Any beer brewers around?

[Domush]

I just started my latest batch of Domush Brown Ale and got to wondering how many here also partake in a bit of brewing and fermenting. I've been brewing for about 5 years, now, and haven't really improved much, but it is certainly better tasting than store bought even when it turns out a little skunky. For those of you who have never tried it, it is quite cheap to get a starter kit ($80 or so) and you can learn what the Europeans have known for centuries, the taste of real beer! :drink:

Share your favorite recipe!

Latest batch bubbling with goodness. (5 gallon batch)

Previous batch of Domush Brown Ale (one batch fills 4 2/3 of those mini-kegs)

I've tried making pumpkin ale in the past, but added way too much pumpkin and it turned sour (undrinkably so ). I'll likely try again in a month or two (once it cools down a little). Drinking pumpkin ale in the summer just feels wrong to me.

So far I've tried:
- Pumpkin Ale
- Blueberry Ale
- Blackberry Ale
- Apple Ale
- Pale Ale
- Brown Ale (my go-to ale)

What is your favorite of the ones you have brewed?

 

[schoolsout]

Nice! I think there was a thread here not that long ago about brewing

I believe a poster by the name of ShortGame brews beer. Haven't seen him around lately, though.

 

[brin]

How about Shine ? Moonshine, corn liquor...?

 

[medic1050]

I've got some hops Rhizomes on order. I guess I'll need to add some barley to my fields next then I'll truly be brewing my own beer. But for now my own variety of hops is a good start. Depending on how they grow there are a few micro breweries in the area that might buy some.

 

[schoolsout]

How about Shine ? Moonshine, corn liquor...?

One of my good buddies was pretty close with Popcorn...moreso Popcorn's BIL, but I've had the pleasure of drinking some of the man's goods.

 

[brin]

One of my good buddies was pretty close with Popcorn...moreso Popcorn's BIL, but I've had the pleasure of drinking some of the man's goods.

I saw the Discovery channel show on Popcorn...he was really something...he killed himself instead of going to jail again....I bet he made some good liquor...I have never tasted any...too scary...never know how it was made..it can kill you ya know...

 

[schoolsout]

I saw the Discovery channel show on Popcorn...he was really something...he killed himself instead of going to jail again....I bet he made some good liquor...I have never tasted any...too scary...never know how it was made..it can kill you ya know...

Definitely dangerous if you don't know who made (how it was made) it.

Buddy is good friends with some Cherokee up that way and has roots in the mountains....the stories he can tell

 

[2LaneCruzer]

This thread brings back some memories of when I was a poor college student; I had an alcoholic friend who was as poor as I was. We made a fair amount of home brew; the recipe was very primitive, almost Neanderthalish. It was (as best I recall):

4 pounds sugar
1/2 can of Blue Ribbon Malt
package of dry yeast
Place in 5 gallon jug, fill within about 6 inches of top with water; place in cool dark place and wait, preferably until it quits working.

It was yeasty and strong; one coke bottle full and you could hardly lift your head up off your shoulder and get your tongue back in your mouth.

 

[Domush]

Here is the recipe for my Domush Brown Ale:

Ingredients:

3lbs Light DME (dried malt extract)
2lbs Amber DME
1/4 oz chocolate malt
1/2 oz crystal malt
1 1/4 oz bittering pellet hops (fuggle)
1 whirlfloc tablet
1/2 oz aromatic whole hops
1 cup priming sugar
1 pkg Nottingham (dry) yeast

Directions:

- Sanitize EVERYTHING! Soap and water is not enough, use bleach, hydrogen peroxide or similar (This is by far the most important step in brewing beer).

- Dissolve all of the DME in 2.5 gallons of warm (~110F) water.
- Wait 15 mins for dissolving to complete, stirring every 5 mins (important to prevent scorching the bottom of the pot).

- Add the chocolate and crystal malts into the pot (inside a muslin bag)
- Adjust heat to medium high
- Wait 15 mins, then adjust heat to high to achieve boil
- The moment boil is achieved, remove the specialty malts

- Add the aromatic hops (inside a muslin bag)
- Adjust heat to maintain a slight boil, cover pot
- Wait 15 mins
- Remove the aromatic hops

- Add the bittering hops (inside a muslin bag)
- Keep pot covered, maintaining the slight boil
- Wait 25 mins

- Add whirlfloc tablet
- Wait 10 mins

- Remove pot from heat and place in sink full of ice water
- Reduce temperature of wort to ~120-125F

- Prepare dry yeast according to package directions
- Add wort to 5gal+ carboy
- Add enough cool (~75F) tap water to carboy to bring total to 5gal
- Mix contents of carboy by swirling it around

- Add yeast to carboy
- Remix contents of carboy by swirling it around

- Store in cool (70-75F), dark (very important!) room until fermentation subsides (~72 hours)
-- If you do not have a 75F room, you can place the carboy in a large storage container of water. The water evaporating will keep the carboy cooler than room temp, by about 7-10F

- Siphon beer to second carboy, leaving settled sludge behind. Be careful to not oxygenate the liquid (aka splash as little as possible)
!important -- Do this in a room without sunlight or halogen lighting, as the UV light will make the beer taste skunky, especially midway through the brewing process

- Store in cool (~75F), dark (very important!) room for minimum 24 hours, max 7 days (anything over 24 hours is wasted time, as fermentation will have nearly stopped by then)
- Add priming sugar to carboy (optional for kegging, required for bottling)
- Wait 5 minutes for sugar to dissolve
- Bottle or keg as desired

- Chill to 40F
- Enjoy!

Side note: Although this beer tastes great at 40F, it also tastes good at room temp. Try it both ways.

This beer also improves with age. If you can wait 30 days prior to drinking, it will settle down and the flavors will be more even toned, with a hint of bite. After one year it takes on a full body flavor with unparalleled smoothness and an aftertaste better than the sip itself.

 

[Branchchipper]

We've been brewing beer at home for a couple of decades. We also make a few batches of wine every year.
Since our region is the craft brewing capitol of the world, (brag, but true!) we have a lot of good ingredients, and great brews to "copy."
We started out brewing mostly porters, with some heifeweizens in the summer.
Most of what we brew now are India Pale Ales- they are made with WA and OR hops. Our favorite commercial IPA (and the one we often copy for home these days), is Deschutes Inversion IPA, from Bend, OR- IBU around 80- it'll never be mistaken for a wimpy beer. You can find it on tap around here, and in bottles in many states. Here is their website and several other local favorites...

All Brews | Deschutes Brewery

Rogue Ales

McMenamins - Home Page

Great local brew supplier: Home | Bader Beer & Wine Supply

Our nearest big city, Portland, has the most breweries of any city in the world- here is a great little public broadcasting piece about that history...
Oregon Experience ｷ Beervana ｷ Watch Video Online ｷ OPB

Prost!