Beer, Wine, Sake Brewing

[Yoda]

Anyone here into it? If anyone has any advice for a newbie, please share!

[Bum Grasshopper]

I've been home brewing for about 10 years now. It becomes an obsession. Tell me, are you brewing with extract or all grain?

[Yoda]

Bum Grasshopper,

 

Actually, I'm not even a newbie... we've done one batch of blackberry wine years ago and that's it. The wine was very yummy and was fun. Just been pondering it again...

 

I noticed that Sake brewing looks super easy... easier than beer. Been thinking of another go at it but haven't decided in which direction.

 

Tao Toe,

Yoda

[Deepbluesea]

I love brewing beer ... and I love drinking it. As BG says it can become really obsessive. It can be as broad or as narrow as you want it to be. There is a cultivation side to it where you can grow your own ingredients, a biological side in creating and growing yeast, a chemical side to it in the actual brewing process. I grow my own hops and am thinking about growing and malting my own barley next year.

 

If you do decide to go this route, I would recommend The Joy of Homebrewing:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Homebrewing...731&sr=8-13

 

of all of my homebrew books this is one of my favorites and was my first.

 

I would start with an all extract recipe for you first batch, using whole leaf hops and liquid yeast will make a big difference in your beer.

 

Best wishes

[Yoda]

I grow my own hops and am thinking about growing and malting my own barley next year.

 

Deepbluesea,

 

Way cool!!! And thanks for the book recommendation!

 

Tao Toe,

Yoda

[Bum Grasshopper]

Bum Grasshopper,

 

Actually, I'm not even a newbie... we've done one batch of blackberry wine years ago and that's it. The wine was very yummy and was fun. Just been pondering it again...

 

I noticed that Sake brewing looks super easy... easier than beer. Been thinking of another go at it but haven't decided in which direction.

 

Tao Toe,

Yoda

 

Wine making may appear to be easier, but it is also easier to make big mistakes. Brewing is more forgiving. I have broken all the rules of brewing at one time or another and have never brewed a batch of "dumpbrau".

 

If you do decide to go this route, I would recommend The Joy of Homebrewing:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Homebrewing...731&sr=8-13

 

Agreed. Covers all the bases. It's the book that started it all. Zymurgy magazine is also a great publication.

 

I would also highly recommend finding a local home brew store. The only thing homebrewers like to do more than drinking homebrew is talking about it. Check out this web site Home Brew Digest for a wealth of info. The forums under the discussion link is quite informative as well as entertaining.

 

I would start off with a kit such as this one Beginng Home Brew Kit . This is all you need to brew a 5 gallon batch of beer, except bottles, which you can either buy, or reuse store bought beer bottles. You can also use it to make wine. Stay away from those refrigerator kits. They are limiting and you will soon outgrow it. Go with a simple extract recipe such as a Heffenwisen or an ESB.

 

Extract is freeze dried malt wort. Advantages are that you can brew in your kitchen without any special equipment besides your kit, and it trims 2-3 hours off your brewing time because the mash has already been done for you. Disadvantage is that it is more expensive than all grain and you have more control doing your own mash. If you decide to make the jump to all grain brewing, all you need to do is purchase a mash tun and one of those outdoor turkey frying setups. Oh, and a wort chiller.Welcome to the obsession.

 

One piece of advice I will give you is to make a yeast starter. The amount of yeast cells in those so called "pitchable" yeast packs are hardly enough to ferment a 5 gallon batch to completion. Do this and your first batch may possibly be the best beer you ever had!

 

Because this post is on the Taobums I will add:

 

-Unfiltered beer such as homebrew is an excellent source of B vitamins

-Wine is loaded with antioxidants ans contains resveritrol, an anti aging substance

-Beer is food, containing protein and charbohydrate

-A regular beer has less calories than the same amount of soda or juice

-The amount of alcohol in 1 or 2 beers or wine a day is better for you than no alcohol at all

 

To your health!

[Yoda]

Bum Grasshopper,

 

Thanks so much for such a fantastic writeup!!!

 

Tao Toe,

Yoda