Home bound brewmasters

[kmccune]

I made a barlywine once and it tuned out pretty good but I keg everything now and can't bear the thought of bottling again (I hate bottling!) and remember the keep it fun rule. If you make a good 90 schilling Scottish ale it should be very malty and sweet with only 6 or so months of aging, but a lot of the traditional yeast strains for these are pretty smoky tasting, so you might research this a bit and use one that has a high alcohol tolerance and a neutral flavor. :cool:

Kevin

 

[KXKen]

Bottling does suck. Sounds like you've got a cool setup.

 

[kmccune]

Yes I've spent 11 years collecting it. The soda kegs (7 of them) came from a friend of mine... I'm really not sure how he got them other then he had them for some time before giving them to me.:cool:

It looks like I will be brewing some extract as our house just sold and we are moving to an apartment untill we get the new house built. The apartment is way tight and most of our stuff is going into storage.:ugg:

Oh well I found a plce to keep the bikes that is easy acess:) :)

Later
Kevin

 

[KXaggerator]

I am going to brew in the garage, so that is why I want a good temperature control system, that and I want to make lagers. I like to tinker, so half the fun is building a Rube Goldberg type apparatus for a simple task. I have decided to go with an all glass system. As far as sanitation goes, I worked for 8 years at a large produce company that produces fresh cut ready to eat packaged vegetables. I designed all of their process chlorination, and in wall sanitation systems. I know sanitation, I was even offered a job as a sanitarian; too boring. I was even thinking of adding an additional UV sterilization step to my process, as the company I now work for also makes industrial UV sterilizers that I service. I know that the brown beer bottles will block the light, but most of the other equipment can be sterilized. The UV lights also generate ozone as a by-product, great sanitizer, but tough on natural rubbers. I will still do the other sanitation processes. My work schedule has been light lately, so I have time to burn. Once I start brewing I may be e-mailing you guys for some advice once I get started. Thanks for all of the input.

 

[MX265]

kmccune,

That Northern Brewer catalog arrived yesterday. It is awsome! I am going to order that deluxe brewer kit and see if I can't get things "Brewing" here soon! I am stoked! I gotta make room in my garage. WooHooo! Home-made Brew in 2 months! Thanks again. You have no idea what you started! :)

Andy

 

[MX265]

Maru,

Order the Northern Brewer catalog from the link that kmccune first posted in this discussion. They have wine making supplies in this catalog.

 

[kmccune]

Maru16
The ingredients for beer and wine are considered food products and are not age restricted (as far as I know, I'm old no one cards me), but maybe you should talk to your dad ( could be good father son stuff) as I'm not going to be the one to get you in trouble! That said, yes wine takes longer then most beers, though I believe that someone above mentioned Barley Wines they can take as long or longer ( these are beers that have LOTS of alcohol and some times lots of flavor too IMHO) I made rhubarb wine 2 years ago and I just started to drink it...yum!:)

Kevin

 

[Papakeith]

I've reading up on homebrewing since this thread started. When I mentioned it to my coworkers I found that both of them had homebrewed in the past, and one still did(although he a "beer machine").

I've got some questions for you. What is the difference between a plastic fermenter and glass one? I am assuming that the glass is the better of the two, but why?

As a complete newbie to the homebrew arena what type of brew should I try first (read least likely to screw up)?

 

[biglou]

Keith-I am also a home brew hack. I got a kit for Christmas a few years back but only ever made one batch. If I remember correctly, it's the same principle as with storing fuel. The plastic is just porous enough to allow some of the fermentation gasses to escape. Then again, my memory's a little rusty...:think

 

[Patman]

A glass carbouy (sp?) is the better option since it is easier to be sure it's clean and it ensures a complete air lock when the beer is doing it's thing. A plug with a double bubble airlock stuck in the top will only allow the gasses to escape and nothing to enter the mix. The down side is glass is heavier and if you slip it can break and make a huge mess.

 

[Papakeith]

That's kinda what I figured. What kind of kit do you have BigLou? What else am I going to need once I get one of the "starter" kits?

 

[kmccune]

You will need 2 cases of clean returnable bottles and a capper with caps or a couple of "mini kegs". You can use bleach to sanitize every thing and you will also need a kettle that will hold 3-4 gallons min. A thermometer that is accurate from 80 to 220 deg F. A jet bottle washer and a bottle filler make the whole process MUCH easier. You also may need to get tubing, it depends on the kit.

Good Luck!

Kevin