• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What beer are you drinking (or rating) II: second bottle

Status
Not open for further replies.
#403
I am drinking Cains fine raisin beer, its a real ale infused with succulent cailfornian raisins, it is very nice .
I dont think there is a beer to rival a good english real ale, full of flavour, lager just does not do it for me, us brits are lucky to have these beers and ales brewed by tiny family breweries :hyper:
 
#404
Friday I purchased a small homebrew kit. Im going to try a small run once I get my strainer & funnel in the mail. I'll be making a gallon brew of a Honey IPA. If I get the process down I may move on to larger runs.

Question for you homebrewers - how do you go about bottling? Re-use beer bottles? Those Grolsch style bottles?
 
#406
MatticusMania said:
Friday I purchased a small homebrew kit. Im going to try a small run once I get my strainer & funnel in the mail. I'll be making a gallon brew of a Honey IPA. If I get the process down I may move on to larger runs.

Question for you homebrewers - how do you go about bottling? Re-use beer bottles? Those Grolsch style bottles?
Click to expand...

That's awesome, where you buy it and how difficult to brew your own beer is?
 
#407
spade2you said:
I just use standard bottles. I rinse after I drink the contents and usually will run them through the dishwasher prior to bottling. I've kegged before, but I tend to make beers that need to age a long time.
Click to expand...

Do you use a capper to cap the bottles? I was thinking of buyingsome Grolsch and reusing those bottles since they have a stopper & gasket on them already, but most Grolsch bottles are green, and I prefer my beer in brown bottles.

pedroims said:
That's awesome, where you buy it and how difficult to brew your own beer is?
Click to expand...

Brooklynbrewshop.com > We got a gift card for Williams-Sonoma for our wedding and it was the only intresting thing I saw for the moment. The 1 Gallon kit costs $40, and comes with everything you need aside from a 6 quart stockpot, a mesh strainer, and a funnel (oh, and bottles as well).
 
#408
Reporting in for duty.

Trying these at the moment (not at all at once! :smug:):

coco_fullers_90min_ayinger.jpg



I tried the Coconut Porter on this advice of this thread. Overall I liked it but I find that I dig a bit more carbonation than it offers. I am thinking it's just a characteristic of a porter. I do like the roasted flavor of a porter though. It definitely goes well with some salami slices. It seems to bring out the coconut flavor.

The Fullers 1845 is the one I am drinking right now. I really like their ESB and this one is very similar to it. I would have to drink them side by side to compare. Off hand I would have to say it's a much smoother Sam Adams Boston Lager. Clean tasting like a Sam Adams but less of a bitter bite.

The Dogfish Head 90 minute Imperial IPA is AWESOME. I had been avoiding it because I had some REALLY bitter IPAs in the past and I just didn't think I would dig it. This beer is my new favorite. This beer is just delicious. I really dug their Midas Touch but I think this one just surpassed it. Kind of strong too (for me, I'm a lightweight :D).

Ayinger's Celebrator. I LOVE the Ayinger Ur-Weisse but this one is just okay for me. It seems to be in the same family as the Coconut Porter although it is a double bock. Think more maple syrup like and less carbonation.

Over and out.
 
#409
Matticus - Welcome to homebrewing and good luck! I've been brewing for about 10 years, and I brew 10 gallon all-grain at this point. I'll post some pictures of my very humble but effective rig. I'm president of our local homebrewers club, and we have a small but active group. Currently I have 10 gallons of Kölsch in the secondary fermenters, and my wife's first batch is on tap. It's a honey-wheat with Orange zest, Chamomile and coriander. We added the chamomile at flame-out and it's a bit in-your-face, but it's not a bad beer by any stretch.

I think you'll find that one gallon disappears too fast and graduate to 5 gallon batches. Brewing all-grain batches takes 6-9 hours so to make it worth the trouble I brew 10 gallon batches, and I keep them in cornielus kegs (5 gallon stainless "soda syrup" type kegs. I have a keg cooler that holds 2, so viola - 10 gallon capacity!

I do have Grolsch bottles and bomber (22oz.) bottles that I sometimes use. I've found that if I want a tight, bubbly carbonation, bottle conditioning (carbonation) works better. With the kegs I transfer the beer from the secondary fermenters (I use glass 5 gal. carboys) into the kegs, chill them to near 32°, then hit them with 15-20psi. of CO2 and let them sit for several days.

If any of you are near the Florida Panhandle the weekend after Labor day (Sept 8 & 9) it's the Emerald Coast Beer Festival. It's a ton of fun, with great commercial craft beers and home brews galore. Look for the LA Lagers and try my Kölsch


Emerald Coast Beer Festival - September 8 & 9, 2011 Pensacola Florida

ECBF_LALagers.jpg


Prosit!
 
#410
MatticusMania said:
Do you use a capper to cap the bottles? I was thinking of buyingsome Grolsch and reusing those bottles since they have a stopper & gasket on them already, but most Grolsch bottles are green, and I prefer my beer in brown bottles.
Click to expand...

I just use a capper. I might keg a few beers next summer, but my high gravity beers need to sit too long for me to tie up a keg and they're often too strong for me to guzzle on my own as my wife doesn't drink.

I tend to keep a few clear Corona bottles and a few green bottles. I use these as tester bottles and observe for anything that looks wrong, which you simply can't see in a brown bottle. On a strange note, I made a saison last summer and I found the green bottles added a certain funk that worked well with the Belgian saison yeast, which might be awful for many other beers.
 
#412
Smokin' Toaster said:
Matticus - Welcome to homebrewing and good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I figure if I enjoy the brew process I'll eventually step up to bigger batches, but thought I'd get my feet wet on something smaller first, that way if I mess it up its not a big loss. Im excited about crafting some of my own beers, since I love to cook and I love beer, it seemed like something I could get into.

I have plenty of Amber glass 12oz. bottles at home, so I'm just going to soak & sanitize those and get myself a capping machine. I saw one on Amazon.com for $15.

What kind of tools/equipment are required to measure ABV, IBUs, and such?
 
#413
MatticusMania said:
Thanks! I figure if I enjoy the brew process I'll eventually step up to bigger batches, but thought I'd get my feet wet on something smaller first, that way if I mess it up its not a big loss. Im excited about crafting some of my own beers, since I love to cook and I love beer, it seemed like something I could get into.

I have plenty of Amber glass 12oz. bottles at home, so I'm just going to soak & sanitize those and get myself a capping machine. I saw one on Amazon.com for $15.

What kind of tools/equipment are required to measure ABV, IBUs, and such?
Click to expand...

I picked up a hand capper that was around 15 and 144 caps for like $2.

I need to make a second batch. I thought the first was pretty terrible but a ton of my friends loved it. I've been waiting to come across some equipment on CL for cheap. Anyone have any suggestions of some cheap stuff to use that's decent?
 
#418
MatticusMania said:
What kind of tools/equipment are required to measure ABV, IBUs, and such?
Click to expand...

ABV is usually done indirectly with a hydrometer. The specific gravity of the beer or wort is an indicator of how much sugar there is dissolved in it. So if you measure SG before and after fermentation you can work out how much sugar the yeast has eaten and then pooped out in the form of alcohol.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

A hydrometer isn't too expensive (I use this one in [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]) and gives a lot of insight into what's going on.

IBU is not easy for the home brewer to measure - you need a lot of fancy analysis equipment to do it right. Usually you just calculate it based on the %AA rating of the hops and a bunch of rule-of-thumb factors according to your boil time etc. Here is an online calculator I just found that looks OK.
 
#419
pedroims said:
Well I got a home brew kit :) .... I am ready to brew my first batch. American Pale Ale, any commun mistakes I should avoid?
Click to expand...

Prepare beforehand by cleaning and sanitising everything thoroughly and setting out your ingredients and equipment neatly in advance. ("Mise en place" sort-of-thing).

Don't rush, keep everything super-clean, have fun and remember you must drink beer while making beer to get the inspiration right.
 
#420
Matticus, buy Beersmith (software) if you want to make homebrewing a snap. It takes all the guesswork out of recipe design. You can download the trial and use it for a month to try it. It takes some tweaking to set up your equipment to get boil volumes right, but after that, you input your ingredients, and it literally spits out a sheet with each step of the brewing process for you. But read How to Brew first, because without an understanding of the terminology, you'll be pretty lost. The program will also give you the ABV, IBU's, bitterness ratio, and other specifics of each one of your recipes.

Homebrewing is bloody addictive. I'm a newbie to it myself and I'm already designing my own recipes and getting great reviews from family and friends. It's like making a delicious meal, but significantly more awesome.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back