So you want to learn how to make beer.

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tmoney1224
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Location: Wichita, KS

So you want to learn how to make beer.

Post by tmoney1224 »

I have had several PMs and emails about people wanting to know what it takes to make beer. I figured this would be a great place to put it.

Now since there have already been a ton of people, much more knowledgeable then me write about making beer, I will mostly be using links and this will be more of a resource thread then anything.

So here we go:

Beer making can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. You can go from kits in a can to all grain and home grown hops. The fundamentals remain fairly consistent with whatever you chose to do.

The best free starting point for any would be brewer is How to Brew by John Palmer found here: http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html Most brewer start out brewing what is called extract brews. This just means that you are buying either a dry or liquid malt instead of mashing the grain yourself to create the sugars.

It will take you about $100 worth of equipment plus ingredients to do your first batch. The essential equipment is.

At least 5 gallon boil pot (can usually get a cheap one a hardware stores like Ace and Harbor Freight)
Fermenting bucket or carboy
Sanitizer
Airlock
Big Spoon
Thermometer
Hydrometer
Racking cane and tubing
bottling wand
bottle capper
caps
around 50 pop top bottles.

Now there are tons of toys and other things you can get too, but this set of equipment will get you through a lot of batches just the way it is.


There are several sites online that I recommend for various things:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrew ... -kits.html
They have the best prices on starter kits and a lot of equipment.

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/
They have it set up where you can input and save your recipes for not only yourself, but other brewers can buy your recipe (Here's Mine) , plus have the best customer service I have found. Decent prices and 10% off when you use the BrewBuilder

www.austinhomebrew.com
Very reputable store. Price are usually a bit higher, but great resource.

www.moorbeer.com
Have good sales and free shipping on orders over a certain amount. Can sometimes be a bit sketchy on the back orders, but are mainly pretty good.

Brewing can be a fairly long process. The actual brewing can talk 2-6 hours depending on what type of brewing you are doing. After that fermentation can take anywhere from 10days to 60 days depending on the style. When just starting out it is usually about 3 hours for the brewing, 1 hour for bottling, and around 4-6 weeks for your beer to be ready to drink.

Alright, I can expand on anything that anyone needs. Please feel free to ask any questions, I will do what I can to answer what I know and point you in the direction if I don't.
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Primetyme199
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Post by Primetyme199 »

I'm setting up an appointment for next week to go start brewing my own beer at a place not to far from me. They let you brew at their store using their equipment and helping you all through the process. I want to brew my own beer so I figured this would be the best way to make sure I really want to do this and enjoy it before putting out the money to buy all the equipment.
BG Mets31
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Post by BG Mets31 »

I've been meaning to do this for a while, this might push me over the top and I'll put it on my list of things to do in 2011. Thanks.
tmoney1224
Posts: 3031
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:51 pm
Location: Wichita, KS

Post by tmoney1224 »

Primetyme199 wrote:I'm setting up an appointment for next week to go start brewing my own beer at a place not to far from me. They let you brew at their store using their equipment and helping you all through the process. I want to brew my own beer so I figured this would be the best way to make sure I really want to do this and enjoy it before putting out the money to buy all the equipment.
I would be very interested how it goes and what process they use. I saw a video of somebody doing this at a microbrewery and was a little disappointed because they did an extract brew and did some other things that I would consider short cuts. They will end up with beer, but I guess I just would expect a very high quality from a microbrewery. I might just be being a beer snob too, lol.

BG if you have any specific questions or concerns about getting started, feel free to ask.
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Primetyme199
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Post by Primetyme199 »

Here is the place I am going to.

http://www.brewapp.com/bop.html
tmoney1224
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Location: Wichita, KS

Post by tmoney1224 »

Pipeline is dry and I'm finally getting some time to get the ol' brewpot fired up again. I'm making my house beer which is a blonde, very easy drinking lighter beer. Also, gonna get a nice milk stout going, something very similar to Left Hand Milk Stout. Haven't done a stout for awhile, but this should be just about perfect when the colder months come around, if it lasts that long :).

Prime, did you ever go to the brewing place?
tmoney1224
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Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:51 pm
Location: Wichita, KS

Post by tmoney1224 »

stenchasaurous wrote:
tmoney1224 wrote:something very similar to Left Hand Milk Stout.
Big fan of their milk stout, my only complaint is that the ABV is a little low for my tastes. St. Peter's Cream Stout is another favorite of mine similar to that.
BTW stench, I haven't forgot about you. As soon as this finishes up I'll throw a few bottles in the mail. This one will be just a little higher gravity than the original.

I haven't had the St. Peter's, I'll see if they have it around here.
tmoney1224
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Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:51 pm
Location: Wichita, KS

Post by tmoney1224 »

A few photos with descriptions from the stout brew if you are interested:

http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a310/ ... =slideshow
chef97
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Post by chef97 »

tmoney1224 wrote:A few photos with descriptions from the stout brew if you are interested:

http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a310/ ... =slideshow
Awesome!

I wish I had the patience to execute the entire process, better yet I wish you were my neighbor tmoney so could mooch some beer off you... LOL! 8)
Chef

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