BZ770 2 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 How does one get started in homebrewing. I have been looking at kits on ebay and I don't really know where to start. I saw the CO2 regulators on there and I can build those at work, along with all the tubing. Can you use an old keg shell or is there better alternatives. Any suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,855 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Kind of curious myself. I know a family of friends of mine swear they lost money on home brewing and wine making. Wonder if anyone else had an opinion on it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaGrad03 0 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Sadly, it's easier to brew up a batch of PGA than it is a good home brewed beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegalEagle 22 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 I have one major in chemistry from AU and another in biological sciences. I tried making wine and beer. I made some decent wine but on aging it turned to vinegar. I still used it in cooking. On my attempts at beer, I skipped the beer part and went straight to vinegar. There are two important things that I feel caused my failures. It is very good to have a basement or cellar with cool temps. 70 deg. F is just not the best temp to brew. Also the cool temp should be constant, not up and down. The next thing is sterilization. Once you get those little vinegar producing bugs, you really have to make sure everything is sterilized. If you sterilize 9 of 10 things, you might as well not have bothered. A store bought kit would probably be a good start. I think you would have a better chance for success. Even if you are successful and brew a great beer, most of your friends who are used to our major brand, store bought beers will not appreciate it. I strongly suggest you try it if that interests you. It's interesting to learn the process even if the end product is less than stellar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Go to DeeJayDebi's site to find out all you need to know about homebrewing. Join the forum and ask them about set ups and recommendations. I have never attempted it, but there are people there that do it regularly. http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/BeerMenu.htm http://deejaysworld.net/deejayssmokepit/ya...pl?catselect=24 If I was a drinker I would much rather brew my own, then have to pay another tax dollar to someone who doesn't deserve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU_tiger_2000 0 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 I'm not a brewer but I have many friends that are. The number 1 thing is cleanliness. Vinegar is formed by acetobactors (sp?) a bacteria. I pulled up your profile and saw you were in Mobile. Check out this place and ask for advice. You are lucky having a brew shop close by, there aren't many in Alabama. Also go to Beeradvocate.com and sign up (it's free) and check out their homebrewing forum. Their forums are pretty good but some of the people can go beer snob to the extreme. Another great resource if you want to buy all the stuff you need in one kit is Sam Adams. Every year they have a contest where homebrewers make their own recipes and compete to have Sam Adams bottle the winners beer. Go to the website, click on Homebrew Contest, and click on order supplies. Boston Beer Works (Sam Adams) is one great company who looks out for the whole beer community. You may not know but for the last year there has been a worldwide hops shortage (global warming, war on terror, rabid yettis, etc.) so Sam Adams is selling 20,000 lbs of their own supply of hops at cost to struggling small market brewers. Pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Back in the late 1980's I brewed my own for a while. At that time there was also a store in Birmingham that specialized in home beer/wine making. Anyone know if it, or another, still does business in B'ham? I liked my dark brews and found them taste and price competitive to imported dark beers. My regular lighter brews never tasted as good as commercial, however. It's been twenty years, though, so I can't really comment on the current state of the art. (Although given that beer making has been around for 4000-5000 years, I don't know if "current" means much in brewing news.) However, it was a fun hobby at the time and something I may take up again in retirement. To be honest, I rarely drink at home these days--mostly just out at social functions, football parties, or the neighborhood pub--so I don't really need the inventory. And when I do drink nowadays, it's more often single malt scotch than beer--not something one is likely to reproduce competently in one's basement! (..'shine, maybe, but high quality single-malt?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BZ770 2 Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 I'm not a brewer but I have many friends that are. The number 1 thing is cleanliness. Vinegar is formed by acetobactors (sp?) a bacteria. I pulled up your profile and saw you were in Mobile. Check out this place and ask for advice. You are lucky having a brew shop close by, there aren't many in Alabama. Also go to Beeradvocate.com and sign up (it's free) and check out their homebrewing forum. Their forums are pretty good but some of the people can go beer snob to the extreme. Another great resource if you want to buy all the stuff you need in one kit is Sam Adams. Every year they have a contest where homebrewers make their own recipes and compete to have Sam Adams bottle the winners beer. Go to the website, click on Homebrew Contest, and click on order supplies. Boston Beer Works (Sam Adams) is one great company who looks out for the whole beer community. You may not know but for the last year there has been a worldwide hops shortage (global warming, war on terror, rabid yettis, etc.) so Sam Adams is selling 20,000 lbs of their own supply of hops at cost to struggling small market brewers. Pretty cool. One of my friends was telling me about the wine store on Moffet rd. There site looks like they have most everything you need. I think I am going to check it out and see how much of an investment we are looking at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 3,651 Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 I have never made my own but a close friend used to and some of the beer he has made is oh so much better than what you can buy off the shelves. Bus since I am not a beer snob, my opinion is just that, my opinion. Bobby bought a kit and made several types pale lager, pilsner and dark lager. He did a good job and kept things clean. If it taste good and is not too bitter and is smooth I like it. If not I don't. That was my only experience with home brewed beer so I can say from experience that it can be done and done right and good. I am assuming that it can be done wrong as evidenced by LE's adventure in vinegar making. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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