Any home brewers on the planet? - Page 3

Hammock Parties · 04-11-2007, 12:26 PM

I was wanting to get into home brewing so i bought a mr. brew home brew kit, yet i dont feel the beer i make is my own. I know most of the process now, so i was wondering if anybody knew of any places to buy the yeast, hops, barley and whatnot.?

Radar Chief · 04-12-2007, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimNasium

I disagree. The near universal reviews I've heard about Mr. Beer and the Beer Machine have been negative. The best approach is to sit in on the brewing process. Go over to Dart's and watch him brew. It will help take the mystery out of the process and will show you how easy it is to make beer. You want to stay away from me though. It's a hobby that can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. I'm on the complex side and getting more so by the year. I'm getting into temperature controls, pumps, heat exchangers, etc.

Ok, but I didn’t call it “the best way”, just “a good way”. If you’ve got a friend to show you the ropes, that’s probably better but in my situation I didn’t have that luxury so I started with a small Mr. Beer kit and grew from there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimNasium

FWIW, I've gone completely all-grain in my brewing. Nothing like turning barley, hops, yeast and water into delicious beer.

Have you got a brew sculpture yet? That morebeer.com site I linked has some good looking, and expensive, sculptures and the equipment to build your own.
All grain brew’n is just a little too involved for me. I like the results I’ve gotten with extract kits that include hops and some fresh grains for steeping, so I’m pretty satisfied with where I’m at.

**Nzoner** · 04-12-2007, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimNasium

FWIW, I've gone completely all-grain in my brewing. Nothing like turning barley, hops, yeast and water into delicious beer.

You're making plenty for the 24th when Stevie and I come rolling in right?

JimNasium · 04-12-2007, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radar Chief

Have you got a brew sculpture yet? That morebeer.com site I linked has some good looking, and expensive, sculptures and the equipment to build your own.

I'm actually in the process of building my own. It will probably take me a year to get it to where I want it to be.

JimNasium · 04-12-2007, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nzoner

You're making plenty for the 24th when Stevie and I come rolling in right?

I've got 10 gallons on tap and multiple cases in bottles. I hope we have enough.

Radar Chief · 04-12-2007, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimNasium

I'm actually in the process of building my own. It will probably take me a year to get it to where I want it to be.

Cool, can’t get much more “do it yourself” than that.

I bet that takes a lot of room though, got a dedicated room in casa del Nasium, or the boss kick all that stuff outside like mine did?

JimNasium · 04-12-2007, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radar Chief

Cool, can’t get much more “do it yourself” than that.

I bet that takes a lot of room though, got a dedicated room in casa del Nasium, or the boss kick all that stuff outside like mine did?

I'm in the garage. Fortunately the garage is fairly deep so I have room for vehicles. My hope is that my next home will have a shop or a John Deere room that I can use to brew. A man can always dream can't he?

I do have a nice setup for serving though: http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=70725&hl=

Radar Chief · 04-12-2007, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimNasium

I'm in the garage. Fortunately the garage is fairly deep so I have room for vehicles. My hope is that my next home will have a shop or a John Deere room that I can use to brew. A man can always dream can't he?

I do have a nice setup for serving though: http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=70725&hl=

Wow, that is nice.
I used to have a dedicated brew room / Chiefs bar / “man cave”, but we had a kid and now it’s the “play room”.

stlchiefs · 04-12-2007, 12:00 PM

I thought this article might interest some of you brewers:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/bus...F?OpenDocument

A-B launches brewing partnership with local entrepreneur
By Jeremiah McWilliams
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Apr. 11 2007

Ray Hill used to brew beer in his kitchen, basement and garage. Now,
Anheuser-Busch Cos., the country's largest brewer, makes it for him.

Ray Hill's American Pilsner, a recipe the 34-year-old Chesterfield resident
devised as a home brewer, now is made at A-B's brewery in Merrimack, N.H., in
batches of 500 barrels at a time.

Under a deal announced this month, A-B's beer wholesalers are distributing the
beer in three test markets — St. Louis, Kansas City and Washington.

For Anheuser-Busch, the arrangement is another bid for the attention of
image-conscious, trendy urban professionals.

For Hill, it's a shot at the big time.

"It's been a long road, but we made it," he said. "We just kept working hard."

Success will ultimately depend on how much of his beer he can convince people
to try.

Hill and his business partner, Mario Wayne, approached Anheuser-Busch in 2005,
hoping for help in getting their fledgling beer company off the ground. Friends
and advisers said they were crazy, that the St. Louis-based beer giant would
either laugh at or crush them.

As it turned out, Ray Hill's beer this month became the symbol of a new
alliance. Under a joint venture, A-B for the first time has agreed to brew an
entrepreneur's beer.

The beer isn't a risk for A-B. A 500-barrel batch of Ray Hill is a drop in the
bucket for a company that shipped 102 million barrels of beer in the U.S. last
year.

But the pilsner represents A-B's latest foray into the urban market — the
strongholds of craft and imported beers.

The joint venture, Hill Craft Beer Co., is 51 percent owned by Ray Hill's
original company and 49 percent controlled by A-B.

Hill is responsible for marketing and selling the beer and building sales and
excitement in liquor stores, groceries and clubs.

Last week he was in Washington, touting the brew in places like the swanky K
Street Lounge.

The "rags-to-riches" aspect of Hill's story isn't lost on A-B.

"Ray Hill is a classic story of a small businessman who started out in his
basement with a great product and a great idea," August A. Busch IV, A-B's
chief executive, said in a statement.

Anheuser-Busch hopes Ray Hill's beer — and the made-for-a-news-release story of
its namesake — will help the company attract sophisticated urban drinkers.
"Urban" defines not just a geographical area, but a mindset that values choices
and variety, said Johnny Furr Jr., vice president of urban marketing and
community affairs at A-B's domestic brewing unit.

Urban drinkers have become increasingly willing to spend top dollar for
small-batch craft beers and imported beers from Europe.

"The craft beer business is about slow growth and nurturing the product and
creating the buzz and the excitement," Furr said. The goal is to "go into those
places where folks who are drinking European imports will consider Ray Hill's
as an option."

Two of the closest competitors for Ray Hill's pilsner are Dutch beer Heineken
and domestic brew Samuel Adams, said Mario Wayne, executive vice president of
sales and marketing at Hill Brewing Co.

Hill started home-brewing pale ales after a 1998 business trip to Denver
introduced him to small-batch beer-making. Then a computer specialist with the
Department of the Interior, Hill started making the beer part time, fermenting
it in his basement and churning out 10-gallon batches. Friends liked his
concoctions, and he hoped the hobby could become a viable business.

Hill hired ad man Stephen Bruce to devise packaging and visited upscale happy
hours and celebrity events to push the beer. At one Friday night networking
event in 2004, he met Wayne, a pharmaceutical salesman and former St. Louis
Rams community relations coordinator from East St. Louis.

Hill told Wayne he knew how to brew good beer, but not how to sell it, Wayne
recalled. "I can sell ice to Eskimos," the salesman responded A partnership was
born.

But the major challenge was finding the right brewer to make the beer under
contract — a search that sent Hill bouncing from Pittsburgh to Rochester, N.Y.
Another worry was getting solid backing from investors.

Hill and Wayne approached A-B in hopes of working out a deal. They secured a
meeting with Douglas Muhleman, vice president of brewing operations and
technology at A-B's domestic beer subsidiary. A-B brewmasters were impressed
with the beer samples, and Hill Brewing Co. and Anheuser-Busch eventually began
hammering out a joint venture.

"With the product and the great story that Ray has, it was a natural fit," said
Furr.

Distribution started in the three markets where Hill and Wayne already had
tried to build interest.

The deal is not part of an over-arching strategy to brew other entrepreneurs'
beers, said Furr.

"We don't know how many Ray Hills are out there," he said. Still, "we're open
to having conversations with anyone at this point."

The joint venture is dwarfed by other deals Anheuser-Busch has made recently to
give its wholesalers more high-end craft and imported beers. Since Feb. 1, A-B
has imported a number of European beers from Belgian brewer InBev — including
Stella Artois.

A-B has also bought up part ownership in smaller breweries to compete in the
craft-beer market. Last month, A-B said it would be a minority partner in a
joint venture to purchase Old Dominion Brewing Co., a craft brewer based in
Ashburn, Va.

It already owned 33.7 percent of Seattle-based Redhook Ale Brewery Inc. and had
a 39.5 percent interest in Portland, Ore.-based Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.

A-B plans to significantly expand its field sales force this year,
predominantly in urban markets — specialty and imported beers' base of
popularity.

"We're seeking to compete in every category," Furr said.

**Nzoner** · 04-12-2007, 05:23 PM

Interesting article,as I recall A-B made an offer to Boulevard awhile back but was turned down,and now with this new venture KC is one of the first test markets.

stlchiefs · 04-12-2007, 06:26 PM

If that happened, I'm glad Boulevard turned it down, I like the idea of KC having a good brewery. AB uses KC as a test market for a lot of products though. I remember when B to the E was test marketed in KC, Chicago and STL. The Jekyll and Hyde hard alcohol was test marketed in Columbia, MO of all places.

04-12-2007, 07:51 PM

I don't care how good Ray Hill's is, I don't support A/B. At all.

If Ray Hill had set out on his own and began taking any portion of A/B's market share they would simply copy his recipe and make their own offering ala ZeigenBock.

04-12-2007, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dartgod

Will you do me a favor and fix the eave above your head that has wood rot?

Seriously, I'll probably brew this one of the next two weekends, so I'll let you know.

Ooooh. Party on the 21st and will be spending this weekend preparing for it. Catch me for the next batch. Sounds like fun.

**Dartgod** · 04-12-2007, 10:28 PM

That's cool. It may do it another weekend anyway. Nothing is set in stone. I'll let you know ahead of time and if you can make it, then great.

04-11-2007, 12:26 PM
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $3230478	Any home brewers on the planet? I was wanting to get into home brewing so i bought a mr. brew home brew kit, yet i dont feel the beer i make is my own. I know most of the process now, so i was wondering if anybody knew of any places to buy the yeast, hops, barley and whatnot.?
Posts: 285,755

04-12-2007, 12:00 PM	#38
stlchiefs Veteran Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: St. Loser, MO Casino cash: $10005674	I thought this article might interest some of you brewers: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/bus...F?OpenDocument A-B launches brewing partnership with local entrepreneur By Jeremiah McWilliams ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Wednesday, Apr. 11 2007 Ray Hill used to brew beer in his kitchen, basement and garage. Now, Anheuser-Busch Cos., the country's largest brewer, makes it for him. Ray Hill's American Pilsner, a recipe the 34-year-old Chesterfield resident devised as a home brewer, now is made at A-B's brewery in Merrimack, N.H., in batches of 500 barrels at a time. Under a deal announced this month, A-B's beer wholesalers are distributing the beer in three test markets — St. Louis, Kansas City and Washington. For Anheuser-Busch, the arrangement is another bid for the attention of image-conscious, trendy urban professionals. For Hill, it's a shot at the big time. "It's been a long road, but we made it," he said. "We just kept working hard." Success will ultimately depend on how much of his beer he can convince people to try. Hill and his business partner, Mario Wayne, approached Anheuser-Busch in 2005, hoping for help in getting their fledgling beer company off the ground. Friends and advisers said they were crazy, that the St. Louis-based beer giant would either laugh at or crush them. As it turned out, Ray Hill's beer this month became the symbol of a new alliance. Under a joint venture, A-B for the first time has agreed to brew an entrepreneur's beer. The beer isn't a risk for A-B. A 500-barrel batch of Ray Hill is a drop in the bucket for a company that shipped 102 million barrels of beer in the U.S. last year. But the pilsner represents A-B's latest foray into the urban market — the strongholds of craft and imported beers. The joint venture, Hill Craft Beer Co., is 51 percent owned by Ray Hill's original company and 49 percent controlled by A-B. Hill is responsible for marketing and selling the beer and building sales and excitement in liquor stores, groceries and clubs. Last week he was in Washington, touting the brew in places like the swanky K Street Lounge. The "rags-to-riches" aspect of Hill's story isn't lost on A-B. "Ray Hill is a classic story of a small businessman who started out in his basement with a great product and a great idea," August A. Busch IV, A-B's chief executive, said in a statement. Anheuser-Busch hopes Ray Hill's beer — and the made-for-a-news-release story of its namesake — will help the company attract sophisticated urban drinkers. "Urban" defines not just a geographical area, but a mindset that values choices and variety, said Johnny Furr Jr., vice president of urban marketing and community affairs at A-B's domestic brewing unit. Urban drinkers have become increasingly willing to spend top dollar for small-batch craft beers and imported beers from Europe. "The craft beer business is about slow growth and nurturing the product and creating the buzz and the excitement," Furr said. The goal is to "go into those places where folks who are drinking European imports will consider Ray Hill's as an option." Two of the closest competitors for Ray Hill's pilsner are Dutch beer Heineken and domestic brew Samuel Adams, said Mario Wayne, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Hill Brewing Co. Hill started home-brewing pale ales after a 1998 business trip to Denver introduced him to small-batch beer-making. Then a computer specialist with the Department of the Interior, Hill started making the beer part time, fermenting it in his basement and churning out 10-gallon batches. Friends liked his concoctions, and he hoped the hobby could become a viable business. Hill hired ad man Stephen Bruce to devise packaging and visited upscale happy hours and celebrity events to push the beer. At one Friday night networking event in 2004, he met Wayne, a pharmaceutical salesman and former St. Louis Rams community relations coordinator from East St. Louis. Hill told Wayne he knew how to brew good beer, but not how to sell it, Wayne recalled. "I can sell ice to Eskimos," the salesman responded A partnership was born. But the major challenge was finding the right brewer to make the beer under contract — a search that sent Hill bouncing from Pittsburgh to Rochester, N.Y. Another worry was getting solid backing from investors. Hill and Wayne approached A-B in hopes of working out a deal. They secured a meeting with Douglas Muhleman, vice president of brewing operations and technology at A-B's domestic beer subsidiary. A-B brewmasters were impressed with the beer samples, and Hill Brewing Co. and Anheuser-Busch eventually began hammering out a joint venture. "With the product and the great story that Ray has, it was a natural fit," said Furr. Distribution started in the three markets where Hill and Wayne already had tried to build interest. The deal is not part of an over-arching strategy to brew other entrepreneurs' beers, said Furr. "We don't know how many Ray Hills are out there," he said. Still, "we're open to having conversations with anyone at this point." The joint venture is dwarfed by other deals Anheuser-Busch has made recently to give its wholesalers more high-end craft and imported beers. Since Feb. 1, A-B has imported a number of European beers from Belgian brewer InBev — including Stella Artois. A-B has also bought up part ownership in smaller breweries to compete in the craft-beer market. Last month, A-B said it would be a minority partner in a joint venture to purchase Old Dominion Brewing Co., a craft brewer based in Ashburn, Va. It already owned 33.7 percent of Seattle-based Redhook Ale Brewery Inc. and had a 39.5 percent interest in Portland, Ore.-based Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. A-B plans to significantly expand its field sales force this year, predominantly in urban markets — specialty and imported beers' base of popularity. "We're seeking to compete in every category," Furr said.
Posts: 4,160

04-12-2007, 05:23 PM	#39
Nzoner a haw haw haw Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: MIZZOU Casino cash: $26365802	Interesting article,as I recall A-B made an offer to Boulevard awhile back but was turned down,and now with this new venture KC is one of the first test markets. __________________ *Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.*
Posts: 27,111

04-12-2007, 06:26 PM	#40
stlchiefs Veteran Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: St. Loser, MO Casino cash: $10005674	If that happened, I'm glad Boulevard turned it down, I like the idea of KC having a good brewery. AB uses KC as a test market for a lot of products though. I remember when B to the E was test marketed in KC, Chicago and STL. The Jekyll and Hyde hard alcohol was test marketed in Columbia, MO of all places.
Posts: 4,160

04-12-2007, 07:51 PM	#41
Phobia Guest Casino cash: $	I don't care how good Ray Hill's is, I don't support A/B. At all. If Ray Hill had set out on his own and began taking any portion of A/B's market share they would simply copy his recipe and make their own offering ala ZeigenBock.
Posts: n/a

04-12-2007, 10:28 PM	#43
Dartgod Wasted away again... Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: in Margaritaville Casino cash: $5970000	That's cool. It may do it another weekend anyway. Nothing is set in stone. I'll let you know ahead of time and if you can make it, then great. __________________ If you shed a tear for me, please make it a tear of joy. -Joe Tracy (Nzoner) . .
Posts: 51,576