anyone here brew their own beer?

[k_jerome]

is it worth it? what is the learning curve?

[BikeWriter]

1. It's not too difficult. I made all my own beer and wine for years.

[evlbstrd]

2. It's very worth it.

You can get a 5 gallon starter kit with everything you need.
Keep everything clean and you'll have no trouble. The beer tastes great.
Oh, you'll need some place to keep all of the bottles you'll collect.

[k_jerome]

3. is it more economical...

or just better quality? or hopefully both?

[evlbstrd]

5. Both.

There's a small initial investment in a good (large!) stainless steel pot and the fermenting bucket and such. But you can re-use bottles, as long they're not twist-offs. From then, its just the raw ingredients and bottle caps.
The varieties you can make are endless.
Here's a link to Brew Your Own:
http://byo.com/
Share and enjoy!

[k_jerome]

6. thanks for the info. nt.

[Broken_Hero]

4. I've always wanted to invest in a beer maker

it looks, very interesting....:D

[k_jerome]

7. i think i'm going to pull the trigger this weekend...

i'm getting very interested in doing it as a hobby with great fringe benefits.

[Broken_Hero]

8. I've seen beer makers around 40-50 bucks

I just never went through with my intentions...I wanted to mess around with a lot of the fruit ale's, raspberry ale for certain...love the stuff...:D

[k_jerome]

9. i would like to brew some stouts...

and try lagers. looks interesting and from what i read, pretty hard to screw up.

[Broken_Hero]

10. thats a bonus, the pretty hard to screw up part....:) nt

[seemunkee]

18. Lagers need controlled cold temps to ferment

A little bit more finicky than ales.

[gr8dane_daddy]

11. Where are you located K_J?

I still have all the equipment (carafes, thermometers, bottler, etc.). I may be willing to part with them.

[k_jerome]

20. i am in Iowa. nt.

[BrewerJohn]

12. It's totally worth it (biased opinion) and a real joy

if you're the kind of person who, by analogy, likes cooking. It's quite similar.
The best part is that you can make just about any style of beer that exists, and
then tune it to your exact liking. Or experiment...the possibilites are endless.

You would probably want to start out using malt extract, which is relatively
expensive, but still about breaks even with store-bought. Extract is a very simple
process, though, and after a few batches you'll be ready to graduate to brewing
from scratch with grain, which is more knowledge-intensive but more economical
(not counting the original investment in equipment--not an impediment once you've
really caught the bug), and more fun (IMO). There's a learning curve, but there
are manageable steps along the way.

The best way to get started is to find a good brewing book to digest. Charlie Papazian is
the classic homebrewing beginner's author; I personally preferred Dave Miller, who
is a bit more technical.

Good luck! :toast:

[Lautremont]

13. I brewed a batch for my brother's wedding reception.

Then my friend, who was bartending, overheard some of my sister-in-law's relations declare it "swill." I can't honestly say they were wrong. Haven't tried it since, and that was, oh, almost ten years ago.

[driver8]

14. A guy I used to work with brewed the best beer!

He used to make a special oatmeal stout around Christmas time that is one of the best beers I have ever had.

[OllieLotte]

15. I enjoyed it. I don't think it is worth the effort however.

You will be surprised how well it turns out. It does take time. Keeping things sterile is the key. You can buy such great beers at the store that to me it wasn't worth the effort. Still, turning out a great homebrew is a great source of pride. I am probably going to make some meade this year, as you can't find any of that too readily at the package store.

[retread]

16. If done correctly with a minimum of care and cleanliness, the results are

great beer that will ruin your taste for American swill.

[seemunkee]

17. Been doing it for ~5 years

Check around and see if you can find a BOP(Brew On Premises) place near you. You can learn to brew and get some help in the process. If one isn't available I would bet there is a homebrew club nearby.

You can start off pretty easily with a kit like this one http://www.homebrewadventures.com/shopping/index.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=homebrew&Product_Code=SYS.B.SS and a 2.5 gallon kettle.

The forum at http://www.brewboard.com/ is a good resource.
It is definately worth it in quality. I give a lot away to friends so my personal price per glass is higher than buying.

[TheBaldyMan]

19. I used to brew my own many moons ago, very satisfying and tasty

The key ingredient is patience. The longer it takes the better the taste. There isn't really much of a learning curve because the ingredients brew all by themselves. You just wait for the natural processes to finish. Then bottle your beer and let it settle for a couple of weeks.

If you like micro brewery ales then it is definately worth it. You also have the added satisfaction of making the stuff yourself.

[mopinko]

21. hubby does it.

it is kind of a lot of work. he started out strong, but hasn't done it lately. if is an all day thing, including the necessary cleaning.
i would see if you can find someone who has given up, and buy their stuff.
the best investment we ever made in brewing, tho, is to get a gas and keg system, so that you don't have to bottle.
here is a link for a good book-http://brewersclub.safeshopper.com/68/51.htm?993

hoppy brewing! :toast:

[denverbill]

24. I'd recommend that too.

Go to craigslist and see if you can find someone selling their stuff. You might find a bargain there. But even a new beginner kit isn't too outrageous.

It's not really an 'all day' process, imo. If I start by noon I'm done by 3 on brew day (from an extract kit, that is), and 90% of that time is just waiting for water to boil, waiting for the grain to steep, waiting for it to cool, etc. All grain takes a little longer. I think my first batch took about 6 hours.

[m_welby]

22. brewing is a great hobby

..and you can usually still drink your mistakes.

Been at it for a few years now and I'm enjoying it more all the time. I haven't gone 'all grain' yet, mostly due to the startup costs and time contraints. It is enjoyable though, and something to be enjoyed with friends.

Started out at a BOP (brew on premises) but they closed down eventually and after a while I just had to start doing it myself. There's nothing like fresh beer. I concoct my own recipe's and tweak them as I go along. I also keep buying equipment and tools to make the beer (and the experience) better.

With extract, it should take @3 hours start to finish to cook, and then another couple of hours bottling a week or two later. Pick up a kit and go for it, it's worth it just for the experience.

It costs about the same as any good microbrew you can buy, but infinitely more fun (as any hobby)

I use a 'turkey fryer' with a stainless pot. It's big enough to do a 5 gallon batch (2 cases) and since I'm outside it minimizes the damage from messy boilovers and unhappy spouses.

I've done porters, pale ales, browns, scottish ales, ipa's and most recently a stout. all have been quite drinkable, some have been the most tasty beers I've ever had.

If we ever have a real winter around here,perhaps I'll be able to test out the lager recipe I've been working on (lagers ferment best between 35-55 degrees F, ales between 60-75 degrees F).

Relax and Have a Homebrew!!

[denverbill]

23. I started last December.

It's pretty easy to do. I'd recommend just getting a starter kit from someplace like midwestsupplies.com or morebeer.com and ordering an extract kit. They starter kits come with complete instructions.

Here's a great website (it's an online version of his book, actually).

http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.html

I brewed 5 kits over the last year. In November, I finally built my own mash tun out of a 48 quart cooler and brewed my first batch of all grain beer last weekend. Still waiting to see how that turns out.

As for saving money, yes, you can save a lot of money, especially if you don't count your time as money:). It probably takes me about 6 hours per batch - 2-3 hours to boil and sterilize the fermenter on brewing day, 1 hour to transfer to a secondary if I'm doing that, and another 2-3 hours on bottling day. If I count my hours spent brewing as part of the cost and use my actual pay rate from work, I'm DEFINITELY costing more than what it would cost to buy. But you can brew 2 cases of beer for between $10 (bare bones, all grain, growing your own yeast) to $30 (for a high end extract kit). The same beer would probably run $60 or more for 2 cases.

[applegrove]

25. I know someone who has. Made great beer. But then I have no taste.

[cwydro]

26. My dad used to do it

before the days of the kits. It was good and had a hell of a kick to it too.