Topic: Homebrew, Wine and Brandy making thread

[the technological J]

so ive made couple of small batches of wine and just got my hands on a 6 gallon carboid and am planning to make a nice brew... just wondering if anyone else is a home brewer? wine, beer or  brandy? im curious of some brandy recipes soon..... just wondering..

[Rocking-M]

my buddies do beer, I'm the official taster. However, one of my buddies has taken off on a 2 month motorcycle trip to Alaska
via the Yukon etc....so....I'll be helping buddy number one with the next batch (#11). Last batch was Scottish #80. good stuff with
a kick.

[tramp]

done brews a couple of times
mostly ale's

[bitter]

Primarily Ales...  Bitters and Mild...

I've made wine, mead and sherry in the past...  All relatively easy.

Brandy?  Do you have a still?

[Grnrngr]

I got a couple friends with a still.....and live in the land of microbrews....

[Rocking-M]

Primarily Ales...  Bitters and Mild...

I've made wine, mead and sherry in the past...  All relatively easy.

Brandy?  Do you have a still?

actually you can make brandy by freeze distilling also. Take a bottle of
wine, freeze it a bit and what doesn't freeze, well you know, it's got more kick eh?

sort of what these fellows did with their beer. http://www.brewdog.com/product.php?id=47

[the technological J]

last night i sampled pretty heavily the home brew.... 3 glasses in 4 hrs fine 5 glasses in 6 hrs... i blacked out and spent an hour puking and most of today out of commision.... yikes talk about a creeper

[Brown Bomber]

I'll be starting another batch of Porter in a few days

[dave500]

i go to a local micro brewery,its quite cheap and i like the fact its all free from any preservatives and heading agents and what not,the beer has to be kept cold though,it wont store in your back room here on the gold coast,a bit like florida ,hot and humid,in the 80s i made beer from scratch,in victoria(a state in australia) pubs and bottle shops were closed on sundays at the time,my mates didnt really like my beer untill sundays!!

[the technological J]

I'll be starting another batch of Porter in a few days

do u make it from a kit or do u have a recipe?

[Brown Bomber]

I'll be starting another batch of Porter in a few days

do u make it from a kit or do u have a recipe?

I buy a kit from a local supply house. http://www.listermann.com/ They supply the local micro breweries and have kits for home brewers as well.

[GammaFlat]

For those red wine drinkers out there I have to make a solid recommendation.  Try this product:

http://www.amazon.com/Vinturi-6700-Essential-Wine-Aerator/dp/B000UPOJ5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1275688598&sr=8-1

The difference in taste between pouring wine through the device and not is amazing.  You can take 3 buck chuck (or any other very cheap wine) and make a large difference in taste.  I think it would be a fun party game to blind taste the same wine - one glass through, one not.

Try this thing, I don't think you'll be sorry. 

[elquenada]

ive been brewing for the last few years and ive made some pretty nice ales.  i brew all grain but very small batches (between 1-2.5 gallons).  Its a lot of work for a little amount of beer but I dont have the room to store much. also without a mega heat source i cant fire up 6 gallons of brew water.

the beer is worth it though. im drinking one right now actually.

[the technological J]

what kind of beer would stella artois be considered? is it a white ale? pale ale.... i know is belgian white but i dont know all the differences

[Ayrity]

I am the homebrew master of Tampa FL. Haha, seriously though, I have "sold" my beer a bunch of times to a few places

[dave500]

hey gamma,red wine is for poofs!this is a beer thread!

[the technological J]

hey all alcohol is welcome.... except wine coolers theres the poofs..... u can keep those recipes

[dave500]

we hereby decline any poof alcohol then brielj.,except for when the beer has run out ,its late at night or early morning,and the wife has gone to bed ,and we can steal hers!who has been here!

[elquenada]

what kind of beer would stella artois be considered? is it a white ale? pale ale.... i know is belgian white but i dont know all the differences

its actually not an ale, its a lager which are in general cleaner and crisper than ales due to lower temperature fermentations and different yeast strains.  they're also a bit tricker to brew at home without good temperature control (i.e. a second fridge or an icy cave where you can store the fermenter for a few months). 

[slabbedask]

Hehe, talking about homebrew....
I live in the middle part of Norway, known for it's long moonshine tradition. I think most people here have, have had or know someone with their own still...
And everyone take pride in making the strongest, purest and cleanest alcohol. A friend of mine and I use to borrow his fathers still when his parents were at their lake cottage. This was over twenty years ago when we were in our late teens/early twenties, and what we made weren't very pure stuff. But it was strong! I guess the fumes themselves could strip the paint off a CB frame! And boy did we get the worst hangovers from it!
Today, I don't drink much, and prefer to get my booze from the store, or I enjoy a bottle or two of good beer. (Like Newcastle Brown....)
But I remember we had a lot of fun making our own snake oil back then.....

[wardenerd]

Scuppernong and muscadine wine is a tradition where we live. The mother vine is on Roanoke Island home of the lost colony and Andy Griffith. My wife is growing grapes in the back yad.  Lots of home brewers and commercial vintners. We like to try local individuals and there is my neighbor and a guy that we met at a wine tasting.  The wine is as high as 14% alcohol.  My wife and i got snockered at a tasting and had to call my sister to come get us.  The wine is fruity and full bodied and is as dry as yoy wish.  I like the high alcohol fruity stuff.

[GammaFlat]

hey gamma,red wine is for poofs!this is a beer thread!

Sorry..... when I'm not feeling so "poofy", I go to Three Floyds in NW Indiana: http://www.3floyds.com/our-beers-2/ 

I have brewed and bottled my own.  That's a gratifying experience but it's easy to "overshoot the mark" on alcohol content and level of bitter.  I imagine it takes much practice to get it just right  

[mmtsquid]

While I don't brew myself, I helped my bro in law build a Brewtus brew rig - fancy stuff!  He has 20 gallons on tap at all times - and it is ALWAYS good stuff!

[flybox1]

I dont brew either, but come holiday season, i treat my friends/neighbors to bottles of home-made baileys irish cream.  helps keep the peace   

[the technological J]

since wine is a little easier i decide to try making some watermelon strawberry stuff for a buddy and am gonna make a big batch of some more standard stuff
im so picky about beer.. im gonna do somemore research my local guy says i'll prob need to order in a special yeast to do a belgian white