Anyone here brew beer or wine?

[JasonB]

I just made my 5th batch of beer at the beginning of Dec. It was a Red Ale using a Brewers Best kit. If you haven't seen those kits they include all the basics from the hops, malt extract, to the yeast and sugar. I want to start brewing from grain eventually but as it is these kits take a lot of the guess work out and make brewing your own batch of beer fun! Anyone else here brew beer or wine?

my sister Lindsey got me another brewers best kit for Christmas yesterday, its called Weizenbier. These kits have made some tasty STRONG beer, usually ends up with a higher alc content than store bought beer.

[dougspcs]

I used to do both beer and wine..the work and mess got tired after a while push you always have room of your house that smells like a brewery..

So now I use a 'U-Brew' store..32 bottles of wine for $140.

Can't beat that!

[hoosierlogger]

I make wine. I despise kits, I like using my own fruits. There is more reward in it for me using fresh fruits.

[tri again]

I'd like to know what to do with apples.
Old timer say just let them ferment in water, mashed and strain.

They also say if you leave hard cider outside and let it partially freezE, the liquid that pours off is applejack.

I'd like to try some superlight beer. rice, hops, brewers yeast? and water?

[hoosierlogger]

They also say if you leave hard cider outside and let it partially freezE, the liquid that pours off is applejack.

That is called freeze concentration. You put wine in the freezer and take it out and shake it periodicly during the freezing process. You want it slushy, not solid. Then pour it through a screened strainer to catch the ice (water). That will raise your alcohol level. The colder the freezer the more water will be removed.

[JasonB]

i havent tried wine yet, but its up on my list! my buddy makes wine and has used almost everything to make it. Last year he made dandelion wine! Seriously. he has made some tasty apple cinamon wine that tasted like apple pie. The kits I use from brewers best are kind of cheating, but after my next batch i want to stat using grains and hand selecting the ingredients to make my own special brews. I think its fun, and the house actually has an interesting smell (wouldnt compare it to a brewery at all)

[bkm]

I know a guy who distills his own spirits, no wine or beer though.

[trike savior]

Me and roommate in college did beer and moonshine. If you really want to get into it find a local supplier of ingredients and start playing with recipes you find on internet. The kits are a fun way to start but getting your own supplies opens you up to a lot of fun in experimentation because there are so many different types of hoppes and other ingredients.

To get started you will need some 5 gallon fermenting buckets with good sealable lids. drill a hole in the lids and install the check valve you can buy off internet form craft beer stores. the best thing we found for heating the mixture was a propane turkey cooker stand and the turkey pot. we would use that and a temp probe to keep in cooking range. Later we bought an electric hot plate with programmable temperature. we used the turkey cooker to bring to temp and then moved it to hot plate because we could control temp better during cooking process.

the cool thing is that all these tools can make you beer, wine or shine. And shine is much more fun to play with. When it is pure you can taste the difference between alcohol made with corn, potato or fruits. all you need is to make a still. And regardless of what you may think of legality due to the popular show, I was told it is legal to make for personal consumption but I forget exactly how much you are allowed. you can gift it but if money exchanges hands you can get in trouble. Do your research though because you can make mistakes that can kill or make you go blind.

[JasonB]

I have all the tools for making it like that; two massive thermometers, an industrial grade 24" spoon for stirring etc, 5 gal bucket with seals and the sealed port on top for the fluid check valve, a 5 gal car boy, siphoning equipment for doing secondary fermentation and the capping and bottling equipment for filling large containers/bottles/growlers. it's been fun so far, nothing tastes like beer you made yourself!

making shine sounds like fun, I have heard the blindness from moonshine was related to using the first amount produced instead of disposing of it since there are high levels of methanol in it. I would be scared to try shine without some kind of 'professional' supervision lol.

[hoosierlogger]

You can make 100 gallons of beer and or wine per year for your own consumption. You cannot sell it. It is legal to give away, but not to sell.

Distillation is illegal in every state. It is a federal offense to produce distilled alcohol. Anyone who says different doesn't know s#!t from apple butter. Don't believe me? Call the local police and tell them your neighbor is making shine in his garage right now, and see how fast the cops show up.

[trike savior]

Appreciate that info hoosierlogger. Just what I was told, have not personally looked into for obvious reasons. I thought it made sense since you can do wine and beer, and it is the exact same process except for running it through the still. either way it was a ton of fun to play with and I was doing this with someone who knew what they were doing. And Jason you are right on the first bit out the condenser went down the drain. That's why on the show they just swish and spit samples from the first jar.