I've always been happy buying stuff from Midwest Supplies. They often have coupons and promotions as well so do a little digging before placing your order and you may be able to save a few bucks.
I've used Beer & Wine Hobby and always had good results. They're based in MA, so keep that in mind for shipping.
While I agree that being insensitive is an issue, so is being oversensitive.
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jergarmarhollow man crewgoes pew pew pewRegistered Userregular
edited March 2020
Being all cooped up, I have been brewing up a bunch of stuff. And finally got a proper 10-gallon brew kettle! I don't know why I suffered so long with a 5-gallon, don't be like me. I have been really having a lot of success with the freely-available BYO recipes (from https://byo.com/). Also, I do BIAB, so keep that in mind.
1822 Brown Porter: I made it a bit too dry, but served cool and not cold, it is SO good. More like a strong Brown Ale than a heavy porter. Lots of nuttiness from the HUGE amount of brown malt. I did modify the recipe, swapping out 1 pound of the 2-row for 1 pound of 6-row, to guarantee sufficient enzymatic strength, to cover the non-enzymatic brown malt. Worked great.
NEIPA: I used the "extract" version, because it was my first foray into IPA, and I wanted to reduce the factors at play. This is quite firmly in the "fruity/hazy" category, but is well-balanced and I was incredibly happy with it. But wow, it's an expensive batch because of all those hops. But just to reiterate, don't be afraid of extract, especially if major taste elements come from non-grain elements, like in this case.
Irish Red Ale: Not a BYO recipe this for this one. Still in the fermenter, very excited about it, because the recipe foregoes caramel malts for a healthy chunk of rye malt.
Wee Heavy: This is my brew task this week, my first higher-gravity batch. Almost 20 lbs of grain! No idea how it will go, but my upgraded equipment should help quite a bit.
Hope you guys are finding fun stuff to make. Cheers!
jergarmar on
When I was a child, I had a fever... My BoardGameGeek profile
Battle.net: TheGerm#1430 (Hearthstone, Destiny 2)
I'm thinking about using my I-don't-know-what-it's-called, economic tax refund thing? The $1200 I got, and starting homebrewing.
I reached out to Eric J. Benson of (among other things) Acquisitions Intoxicated fame, and ordered the book he recommended, Complete Joy of Homebrewing (4th ed).
Before I go and blow a lot of money on stuff that's gonna sit in the corner, can I come to you guys with questions and/or concerns?
Like, should I get another book? Should I just say fuck it and get a starter set? Is there a FAQ? Are there any generally accepted good sites to check out? Bad ones to avoid?
I bought a kit from Brooklyn brewing (at goodwill. Probably a hundred years old. Still gonna try it) and it seems like it is actually brewing compared to the Mr. Beer kit I got also a hundred years ago for Christmas. (Was hoping the Brooklyn brew kit had a bottle capper, mostly why I got it that day)
The Mr. Beer one was just some jars of sugar and yeast and maybe some hop pellets?
The Brooklyn one has a bag full of grains, at least.
As for why I came to this thread, I bought a cider press! My work has been catering us lunches because of covid, and one of the places gives us apples with every meal. So I got a few pounds of apples laying around cause most people ignored their apples. So last night I tried pressing the apples and today they are sitting in my glass carboy with airlock. There is only, maybe, a quarter of a gallon in the carboy, mostly wanted to do this as a test run and see how well it worked.
I was reading about hard cider and some people said the wild yeast will do, if you don't want to do much effort, so that's how I did it. Like I said, trial run, really.
But I didn't add any sugar or anything, should I have?
It doesn't look like it's doing anything yet, but maybe the wild yeasts take longer to really become established? Or I should have added additional sugar?
It's sitting next to my sourdough starter I also started yesterday which is bubbling away quite happily after 24hours.
Planning on going apple picking this fall and trying a larger batch. Might need some kinda apple grinder (or maybe just a cheap ass vegtagle dicer) before I do more than a couple pounds. Seemed like a ton of waster with the apples just cut into quarters or eighth's
Burtletoy on
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
I bought a kit from Brooklyn brewing (at goodwill. Probably a hundred years old. Still gonna try it) and it seems like it is actually brewing compared to the Mr. Beer kit I got also a hundred years ago for Christmas. (Was hoping the Brooklyn brew kit had a bottle capper, mostly why I got it that day)
The Mr. Beer one was just some jars of sugar and yeast and maybe some hop pellets?
The Brooklyn one has a bag full of grains, at least.
As for why I came to this thread, I bought a cider press! My work has been catering us lunches because of covid, and one of the places gives us apples with every meal. So I got a few pounds of apples laying around cause most people ignored their apples. So last night I tried pressing the apples and today they are sitting in my glass carboy with airlock. There is only, maybe, a quarter of a gallon in the carboy, mostly wanted to do this as a test run and see how well it worked.
I was reading about hard cider and some people said the wild yeast will do, if you don't want to do much effort, so that's how I did it. Like I said, trial run, really.
But I didn't add any sugar or anything, should I have?
It doesn't look like it's doing anything yet, but maybe the wild yeasts take longer to really become established? Or I should have added additional sugar?
It's sitting next to my sourdough starter I also started yesterday which is bubbling away quite happily after 24hours.
Planning on going apple picking this fall and trying a larger batch. Might need some kinda apple grinder (or maybe just a cheap ass vegtagle dicer) before I do more than a couple pounds. Seemed like a ton of waster with the apples just cut into quarters or eighth's
It takes quite a bit for wild yeast to get going in cider. You don't need to add sugar or anything, it'll go on it's own. How big is the car boy? If it's a 5 gallon and you've just got a small layer of liquid in there it's going to take a while to produce enough gas to pressurize enough to start bubbling in the airlock.
I've done cider before and I figure it's about a 5 gallon bucket of apples for roughly 1 gallon of liquid, but plan to need extra to make sure you get enough liquid. Lots of brewery places will rent mulchers and stuff to throw cut up apples into. You'll get a lot more liquid out of them that way.
I'm thinking about using my I-don't-know-what-it's-called, economic tax refund thing? The $1200 I got, and starting homebrewing.
I reached out to Eric J. Benson of (among other things) Acquisitions Intoxicated fame, and ordered the book he recommended, Complete Joy of Homebrewing (4th ed).
Before I go and blow a lot of money on stuff that's gonna sit in the corner, can I come to you guys with questions and/or concerns?
Like, should I get another book? Should I just say fuck it and get a starter set? Is there a FAQ? Are there any generally accepted good sites to check out? Bad ones to avoid?
I guess that's already questions...
How to Brew by John J Palmer. Excellent place to start.
Cluck cluck, gibber gibber, my old man's a mushroom, etc.
I was cleaning up some dark corners of my basement and found about 9 bottles of two different beers I brewed probably 3-4 years ago. I'm kind of curious to try them! Worst case scenario I get sick and die they taste bad and I dump 'em down the drain?
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
I was cleaning up some dark corners of my basement and found about 9 bottles of two different beers I brewed probably 3-4 years ago. I'm kind of curious to try them! Worst case scenario I get sick and die they taste bad and I dump 'em down the drain?
Yea unless it's a super high level imperial stout, it's likely to just taste off. Most beer is a 6 months best by, with IPAs being on the low end, the more hops the less time, and high gravity imperial stouts on the high end, where they can last years if properly stored.
I'm thinking about using my I-don't-know-what-it's-called, economic tax refund thing? The $1200 I got, and starting homebrewing.
I reached out to Eric J. Benson of (among other things) Acquisitions Intoxicated fame, and ordered the book he recommended, Complete Joy of Homebrewing (4th ed).
Before I go and blow a lot of money on stuff that's gonna sit in the corner, can I come to you guys with questions and/or concerns?
Like, should I get another book? Should I just say fuck it and get a starter set? Is there a FAQ? Are there any generally accepted good sites to check out? Bad ones to avoid?
I guess that's already questions...
There's a tremendous amount you can learn about brewing but you don't really need to learn a lot about brewing to get started.
I would not recommend Mr Beer or any of those holiday-gift-for-someone-who-likes-beer "Everything you need in one box" kits.
What you need to get started brewing:
* a brew pot - a 5 or 10 gallon stainless steel pot you won't use for anything except making beer
* a fermenter - either a glass carboy or a plastic bucket with a plug of some type on the top and an airlock
* an 'easy'-level extract-based beer recipe kit
* a bunch of empty beer bottles (and caps, if your recipe kit doesn't come with them)
* a siphon, a spoon for stirring your brew pot, and a bottle capping tool
* a bottle of StarSan sanitizer (or similar brewing sanitizer)
In theory you'd also want a hygrometer to measure the alcohol content of your beer but it's not strictly necessary to get started. You might also want a thermometer that clips onto your brew pot but, again, for an easy-level beer kit where it's just malt extract and hops, you don't really need to worry much about temperature beyond "is it boiling yet?".
When I started homebrewing I went to an hour long class at a local homebrew store where they walked us through making and bottling a beer. Obviously that's not really an option right now but you could probably find similar online.
An extract-based kit is going to come with some liquid and/or dry malt extract, some hop pellets, a pack of yeast, and instructions. I've had good luck and experiences with Brewer's Best brand. Those also come with a bag of bottle caps and a bag of priming sugar for bottling. All you need to do with one is make up a bunch of sanitizer, sanitize everything, and follow the instructions. Mostly that's just "put this stuff in a pot, boil it, add this other stuff after this long". At the end you put the result in your fermenter and add water to get it up to 5 gallons (simultaneously cooling it down so you don't really need a chiller or anything when you start out). Wait a couple of weeks, add sugar, siphon into sanitized bottles, cap. Wait another couple of weeks. Drink.
It's easy to go down an infinite rabbit hole of selecting grains and hops and worrying about gravity readings and temperatures and everything but you can make batches of good, tasty beer out of kits for probably < $150 in equipment plus $30-50 a per 5 gallons of ingredients. If, after the first batch, you decide it's not for you then you're not out that much time or money. If you like it then you can gradually expand your equipment and the complexity of your brew process. Even with just the super minimal setup above you can move into partial-mash brewing without more equipment or start adding flavors and doing multi-stage fermentation with just a second fermenter.
I'm thinking about using my I-don't-know-what-it's-called, economic tax refund thing? The $1200 I got, and starting homebrewing.
I reached out to Eric J. Benson of (among other things) Acquisitions Intoxicated fame, and ordered the book he recommended, Complete Joy of Homebrewing (4th ed).
Before I go and blow a lot of money on stuff that's gonna sit in the corner, can I come to you guys with questions and/or concerns?
Like, should I get another book? Should I just say fuck it and get a starter set? Is there a FAQ? Are there any generally accepted good sites to check out? Bad ones to avoid?
I guess that's already questions...
How to Brew by John J Palmer. Excellent place to start.
@webguy20 also recommended that one. Guess I need to put in another order, don't I?
I'm a huge vanilla fan in my beers, so I bought some vanilla beans to use in my next batches. I've been reading all sorts of different opinions on the quantity as well as the method to use in a brew. I'm planning on brewing a chocolate stout and another batch of blueberry mead, both 1 gallons sets. Does anyone have recommendation for how many beans to use, the method (whole, split, scrapped), and when to put them in (beginning, first racking)?
Le_Goat on
While I agree that being insensitive is an issue, so is being oversensitive.
I'm thinking about using my I-don't-know-what-it's-called, economic tax refund thing? The $1200 I got, and starting homebrewing.
I reached out to Eric J. Benson of (among other things) Acquisitions Intoxicated fame, and ordered the book he recommended, Complete Joy of Homebrewing (4th ed).
Before I go and blow a lot of money on stuff that's gonna sit in the corner, can I come to you guys with questions and/or concerns?
Like, should I get another book? Should I just say fuck it and get a starter set? Is there a FAQ? Are there any generally accepted good sites to check out? Bad ones to avoid?
I guess that's already questions...
How to Brew by John J Palmer. Excellent place to start.
@webguy20 also recommended that one. Guess I need to put in another order, don't I?
Nope! The 1st edition is completely free online. It’s still the best way to start.
I'm thinking about using my I-don't-know-what-it's-called, economic tax refund thing? The $1200 I got, and starting homebrewing.
I reached out to Eric J. Benson of (among other things) Acquisitions Intoxicated fame, and ordered the book he recommended, Complete Joy of Homebrewing (4th ed).
Before I go and blow a lot of money on stuff that's gonna sit in the corner, can I come to you guys with questions and/or concerns?
Like, should I get another book? Should I just say fuck it and get a starter set? Is there a FAQ? Are there any generally accepted good sites to check out? Bad ones to avoid?
I guess that's already questions...
How to Brew by John J Palmer. Excellent place to start.
@ webguy20 also recommended that one. Guess I need to put in another order, don't I?
Nope! The 1st edition is completely free online. It’s still the best way to start.
Now you tell me!
I mean, I have that page bookmarked already, and I could certainly cancel my order.
But you know what really concerns me?
Getting into a hobby that involves hours of boiling things, right in time for the weather to start getting warm. That... seems like bad timing.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
I'm thinking about using my I-don't-know-what-it's-called, economic tax refund thing? The $1200 I got, and starting homebrewing.
I reached out to Eric J. Benson of (among other things) Acquisitions Intoxicated fame, and ordered the book he recommended, Complete Joy of Homebrewing (4th ed).
Before I go and blow a lot of money on stuff that's gonna sit in the corner, can I come to you guys with questions and/or concerns?
Like, should I get another book? Should I just say fuck it and get a starter set? Is there a FAQ? Are there any generally accepted good sites to check out? Bad ones to avoid?
I guess that's already questions...
How to Brew by John J Palmer. Excellent place to start.
@ webguy20 also recommended that one. Guess I need to put in another order, don't I?
Nope! The 1st edition is completely free online. It’s still the best way to start.
Now you tell me!
I mean, I have that page bookmarked already, and I could certainly cancel my order.
But you know what really concerns me?
Getting into a hobby that involves hours of boiling things, right in time for the weather to start getting warm. That... seems like bad timing.
Yea, you also need a place where you can ferment in a cool room. Like around 65-68f.
I have an overly large closet. Seriously, I've seen smaller bathrooms. But yeah, over the summer, I don't know that I can make sure it's that cool.
Maybe I should take up kayaking instead, that was my other possibility. I can always buy beer.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
I have an overly large closet. Seriously, I've seen smaller bathrooms. But yeah, over the summer, I don't know that I can make sure it's that cool.
Maybe I should take up kayaking instead, that was my other possibility. I can always buy beer.
Yea if you don't have a cool place to ferment I would hold off till the fall. The large majority of beers will want a low to mid 60s fermentation temperature.
I have an overly large closet. Seriously, I've seen smaller bathrooms. But yeah, over the summer, I don't know that I can make sure it's that cool.
Maybe I should take up kayaking instead, that was my other possibility. I can always buy beer.
Yea if you don't have a cool place to ferment I would hold off till the fall. The large majority of beers will want a low to mid 60s fermentation temperature.
I've only ever fermented a lager at anything other than room temperature. IPAs, English and Belgian ales, stouts, porters, and bitters, all done in the low 70's. All came out fine. People think beer is a lot pickier than it really is. You won't get perfectly consistent results, no, and maybe you have to let it ferment a little longer or rack it a little sooner but people were making beer for centuries in open tubs in all kinds of climates.
Regarding brewing in the summer: if you're not doing a full boil (which I'd recommend not trying your first few times out anyway - adding water to your wort at the end of the boil brings the temperature down quickly for you without needing an ice bath or a chiller) you can totally do it on the stove top. My first half a dozen beers were 2 or 3 gallons of wort in a 5 gallon stock pot on my electric stove top. Came out great.
I have an overly large closet. Seriously, I've seen smaller bathrooms. But yeah, over the summer, I don't know that I can make sure it's that cool.
Maybe I should take up kayaking instead, that was my other possibility. I can always buy beer.
Yea if you don't have a cool place to ferment I would hold off till the fall. The large majority of beers will want a low to mid 60s fermentation temperature.
I've only ever fermented a lager at anything other than room temperature. IPAs, English and Belgian ales, stouts, porters, and bitters, all done in the low 70's. All came out fine. People think beer is a lot pickier than it really is. You won't get perfectly consistent results, no, and maybe you have to let it ferment a little longer or rack it a little sooner but people were making beer for centuries in open tubs in all kinds of climates.
Regarding brewing in the summer: if you're not doing a full boil (which I'd recommend not trying your first few times out anyway - adding water to your wort at the end of the boil brings the temperature down quickly for you without needing an ice bath or a chiller) you can totally do it on the stove top. My first half a dozen beers were 2 or 3 gallons of wort in a 5 gallon stock pot on my electric stove top. Came out great.
Just because you can do it above the recommended temperatures for the yeast doesn't mean you're going to get the best results. If I'm spending $50 on a kit I want the best results I can get. We did a lot of things in the past with what we had. Doesn't mean we don't know how to do it better now.
I have an overly large closet. Seriously, I've seen smaller bathrooms. But yeah, over the summer, I don't know that I can make sure it's that cool.
Maybe I should take up kayaking instead, that was my other possibility. I can always buy beer.
Yea if you don't have a cool place to ferment I would hold off till the fall. The large majority of beers will want a low to mid 60s fermentation temperature.
I've only ever fermented a lager at anything other than room temperature. IPAs, English and Belgian ales, stouts, porters, and bitters, all done in the low 70's. All came out fine. People think beer is a lot pickier than it really is. You won't get perfectly consistent results, no, and maybe you have to let it ferment a little longer or rack it a little sooner but people were making beer for centuries in open tubs in all kinds of climates.
Regarding brewing in the summer: if you're not doing a full boil (which I'd recommend not trying your first few times out anyway - adding water to your wort at the end of the boil brings the temperature down quickly for you without needing an ice bath or a chiller) you can totally do it on the stove top. My first half a dozen beers were 2 or 3 gallons of wort in a 5 gallon stock pot on my electric stove top. Came out great.
Just because you can do it above the recommended temperatures for the yeast doesn't mean you're going to get the best results. If I'm spending $50 on a kit I want the best results I can get. We did a lot of things in the past with what we had. Doesn't mean we don't know how to do it better now.
I guess. It just seems extreme to say not to bother brewing in summer unless you have the equipment to chill your fermenter. Even at $50 for ingredients if you're doing a 5 gallon batch that's still like $1 a bottle. If I get beer that tastes okay at $1 a bottle I'd be satisfied and I don't think I've ever had a kit beer come out worse than 'pretty good'.
I have an overly large closet. Seriously, I've seen smaller bathrooms. But yeah, over the summer, I don't know that I can make sure it's that cool.
Maybe I should take up kayaking instead, that was my other possibility. I can always buy beer.
Yea if you don't have a cool place to ferment I would hold off till the fall. The large majority of beers will want a low to mid 60s fermentation temperature.
I've only ever fermented a lager at anything other than room temperature. IPAs, English and Belgian ales, stouts, porters, and bitters, all done in the low 70's. All came out fine. People think beer is a lot pickier than it really is. You won't get perfectly consistent results, no, and maybe you have to let it ferment a little longer or rack it a little sooner but people were making beer for centuries in open tubs in all kinds of climates.
Regarding brewing in the summer: if you're not doing a full boil (which I'd recommend not trying your first few times out anyway - adding water to your wort at the end of the boil brings the temperature down quickly for you without needing an ice bath or a chiller) you can totally do it on the stove top. My first half a dozen beers were 2 or 3 gallons of wort in a 5 gallon stock pot on my electric stove top. Came out great.
Just because you can do it above the recommended temperatures for the yeast doesn't mean you're going to get the best results. If I'm spending $50 on a kit I want the best results I can get. We did a lot of things in the past with what we had. Doesn't mean we don't know how to do it better now.
I guess. It just seems extreme to say not to bother brewing in summer unless you have the equipment to chill your fermenter. Even at $50 for ingredients if you're doing a 5 gallon batch that's still like $1 a bottle. If I get beer that tastes okay at $1 a bottle I'd be satisfied and I don't think I've ever had a kit beer come out worse than 'pretty good'.
Well lucky you. I've had a couple of 5-gallon batches that I hated. That was a tough mistake to drink. It's one of the reasons why I switched to doing 1-gallon batches.
While I agree that being insensitive is an issue, so is being oversensitive.
Couple of small white dots floating on top of my cider attempt. Looks like something might be out competing my wild yeast
Dang.
So I swirled the bottle around a few times after seeing this last night, and when I woke up today, there's, like, a half inch of foam sitting on top of the liquid.
So, I was thinking the white floating stuff was mold, but now I have no idea.
Looks....okay? Concerned by how quickly it went from nothing to this, but maybe it needed the oxygen when I swirled it?
Edit2: The dark color is cause I had a mason jar of wild blackberries I froze from last year and I put them in the cider press, too. Wild blackberries everywhere in seattle. It's actually what made me want to do cider before I even thought about apples
Burtletoy on
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CaptainPeacockBoard Game HoarderTop o' the LakeRegistered Userregular
Anyone in the Seattle area interested in a small load of swing top bottles? I'm purging my inventory.
Cluck cluck, gibber gibber, my old man's a mushroom, etc.
Anyone in the Seattle area interested in a small load of swing top bottles? I'm purging my inventory.
@CaptainPeacock If you haven't already got rid of them, let me know! I just picked 40lbs of apples last Saturday then spend all day yesterday processing and made cider last night.
The blackberries went into the press last and I left that mason jar under the press when I went to bed. Woke up with a full jar, might try to add it during the bottling step. Blackberries didn't press very well, too viscous. The pulp I composted was very wet. The bag is ~30lbs of apples after being pressed next to a one gallon jug for scale.
Thanks for the bottles @CaptainPeacock real class move, there!
Let me know if you want to try a bottle of my (first) cider! It's probably gonna be amazing?
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CaptainPeacockBoard Game HoarderTop o' the LakeRegistered Userregular
No problem! I don't bottle anymore, since I've moved on to kegging.keeping. Glad to help out a fellow brewer. I'm moving in about a year and will be able to finally get at that last box in my storage unit, if you're still in need of more bottles.
I'd love to sample some of your final product when it's ready! I had to drink 5 gallons of my own that I couldn't shift on anyone else a few years back, so it's been a while since I've had any cider.
Cluck cluck, gibber gibber, my old man's a mushroom, etc.
Posts
There is a local place but if they don't have everything you know it might be nice to grab some bits and bobs online?
Hope you guys are finding fun stuff to make. Cheers!
My BoardGameGeek profile
Battle.net: TheGerm#1430 (Hearthstone, Destiny 2)
I reached out to Eric J. Benson of (among other things) Acquisitions Intoxicated fame, and ordered the book he recommended, Complete Joy of Homebrewing (4th ed).
Before I go and blow a lot of money on stuff that's gonna sit in the corner, can I come to you guys with questions and/or concerns?
Like, should I get another book? Should I just say fuck it and get a starter set? Is there a FAQ? Are there any generally accepted good sites to check out? Bad ones to avoid?
I guess that's already questions...
The Mr. Beer one was just some jars of sugar and yeast and maybe some hop pellets?
The Brooklyn one has a bag full of grains, at least.
As for why I came to this thread, I bought a cider press! My work has been catering us lunches because of covid, and one of the places gives us apples with every meal. So I got a few pounds of apples laying around cause most people ignored their apples. So last night I tried pressing the apples and today they are sitting in my glass carboy with airlock. There is only, maybe, a quarter of a gallon in the carboy, mostly wanted to do this as a test run and see how well it worked.
I was reading about hard cider and some people said the wild yeast will do, if you don't want to do much effort, so that's how I did it. Like I said, trial run, really.
But I didn't add any sugar or anything, should I have?
It doesn't look like it's doing anything yet, but maybe the wild yeasts take longer to really become established? Or I should have added additional sugar?
It's sitting next to my sourdough starter I also started yesterday which is bubbling away quite happily after 24hours.
Planning on going apple picking this fall and trying a larger batch. Might need some kinda apple grinder (or maybe just a cheap ass vegtagle dicer) before I do more than a couple pounds. Seemed like a ton of waster with the apples just cut into quarters or eighth's
It takes quite a bit for wild yeast to get going in cider. You don't need to add sugar or anything, it'll go on it's own. How big is the car boy? If it's a 5 gallon and you've just got a small layer of liquid in there it's going to take a while to produce enough gas to pressurize enough to start bubbling in the airlock.
I've done cider before and I figure it's about a 5 gallon bucket of apples for roughly 1 gallon of liquid, but plan to need extra to make sure you get enough liquid. Lots of brewery places will rent mulchers and stuff to throw cut up apples into. You'll get a lot more liquid out of them that way.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
How to Brew by John J Palmer. Excellent place to start.
I'm excited to be disappointed in it's mediocrity this weekend!
Yea unless it's a super high level imperial stout, it's likely to just taste off. Most beer is a 6 months best by, with IPAs being on the low end, the more hops the less time, and high gravity imperial stouts on the high end, where they can last years if properly stored.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
There's a tremendous amount you can learn about brewing but you don't really need to learn a lot about brewing to get started.
I would not recommend Mr Beer or any of those holiday-gift-for-someone-who-likes-beer "Everything you need in one box" kits.
What you need to get started brewing:
* a brew pot - a 5 or 10 gallon stainless steel pot you won't use for anything except making beer
* a fermenter - either a glass carboy or a plastic bucket with a plug of some type on the top and an airlock
* an 'easy'-level extract-based beer recipe kit
* a bunch of empty beer bottles (and caps, if your recipe kit doesn't come with them)
* a siphon, a spoon for stirring your brew pot, and a bottle capping tool
* a bottle of StarSan sanitizer (or similar brewing sanitizer)
In theory you'd also want a hygrometer to measure the alcohol content of your beer but it's not strictly necessary to get started. You might also want a thermometer that clips onto your brew pot but, again, for an easy-level beer kit where it's just malt extract and hops, you don't really need to worry much about temperature beyond "is it boiling yet?".
When I started homebrewing I went to an hour long class at a local homebrew store where they walked us through making and bottling a beer. Obviously that's not really an option right now but you could probably find similar online.
An extract-based kit is going to come with some liquid and/or dry malt extract, some hop pellets, a pack of yeast, and instructions. I've had good luck and experiences with Brewer's Best brand. Those also come with a bag of bottle caps and a bag of priming sugar for bottling. All you need to do with one is make up a bunch of sanitizer, sanitize everything, and follow the instructions. Mostly that's just "put this stuff in a pot, boil it, add this other stuff after this long". At the end you put the result in your fermenter and add water to get it up to 5 gallons (simultaneously cooling it down so you don't really need a chiller or anything when you start out). Wait a couple of weeks, add sugar, siphon into sanitized bottles, cap. Wait another couple of weeks. Drink.
It's easy to go down an infinite rabbit hole of selecting grains and hops and worrying about gravity readings and temperatures and everything but you can make batches of good, tasty beer out of kits for probably < $150 in equipment plus $30-50 a per 5 gallons of ingredients. If, after the first batch, you decide it's not for you then you're not out that much time or money. If you like it then you can gradually expand your equipment and the complexity of your brew process. Even with just the super minimal setup above you can move into partial-mash brewing without more equipment or start adding flavors and doing multi-stage fermentation with just a second fermenter.
@webguy20 also recommended that one. Guess I need to put in another order, don't I?
Nope! The 1st edition is completely free online. It’s still the best way to start.
http://www.howtobrew.com/
Now you tell me!
I mean, I have that page bookmarked already, and I could certainly cancel my order.
But you know what really concerns me?
Getting into a hobby that involves hours of boiling things, right in time for the weather to start getting warm. That... seems like bad timing.
Yea, you also need a place where you can ferment in a cool room. Like around 65-68f.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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Maybe I should take up kayaking instead, that was my other possibility. I can always buy beer.
Yea if you don't have a cool place to ferment I would hold off till the fall. The large majority of beers will want a low to mid 60s fermentation temperature.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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I've only ever fermented a lager at anything other than room temperature. IPAs, English and Belgian ales, stouts, porters, and bitters, all done in the low 70's. All came out fine. People think beer is a lot pickier than it really is. You won't get perfectly consistent results, no, and maybe you have to let it ferment a little longer or rack it a little sooner but people were making beer for centuries in open tubs in all kinds of climates.
Regarding brewing in the summer: if you're not doing a full boil (which I'd recommend not trying your first few times out anyway - adding water to your wort at the end of the boil brings the temperature down quickly for you without needing an ice bath or a chiller) you can totally do it on the stove top. My first half a dozen beers were 2 or 3 gallons of wort in a 5 gallon stock pot on my electric stove top. Came out great.
Dang.
Just because you can do it above the recommended temperatures for the yeast doesn't mean you're going to get the best results. If I'm spending $50 on a kit I want the best results I can get. We did a lot of things in the past with what we had. Doesn't mean we don't know how to do it better now.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I guess. It just seems extreme to say not to bother brewing in summer unless you have the equipment to chill your fermenter. Even at $50 for ingredients if you're doing a 5 gallon batch that's still like $1 a bottle. If I get beer that tastes okay at $1 a bottle I'd be satisfied and I don't think I've ever had a kit beer come out worse than 'pretty good'.
So I swirled the bottle around a few times after seeing this last night, and when I woke up today, there's, like, a half inch of foam sitting on top of the liquid.
So, I was thinking the white floating stuff was mold, but now I have no idea.
Edit:
Looks....okay? Concerned by how quickly it went from nothing to this, but maybe it needed the oxygen when I swirled it?
Edit2: The dark color is cause I had a mason jar of wild blackberries I froze from last year and I put them in the cider press, too. Wild blackberries everywhere in seattle. It's actually what made me want to do cider before I even thought about apples
@CaptainPeacock If you haven't already got rid of them, let me know! I just picked 40lbs of apples last Saturday then spend all day yesterday processing and made cider last night.
The blackberries went into the press last and I left that mason jar under the press when I went to bed. Woke up with a full jar, might try to add it during the bottling step. Blackberries didn't press very well, too viscous. The pulp I composted was very wet. The bag is ~30lbs of apples after being pressed next to a one gallon jug for scale.
Let me know if you want to try a bottle of my (first) cider! It's probably gonna be amazing?
I'd love to sample some of your final product when it's ready! I had to drink 5 gallons of my own that I couldn't shift on anyone else a few years back, so it's been a while since I've had any cider.