Home brewing

[crispystl420]

Anyone do it? Any good suggestions for a starter kit? It looks like it's about the same cost you would pay for decent beer from the store is this accurate?

[ReynardMuldrake]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Anyone have any good supplier recommendations (looking for recipe kits, mainly)? If not, I'm gonna try out Midwest Supplies (thanks 1moreTRich). I was using Brewgadgets but wanted to find something perhaps a little cheaper.

I have now brewed 3 batches. The first one was a brown ale and it turned out pretty well. Most people that tried it enjoyed it. The one person who said he didn't was a regular Bud Select drinker so I take that opinion with a grain of salt.

The 2nd batch was a porter. I don't know if I messed up during the process somewhere, put some in the fridge too early, or its simply not a great tasting beer. It tasted a bit sweet. I will try it again now that it has had a few weeks fermentation time and see if it has gotten any better.

The most recent one is a pale ale. This turned out well, too. While its not as great a pale as Blvd or Sierra Nevada, it is pretty good and I will definitely be enjoying drinking those. Again, I tried it after about a week to a week and a half of bottling. I know it will get better with a little more aging so I'm happy with the way it turned out. I even loved smelling those extra hops when I was brewing this one.

I go to Bacchus & Barleycorn in Shawnee. Midwest Supplies is good if you're looking online.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by warispeace

I go to Bacchus & Barleycorn in Shawnee. Midwest Supplies is good if you're looking online.

Yeah, the only problem is that I live in Topeka. We have a place called Ale & Vino. I remembered seeing commercials for it years ago. So I went over to check it out and was disappointed. Their selection is lame. Pretty much just a little hole in the wall mom and pop shop in a crappy section of town.

[Lzen]

Oh, and DMAC I still don't have a wort chiller.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Anyone have any good supplier recommendations (looking for recipe kits, mainly)? If not, I'm gonna try out Midwest Supplies (thanks 1moreTRich). I was using Brewgadgets but wanted to find something perhaps a little cheaper.

I have now brewed 3 batches. The first one was a brown ale and it turned out pretty well. Most people that tried it enjoyed it. The one person who said he didn't was a regular Bud Select drinker so I take that opinion with a grain of salt.

The 2nd batch was a porter. I don't know if I messed up during the process somewhere, put some in the fridge too early, or its simply not a great tasting beer. It tasted a bit sweet. I will try it again now that it has had a few weeks fermentation time and see if it has gotten any better.

The most recent one is a pale ale. This turned out well, too. While its not as great a pale as Blvd or Sierra Nevada, it is pretty good and I will definitely be enjoying drinking those. Again, I tried it after about a week to a week and a half of bottling. I know it will get better with a little more aging so I'm happy with the way it turned out. I even loved smelling those extra hops when I was brewing this one.

I don't know what the prices are like, but you have a homebrew/wine making shop in Topeka.

http://www.ale-n-vino.com/index.html


EDIT: Just read your last post, so nevermind.

[DMAC]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Oh, and DMAC I still don't have a wort chiller.

[DMAC]

Originally Posted by DMAC

Dont worry though...I'm just as much of a ...

I unplugged the kegerator to plug in a shop vac real quick. Then forgot to plug it back in.

Luckily there was no beer in there but there was beef and chicken in the freezer that sat in the heat of the garage for over a week. It stinks bad dude.

[1moreTRich]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Anyone have any good supplier recommendations (looking for recipe kits, mainly)? If not, I'm gonna try out Midwest Supplies (thanks 1moreTRich). I was using Brewgadgets but wanted to find something perhaps a little cheaper.

I have now brewed 3 batches. The first one was a brown ale and it turned out pretty well. Most people that tried it enjoyed it. The one person who said he didn't was a regular Bud Select drinker so I take that opinion with a grain of salt.

The 2nd batch was a porter. I don't know if I messed up during the process somewhere, put some in the fridge too early, or its simply not a great tasting beer. It tasted a bit sweet. I will try it again now that it has had a few weeks fermentation time and see if it has gotten any better.

The most recent one is a pale ale. This turned out well, too. While its not as great a pale as Blvd or Sierra Nevada, it is pretty good and I will definitely be enjoying drinking those. Again, I tried it after about a week to a week and a half of bottling. I know it will get better with a little more aging so I'm happy with the way it turned out. I even loved smelling those extra hops when I was brewing this one.

For any of my extra supplies (my brew club does bulk grain and hop buys) I almost exclusively use http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/. Their prices are comparable and they have great customer service. Their brewbuilder is awesome and you can search through other brewer's recipes for ideas. You get a 10% discount when you use the brewbuilder to buy ingredients with code BBBYO.

As for the porter, usually when it turns out on the sweet side, it got racked before the yeast were done or you had a stuck fermentation. How long did you let it sit in the primary? Did you take a gravity reading when you bottled it?

Just a tip, if you love the hoppy aroma of pales and ipa, try dry hopping (add some hops in the carboy around 3-7 days before you rack it to bottles). It gives it such an extra dimension. I don't make a pale or IPA without dry hopping.

[DMAC]

Originally Posted by 1moreTRich

Just a tip, if you love the hoppy aroma of pales and ipa, try dry hopping (add some hops in the carboy around 3-7 days before you rack it to bottles). It gives it such an extra dimension. I don't make a pale or IPA without dry hopping.

Oh the aroma is so flowery. Makka me hoppy happy.

[1moreTRich]

Originally Posted by DMAC

Oh the aroma is so flowery. Makka me hoppy happy.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by 1moreTRich

For any of my extra supplies (my brew club does bulk grain and hop buys) I almost exclusively use http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/. Their prices are comparable and they have great customer service. Their brewbuilder is awesome and you can search through other brewer's recipes for ideas. You get a 10% discount when you use the brewbuilder to buy ingredients with code BBBYO.

As for the porter, usually when it turns out on the sweet side, it got racked before the yeast were done or you had a stuck fermentation. How long did you let it sit in the primary? Did you take a gravity reading when you bottled it?

Just a tip, if you love the hoppy aroma of pales and ipa, try dry hopping (add some hops in the carboy around 3-7 days before you rack it to bottles). It gives it such an extra dimension. I don't make a pale or IPA without dry hopping.

Thanks for the tips. I will definitely try dry hopping next time.

[Shag]

Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies are both great retailers. I'm fortunate enough to live close to both, and use both, depending on which is more convenient at the time. Never mail ordered from either, but I've heard great things about both of them in that respect - I believe Midwest may be a little cheaper.

I know they give at 10% discount to AHA members in the stores. Not sure if it applies to online orders or not, but might be worth checking, if you're a member.

[DMAC]

Originally Posted by 1moreTRich

Just a tip, if you love the hoppy aroma of pales and ipa, try dry hopping (add some hops in the carboy around 3-7 days before you rack it to bottles). It gives it such an extra dimension. I don't make a pale or IPA without dry hopping.

What variety would you suggest for an APA? Cascade?

[crispystl420]

Ok just put my first wort in the fermenter. We'll see how it turns out.

[crispystl420]

I used a blonde ale malt extract and some honey along with the half the booster. Just using a MR Beer kit for now until I get a little practice. The shit actually smelled great though.

[rageeumr]

Originally Posted by crispystl420

Ok just put my first wort in the fermenter. We'll see how it turns out.

I hope it's tasty. I'll do this one day. No time for another hobby right now, though.