne bc i didnt trust the bacteria to carbonate it fast enough. should be drinkable in 1-3 weeks should be awesome.

10/30/2006 7:25:48 AM

^

Do you ever keg it? Doing 5 gallon batches at a time? Man that must be a bitch to bottle all that beer.

10/30/2006 9:11:06 AM

yes i keg. i kegged my last 11 batches before this one. i really hate bottling, but there at somethings that i would like to keep around for more than a month or 2 to see how they age. Also its good to bottle for competitions.

10/30/2006 11:33:27 AM

dude, the bottling sucks the first time, and then you get the hang of it. it's not as much of a pain in the ass as you think.

in my experience, the brews really age well in a bottle, and it helps them develop their unique flavor. I don't think that keg aging would be the same. kegging is nice, and i plan to buy a keg system in the future, but i would only use it for simple recipes that don't need aging.

10/31/2006 10:14:54 AM

plus, you can't save some and see what it tastes like in 6 months with a keg

10/31/2006 5:34:25 PM

^why werent you at the carboy meeting? i took some good stuff. you missed out.

or what it tastes like after years for that matter. i still have few bottles of some of my beers that i brewed over 3 years ago.

10/31/2006 5:57:04 PM

I xfered my 2nd 1 gallon batch of wine into secondary and decided to cold condition it to see how it turns out.

11/8/2006 12:22:31 PM

My dad gave me one of these a couple of years ago, but I haven't used it yet. Anyone had experience with them, good/bad?

11/8/2006 12:58:27 PM

If you really want to get into homebrewing, you'd probably be better off selling that to someone and putting the profits toward a better setup.

If you just want to fuck around, go for it, but don't expect too much.

11/8/2006 1:12:17 PM

I'm not planning to get big into homebrewing. I'll probably make a batch or two, flow a few to my dad, and then sell it. I figure he probably gave it to me because he was expecting some brews in return.

11/8/2006 1:43:04 PM

I've helped a couple of my friends bottle their stuff a few times now. Its a lot of fun if you have 3 or 4 friends together. You just make an assembly line. A sugarer, a filler, and a capper. Takes a couple hours including sanitization but its fun if you are with friends, and if theres some product left from last time then its even less of a chore

11/8/2006 5:47:43 PM

you gotta be a pretty big alcoholic to want to brew your own beer

11/8/2006 5:51:07 PM

I'm in the process of building a fermentation chiller, with it being so hot down here in FL it's hard to keep the fermenters between 65-75 degrees. It will cool using jugs of ice with a PC fan connected to a thermostat to circulate air. I hope to get it at a constant 70 degrees to improve my beer taste and clarity.

^ People who cook their own food must be lard asses too, right.

11/8/2006 6:48:20 PM

Quote :

"A sugarer,"

please tell me you aren't adding priming sugar individually to each bottle. please.

just add it to the bottling bucket and gentley strir so as not to aerate. this its not only much easier but allows for more uniform carnonation. adding to each bottle leaves the chances of varying carbonation from bottle to bottle.

11/8/2006 7:03:31 PM

Bulk priming is def. the way to go.

made a spiced ale for thanksgiving/christmas, and my god is it over the top. Ginger, oranges and cinnamon and about 8 percent alcohol. mmmmmmm.

11/8/2006 7:16:33 PM

Yep, bulk priming is a lot easier.

I currently have a clone of Stone's Ruination IPA fermenting, and a cherry/honey wheat that I will be bottling tomorrow.

Planning on making the jump to all grain very shortly. Just need to pick up a few things and build a sparging system.

[Edited on November 8, 2006 at 9:00 PM. Reason : .]

11/8/2006 8:58:46 PM

im about to brew my fourth batch. so far ive done a newcastle clone, a fat tire amber clone, and a hoegaarden clone. the hoegaarden clone is bottle conditioning right now, probably another week before ill try it. I think the next batch i might make will be a honey brown beer. as far as my experience goes, ive had numerous compliments on the newcastle, and the one person who tried the amber thought it tasted great. the amber goes down very smooth. Im pleased with the products so far. I have 8 newcastles left that i am going to stow away for a couple months to see how it will taste after some aging. I hope to get a kegerator for christmas, and then purchase a kegging system after the new year. Ill check back in and let you guys know how the hoegaarden turns out.

11/9/2006 9:16:15 AM