Posted on 03/01/2013 3:31:20 PM PST by Red_Devil 232
Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!
Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew
Irish Stout Yum!
Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. Here is a thread on FR that I ran across earlier today that some of you might enjoy What Would John Adams Drink?
Hard cider comes in so many varieties—it might be fruity, sweet, or dry, sometimes a bit like beer and other times akin to sparkling wine—it’s the rare drink that people won’t necessarily get tired of. And it is so easy to make it at home! Not much going on at the Red Devil Brewery at this time of year. Just waiting on an oatmeal stout to bottle age and a 5 gallon batch of bottled apple cider to come of age in April.
I hope all of you and your Brews and Wines are doing well. Stop by and share what you are brewing or let us know what your favorite brew, wine or spirit is.
Ping to the Homebrewers and wine makers.
Ping to the Homebrewers and wine makers.
I just mixed up my second batch in the “Mr. Beer” kit i got for Christmas. A Canadian Blonde recipe.
Wish you great success in your brewing! How as your first batch?
Not too bad. It was a pale ale that came with the kit. Some of the bottles didn’t carbonate very well, but they’re plastic. I should get some glass bottles. Buy a case of Grolsch maybe.
Red Devil, we were wondering if you could recommend a good supplier of beer-making equipment and ingredients. My husband has done a bunch of batches of Mr. Beer (don’t laugh), and now he wants to do better, closer to “homemade.”
Did the plastic bottles come with your kit? I have never had a problem with plastic bottles designed for hombrewed beer. I always use one or two when bottling when I am bottling the major portion of my beer in glass bottles. I use them as a means to easily check on carbonation level. The Grolsch are supper, especially if you expect a very high carbonation. I use the Grolsch capped bottles for my sparkling ciders and Meads.
Dave, the plastic bottles with Mr. Beer are fine to use (we use them). It could be that the lids were not tightened well, or there was not enough priming sugar in each bottle.
There are a couple of web sites I use.
I use http://www.midwestsupplies.com/ for my kits and brewing supplies.
And http://morebeer.com/ for equipment that can be heavy - like brew pots and other stuff because they have a free shipping policy if you order over a certain amount $59 I think.
There are many more just do a web search.
Thanks, i do suspect i jist didn’t tighten them well. I measured the sugar pretty carefully.
It is convenient to squeeze them to test how the carbonation is going.
Thanks, Red Devil. We’ve done the searching, and wanted to know what you like/use.
If you get bored sometime, these guys are good instructors: Basic Brewing Video--Doctoring Mr. Beer--January 7, 2012
Here's the follow-up of how it turned out: Part 2
Finally drug my beer making equipment out of the garage this week, and picked up a trappist ale kit at Stein Fillers in Long Beach. Gonna start it this weekend.
If you have a local brew-store, it helps to go there and develop a relationship with them. Otherwise Morebeer.com has nice stuff and vacuum-sealed malt extract.
I’m going to try to save a batch gone wrong this week. I fermented it like usual and then siphoned it into a Corny keg. Hooked up the CO2 for a week and then sampled. It was terrible sweet like it never fermented at all. still tasted like the malt. I’m thinking it was too cold in my house to ferment in the usual time. I watched the airlock and it had stopped bubbling, but clearly was not done.
Plan is to put it back into the fermenter with fresh yeast and keep it behind the wood stove until it stops bubbling again.
Any other ideas? Can’t lose as it’s un-drinkable as it is.
It’s nice to kind of dip a toe in with the Mr Beer kit. I plan on trying a few of their recipes to get a feel for them. It’s pretty simple having the malt extract already hopped. And the quantities are manageable.
After I play with that for a while I might venture out into some more adventurous beermaking. A local hardware store has some supplies, but nothing like “recipes.” Just bulk stuff and different yeasts and hops. You’d have to really have the quantities worked out and make bigger batches.
I’m in no hurry.
I have been brewing for over 30 years and can attest to the quality of both Morebeer and Northern Brewer.
The folks I have sent to Northern Brewer for kits were all very pleased and I think their selection guide is superb.
Brewing from a kit is somewhat different than Mr Beer. They are for full, 5 gallon batches.
Thats 2 1/2 cases of 12 oz bottles. Plan accordingly.
Do a little reading, join a forum perhaps, gather equipment for a 5 gallon batch. That’s a BIG pot.
I have a little article I wrote about homebrewing from a kit that I could post if you are interested.
Cheers,
knewshound
Thanks, Rio. We have no brew stores in this area. I’ll check out the Morebeer site.
Hey, thank you, Knews Hound for the suggestions. We’d like to read your column on this if you would post it.
We are just a little tired of the Mr. Beer flavor, although it’s fine as it is. Each of their recipes has a distinctive bite that we’re a bit tired of, and my husband is ready to “move up” to more adventurous and different tasting home brew.
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