Home brewing!

[odd_duck99]

I can't believe there isn't a thread about this on here yet! I have only made my own beer once, but it was awesome. Now I am wanting to do it again as soon as I can get the money for ingredients. (We aren't in an area where I can just grow or barter for them, unfortunately) Anyone have a favorite recipe? I don't like hoppy or dark beer, but then again, no one said it was all about me either!
I am also interested in brewing soda (aka using the yeast for natural carbonation). I would love advice/recipes on making root beer (or birch beer, which I seem to prefer) from scratch. I need to use up my extract that I bought, and then I will be giving that a whirl! Any tips on using brewer's yeast? I bought some, but it doesn't seem to be working well. It is apparently old for yeast. We had a baby last summer and, well, I never got around to making anything with it! Go figure. How long does yeast last? I also failed to write down the instructions from the packet, so I have been experimenting with water temperature to activate the yeast into.

 

[Dawn419]

Hi odd_duck99!

Found two threads:

Any winemakers/homebrewers here?

Beer, Wine and Mead Makers Thread

Hubby (doc_gonzo) and I are just getting into winemaking but he's really wanting to get into brewing beer. We're gonna need more room than our 22' camper provides to pull it off, though.

 

[odd_duck99]

I dunno, you might be able to pull it off with the right equipment and a mutual agreement between you! You would have to do all the processing of the grain on an outdoor propane burner (not for safety, but do to the persistant fragance... unless you try it, and don't mind. Many wives don't put up with the smell in the house, but one never knows with us. We have different limits many times! )

Once you got everything going, the carboy of beer fermenting isn't THAT space consuming. Then again, perhaps you literally have no extra space. I could understand that in a camper. I agree it would be easier in a larger place, but not impossible now! Especially if you live in a place where you could utilize outdoor space.

 

[~gd]

I suggest you checkout this site, http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/
odd duck you iumped around too much and gave me nothing to work with like what was the beer you once made? was it a kit? usually kits are designed to use up all the extract so why do you have some left? Dark beers are usually malty, and you said you don't like hoppy beer so what do you like?
Soda is trickly and can be dangerous because of the combination of unfermented sugar and live yeast can build real pressure in a closed container [beer is usually fermented completly allowing the CO2 to be released then it is bottled with just a bit of added sugar to pressurize it, even then there can be burst glass bottles.] I use only screw cap plastic bottles like soda comes in. you can squeeze the bottle to get some idea of the pressure and if carefull you can unscrew the cap to let the gas out. the only control you have over the rate of gas production is the temperature [cold = slow] the other thing you can do is use a artificial sweetener for the taste and sugar/yeast for the pressure.
Yeast is live if you have any live yeast you can get it growing and get enough through reoroduction so it is useable. Again it helps to know the type of yeast. lager yeast likes the cold and ale yeast likes warmer, a temp of 70-90F will work for either but neither will be really happy there. add part of the yeast to a cup of water with a teaspoon of sugar disloved if no foam or bubbles after 4 hours git new yeast,

 

[odd_duck99]

I don't remember the beer, as it was a couple years ago now. It wasn't a kit. It was with the help of an aquaintence that does beer/wine a lot. I usually like hefeweizen or some of the local (NW) area brews like Fat Tire and others I can't remember at the moment! I have actually never been all that into beer, so I can't really give much info. It's something I like to have around for when the spouse doesn't want to help me with a bottle of wine! lol! My palate for alcohol is not very safisticated. I just like it or I don't, but I can't usually say why or taste the subtle flavors they describe on the bottle. I can really only describe it as liking "in the middle" beers. Not too hoppy, not to light or dark, etc.

The extract I have left over is for Birch Beer (Root beer). I will try your test for the yeast! I think it is an ale yeast, but silly me didn't write anything down and it's been about a year since I bought it. I usually only sporadically (in the summer) make a 2 liter bottle worth at a time, then bottle it into 4-5 glass bottles. I keep them in the fridge and usually go through them fast enough that I have never had any explosions! Thank goodness! I also have an additive that will kill the yeast, but I have yet to try it. I wanted to get the taste to where I wanted it first, then see if I could taste a difference.

 

[the_whingnut]

Here is another site for you Homebrewtalk.com

i'm on there with the same handle.

 

[ralphwaugh]

All the sites were good were homebrew talk. It was great time browsing these sites.

 

[~gd]

I don't remember the beer, as it was a couple years ago now. It wasn't a kit. It was with the help of an aquaintence that does beer/wine a lot. I usually like hefeweizen or some of the local (NW) area brews like Fat Tire and others I can't remember at the moment! I have actually never been all that into beer, so I can't really give much info. It's something I like to have around for when the spouse doesn't want to help me with a bottle of wine! lol! My palate for alcohol is not very safisticated. I just like it or I don't, but I can't usually say why or taste the subtle flavors they describe on the bottle. I can really only describe it as liking "in the middle" beers. Not too hoppy, not to light or dark, etc.It happens that Fat Tire is my favorite beer, to me it has the perfect balance between Hops and Malt. Many good sesonal beers are brewed at the New Belgium brewery, summer beers tend to be 'hoppy' [like DIG] and winter brews tend to be "malty" I try them when they find their way to NC but I buy Fat Tire year around. I am a serious beer drinker my Dr. says one per day so I make a big deal of the one I have and keep notes on the things I have tried [likes and dislikes]. I will try just about anything once but hate to waste my allotment on swill (BUD and most light beers]

The extract I have left over is for Birch Beer (Root beer). I will try your test for the yeast! I think it is an ale yeast, but silly me didn't write anything down and it's been about a year since I bought it.I use a ale yeast for soda because cold temperatures will slow it down a lot, Lager yeast likes the cool temperature and you have get it close to freezing before it stops working. Your additive is most likely to be a bisulfide and that odor and taste is usually hidden or destroyed as wine ages, not so much when beer and soda is usually drank fresh. The only way to know is to try it and see if it changes the taste like you are planning~gd I usually only sporadically (in the summer) make a 2 liter bottle worth at a time, then bottle it into 4-5 glass bottles. I keep them in the fridge and usually go through them fast enough that I have never had any explosions! Thank goodness! I also have an additive that will kill the yeast, but I have yet to try it. I wanted to get the taste to where I wanted it first, then see if I could taste a difference.

 

[k15n1]

I'm waiting on my second batch. It's the Innkeeper, from Northern Brewer. Tried the American Wheat (only 19 $ for 2 cases and a 6-pack) but that's almost all gone. I'm trying to build up a variety so guests can choose... Haven't come up with a favorite yet.