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Posted by: Always Looking Jan 11 2005, 11:13 PM

Hello fellow teeners and homebrewers. My supplier "Shrine of the Brew God" in Costa Mesa, CA went out of business a year or so ago and I have not found a suitable replacement. I tried a few kits from Williams and a few from Homebrew Heaven, but I have not been happy with the results. I like newcastle stlye beer, or a good wheat beer - like pyramid, but NOT wydmers. Any suggestions?

For others interested, I have been drinking Gem of the Sea pale ale available from Beverages and More. Apparently, it is a microbrew from San Diego. In any case, I get the five gallon Keg (only $32) for the converted fridge next to the 914. Its a very drinkable pale/red beer.

Posted by: MattR Jan 11 2005, 11:17 PM

Have you tried Budweiser?

Posted by: MattR Jan 11 2005, 11:18 PM

That was a joke... sorry if it made you

Posted by: Always Looking Jan 11 2005, 11:25 PM

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 12 2005, 12:06 AM

new castle is my favorate

Posted by: SirAndy Jan 12 2005, 12:09 AM

QUOTE (Always Looking @ Jan 11 2005, 09:13 PM)

Any suggestions?

yeah. but why not get some more *punch* than just plain old beer ...

i have made my own "Aufgesetzte" for years. basically, it's home made (fruit) schnaps.
you can use pretty much anything fruity, you simply add sugar and high volume alcohol and you let it ferment ...

i can get you some of my favorite recipes, if you're interested.
nothing like your own home made 75% vol. schnaps!
Andy

PS: just ask Gustl, i'm sure he can tell us a few "Aufgesetzte" or "Obstler" stories!

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 12 2005, 12:11 AM

QUOTE (SirAndy @ Jan 11 2005, 11:09 PM)

QUOTE (Always Looking @ Jan 11 2005, 09:13 PM) Any suggestions? yeah. but why not get some more *punch* than just plain old beer ... i have made my own "Aufgesetzte" for years. basically, it's home made (fruit) schnaps. you can use pretty much anything fruity, you simply add sugar and high volume alcohol and you let it ferment ... i can get you some of my favorite recipes, if you're interested. nothing like you own home made 75% vol. schnaps! Andy

gawdamn... 150 proof

Posted by: Dr Evil Jan 12 2005, 12:15 AM

Recipies are good. Let'er rip!

Posted by: trekkor Jan 12 2005, 12:27 AM

I've made a lot of beer in my day.

My favorite was an experiment gone right.
Make your pale ale. When boiling add a good amount of sliced tangerines. Boil peels and all.

When the beer is ready you will enjoy the Gran Marnier like after taste

KT

Posted by: SpecialK Jan 12 2005, 01:16 AM

Now this is an interesting subject!

I've been seriously contemplating attempting the "home-brew" route myself (kind of partial to Oatmeal Stouts), but don't know much about the process, or reputable suppliers.

I've got two cases of Grolsh (sp?) type bottles, and a dedicated beer fridge.

Please enlighten us oh brewers of God's Nectar


P.S.- You can PM me some of your favorite recipes Andy, might be a nice change of pace for camping this summer.!

Posted by: Always Looking Jan 12 2005, 02:32 AM

Williamsbrewing is a good supplier of kits to begin beer brewing. Basically, you make tea in a lobster pot, cool to 75degrees or so, splash into plastic food grade container - add yeast. Wait two weeks, transfer fermented beer (but not carbonated) to another plastic bucket with some disolved sugar in it and transfer to clean bottles or a keg for carbonation (2 weeks). ANYONE CAN DO IT. The plastic buckets and capping equipment come in a kit, as you will see on the williamsbrewing.com website. $100a inclding first batch of beer. This makes 5 gallons or 40 pints. Your next batch will be substantially less - $30a. Despite what you may hear, this is very good beer. Homebrewing gets a bad rap from kits sold at department stores which do not have good flavor.

I don't know about bottleing in Grolsch bottles, but you can get new seals at the homebrew supply stores. With homebrew, the carbonation takes place in the bottle, so they don't recommend screw tops - potentially too much pressure.

There is one bible for homebrewers - "The Joy of Home Brewing" by Papazian. With over twenty batches under my belt, I still refer to this book for each batch.

Good luck.

Posted by: SpecialK Jan 12 2005, 02:50 AM

Great info Always Looking (if that is your real name ). I was hoping that I could just replace the seals on the ceramic topped pint bottles and be good to go, guess I better investigate further . Going to Amazon right now to check out that bible....errr ahhh.. book

5 gal. for $30.....sounds like a pretty sound investment to me!

Kevin

Posted by: Jeffs9146 Jan 12 2005, 09:34 AM

Try Bear Bear & More Bear in Walnut Creek, Ca

Jeff

Posted by: trekkor Jan 12 2005, 09:42 AM

I always used champagne bottles...they accept bottle caps.

Less bottles per batch

KT

Posted by: Reiche Jan 12 2005, 11:29 AM

Always Looking: Since you're out looking, see if you can find The Brewer's Companion by Randy Mosher. It is an excellent reference that is pretty detailed without being dry and boring. It explains the "behind the scenes" processes to some extent, but more importantly, it gives you ways to calculate with reasonable accuracy how your batch will turn out. As far as replicating styles goes, it gives guidelines more than recipes. It is really designed to help you create your own recipes. To that end, it includes charts that will let you keep track of the all the ingredients and processes that you use. I like to experiment, so after my first few batches, I began designing my own recipes. They all turned out good. Even my friends said so.

Special K: You can use the Grolsch bottles no problem. You do need to replace the rubber gasket every batch to prevent contamination and leakage but they are pretty cheap. You can use champagne bottles too, like trekkor said. I prefer the 22 oz. "bombers" myself. Stay away from screw-top capped bottles.
Getting all the equipment you need to start can cost anywhere from $50 to $200 dollars. All brew shops have starter kits. Their boiling kettles are usually expensive though. Look around for a STAINLESS (not aluminum) turkey frying pot. I got mine from masterbuilt.com on closeout. They are perfect and you can boil the whole 5 gallons. If you can't find one, use a 20 qt. steel stockpot and add water after boiling to get 5 gallons.

Contamination is the main problem you are likely to have when homebrewing. If you are reasonably clean and careful, and you use decent ingredients, it's pretty hard to screw up. If you can boil water, you can brew.

The hardest part is waiting for it to age. Maybe Bud is better when fresh, but homebrew definitely isn't. Some high-gravity beers need to age six months at least.

Posted by: E-Man Jan 12 2005, 11:35 AM

Edme makes a kit to brew a dark lager called Dogbolter. I've made a few batches of it in the past and it was quite good.
Just talking about it makes me want to brew another batch. Here's what others have to say:

"But there seem to be more colourful tales involving beer-drinking dogs than you can poke a stick at. One such story revolves around the origin of the term “dogbolter” for an extra-strong English ale. Here in Australia, Matilda Bay Dogbolter is currently a dark lager of average strength (5.2 per cent A/V) but, in the early days of the pioneering Fremantle boutique brewery, the name, indeed, belonged to an ale of legendary potency. For some bizarre reason, this blockbuster brew was renamed Iron Brew while Matilda Bay Dark Lager inherited the Dogbolter moniker.

But don’t let facts get in the way of a cracking yarn, as they say. The origins of “dogbolter” apparently come from a certain English country pub and involve a customer who always arrived accompanied by his dog. He would invariably order a pint of bitter for himself and a bowl of the same for Rex or Rover or whatever the pooch’s name was. One day the publican announced that they had a new, potent brew on tap. “We’ll give it a whirl,” said the customer and while he sipped his pint cautiously, the dog greedily licked the bowl clean. Instantly, his tail went rigid, he let out a frightening yelp and bolted out of the pub and away over the hills, never to be seen again. And from that day onwards the strong ale became known as Dogbolter.

In the north of England, Newcastle Brown Ale is affectionately known as “the dog”. They say that on most evenings there, you can hear the men leaving their house for the local pub telling their wives in the local Geordie accent: “I’m just going down the road to take the dog for a walk.” (And some of them don’t even own dogs!) "

Posted by: Brent Jan 12 2005, 08:30 PM

I love the Newcastle!!!! Got outdoor camping stove???

Posted by: Sparky Jan 12 2005, 08:49 PM

Ohh the joy of it. Papazians book is great! I used to brew and do the comp circuits was rated second nationaly for my stout (secret ingredient: Coffee). Been out of it now for about 7 years or so just couldn't fit the time in. Most homeberw shops sell the rubber gaskets for the ceramic top bottles, just sterilize everything good. I highly recommend building or buying http://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue2.2/o'neil.html Not hard to make and almost affordable. Check out http://www.homebrew.com


relax have a homebrew:

My best,

Mike D.

Posted by: Mueller Jan 12 2005, 08:53 PM

QUOTE (SirAndy @ Jan 11 2005, 11:09 PM)

QUOTE (Always Looking @ Jan 11 2005, 09:13 PM) Any suggestions? yeah. but why not get some more *punch* than just plain old beer ... i have made my own "Aufgesetzte" for years. basically, it's home made (fruit) schnaps. you can use pretty much anything fruity, you simply add sugar and high volume alcohol and you let it ferment ... i can get you some of my favorite recipes, if you're interested. nothing like your own home made 75% vol. schnaps! Andy PS: just ask Gustl, i'm sure he can tell us a few "Aufgesetzte" or "Obstler" stories!

alright...I'm not the only one

my mom used to make it using fruit cocktail (mixed fruit with grapes,pears, those bright red cherries full of Red dye #5 )

i have not had it in like 15 years or more

Posted by: SpecialK Jan 12 2005, 08:53 PM

Got Papazian's book off of Amazon (used) for $1.15!! Can't wait til it gets here!

Posted by: TimT Jan 12 2005, 09:26 PM

Ive been home brewing for about 12 years. started with extract kits, and moved to partial mash to full grain brewing

http://www.riptidebrewery.com/ji00002.htm with my friends. I cut up and welded fittings on old beer kegs. the capacity is 10 gallons of beer, http://www.riptidebrewery.com/ji00003.htm I Just love the smell of the wort boiling! Playing with the different yeasts available can yield some awesome beers. Wyeast supplies about 40 or so different strains of yeast. I even had hops growing in my yard for a few years, but now just get the freeze dried hops..
I think I may brew this weekend!!

Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jan 12 2005, 10:25 PM

Ahh brewing beer is a great hobby.

I have a book that has the recipe for Newcastle Brown called "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy". If you can't find it I could get the recipe but the book is kind of fun.

For those thinking about getting into brewing think about a keg set up as well as bottling. I got tired of cleaning bottles and then all the filling. Even with 22oz bottles it can be a PITA. I like to do both with rotating batches. Plus it's really cool having your own beer on tap.

Have been doing the Partial Grain thing for a while but need to step up to all grain. I have an old keg that has been waiting for me to get around to cutting it in half.

I'll say it again " Relax have a homebrew"

Posted by: Always Looking Jan 12 2005, 11:32 PM

Amazon comes through again - "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy" was .85 plus shipping = $4.34. Can't wait to try some new recipes. I have the home keg set up - it's fun, but definetly something you can decide on later.

Do you guys and girls with the keg set up carbonate with forced CO2 or sugar? I've been forcing the CO2 since i'm impatient, but i wonder if i lose some quality. What's your experience?


Thanks

Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jan 12 2005, 11:47 PM

When I first started with the keg I did the forced carbonation but then I tried using sugar and I like that much better, I think you get a better carbonation with the sugar though my supplier doesn't believe me.

Posted by: SpecialK Jan 13 2005, 12:42 AM

What kind of shelf-life can you expect with home-brewed beers? I doubt that'll be a problem at my house , just curious without pasteurizing how well/long it keeps.

And TimT, looks like a micro-microbrewery!! Me Like!

Posted by: Kevin@ojai.net Jan 13 2005, 12:48 AM

MMMMM homebrew...

I'm enjoying one of my oatmeal stouts right now. My current dispensing system is 2 3 tap towers. Right now I have a variation of TopDon's (are ya here man?) California Ale An Oatmeal Stout, a Red Ale, a super-good Porter (almost out), and a little bit of Butte Creeks Red left from a party I threw a while back. I'm going to re-brew the same recipe porter and try making my first Java Stout within a week or so. I also need to brew up a wheat just so I have a nice variation of styles available. If any one wants a light lager I live a hundred yards from a liquor store and there's no reason brewing a pale in Chico

As far as my supplies go, I get just about everything from "The Home Brew Shop" located on Nord Ave. in Chico. Dawn (the home brew shop owner) keeps a pretty good supply of grains and hops.

We should organize a 914club home-brew beer taisting get together one of these days. There seems to be plenty of us around that brew our own.

-Kevin

Posted by: SpecialK Jan 13 2005, 01:04 AM

QUOTE (Kevin@ojai.net @ Jan 12 2005, 10:48 PM)

MMMMM homebrew... I'm enjoying one of my oatmeal stouts right now. My current dispensing system is 2 3 tap towers. Right now I have a variation of TopDon's (are ya here man?) California Ale <I've been playing with his recipe for a while now> An Oatmeal Stout, a Red Ale, a super-good Porter (almost out), and a little bit of Butte Creeks Red left from a party I threw a while back. I'm going to re-brew the same recipe porter and try making my first Java Stout within a week or so. I also need to brew up a wheat just so I have a nice variation of styles available. If any one wants a light lager I live a hundred yards from a liquor store and there's no reason brewing a pale in Chico As far as my supplies go, I get just about everything from "The Home Brew Shop" located on Nord Ave. in Chico. Dawn (the home brew shop owner) keeps a pretty good supply of grains and hops. We should organize a 914club home-brew beer taisting get together one of these days. There seems to be plenty of us around that brew our own. -Kevin

Oatmeal Stout! That's what I'm talking about ! It's the main reason I wanted to try home-brewing myself. Man, I wish that book would get here so I can start studying! I'm going to have to bookmark this thread for later reference.

Posted by: Kevin@ojai.net Jan 13 2005, 01:21 AM

If you like oat meal stouts try one called Barney Flats Oat Meal Stout, made by Anderson Valley Brewing Co. It is easily the best commercial oatmeal stout! Oh man, now I'm going to have to go down to the Brew Guild tomorrow and get some Barney Flats...

-Kevin

Posted by: SpecialK Jan 13 2005, 01:28 AM

QUOTE (Kevin@ojai.net @ Jan 12 2005, 11:21 PM)

If you like oat meal stouts try one called Barney Flats Oat Meal Stout, made by Anderson Valley Brewing Co. It is easily the best commercial oatmeal stout!

I'll see if I can locate that one out here, pretty lame selection at the local liquer stores. My fave is Samual Smith's Oatmeal Stout, but the place that carried it got bulldozed by the airport expansion , haven't been able to locate it since.

Posted by: Reiche Jan 13 2005, 10:09 AM

QUOTE (Special_K @ Jan 12 2005, 10:42 PM)

What kind of shelf-life can you expect with home-brewed beers? I doubt that'll be a problem at my house , just curious without pasteurizing how well/long it keeps.

Light and heat are the beer-killers. If you keep the beer in a dark cool place it should last a long long time. At the former local homebrew store I tasted a 13-year-old brew. It was smooooooth. BTW it was in a Grolsch-type flip-top bottle.

Posted by: JmuRiz Jan 13 2005, 10:46 AM

Have you tried http://www.averybrewing.com/avery/Home? I've heard good things about them. Make all kinds, even some strong stuff. It's in CO, so it'd be fresh out west.

Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jan 13 2005, 11:19 AM

Hey Kevin starting with a stout is a good idea as darker flavor beers tend to hide any little mistakes that you might make.

For you coffee lovers out there, adding a pound or half pound of good fresh course ground coffee to a porter or stout is really good. I usually steed it with the cracked grains on the way to bringing the water up to boil.

Posted by: Brent Jan 13 2005, 09:13 PM

Did anyone start off with the Mr. Beer brew kit?

Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jan 13 2005, 09:22 PM

QUOTE (Brent @ Jan 13 2005, 07:13 PM)

Did anyone start off with the Mr. Beer brew kit?

I bought my dad one of those a few years ago because I knew it was vvery minimal effort. In my opinion you should spend a little more money and get a full on brew kit, almost as easy as the Mr. Beer but a lot more options to be creative down the road. Plus IIRC the Mr. Beer is not that big. The 5 gal that most regular home brew recipes make is barely enough IMHO.

Sean

Posted by: Brent Jan 13 2005, 10:20 PM

Mr. Beer
I've received two as gifts...they know me too well. Haven't tried it, didn't know if it is worth the experience.

Posted by: SpecialK Jan 13 2005, 10:27 PM

QUOTE (Reiche @ Jan 13 2005, 08:09 AM)

QUOTE (Special_K @ Jan 12 2005, 10:42 PM) What kind of shelf-life can you expect with home-brewed beers?  I doubt that'll be a problem at my house , just curious without pasteurizing how well/long it keeps. Light and heat are the beer-killers. If you keep the beer in a dark cool place it should last a long long time. At the former local homebrew store I tasted a 13-year-old brew. It was smooooooth. BTW it was in a Grolsch-type flip-top bottle.

Interesting, I always thought the fresher the better when it came to beer. Of course the wife doesn't have to know that....."Really honey, it's only good for a month...can't let it go to waste!"

Posted by: Rhodes71/914 Jan 13 2005, 11:32 PM

QUOTE (Special_K @ Jan 13 2005, 08:27 PM)

QUOTE (Reiche @ Jan 13 2005, 08:09 AM) QUOTE (Special_K @ Jan 12 2005, 10:42 PM) What kind of shelf-life can you expect with home-brewed beers?  I doubt that'll be a problem at my house , just curious without pasteurizing how well/long it keeps. Light and heat are the beer-killers. If you keep the beer in a dark cool place it should last a long long time. At the former local homebrew store I tasted a 13-year-old brew. It was smooooooth. BTW it was in a Grolsch-type flip-top bottle. Interesting, I always thought the fresher the better when it came to beer. Of course the wife doesn't have to know that....."Really honey, it's only good for a month...can't let it go to waste!"

I think that 13 y/o brew waas an anomoly (sp) fresher is better. I think typicaly for home brew about 6 months after it is bottled or kegged it starts losing it's taste/freshness. I'm sure there are exceptions.

Posted by: Reiche Jan 14 2005, 12:34 AM

QUOTE (Special_K @ Jan 13 2005, 08:27 PM)

Interesting, I always thought the fresher the better when it came to beer.

If by beer you mean American Megabrewery Pilsener, then yes, fresh is better. That's because there's nothing much to taste in the first place. If it was aged it would disappear completely.

Seriously though, commercially-produced beers are aged before bottling so there's no reason to let them sit. But homebrews are a different story. The suggested amount of aging should be part of the recipe of any style you brew. For example, lighter beers like hefeweizens are better fresh. After two or three weeks in a bottle they are ready to go. But highly-hopped and/or high alcohol beers often benefit from a little bottle aging. Kind of like a red wine. I don't recommend 13 years. For sure that 13-year-old beer was an anomaly, but it was still pretty good. Tasted more like a barley wine than an ale, but that's what happens with aging. It mellows out the bitterness. Generally, the higher the level of flavor ingredients in a beer, the more it should age. But Rhodes71/914 is right: six months is enough for most homebrews.

It depends on your taste too. If you like your flavors up-front and clearly defined, drink it fresh. But if you are really patient and curious (and your bottles are well-sealed,) good things can come from some aging. For example, Belgian lambics are cask-aged in lofts for five years before bottling. You want a mind-bending beer experience, try some of them. Hard to believe it's beer.

Posted by: TimT Jan 14 2005, 01:43 AM

Belgians are the true biermiesters

Lambics have natural yeasts which are airborn, and fermantation is sometime started by these airborn yeasts, also Lambics have a starin of bacteria that imparts someof the unusaul flavors and charecteristics.

I prefer to brew lighter (colored) beers, I try to get the gravity as high as possible and still have a nice golden, or amber brew. I used to be a freak about hops, and brewed IPA's until I got sick of realy hopped beer.

Then I discovered all the different Belgian yeasts Wyeast supplies. So Belgian ales are my specialty now. But with a nice Octoberfest at the appropriate time of year, and an Irish Red around paddys day.

I have a LAmbic I brewed a fw years ago, I havent bottled it yet, still cask conditioning it. I sneak a taste with a thief every once in awhile, and it seems really good, almost ready to bottle.

Posted by: SpecialK Jan 14 2005, 03:39 AM

TimT, quite a brewing apparatus, the 'Good ole Boys' down south would tip their hats to you (checked out your system from the top of the page)!!

Still waiting on the "Bible" to arrive from Amazon , but when I get all of the equipment together I hope guys don't mind some PMs on where I went wrong