Any home beer brewers?

[anomad]

I’m thinking about taking up home brewing. Lord knows I don’t need this hobby, but I am still fascinated. My roommate years ago was (and still is) a home brewer and I helped him brew and drink a lot of beer. But that was way before online everything made trying new things easier.

I am a home coffee roaster. If anyone is brewing and would like to have a smart ass come “help” and hopefully refresh my limited brewing knowledge I’d love to hear from you. I could bring my roaster over and share the coffee roasting process with you. Which is relatively simple in comparison.

Cheers and bottoms up!

Topic

[ChampionTier]

Just made the switch to all-grain over the summer. I do my mashing and wort making outside and plan on brewing a stout once things warm up a little and wouldn’t mind learning about coffee roasting.

If you’re eager to get going right now and like hard cider hit up amazon and get a carboy, an air lock, and some champagne yeast. Next hit Costco and get 5 gallons of Motts Organic Apple juice. You can ferment that stuff (without adding anything) and get ~4.5 – 5% ABV in a couple weeks. I know: the recipe sounds like you’re brewing hooch but once you back-sweeten it with apple juice concentrate it’ll stand up against Woodchuck any day of the week.

Cheers,
CT

[anomad]

I think I would go straight to keg brewing. The idea of bottling sounds painful. And, kegging is how my roomie did it, so I am more familiar with that. I’m not a fan of cider, but that does sound like a simple recipe to experiment with.

Please keep me in mind when you are going to start cooking and give me a shout. Maybe we could collaborate and make it an espresso stout??

[ChampionTier]

Kegging is definitely the way to go. I bottled my first few batches but I always felt like I was some clumsy actor in a TV infomercial doing it. My wife and kids got me a keezer off of Craigslist for Father’s Day and I haven’t looked back.

I’ll send you a PM once I get closer to brew day; espresso stout would be outstanding!

[sjclaeys]

Bottling, there’s a reason why Laverne and Shirley hated their job:

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[sjclaeys]

I’ve been homebrewing seriously for the past 10 years or so, and not so seriously for about 15 years before that. I’d recommend checking out some of the local homebrew clubs like DC Homebrewers: http://blog.dchomebrewers.com/. Each club has it’s own vibe, but generally great people willing to share insights and ideas, plus their own homebrew. All of the local clubs are having a joint meeting, aka Jam-Beer-ee, on February 10 at Rhodeside Grill in Arlington from 2:00 to 5:00.

[huskerdont]

I only do 4 or so batches a year now and am only doing extract until I’m rich enough to afford a bigger place, but I do want to mention My Local Homebrew Shop as an alternative to our Amazonion and big-box overlords.

Also, yes for kegging. So much easier.

[huskerdont]

Espresso stout is great but the espresso making can be a pain. Oatmeal stout is the way I’ve gone the last several years. The oatmeal gives it such a great texture. It’s so good I keep contemplating switching from CO2 to nitrogen to make it even better.

[sjclaeys]

@huskerdont 173952 wrote:

Espresso stout is great but the espresso making can be a pain. Oatmeal stout is the way I’ve gone the last several years. The oatmeal gives it such a great texture. It’s so good I keep contemplating switching from CO2 to nitrogen to make it even better.

+ 1 on My Local Homebrew Shop, only place where I get ingredients. A good technique for adding coffee flavor to beer is by “dry beaning”, put an ounce or two of coffee beans in a mesh bag and let them soak in the keg for two days or so. The alcohol extracts the coffee flavor without any acridity.

[huskerdont]

I have done the dry beans for coffee stout before, but always brewed the espresso for espresso stout. Both were good, but the brewed espresso stout actually seemed to keep some of the espresso flavor profile. It’s just more work.

Also, bikes are fun.

[chris_s]

@huskerdont 173950 wrote:

…I do want to mention My Local Homebrew Shop as an alternative to our Amazonion and big-box overlords.

Also worth checking out The Brew Shop on Wilson Blvd between Rosslyn & Courthouse.

[dkel]

This thread almost makes me want to buy back all my brewing stuff from sjclaeys.

[sjclaeys]

@dkel 173962 wrote:

This thread almost makes me want to buy back all my brewing stuff from sjclaeys.

It’s all mine now!!! All mine!!! {insert evil laughter}

[sjclaeys]

@huskerdont 173950 wrote:

I only do 4 or so batches a year now and am only doing extract until I’m rich enough to afford a bigger place, but I do want to mention My Local Homebrew Shop as an alternative to our Amazonion and big-box overlords.

Also, yes for kegging. So much easier.

If you can do extract on a stove top, you can do all-grain without hardly spending that much more money by doing brew-in-a-bag. No need for a three-vessel system and propane burner.

[huskerdont]

I have the propane burner, which I use on the back porch. It’s the other equipment that I have no more space for(7 bikes, 4 kayaks, skis, etc.) I will look into the brew-in-a-bag system.

[creadinger]

I’ve been making cider for a couple of years. It’s by far the easiest thing to ferment besides making yogurt by accident. That’s why I do it. I don’t have the patience nor am I exacting or conscientious enough to keep all the beer stuff clean and well maintained. I know my weaknesses.

For cider, all you have to do is buy a jug of it, make a yeast starter, throw the starter in the jug, put an airlock on top and let it sit in a dark closet for 2 weeks. It’s not great cider, but it has alcohol in it! Recently I’m adding a brown sugar mixture to up the alcohol content and whew, just 1 glass will make you tipsy. Next I need to figure out how to up the flavor. It’s pretty bland.

When I have any questions it’s good to have go to’s – a couple of friends from college are huge into home brewing. Then another friend from high school was a professional brewer – Dogfish Head, etc…. He’s a distiller of spirits now. The best advice they’ve given me so far was when I asked if I can ferment anything actually dangerous – they said, “Just try it. If you sh&* yourself, stop drinking it.”

[Author]

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