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Home brewing

Mon Feb 24, 2020 5:36 pm

Any guys on here brewing their own adult beverages at home? It's been something I've been interested in for a while so yesterday I decided to say screw it and try it out. For now just using a 6 gallon HDPE bucket to ferment in... Nothing fancy. :bigsmile:

First recipe I'm trying out is a rather simple American Pale Ale. 5 gallon batch. If it turns out good I'm naming it Paul Revere's Ride.

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Re: Home brewing

Mon Feb 24, 2020 5:58 pm

Home brewing is good fun! By no means am I an expert, but I've done quite a few batches and learned a lot along the way.


You don't really need a ton of fancy stuff but it can make things easier if you start doing more brewing.

I try to do most beers in a primary only but a couple I do have so much sediment that I have to do a secondary. In most cases it is just another way to oxidize or contaminate, though that is heavily debated.

The best thing I ever did was getting into a keg setup. I HATE bottling. Kegging is so easy and you don't end up with the sediment at the bottom of your bottles. It was a lot cheaper than I expected, though I got used kegs. I cleaned then up and they look great!


Did you do all grain, partial or extract? Looks like extract your pics but just curious.

Keep it clean!!! And keep a good log of what you did so if it's good you can duplicate it and if it is terrible you can try to figure out where you went wrong. I also like to check my gravity so I know if I hit what the recipe calls for and you need it to figure out how much alcohol is in your brew.

Good luck and happy brewing!

Re: Home brewing

Mon Feb 24, 2020 6:08 pm

Brewed for years. Started around 1990. Fun and won prizes at the county fair. Kids came along, really quit then............still have all my stainless and glass

Re: Home brewing

Mon Feb 24, 2020 6:44 pm

Kgbsucka wrote:Home brewing is good fun! By no means am I an expert, but I've done quite a few batches and learned a lot along the way.


You don't really need a ton of fancy stuff but it can make things easier if you start doing more brewing.

I try to do most beers in a primary only but a couple I do have so much sediment that I have to do a secondary. In most cases it is just another way to oxidize or contaminate, though that is heavily debated.

The best thing I ever did was getting into a keg setup. I HATE bottling. Kegging is so easy and you don't end up with the sediment at the bottom of your bottles. It was a lot cheaper than I expected, though I got used kegs. I cleaned then up and they look great!


Did you do all grain, partial or extract? Looks like extract your pics but just curious.

Keep it clean!!! And keep a good log of what you did so if it's good you can duplicate it and if it is terrible you can try to figure out where you went wrong. I also like to check my gravity so I know if I hit what the recipe calls for and you need it to figure out how much alcohol is in your brew.

Good luck and happy brewing!


I bought a second bucket with a spigot installed to make bottling easier, but the employee at the store definitely recommended I use an auto siphon when "racking" to avoid oxidation like you mentioned. The recipe I followed was for American Pale Ale and wash a partial mash. Pretty easy to follow, too, as far as when to add the extract and different hops. It started fermenting already so I feel like I crossed one bridge... I'm so nervous to see what the result is.

Re: Home brewing

Mon Feb 24, 2020 9:07 pm

Oh yes, definitely use the racking cane off of the valve. It will stop (err, slow down) the flow when you take off the bottom of the bottle, and leave you with the right amount of headspace when you pull it out.

Make sure you have some towels ready and something under your bottles. You WILL spill some, unless you're like Chuck Norris or something.

What are you using for sanitizer?

Re: Home brewing

Tue Feb 25, 2020 12:40 am

My first question would be what have you read or watched? There are tons of books, Plamer and Charlie Papazian probably have the corner stone of what to read first. Plus there is a ton of youtube. I've enjoyed Brewing TV by Northern Brewer (especially the older stuff) as well as Don Osborn. I would look to see if you have a home brew club in your area. This is a great way to meet people, try their beer, have constructive feedback on your beer, and help you learn about ways to improve your technique. Sanitation is super important. Keeping things clean will keep your beer from going bad. And yes there is such a thing as over hopping a beer.

For me I started off as a partial extract brewer and made some solid stuff and made the jump to all grain about 10 years ago. I never entered my brew into competitions, but I've had some whos who of the brewing world try my beer and give some solid positive feedback. So that is a win for me. One thing I've found is every batch you are thinking of ways to be more efficient and to maximize your time and effort in both the brewing and cleaning phases. I found that for a while I was buying my ingredients and a new piece of equipment each new batch. It helps as you refine your process. For me I keg my brew, which means I can drink it sooner, and don't have to manage bottling which is a PITA. If this is something you want to do long term investing in a keg system is worth it. Beverage Factory and Amazon are great places to look for new. Craigslist, facebook marketplace, and clubs are great places to look for used.

Bottom line is if you like to drink it who cares what others think.

Re: Home brewing

Tue Feb 25, 2020 12:58 am

Papazian's books are great.

He had a catch phrase he used all the time, and it was at the end of every chapter...

Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew. :ROFLMAO:

A buddy and I used to always say that in any stressful situation and we'd start laughing.

I think Papazian just left the Brewer's Association recently, good guy.

Re: Home brewing

Tue Feb 25, 2020 4:41 pm

Kgbsucka wrote:What are you using for sanitizer?


Right now I'm using Star San. When I transferred the wort from my kettle to the fermenting bucket I thoroughly sprayed the inside of the bucket with Star San and swished it around then poured in the wort. Every time I checked the temp while cooling I also dipped the thermometer in a solution of Star San.

Wetpaperbag wrote:My first question would be what have you read or watched?

I'm waiting for some books to arrive at my library (How to brew by John Palmer and Home Brew Beer by Greg Hughes) so I'll be reading those when they come. But I've also been watching a bunch of various videos on Youtube. Last I've been hanging out in a home brewing Discord server and asking a bunch of questions on there.
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