Anyone brew their own beer?

[vikingmeatwad]

I want to start doing this, would I have to buy one of those kits or is there something you can start off with?

Thanks!!

[Ole1855]

Viking,

I make beer and wine, in fact I have a batch of wine fermenting right now. I bought all my supplies at a place in St. Paul, if you look in the phonebook you'll find it. They are very helpful and have everything you will need to get started.

Ole

[vikingmeatwad]

Thanks ole! I would love to start with beer and try wine. I believe I know where your talking about, something like nbrewer or something.

Should I get one of those start kits thats a little cheaper or what? Maybe just get some stuff separate.

thanks!

[Ole1855]

Hi,

Yup you got the name right. I bought the kit for making beer probably 8-10 years ago, it comes with a 7 gal. fermenting bucket, lid and air-bung. Then I bought a 6 gal. glass carboy, syphening hose, bottles, capper, caps, a brew book and a kit. Go in and talk to the guys there, they're really helpful and they love to talk to new people about brewing beer. They have a whole variety of kits you can buy for any kinda beer you would want. The kits come with instruction, FOLLOW them closely!! One pointer I would like to stress is this, when you are boiling the batch on the stove, DO NOT walk away from the pot after you add the hops!!! The pot will all of a sudden boil over if you are not paying very close attention and it creates quite a mess. If you have any questions regarding any step in the process or anything else, let me know, I'd be happy to help you out.

Have fun brewing your own beer.

Ole

[cyberamish]

If you do a lycos/google/yahoo search for homebrewing supplies you will find many many places to choose from that are lower cost and have better selection than the outfit in St. paul. There is a supply house over in St. Louis Park and another in Fridley. The number one suggestion I would give you is pick up the book by Charlie Papazian Called the new joy of homebrewing (I think that's the correct title). There is a wealth of info in there all geared at the beginning brewer. I started brewing about 15 yrs ago and started with just a plastic pail kit from a shop up in Grand Marais.

[mr wizard]

Another tip! Clean, Clean, Clean!!! When I started, 15 yrs ago, I used powdered sanitizers to clean and had some contaminated batches. Nothing worse than putting in time and money only to have to dump it down the drain.I use iodine to sanitize my gear now. Also kegging is the way to go. No priming (sugar) and no oxygen(bad for beer) and best of all no bottling. I have been kegging for about 12yrs and love it.

[cyberamish]

Cornie kegs are definately the way to go. One cost saving tip on sanatizers. Go to Fleet Farm and in the farm section they have Iodine cleaning solution. You can get a gallon for less than you pay for a quart of the Iodopher from a brew supply house.