Hatta wrote:Luke, you could say the same about a lot of craft beers by real brewers.
I totally agree. I went to a "Brew at the Zoo" and some of the craft vendors had terrible beer. Not saying someone out there is making excellent beer by himself at home, it's just that I haven't tasted one yet.
And trust me, I'm not hard to please. I don't like sweet stuff like a cranberry lambic, but Lagers, Stouts, Ales, Hefewiezens, are all fine by me.
You must know people who suck at brewing beer. End of discussion.
You must brew your own beer.
Award winning beer. Thank you very much.
Hatta wrote:For those of you who do brew, how do your costs add up?
My latest brew which is a single hop Belma IPA 7.8% cost me about £10 ish in grain, 200g of Belma £8 and liquid Californian ale yeast was £7. I made 27 litres and after dry hopping 18litre made it into bottles. £25 for 54 330ml bottles of beer sounds like a bargain to me. I can't even get pisswater lager for less than £10 for 18 bottle and that's even with supermarket loss-leaders to count for. I actively beg people to tell me if my beer is shit, and aside from a couple of shaky brews at the start due to unfamiliarity with a completely untested kit everything has been stellar. I've had people tell me my 4.5% Oatmeal Stout is one of the best stouts they've ever had and they had never met me before, a friend of mine shared some with them.
I will say that the difference between all-grain brewing and doing kit-brews from LME is leagues apart. You're not going to find LME brews that are in the same league as 'proper' brews, it's just not possible. Perhaps this is where you've gone wrong, Luke? There is absolutely no reason why an all-grain homebrew would automatically be inferior to a commercial brew. That is just absolute nonsense.
Niode wrote: Perhaps this is where you've gone wrong, Luke? There is absolutely no reason why an all-grain homebrew would automatically be inferior to a commercial brew. That is just absolute nonsense.
USA dudes, usually, do not take pride in its beer like the UK does. People will buy a clearance "Beer Kit" for $25.00usd at a department store and declare that they are a brewmesiter.
Niode wrote: Perhaps this is where you've gone wrong, Luke? There is absolutely no reason why an all-grain homebrew would automatically be inferior to a commercial brew. That is just absolute nonsense.
USA dudes, usually, do not take pride in its beer like the UK does. People will buy a clearance "Beer Kit" for $25.00usd at a department store and declare that they are a brewmesiter.
Then do you not think it's quite absurd to tar every homebrewer with the same brush?
Niode wrote:I would take note that you're still gonna need a pot big enough to boil your wort in, also some method of chilling the boiled wort down for pitching.
Yeah, I think I'm gonna pay a little more a brew pot with the spout on it so I can drain it into the primary fermenter without splashing it around. I've read that splashing is a bad thing.
Niode wrote:
Personally, I built my own immersion cooler out of copper pipe, it's ugly as sin, but it works well and I can use the water pumped through to sanitise my fermenter !Efficiency!
I assume the immersion cooler you speak of is the same thing as a wort chiller? What is the benefit using one of those as opposed to just packing ice around the wort pot until it is chilled just out of curiosity? Does it chill faster?
puke_face wrote:What is the benefit using one of those as opposed to just packing ice around the wort pot until it is chilled just out of curiosity? Does it chill faster?
It chills faster, yes. The less time your wort spends between 180 F and fermentation temp, the lower the risk of contamination, "cleaner" flavors and aromas, and clearer beer.
My girlfriend got me a small batch kit for Christmas, and I'm still doing my homework now in August. I still need a proper kettle and I'm afraid the yeast included in the kit may be too old to use, now.
Niode wrote:I would take note that you're still gonna need a pot big enough to boil your wort in, also some method of chilling the boiled wort down for pitching.
Yeah, I think I'm gonna pay a little more a brew pot with the spout on it so I can drain it into the primary fermenter without splashing it around. I've read that splashing is a bad thing.
Yeah you want to avoid aerating the wort as much as possible. You're gonna splash the wort but as long as you're not just dumping the entire thing into your fermenter you shouldn't have any issues.
puke_face wrote:
Niode wrote:
Personally, I built my own immersion cooler out of copper pipe, it's ugly as sin, but it works well and I can use the water pumped through to sanitise my fermenter !Efficiency!
I assume the immersion cooler you speak of is the same thing as a wort chiller? What is the benefit using one of those as opposed to just packing ice around the wort pot until it is chilled just out of curiosity? Does it chill faster?
Yeah it's much much quicker. I pump cold water through it. I'll take a photo of my set up in a short while and you'll see what I mean.
The quicker you can get your wort to pitching temperature the less chance of unintended funky flavours in your brew.
Niode wrote:
Then do you not think it's quite absurd to tar every homebrewer with the same brush?
Not a tad, and no need for you to be so defensive and make claims like "bullshit". I said something close to "Surely there are good home brewers out there, I haven't met one yet" and "In my experience home brews stink". I didn't tar anyone.
Your response is like someone attacking Dish for saying "Comic book movies suck, but I haven't watched every comic book movie".
Yup. In my experience, that I would not call limited, people who think they brew great beer are brewing crap.
Niode wrote:
Then do you not think it's quite absurd to tar every homebrewer with the same brush?
Not a tad, and no need for you to be so defensive and make claims like "bullshit". I said something close to "Surely there are good home brewers out there, I haven't met one yet" and "In my experience home brews stink". I didn't tar anyone.
Your response is like someone attacking Dish for saying "Comic book movies suck, but I haven't watched every comic book movie".
Yup. In my experience, that I would not call limited, people who think they brew great beer are brewing crap.
Then why bother wasting your time and mine by talking complete bollocks and bringing precisely fuck all to the discussion... Troll, please leave.
!Efficiency!
I still need a proper kettle and I'm afraid the yeast included in the kit may be too old to use, now.
