I'm planning on making a "special" homebrew to tap on Smoke Day and was wondering if there were any other homebrewers on the board.

I only do ales, no lagers, but I also do ciders, meads, hard lemonades and a little bit of fruit wines. I was thinking of doing a fruity Blonde (for the wife), an American Brown and a straight apple cider (for a butt I plan to do, staying with an apple theme.)

Just wondering if any other homebrewers had anything planned, always looking for new ideas.

I have a Belgian Wit spiced with chamomile, coriander, and orange peel in the works that should be ready for smoke day. I also have a cyser/metheglin from october still sitting on the lees that I'm going to be bottling. I don't do lagers either, who has room in the fridge for 5 gallons of beer? I guess I could just make lagers when the weather permitted but ales are much more forgiving. I also have some limoncello in the freezer. If you haven't tried the recipe listed in the beverages section you have to try it. Great stuff. Next up is either a braggot or an IPA. Maybe both. When I really got my things together I brew a batch of beer every Saturday and smoke a big hunk of meat every Sunday. Usually April to June and September to November. Like I always say, " I drink the best beer in the world. Mine!" Happy Brewin' and Qin'.

I've been thinking about getting into this for a while. I'm jut wondering do you guys always bottle or do you go with a keg system? I understand it is quicker with a keg system?

Is there any online resources you guys use?

Thanks!

Clark

I haven't brewed beer since December (too cold), finished my last beer keg a couple of weeks ago. Have been surviving on hard cider since. Hopefully will be brewing the weekend after next.

Once it's warm (usually April through October/November) I brew on a consistent basis, every two weeks. Usually make two batches: one 10 gallon and one 5 gallon. It's what my fermenting fridge can hold. I have over a dozen kegs (and one double tap keggerator) so I usually keep plenty around.

Got the limoncello recipe and plan on starting a batch this weekend, it sounds good.

I homebrew, but not as often as I would like. My wife and kids are out of town the next two weekends, so it's time to do some catch-up. I have a porter that's going to get kegged this weekend, and I'm planning on brewing an anchor-steam clone. The following weekend, I will do an american pale ale.

I too don't mess with lagers, as I prefer ales and don't have a cooling system.

Clark, to answer your question - I keg pretty much everything, unless I'm making something that will not go fast, like a barleywine or something.

As for online resources, there are message boards a plenty - I go to homebrewtalk.com for the most part, and buy most of my beer kits and equipment from Northern Brewer.

Also, if you're looking for a cheap and relatively quick batch, google up "EdWort's Apfelwein." It's a standby at my house and probably one of my favorite beverages.

For beer I use northernbrewer.com and homebrewtalk.com, for mead I use gotmead.com. I do both kegging and bottling. Kegging is faster and easier. To tell you the truth I like to bottle better because I give a lot away. I also like to cellar seasonal beers and meads for up to a year sometimes. I only keg what I'm going to be drinking immediately. I always make a batch of mead at the same time I make a batch of beer, vessels depending. It's addictive, just like bbq.

For both Brad & Gerry: I am sooooo new to this brew thing. I have a Cyser I'm working and an Apple wine and I have many questions...
Just don't want to jam up WSM with off topic items. email? Thanks!

Ok now we need to change Smoke Day to the 24th it's my b-day. Please?

quote:

Originally posted by Clark Deutscher:
I've been thinking about getting into this for a while. I'm jut wondering do you guys always bottle or do you go with a keg system? I understand it is quicker with a keg system?

Is there any online resources you guys use?

Thanks!

Clark

Bottle vs. Keg. Bottling has less up-front cost and doesn't require special equipment besides a capper. Kegging is less work and it's just cool to pour from taps in your home. I bottle from my kegs when needed (capped bottles and/or growlers.)

I mainly purchase on-line, mostly from Northern Brewer, More Beer and Williams Brewing. I also hit homebrew stores in Omaha or Des Moines when ever I get to those cities (the closest home brew stores from where I live.)

Online resources include The Brewing Network (live shows, podcast, forums) and the forums at More Beer and Northern Brewer are my main ones. Non-online resources include "How to Brew" by John Palmer (the best how-to book out there), "Brewing Classic Styles" by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer (80ish award winning recipes with both extract and all-grain versions), Brew Your Own magazine and joining the AHA (American Homebrewers Association) for the Zymurgy magazine and daily emails.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc:
For both Brad & Gerry: I am sooooo new to this brew thing. I have a Cyser I'm working and an Apple wine and I have many questions...
Just don't want to jam up WSM with off topic items. email? Thanks!

br.williams@gmail.com

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Oleksak:
Ok now we need to change Smoke Day to the 24th it's my b-day. Please?

Mine too! I wasn't a WSM or TVWB addict last year when it was held on the 24th. My loss.

Thanks for all of the info folks. I'm hoping to order all my stuff in the next couple of weeks. I guess the keg sounds like a better way to go, especially if it's quicker. How much quicker are we talking?

You do have to invest in the kegging system but that is a one time investment really. It depends on what type of system you get. As far as quickness you only have to clean and sanitize a keg as opposed to 50 bottles and the beer goes into the keg as opposed to 50 bottles, depending on the size of your batch of course. I have a cornelius kegging system which cost $250. It came with two 5 gallon kegs, an air regulator, and an air tank. It works well and it is easy to use.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc:
For both Brad & Gerry: I am sooooo new to this brew thing. I have a Cyser I'm working and an Apple wine and I have many questions...
Just don't want to jam up WSM with off topic items. email? Thanks!

My email is gcb.doran@verizon.net. If you just click on people's name you can find their email address. I'll be happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability. For question about cyser or mead check out gotmead.com. The forum there is to mead as this forum is to bbq. Very knowledgeable people who are happy to share information. Always remember to write down your recipe to the last detail. When I first started brewing I didn't and when I had something turn out really good I couldn't always remember what I did. At least right away anyway. I'm going to tyr the Apfelwein that Pat suggested above next. I have an empty carboy begging to be filled.

Feel free to email any questions at the email I posted earlier.

Another way that kegging is quicker (in addition to what Gerry posted) is that to bottle condition, it takes a week at minimum to carbonate. You can carbonate a keg in less than 1/2 hour if needed, though I usually take 3 days myself. Other advantages other than time is you don't need to worry about yeast deposits that you do with bottle conditioning and you can regulate the amount of CO2 much better (and even vary from keg to keg depending on the style.) Another additional cost of kegging is the fridge/freezer needed.

I don't have any brew ready for the event (I'm sad, I haven't brewed since April 2008)... but I will be brewing while I'm smoking. I need to get back on the horse, so since I have dedicated the day to being in the backyard with the smoker, I may as well fire up the brew kettle!

I gave up homebrewing because 90% of the stuff I made was mediocre or worse. But if did still brew, I think I'd be working on a Maibock.

Maibock has the seasonal tradition going for it, and has a great body and richness to complement barbecue. It also is kick-ass strong. If I drink enough of it, I'll start telling the story about the night I downed 3 liters of the stuff in Munich.

I'll probably buy some of the Hofbrauhaus Maibock for my event.

Just brewed up an all grain IPA yesterday. Kegging is the way to go. I used bottles for a few years before shelling out the $ for kegging equipment. I can't imagine ever bottling again.

I made a few batches some years back. They were all extract brews (with crushed grain steeped in the wort). When a batch did come out ok, it never really tasted all that great. I chalked it up to the extract.

I figured if I ever got back into it, I'd have to go all the way and get into all grain brewing. I see Don S does it, anybody else? Is it way more involved?

quote:

I figured if I ever got back into it, I'd have to go all the way and get into all grain brewing. I see Don S does it, anybody else? Is it way more involved?

It's a bit more involved and requires more equipment but the actual time increase is not much. The main differences from extract are: grinding the grain, heating additional water and mashing. Most homebrew stores (local and online) will grind your grain if you can't at home. I batch sparge when mashing, it takes about an 1.5 hours to mash, sparge and clean up the mash tun. After the mash, it's the same as extract.

You can make very good beer with extract, people make gold medal beers at AHA nationals all the time with extract. The biggest factor with just the extract is how fresh it is, especially liquid extracts. I only recommend kits that are created by the homebrew store instead of the prepackaged kits. You will get the freshest extract, hops and yeast the store has.

When it comes down to it though, the 3 biggest factors in making good/great beer is fermentation temperature control, pitching the correct amount of yeast and sanitation.