Brewing Beer

[Steelhead S2]

Hi Guys. I am at the very early stages of brewing my own beer -reading, researching, etc. Does anyone on here brew at home? If so, I am looking for any advice you can share. I need a materials supplier up island (new or used), opinions on different techniques, tips on what books to read and what brewing forums to join or follow, storage, and anything else I don't even know to ask about yet. I won't actually put heat to water until the new year, so I have lots of time to prep and plan. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

[TheBigGuy]

I used to brew a fair bit of my own beer. I don't anymore, but I could offer a little advice. Go to a bottle depot and get them to save the Grolsch Lager bottles for you. They are a flip top bottle with a rubber seal. They are larger than our bottles, I believe they about a pint (not sure). These bottles are great for your own home brew as they will save you from having to buy a capper, and capping each bottle. These make bottling much easier and quicker as you only need to flip the top down to seal them.

Brew lagers in a cool basement room in the winter, and ales in the summer. The yeast is different for each type. Lager yeasts work well when it is cool. Top fermenting ale yeasts work best when the temperature is warmer. I think I would start with brewing ales as they are a little easier to brew satisfactorily. Start with a good quality brew kit, you can add fresh hops to the brew if you like. Once you get good at producing beer from the kits you can even try brewing your own whole grain beer from scratch if you don't mind all the extra work.

I'm sure you can find a ton of info on the internet. I never had that available back when I used to brew my own.

Good luck, and enjoy.

 

[Steelhead S2]

Thanks Big Guy. I usually jump right into the deep end, but I think it's good advice to start this project off slower and go with a kit first, before moving into the more technical aspects. Also, didn't know that about the different types of yeast. The objective is to brew beer that rivals the craft beers that I like. We shall see.

 

[scott craven]

My experience with the kit's is that you get a "cidery" tasting beer.
I tried quite a few and never found one that made a good drinking beer.
However, if you get a little more technical and cook your own "wort" or mash
as part of the brewing process the beer is actually quite good.

Read up the subject, there's a lot to learn in order to make a good product.

 

[dohboy]

not sure if this helps

http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/FREE-beer-making-supplies_13576695

 

[drhook]

Oh... where to start. I've been brewing for the past 20-25 years using Coopers or Muntons kits and am turning out beers that are better than most stuff you can get at pub and once you get into it you'll find it's easy.
Supplies - Best bet is to get to a Save on Foods and pick up the big brewing starter kit box for around $60. It has most of what you need with the exception of a brewing heat belt. THIS is a must as temperature is very important and the heat belt will keep your brew at 20 degrees C for the fermentation process. Save on Foods also has the best prices on kits at $11.99 when on sale (usually once in the fall (you just missed it) and once in the spring).
Yeast packages come in with the kit are specific to the type of beer (ales vs lagers) you are making so don't concern yourself with it.
Find a U Brew that has 'Muntons Beer Kit Enhancer'. You'll add this to the kit instead of corn sugar. (Its a mixture of corn sugar and dry malt extract). You'll also need to buy some corn sugar for heading powder to add when bottling.
When you're at the U Brew, ask for pellet hops. This is the secret (now it's out) to making beer that rivels anything made in the pub. You'll add this to your secondary. Start with 25 grams (you'll need a good electronic kitchen scale) and adjust quantity according to how hoppy you like your beer. Cascade hops, i find, are the best to buy as they are the most arromatic.
Use purified water!
Contact me through the forum it you want more info and I'll walk you through all the steps. Happy brewing (and drinking!)

 

[Steelhead S2]

once again, thanks for all the input guys. Very helpful.

 

[quicksilver11]

Hi I have some beer/wine making equip plastic and glass Carboys, 20 liter buckets, Hydrometer and a few other things you can have cheap. I am in Nanaimo

 

[Clipper]

I brewed my own beer for many years with pretty good success and drhook gave some great info. One thing I can add is to be VERY picky about keeping your equipment spotlessly clean. Use a sterilizing agent on everything that comes in contact with your brew, especially your bottles. A little wild yeast can ruin a whole batch.

As for bottles, brown, .5 and 1 liter plastics worked well for me.

 

[Steelhead S2]

I have actually been saving a particular type of bottle for a few years now, and with the amount of that beer I've bought over the years I have more than enough for a batch or two. Plus I have a bunch of the larger ones from a batch I made at a you brew a few years back. I like the idea of plastics for the boat though. Less breaky = less achy.

What are people's opinions on sterilizing agents? Bleach seems to be the norm. But my scientist friend suggested ethanol because it rinses off more easily. Its what he uses in his lab.

 

[BigHog]

I used to do the home brew thing with good success but every once and awhile you would get a bad batch and that sets you back weeks. I started going to the UBrew stores where they do most of it for you other than put the yeast in. We then canned the beer rather than bottles and that was the cats butt. No worry about bottling and caps and you can store them in beer cases to take on the boat or where ever. All of this for about $85 a batch a few years back. Haven't done it for awhile but I have been thinking on giving it a try one more time. Good luck anyway !!

 

[drhook]

For sterilizing, all you will ever need is Spagnals Sani Brew (a.k.a. pink solution). Although I know some people who prefer using just plain bleach and water. Seems to work well for them as well.