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Gizenshya
December 16th, 2009, 02:09 AM
OK, I noticed a few of the posts on the fav beer thread were made by other homebrewers. So... post your stories and brews, and, of course, pics!!!

Here is a flicker page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34644245@N07/sets/72157612884245392/) of my buddy and I brewing our first batch of homebrew. We got most of our supplies, including ingredients, from northernbrewer.com (in case you couldn't tell from the pics). That first batch is a NutBrown Ale, which turned out great! I don't exactly remember the hydrometer readings, but it was about 5% abv. That is the only set I have online atm. I don't get access to the internet with a decent connection all too often. I might this friday, but I'll have to resize the pics, because flickr only allows 100 mb uploads per month. It resized my full pics anyway (to 1024x768 I think), so it does no good to upload full pics anyway.

Over that semester we brewed a total of 5 batches of beer, and we wrapped up the last batch by bottling on the last day of finals. :D Each batch made about 2 cases (44-50 bottles) of beer. Lots of it was given away, but I still have the better part of a case left-- and I'll probably keep one from each batch.

BaroqueBloke
December 16th, 2009, 02:44 AM
I will be brewing my first two batches this January for credit. Hopefully I wont botch anything up the first time around.

Gizenshya
December 16th, 2009, 03:26 AM
credit, eh? culinary school, or what?

Temperature control in the fermentation stages is a big problem for most, especially during primary fermentation.

Just remember that those little tape thermometers measure the temp of the outside of the fermentor, not the mean temperature. If it gets above or below a narrow range, you get weird flavors (such as phenols). I like using a big plastic storage container and filing it mostly with water that is on the lower end of the goal temp range. It takes a lot of energy to change the temp of water, so the warming fermentor warms the water in the outside container through its walls, and also the surface area of the water container evaporates, cooling the water. Or, if the water otherwise gets too warm or cool, you can just add more water of a different temp to get it right. And you never have to touch (bother) the fermentor until moving to secondary-- this improves quality, and takes out some risk (infections, for example). I've had great results with this method.

BaroqueBloke
December 16th, 2009, 03:31 AM
genius! I had not thought of that! as space is a factor this time around, doing this in my dorm room, ;D
Im going to have to save that trick for future use. And no, not culinary school. Im a musician but I managed to get my prof to sign off on it. (in exchange for samples, of course)

chillyomi
December 16th, 2009, 03:34 AM
I though the thread was about software program and stuff

handy
December 16th, 2009, 03:38 AM
A mate & I brewed about a thousand 750ml bottles using various Coopers kits & combinations of kits (kits being the easy way) for my own marriage celebration.

At the time I was playing in a band, & the mate who helped me brew, owned a Canoe hire & guide (amongst other things) business (about 3k's down the road from where I live) which has accommodation for 65 people, in a big mud brick, verandas all round lodge, which included male & female toilet/showers, common room with big shared kitchen.

So it was the perfect environment for a 3 day party, which started on the Friday, marriage down by the river in front of the lodge on Saturday, & party through until the ungodly hours of Monday morning.

There wasn't any beer left!

Strangely enough, my daughter was also married at the same place in a somewhat similar multi-day kick *** celebratory way. Though, they didn't have beer that was anywhere near as good... ;)

When we were brewing, because of the canoeing connection, we used big barrels that people sometimes carry their gear in in Canadian canoes. From memory we did two barrels as a time with 2.5 kits in each barrel. It kept us busy, but once we were a couple of weeks into it we started to enjoy the fruits of our labour. :D

[Edit:] We used to wrap the barrels in sleeping bags, I have another mate who uses an electric blanket. I have used a fish tank heater on barrels for personal consumtion also, I personally recommend the fish tank heater it is so simple. Also, if you don't like using sodium metabisulphate, you can cook your bottles in the oven & sterilise them that way.

Also, it is a great idea to rinse out the used bottles as soon as possible after use & have them stand where they can rest upside down, & after dry/or just cover their openings with foil, to keep out the feral yeasts that float around in the air, they can be a big problem, sterilisation is a critical part of the beer production process.

BaroqueBloke
December 16th, 2009, 03:41 AM
Now thats how to celebrate! Im only doing 10galons this time around, but I plan on doing this quite a bit more.

pwnst*r
December 16th, 2009, 03:49 AM
OK, I noticed a few of the posts on the fav beer thread were made by other homebrewers. So... post your stories and brews, and, of course, pics!!!

Here is a flicker page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34644245@N07/sets/72157612884245392/) of my buddy and I brewing our first batch of homebrew. We got most of our supplies, including ingredients, from northernbrewer.com (in case you couldn't tell from the pics). That first batch is a NutBrown Ale, which turned out great! I don't exactly remember the hydrometer readings, but it was about 5% abv. That is the only set I have online atm. I don't get access to the internet with a decent connection all too often. I might this friday, but I'll have to resize the pics, because flickr only allows 100 mb uploads per month. It resized my full pics anyway (to 1024x768 I think), so it does no good to upload full pics anyway.

Over that semester we brewed a total of 5 batches of beer, and we wrapped up the last batch by bottling on the last day of finals. :D Each batch made about 2 cases (44-50 bottles) of beer. Lots of it was given away, but I still have the better part of a case left-- and I'll probably keep one from each batch.

that's AWEsome! me want!

Gizenshya
December 16th, 2009, 03:49 AM
no pics handy? :o

I've used the oven, and it worked great. It did make some of the bottles slightly... 'off.' A couple of them wouldn't accept a cap anymore, and one shattered during capping. We may have just baked them too warm, or for too long. We used aluminum foil on their tops to keep out contaminants until just before filling. No doubt thatthe ones we did this way were 100% sterile ;)

After that, we started using StarSan, because it is just easier. A few drops left in the bottle won't harm the beer, and the yeast thats left at bottling consumes the rest of it. Overall, I prefer using the StarSan, but that's jsut me.

handy
December 16th, 2009, 04:10 AM
Though we've been together since just after school, with a break for some years, we only got married in the early 90's. Digital cameras weren't invented yet, nor were mobile phones (not that I've ever had a mobile phone account!).

So, no, no pics.

I do have printed wedding photos though... Should I scan some in for you? :lolflag: [Edit:] She wore a black dress... :)

If you lived closer, you could come around for a slide night & show some of my holiday slides?

wulfgang
December 16th, 2009, 05:01 AM
I though the thread was about software program and stuff

When I read the title I thought the same thing, because, programs I build myself I put them in a menu called "homebrew." I forgot what the real word meant. =P

Evil-Ernie
December 6th, 2010, 11:08 AM
I have a thread here about my homebrewing antics somewhere, I am using Brewtarget in Ubuntu which is a clone of Beersmith.

My full grain batch is ready for bottling tonight which I did use Brewtarget to give me pointers and reminders, the FG is 1.010 and OG was 1.048 so I reckon its about 4.98% ABV :P

So far the colour is slightly lighter than I expected settling on a more golden hue than the original deep amber, flavour wise its got a malty caramel tone before the fuggles bitterness kicks in. I hope when its matured in the new year the final taste will be less sweet and more balanced :)