Homebrewers: What's brewing/fermenting/bottle conditioning?

[Balog]

This winter, I will start home brewing. /resolute

That said, can I go straight into growlers instead of standard bottles or a keg? I think growlers are just about the right size as beer receptacles.

 

[Balog]

I've seen and heard debates that smell of government conspiracy, but it really is a safety issue. A bad batch of beer might taste funky or the overcarbonation can cause the caps to pop off and make one heck of a mess, but mistakes while distilling are a lot more dangerous. I'm sure there could be more reasons, but it's just not something that the average joe should be doing.

No conspiracy, bans/regulations on distillation have always been a tax issue. See the Whiskey Rebellion for an example. I can have up to.... 50lbs of gunpowder (I think), as well as hundreds of gallons of propane/gasoline/diesel etc etc stored in my house in WA, but a couple gallons of vodka in a pot still is too dangerous?

 

[Phalex]

This winter, I will start home brewing. /resolute

That said, can I go straight into growlers instead of standard bottles or a keg? I think growlers are just about the right size as beer receptacles.

NO! Growlers are not suitable for the pressure required to bottle condition beer. You'll have a sticky, stinky, sharp, shard filled pile of..... Crap. Google "bottle bomb".

 

[kdiggity]

^ Phalex beat me to it.

Growlers are only for short term transportation and storage of beer. Basically, to take beer home from the pub.

Now, one option you could look into (and my personal fav for bottling), are the .5l bottles with the caps integrated (i forget the official name) :

Bottling is awesome for sharing your beer with those lucky few who deserve it.

 

[kdiggity]

This winter, I will start home brewing. /resolute

Nice! Like most things awesome, it's addictive.

Have you brewed before? I didn't go back and look at your posts, sorry.

If not, and you don't already own equipment, my advice is to bite the bullet and buy 'a little nicer' equipment to begin with. It's not necessary, but trust me when I say that you'll quickly grow out of most of those 'beer in a box' type kits.

Also, the better your equipment, the more accuracy and control you'll have over your process and final product - which usually equates to better beer (assuming you hone yo skillz).

BTW, let me offer a VERY good place to buy brewing related items online:

Link Removed

Warning: don't click that unless you have a fool hours of drool to kill.

 

[spade2you]

No conspiracy, bans/regulations on distillation have always been a tax issue. See the Whiskey Rebellion for an example. I can have up to.... 50lbs of gunpowder (I think), as well as hundreds of gallons of propane/gasoline/diesel etc etc stored in my house in WA, but a couple gallons of vodka in a pot still is too dangerous?

Safety aside, as if explosions and methanol aren't big deals, the nail in the coffin is that most distillers are very interested in selling their product. This is no longer just home distilling. You're selling untaxed product, although I'd argue that they're untested for methanol and potentially unsafe. Plus, most moonshine is just plain nasty.

 

[metron]

I heard it was easy enough to screw up and distill something that can damage your eyesight or kill you if you drink too much of it. Not sure if thats true though. Im sticking with beer!

This weekend Im brewing another IPA but this one will just be a single. I might make a similar hop profile to the double I did last weekend just half it or something. A half pound of summit > columbus > cascade. Mmm IPA!

Is it happy hour yet?

 

[kdiggity]

Distilling isn't that complicated, nor unsafe, if you follow directions precisely and keep the environment and equipment sanitary.

The bigger question, imo, is it worth the expense, time and effort..

Beer? Definitely! Spirits? Meh. That's what the liquor store is for.

That said, it's a long and proud tradition in this neck of the woods for people to make their own plum brandy, called Slivovice.

It's strong and tasty, and in small towns the makers vie for the best tasting, potency, flavor, etc. Pretty cool stuff..

Slivovitz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pick some up if you can and see what you think about it!

-K

 

[spade2you]

I heard it was easy enough to screw up and distill something that can damage your eyesight or kill you if you drink too much of it. Not sure if thats true though. Im sticking with beer!

This weekend Im brewing another IPA but this one will just be a single. I might make a similar hop profile to the double I did last weekend just half it or something. A half pound of summit > columbus > cascade. Mmm IPA!

Is it happy hour yet?

Methanol is perfectly capable of robbing you of eyesight, multiple organ failure, and death. You don't see much of it any more because it's hard to distill cheaper than your run of the mill store brand alcohol, which often tastes more than a little better.

Distilling isn't that complicated, nor unsafe, if you follow directions precisely and keep the environment and equipment sanitary.

The bigger question, imo, is it worth the expense, time and effort..

Methanol aside, part of the distilling process involves boiling a liquid with a flammable vapor. I'm not saying that an explosion is inevitable, but leave this one for the pros.

That being said, microdistilleries are probably going to follow the microbrewing trends. I picked up some McMenamin's gin and brandy and my hometown has its' first distillery since prior to prohibition.

 

[Phalex]

That being said, microdistilleries are probably going to follow the microbrewing trends. I picked up some McMenamin's gin and brandy and my hometown has its' first distillery since prior to prohibition.

I think microdistilleries are the wave of the future too. Tito's Handmade Vodka comes to mind. There's also a small scale operation that does a white whiskey that is supposed to be fabulous.

 

[Balog]

There's a small whiskey place just a few miles from me called Woodinville Whiskey. They'll sell you white whiskey and a barrel so you can age it yourself.

I understand distilling is dangerous. So is reloading ammunition, arc welding, running a lathe, deep frying a turkey, and about a dozen other things that are legal. "Because it's dangerous" is a really poor reason to outlaw something imho.

 

[spade2you]

I think microdistilleries are the wave of the future too. Tito's Handmade Vodka comes to mind. There's also a small scale operation that does a white whiskey that is supposed to be fabulous.

Haven't tried Tito's vodka, but I've heard of it. My local distillery also has a brewery, but there was a lot of red tape in the sense it had to have a different name and a divider between the brewery and distillery despite having the same staff. They've been selling a really nice vodka and will be aging a whiskey for a few more years before they can sell it. Immense process.

That brewery also hosted a recent homebrew comp, which sadly I didn't enter because I was working. A member of my homebrew club won the comp and they're going to release his Russian imp stout this winter!!! My homebrew club is also going to use his recipe to make a RIS. Can never have too much of that, eh?

 

[Phalex]

We have a local brewery that has a distillery. I haven't tried their vodka, but their rum is awful!

 

[spade2you]

We have a local brewery that has a distillery. I haven't tried their vodka, but their rum is awful!

Unfortunate it sucks.

I've been told our local vodka is pretty high end, but I'll be the first to admit I don't know much beyond beer. Our brewer/distiller did a lot of research on doing it right.

I mostly keep a little liquor for guests, but I'll taste it from time to time.

I think there's a rum due out any day now. The whiskey is still many years out while it ages in barrels.

 

[MakiSupaStar]

So it shall be Belgian and it shall be a pale ale.

 

[Joe Gress]

So it shall be Belgian and it shall be a pale ale.

Belgian style pale ale, or a Belgian and a pale ale?

 

[MakiSupaStar]

Belgian style pale ale, or a Belgian and a pale ale?

Belgian style pale ale

 

[Joe Gress]

Belgian style pale ale

ooooh, I've only had one of these kinds from Flying Dog. Raging Bitch I think it was called. So ****ing tasty. Never found it down here in Pueblo though.

 

[seansbrew]

So my sister planted a Magnum hop garden.
She lives in Oxnard CA. where the growing conditions are perfect for hops and just about anything else. This is the third season of the plant which will also be the first true yield. Amazing that this plant grew 28 feet in one season. It is cut down to the ground now.

After hop harvest and drying on screens the hops were sent out to me in AZ. Upon receiving them I immediately brewed a batch of IPA.

Here is a picture of my rig and temperature controlled fermentation chamber.

Prost!

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[Matthijs]

Methanol is perfectly capable of robbing you of eyesight, multiple organ failure, and death. You don't see much of it any more because it's hard to distill cheaper than your run of the mill store brand alcohol, which often tastes more than a little better.



Methanol aside, part of the distilling process involves boiling a liquid with a flammable vapor. I'm not saying that an explosion is inevitable, but leave this one for the pros.

That being said, microdistilleries are probably going to follow the microbrewing trends. I picked up some McMenamin's gin and brandy and my hometown has its' first distillery since prior to prohibition.

Distilling isn't rocket science, but you do need reasonable equipment. You really have to bend the rules in the extreme to cause a methanol problem and there are several handy small distilling tools available that are completely safe. As I understand in New Zealand it is legal to do so for personal use.

I myself turn the grapes of my garden into a perfectly good Grappa and I'm in a continuing proces of improving my Calvados. My best product is an oldfashioned Jenever that beats almost anything in the stores.
It's difficult to get close to spirits that need years of aging in an oak barrel. So good wisky, cognac or calvados is a challenge. Stuff like wodka is actually easy. You can make a pretty good wodka or base material for jenever by distilling a batch of failed beer.