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105 Comments
- rjshatz, on 07/14/2009, -0/+26Beer is too dangerous. No thanks, I'll stick with my meth lab.
- chrispykid, on 07/13/2009, -0/+25I'm one of the authors - fair enough criticism about starting with malt extract - I've done plenty of malt extract batches myself. We do mention that you can skip the mashing step for more simplicity though. The reason we went with an all-grain recipe was because we also wanted to explain the basics of the science behind homebrewing and you really can't do that without talking about mashing the grain and converting the starches into sugars. Plus this recipe has a very simple mash to execute.
If anyone does want to start with malt extract there are a ton of great recipes out there and Charlie Papazian's "The Joy of Homebrewing" is the book that got me started. - doctechnical, on 07/13/2009, -0/+25Horray for Homebrew! The only quibble I have with this article is that I personally wouldn't recommend full grain brewing on your first batch - you can get excellent results with a malt extract (and personally, that's all I brew just because it's more convenient and takes less time). But one of the best things about homebrew is you can make a superior beer for far less money than you'd pay for the equivalent commercial beer.
And don't think it's complicated, I'm pretty much useless in the kitchen (my idea of dinner is nuking a frozen pizza), but I have made some tastey homebrew in my day. The only really hard-and-fast rule is to sanitize anything and everthing that comes into contact with your brew. Otherwise it'll get infected (don't worry, not dangerous, just NASTY tasting). - lukemit, on 07/13/2009, -0/+16Just a couple weeks ago, I stepped it up and started kegging my home brew. Nothing like your own beer fresh from the tap (BTW, it's a Czech Pilsner, so I named it Czech Norris... you have to be nice to it, or else it will hurt you).
- fluidfoundation, on 07/13/2009, -0/+16And folks, skip the 'Mr. Beer' kits, unless you'd like something that tastes like watered down malted whale snot. Their kits break very easily as well. Go to your local brew shop.
- doctechnical, on 07/13/2009, -0/+12Get back to me after you've brewed your first batch.
- mindwolf77, on 07/13/2009, -1/+10Dug for being a good, basic starter recipe -- I wish I had this when I first started brewing. As far as getting ingredients, my home-brew store I get *EVERYTHING* from is:
http://www.ebrew.com
-- highly recommended ...and figure it'd be useful as the article tells you a lot of "What" but not where to get it. - inactive, on 07/14/2009, -0/+6***** yeah.
- Leviathan433, on 07/13/2009, -0/+6agreed. All grain is just a bit more than a newbie should try. But hell, it is like driving stick - if you can brew that, you can brew anything.
- faceless323, on 07/14/2009, -0/+6Fantastic name.
- Amadeus2490, on 07/14/2009, -0/+6http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/goo ...
- XZanatos, on 07/14/2009, -0/+5I have brewed my own beer. My Dad has brewed his own beer many times. We have brewed beer together. Its a hobby thing. Have no illusions that you are beating the system. Large scale industrial brewing has cheapened the frack out of brewing beer and any individual won't win on the cost metric. Its a hobby to brew your own beer. My Dad and I enjoyed it plenty. But in the end its cheaper to just buy beer at dock prices.
Have fun. - jeremec, on 07/14/2009, -0/+5Dugg for the beer name.
A local brewery here has Terry Porter, otherwise I'd aspire for that. - jeremec, on 07/14/2009, -0/+5I'm not sure I fully agree. Once you're past the equipment investment, it gets much more affordable. We spend about $30 to $40 each time we brew 5 gallons, and that yields about (24) 22oz bottles. That's less than $2 a bottle for microbrew. You might find that at a dock sale, but not your every day dock prices. Plus, like open source, if I don't like it... I change it!
- kingofthisnight, on 07/14/2009, -0/+5I want to know who designed those... it is so easy for air and outside contaminants to get inside their kits. My first batch of beer was made in one of those and it tasted like hell.
- Leviathan433, on 07/13/2009, -0/+5Definitely worth a shot - relax, have a homebrew. If millions will line up for Bud's ***** beer, you should have no worries about how your own will taste.
I would try to get Charlie Papazian's "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and just give it a whirl. 5 years in to it, I am sure glad I did. - thespiff, on 07/14/2009, -0/+5Don't worry, you won't poison yourself or go blind unless you're drinking bathtub moonshine or sterno or some such thing.
- doctechnical, on 07/13/2009, -0/+4I guess it's a matter of taste, I started with the training wheels on :) and it worked for me. Ive also taught about a dozen people that hombrewing 'taint all that hard, and it's a very rewarding hobby.
And I echo your book suggestion, you can pick up a used copy of "Joy of Homebrewing" for just a couple bucks, and a better investment in the craft you couldn't ask for. - chrispykid, on 07/14/2009, -0/+4Again - article author here. I wish we had more space in the article to cover bottling. THERE IS NO NEED TO PAY FOR BOTTLES. Presumably if you're brewing beer you're also drinking some store bought beer on occasion. Any pop-top (non-screw on) bottle will do. Save those bottles - they don't necessarily have to be 22 oz. bottles although those make your life a bit easier. Clean and sanitize your bottles by rinsing, immersing in a solution of 2 oz of standard bleach. Rinse well. Bottle in those.
- inactive, on 07/13/2009, -0/+4How did you get on with your home brew? I have always fancied giving it a shot, but I'm worried,
a) That it'll taste like ***** and be a massive waste of time,
or
b) I'll poison myself and go blind
Worth a go? - haikuFU, on 07/14/2009, -0/+4You can get into it for way less money if you go with extracts and not all-grain. Then you do a partial boil, add the remaining water and ferment in a plastic brew bucket. Sam Adams empties work great for bottling, or just buy the grolsch style top 750's or 1L size bottles to make it go faster.
You could probably get the equipment you need for $40. - Schizotypal, on 07/14/2009, -0/+4Free online book with everything you need to know about brewing your first 200 batches: http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html
- kingofthisnight, on 07/14/2009, -0/+4Whatever you do don't buy a Mr. Beer home brew kit expecting to make great tasting beer. Thats how I got started brewing at home. Made a batch of beer using on of their kits (gift from a friend) and it tasted like ass due to poor design. After that I bought the real equipment and never turned back on home brews
Type home brew kits into google (or if you know of a local brewery supply store go there) and look for kits. They should contain some large white buckets, airlock, and some of the other essentials. Should probably run around 60 bucks.
As for taste you can't beat a home brew. Make a beer you know you will enjoy. I like wheat beers so I have made those in the past. - KaizenNinja, on 07/14/2009, -0/+3Dugg for future reference.
- emmeron, on 07/14/2009, -0/+3I run a home brew supply store, and think this needs to be said:
It's a hobby. Beer is cheaper to make unless you want cheep beer. If you want Bud, there is NO reason not to just buy Bud. You're not going to make it very often, and it won't save you much at all.
If you like microbrews, you can make some great ones. And you can save an average of 20-30%. Sometmies as much as 60% depending on the beer you're making.
If you are in this for a hobby, it's a great one that does require some patience and some attention to detail. If you're into it just for the booze, try making wine instead. The upfront cost is a touch higher to do a good job, but you'll save more $ on average (by far).
Either way, if it isn't fun for you, don't bother doing it.
It is work. Fun, but work.
Thanks for the article! - IvenomI, on 07/14/2009, -2/+5DFB
(Dugg for Beer) - TrouserJazz, on 07/14/2009, -0/+3Beware the directions on the back of the big tins of extract. You get way better results by not adding sugar and using more malt instead. Another vote for Charlie Papazian's "The Joy of Homebrewing" from me, and you can also try Palmer's "How to Brew" which you can read most of online - howtobrew.com. Also, darker beers that ferment at room temperature - ales and such - are a better bet for starters. Lager is slightly more advanced in that you need a proper lager yeast and a fridge-temperature fermentation to do it right. Cheers!
- z987k, on 07/15/2009, -0/+2I can make 5.5 gallons of bitter for ~$8 in ingredients. Bulk grain(50lb bags) Bulk hops(by the lb) and wash your yeast.
I'll put a few strains of dry yeast against your liquid comparable strains any day. Especially US05 vs wyeast1056 vs wlp001. - z987k, on 07/15/2009, -0/+2read read read before you buy. It can be an addicting thing to spend lots of money on, but there is no reason to shell out $500+ on stainless.
www.homebrewtalk.com - great online community
www.howtobrew.com - free online book - ageedoy, on 07/14/2009, -1/+3homebrew + kegerator = win
- ageedoy, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2852527078 ...
- haikuFU, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Not if you go all-grain, unless you count your time as money. You can get by cheaper than buying "big brewery" beer, and get craft brewery quality.
- yellowfish04, on 07/14/2009, -1/+3Brewing beer is awesome indeed, I did a batch last summer, but it's not exactly easy for most guys to wait a month for a damn beer.
- bcronos, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Skip about 2 steps and use malt extract. Get a couple of cornelius tanks (the 5 gallon chrome tanks that soda used to come in before they went to cardboard boxes) instead of bottling. Set up an old fridge with 2 or three cornelius tanks and a bottle of CO2 inside. Mount the taps in the door. Much easier and and faster which leaves more time for drinking. Sanitizing 30 or 40 bottles every batch gets old real fast. Oh, and definitely get Charlie Papazian's "The Joy of Homebrewing" as mentioned above.
- fragMasterFlash, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2I like the fact that they go for an all grain brew rather than farting around with extract kits but they left out far too much detail in the process for a first timer to have any kind of success. Also why the hell are they making a yeast starter for a 5 gallon batch when the slap pack of yeast they used could easily inoculate a batch twice that size on its own? Read a book and do it right, folks. You'll be glad you did.
- djtripp, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Remember, if you brew often (every other week, once a month) you have less time in between outta home brew. A quick hint, buy glass carboys, not plastic. Plastic scratches and becomes harder and harder to clean thoroughly. Invest in glass, it's easier to clean and lasts longer as long as it stays in one piece.
- jeremec, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2No need to pay for bottles... Just post on craigslist saying your looking for 22oz bottles. Depending on where you live, you'll have more than you need before long.
The equipment, yes... My advice is to head right back to craigslist and look for someone who's selling off their brewkit.
We're in the market for a more serious mashtun and that's going to cost us a pretty penny. - skipjim, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2I realize the liquid strains are better, but I've also had fantastic luck brewing with the dry yeast. The of the two times I've used liquid I had a dead batch that never started fermenting. Three days later I poured a pack of dry yeast in and had some excellent beer.
- guntario, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2govt, the beer loses a great deal of its taste when using plastic bottles. Much better to use some glass bottles and seal them yourself with a capper. Not hard at all either.
- skipjim, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2My last 5 gallon batch of home brewed beer (all grain) set me back less than $20. or roughly $.40 / bottle. How is that not cheaper than a $8-$9 dollar six pack?
- zmigliozzi, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2The hardest part is waiting while your beer is fermenting, but it is always fun to taste the progress of the beer. And using a malt extract is much easier for beginners and quicker than full grain brewing.
- Amadeus2490, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Thank you. I was trying to look for the video for that on Youtube, but. . .you know how they are about their copyrights: Quickly get taken down, the videos that are on there are hastily-uploaded and crappy in quality, etc etc.
- Leviathan433, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Just have your drunken buddies give you their empties and clean them. No need to buy new bottles.
Over time homebrewing is far more cost effective than buying beer at the store. Depending on what you are brewing, your cost is almost always less than a buck a beer. You just need to factor in the start up and maintenance costs. - fluidfoundation, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Mr. S. Hitty Beer.
- Mavital, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2It can be cheaper if you are smart and handy. My old man has been brewing his own beer for about 8 years now and his cost is substantially lower than market price. However, he also bought most of his brewing equipment off craigslist and welded the rest of his brewing equipment from old keg shells he bought. He also does all-grain.
However, having said all that, even if he broke even I'm sure he would still do it. Home brew beers are just plain delicious. - sniperpants, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Homebrewing officially was made legal here in Utah a few months back. That didn't stop my buddies and I from brewing some kick ass brew every other month.
- casek, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Been homebrewing for a few years now. Personally, I love it. Made some good and bad beers, but it's all very satisfying to drink a beer that you made by yourself.
- babbitblob, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2CAUTION: Do not attempt home brewing if you are low on money. It is a quick way to go broke, as the fun of homebrewing will cause you to go right back to your LHBS and buy supplies for another batch.
- emmeron, on 07/14/2009, -0/+1What's more, they have a propagator pack not an activator pack. Really, with a simple activator, there is no need for a starter in low gravity beers.
- JTMON, on 07/14/2009, -0/+140 per case of beer but the bottles are oversized so it still seems to work out but you don't account for your time in making it.
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