Home Brewing - Something to Keep Me Out of Trouble in Between Shaves

[dgreene120]

It appears that my lovely wife thinks I have too much free time (or she is trying to teach me to learn some patience ). She took note of all of the different craft beers I've been picking up lately and, for Father's Day, she bought me a home brewing kit from Northern Brewer . It came with one extract kit and she picked out the Caribou Slobber, which is a nice brown ale. After reading a bunch about home brewing, I brewed that batch up a few weeks ago and bottled it yesterday. A few weeks of conditioning in the bottles and we'll see how it turns out. That first batch has been quite a learning experience!

I started my second batch yesterday. Another extract kit. This time the Synchronicity Extraordinaire Wheaten Saison (also from Northern Brewer). Had a much better feel for what I was doing this time around and things went a little more smoothly on brew day. For example, I knew to use a blow-off tube, instead of the little s-shaped air bubbler the first night. I also took notes as I went along and actually took some measurements and wrote them down, so I could try to figure out what went right and what went wrong later.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning more about this new hobby and sharing my progress with you guys. Pics to follow when I get to my phone. Cheers!

 

[dgreene120]

Some pics of first two batches:

Brew Day #1:



Added blow-off:



Brew Day #2:



Fermentation:

 

[FoolishMortal]

Right on for you! I (very occasionally) home-brew with a friend and our Belgian Tripel always gets compliments. Unfortunately, that means I'm sharing, so I go through it faster than we can make it...

 

[TexLaw]

Congratulations on the batches, and welcome to another obsession! I've been brewing for 22 years, and it's never really gotten old!

 

[DrColossus11]

Congrats! Quick word of advice, fermentation temp is key.

 

[BSAGuy]

Well done. I used to homebrew 15+ years ago. Got busy with kids. Now third and last is off to college and I am thinking about restarting. Fun hoppy with nice, practical results.

 

[FL shaver]

Curious to know how that Saison came out!

 

[dgreene120]

Thanks, guys. Been monitoring the temp and will be testing the gravity along the way. Will keep you all posted on my progress.

 

[galopede]

What's the reason for the floating coke bottles around the fermenting jar?

 

[dgreene120]

Those are actually water bottles in the first batch and blue ice packets in the second batch. The fermenter is in a "swamp cooler", which is basically a big bucket filled with water. It makes the brewing beer less susceptible to temperature change in the ambient air. Putting ice in the water just cools down the wort as its fermenting. Since my house gets pretty warm, especially in the summer, I try to put fresh ice in the water every morning before I head out for work and every night when I get home. All to try to keep the fermentation temperature stable and not too high. [emoji2]

 

[DrColossus11]

No need for temp control on the Saison. Part of the appeal of the Saison or Farmhouse Ale are the esters you get from a warm or hot ferment. I usually do mine at 80-90 degrees.

 

[dgreene120]

No need for temp control on the Saison. Part of the appeal of the Saison or Farmhouse Ale are the esters you get from a warm or hot ferment. I usually do mine at 80-90 degrees.

We'll that's good to know. Thanks for the tip!

 

[eightysixCJ]

Congratulations on your brewing and that your wife got it rolling! I'm gearing up to brew, my wife is a bit hesitant on beer with all the new/used wine equipment piling up. She's not buying "most wine equipment can be used for beer.."

Good luck and have fun! Keep us posted.

Tom

 

[dgreene120]

Congratulations on your brewing and that your wife got it rolling! I'm gearing up to brew, my wife is a bit hesitant on beer with all the new/used wine equipment piling up. She's not buying "most wine equipment can be used for beer.."

Good luck and have fun! Keep us posted.

Tom

Thanks! We'll see if she starts to regret it when we start getting 50 bottles of beer appearing in the fridge every few weeks! [emoji13]

 

[FL shaver]

Thanks! We'll see if she starts to regret it when we start getting 50 bottles of beer appearing in the fridge every few weeks! [emoji13]

If you need help hiding your stash...

 

[dgreene120]

If you need help hiding your stash...

Thanks! I knew I could count on you guys!

 

[skunkfunk]

Wow almost exactly how I got started! You have opened up a huge can of worms here.

 

[dgreene120]

Wow almost exactly how I got started! You have opened up a huge can of worms here.

True. I bought another extract kit when I was ordering some other equipment and put it aside until my fermenter was available. In the meantime, I've decided that I want to have a Hefeweizen for October, so I just went to my LHBS and picked up the ingredients for that. Now I've got to bottle the Saison, get the Hefeweizen into the fermenter, and then start on that Black IPA kit! [emoji56]

 

[skunkfunk]

True. I bought another extract kit when I was ordering some other equipment and put it aside until my fermenter was available. In the meantime, I've decided that I want to have a Hefeweizen for October, so I just went to my LHBS and picked up the ingredients for that. Now I've got to bottle the Saison, get the Hefeweizen into the fermenter, and then start on that Black IPA kit! [emoji56]

One year from now you'll have a 60 gallon barrel full of some kind of sour thing and brew 10 gallon batches every weekend.

 

[MrSmith]

Congratulations on the batches, and welcome to another obsession! I've been brewing for 22 years, and it's never really gotten old!

Hi Tex. Don't want to derail this thread, but I am in the process of designing a brewery for a client, that doesn't have a brewer and would like to pick your brain if you have a few moments to spare. PM if you can.