Nothing to do with Guzzis....

[bigbikerrick]

I beg to differ.  I brewed my own beer for about 10 years.  Lately I've been too busy and I've cut down my beer consumption so I haven't made any in about 2 years.

Homebrew is easy to make, and with a very small amount of attention to detail, it will kick the ass off any store-bought brew.

 

Work near a sink.  For all practical purposes, potable water is sterile. 

For sterilizing- I use a big rubbermaid tube.  Fill it with 1% bleach and soak the bottles and caps in that until you are ready to use them.  Just before you fill the bottles with the wort, rinse them out real good.  They can sit upright on a counter- they won't get contaminated.  Rinse the bottlecaps similarly- I put them on a piece of paper towel, and put a newspaper (which is also sterile as long as you haven't opened it up) over them to keep dust off.

Also, you've inoculated the medium (the wort) with crapload of yeast.  Not much can compete with the advantage they have.  Also- hops are acidic, and bacteria don't grow well in acidic media. 

Hops were used as an antiseptic for millennia. A compress of hops can prevent infection (like peat does).

You can drop 90% of the spores and various other crap in the air out very easily.  Fill a misting bottle with 50:50 water:alcohol (I use ethanol or rubbing).  Walk around the room misting.  Dust and spores and all that crap adheres to the tiny mist droplets which fall out of the air.  5 minutes later you have a very clean room.

Darker beers- porters and stouts- are easiest to make.  Lighter beers take more finesse.  Try with a nice heavy ale the first time. 

Oh- one other thing- if you add finishing hops, do that much later than you want to.  Wait until it's almost too late.  If you add finishing hops while the wort is still hot, you drive off the finish and only add bitter.  If you add finishing hops when the wort is warm, but not cool, then you get the finish and not the bitter.  That's what you want.  Warm to the touch.

 

Enjoy!  It's a great hobby!  Thanks, Thats some good advice about misting the air, I would never have thought of that even though as a nurse I have taken numerous courses on microbiology in the last 25 years. I did my first batch today, A pale ale, I probably should have started with a stout or amber as you suggested. Im not adding any finishing hops , just the generic stuff that comes in the can with the kit. Im using the KISS principle( keep it simple, stupid) HeHe.

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[dlaing]

Substituting the white sugar in the kit [probably corn sugar as it is cheap and easy to ferment] for dry malt extract will eliminate the "tinny metallic" taste that all processed white sugars will give the beer.

 

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My father used to brew, and until he followed the above tip, his homebrews tasted like medicine.

And just to clarify, Steve means, substituting the white sugar with, not for, malt extract.

malt extract is good, and white sugar bad. right?

[bigbikerrick]

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Ahhh, I screwed up this post , I posted my reply with yours..

[bigbikerrick]

Welcome to the home brewing world bigbikerrick. You will enjoy this enormously. I've been a home brewer since 1980, starting out with kits, now I mostly do brewing from raw grains and whole hops, when I can find them. I have given up on cleaning/sterilizing 60 odd bottles as well, and now have a full c02 dispensing system with tap, with just 1 5 gallon container, all in a mini fridge.

I'm sure our microbiologist will correct me on a thing or two, but this layman brewer has done well by advise given to my over the yearsby other laymen brewers and proffesional brewers alike. So I speak in laymans words.

Home brewing can be as simple or complex as you like. Doing it simple will not decrease the quality of the beer, but being lazy or really cheap will. By lazy I mean you must be meticulously clean, sterilising parts, [and later beer bottle and caps]. A dishwasher will not do. By cheap I mean you really should use a proper steriliser from a home brewing shop. And of course, the better the raw materials, including the yeast [precultured 'live' yeast is best] will dramatically improve your beer. Substituting the white sugar in the kit [probably corn sugar as it is cheap and easy to ferment] for dry malt extract will eliminate the "tinny metallic" taste that all processed white sugars will give the beer.

This kit will probably have the malt/sugar/hops in separate containers which you will mix together. In these kits, it should be pointed out that almost all of them use a dried and packaged "ale" yeast, verus a dried and packaged "lager" yeast. The main reason for this is that the ideal temperature for ale yeast to ferment the sugars in the mixture [wort] is between 65-75 deg F, about the temperature of the average house. Lager yeast prefers 45-55 deg F. As well, the ale yeast is [compared to ale or wine yeast] quite vigorous and quick in converting sugar into alcohol. Also, ale yeast is top fermenting, meaning it does all it's bubbling and activity at the top, where the home brewer can see the action, vs lager yeast being bottom fermenting, slow, lazy, difficult to check it's progress. 

With this in mind, these kits will always make better ales and stouts [stouts are made with ale yeast] than lagers, so large a degree the yeast is to the flavour of the beer. Also, beers with a heavier taste tend to offest the "off flavours" of the dreaded white sugars, and any of the non stainless steel or glass containers or equipment  may give off. If you are happy with this, then great. If you are a lager/lite beer guy, you can still use ale yeast, but avoiding use of white sugars will really make a huge difference in taste.

Any other questions, I'd be more than happy to tell you anything to make a better beer, even your own custom beer just for your palate.

                                                                      Ciao, Steve G.

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Thanks for all the advise Steve, This Mr. Beer kit brings everything you need for the wort in a can like a soup can, you just cook it with a package of "booster" which seemed to me like white sugar, then put it in the plastic barrell, add the yeast package, stir, and cap the mixture for a week or more. Im real ignorant about brewing, but trying to learn all I can.

[bigbikerrick]

My father used to brew, and until he followed the above tip, his homebrews tasted like medicine.

And just to clarify, Steve means, substituting the white sugar with, not for, malt extract.

malt extract is good, and white sugar bad. right?

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Hmmm, Ill have to look for the dry malt extract for the next batch

[Frenchbob]

I would stick with the kit, if it makes you feel like you've drunk a whole chemistry set..................or have I missed something again?

[jrt]

"Malt" is maltose- it's two glucose molecules stuck together. "White Sugar" is sucrose- it comprises a glucose and a fructose molecule stuck together. It's the fructose part that gives the off flavors. I use glucose for the finishing sugar- it's easy to metabolise (i.e. fast), cheap, and does not contribute any flavor.

Just for kicks, try some of the maltose sometime- not so sweet, is it? Now try some glucose- it's really sweet. Same building blocks...very different characters. It's the way the two molecules fit into your taste receptors that give us the appearance of sweetness. Darn cool.

Steve- just for kicks- try using a champagne yeast for your finishing yeast on a lager or a pilsner some time. They produce lots of CO2, so don't use much finishing sugar. It's not a flavor for everyone, but they produce a very fruity finish that I thought was interesting. Not a beer I would drink exclusively, but good for a celebration, if you know what I mean. The alcohol content is a little higher as well.

[Steve G.]

"Malt" is maltose- it's two glucose molecules stuck together.  "White Sugar" is sucrose- it comprises a glucose and a fructose molecule stuck together.  It's the fructose part that gives the off flavors.  I use glucose for the finishing sugar- it's easy to metabolise (i.e. fast), cheap, and does not contribute any flavor.

Just for kicks, try some of the maltose sometime- not so sweet, is it?  Now try some glucose- it's really sweet.  Same building blocks...very different characters.  It's the way the two molecules fit into your taste receptors that give us the appearance of sweetness.  Darn cool. 

Steve- just for kicks- try using a champagne yeast for your finishing yeast on a lager or a pilsner some time.  They produce lots of CO2, so don't use much finishing sugar.  It's not a flavor for everyone, but they produce a very fruity finish that I thought was interesting.  Not a beer I would drink exclusively, but good for a celebration, if you know what I mean.  The alcohol content is a little higher as well.

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I will try the champagne yeast for sure. I've used wine yeast on the times I've made mead [honey beer]and barley wine, or on the occasion I want to experiment with a very high alcohol content which usually kills beer yeast.

I can't remember the last time I've used a finishing sugar, or priming sugar, mainly because I havn't bottled any beer for at least 10 yrs. With the stainless keg system I've built, the finished beer is put into the keg, and co2 is used for carbonization. No bottle carbonization yeast on the bottom of the bottles, or in this case the keg, because no priming sugar used or needed. Unfortunately this is a step that can't be avoided when bottling beer, or the beer would not carbonate.

It is a great amount of fun, whether simple or complex. Very nice beers are made of the simplest recipe, and simplest ingredients. Cleanliness and decent quality ingredients are very much the most important two things.

Ciao, Steve G.

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

Well done all!!

I have a friend who has a microbrewery so I have never had the desire to brew my own beer. I do appreciate the work in making beer (I have helped many times).

 

Steve!! I hope to check out your brew someday. I'll make sure you have full access to Old Yale Brewing if you ever come to Chilliwack!!

[jrt]

I will try the champagne yeast for sure. I've used wine yeast on the times I've made mead [honey beer]and barley wine, or on the occasion I want to experiment with a very high alcohol content which usually kills beer yeast.

I can't remember the last time I've used a finishing sugar, or priming sugar, mainly because I havn't bottled any beer for at least 10 yrs. With the stainless keg system I've built, the finished beer is put into the keg, and co2 is used for carbonization. No bottle carbonization yeast on the bottom of the bottles, or in this case the keg, because no priming sugar used or needed. Unfortunately this is a step that can't be avoided when bottling beer, or the beer would not carbonate.

It is a great amount of fun, whether simple or complex. Very nice beers are made of the simplest recipe, and simplest ingredients. Cleanliness and decent quality ingredients are very much the most important two things.

                                                                      Ciao, Steve G.

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Cheers

You might be able to use champagne yeast for the main ferment, but I wouldn't do it on a large scale and be ready for some serious krausen.

I totally agree with you- simple, good quality ingredients and good hygiene are the keys for good beer.

[Steve G.]

Well done all!!

I have a friend who has a microbrewery so I have never had the desire to brew my own beer. I do appreciate the work in making beer (I have helped many times).

 

Steve!! I hope to check out your brew someday. I'll make sure you have full access to Old Yale Brewing if you ever come to Chilliwack!!

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Shit Jim,

I'm all over this one!!!

Ciao, Steve G.