Any Homebrewers here?

[Black & Tan TJ]

I'm about to fire up the Brewery and get busy rebuilding the stock over the next few weeks. I usually start the Summer months w/50 or so gallons on hand. To date I have "0" on hand so it's time to get busy. It will take 3-4 week for the first batch to be ready to drink. If anyone's interested in the process they are more than welcome to come by and check it out. I'll re-post this when I'll have some ready to sample.

B&T TJ

...and yes it taste great, LESS FILLING....

[JeepGal]

Very cool Ive always wanted to do that. Im not really a big beer drinker, it just sounds interesting.

What type of beer do you generally make?

Enjoy!

Tam

[PondScum]

I've got a buddy who brews his own stuff and frequently brings it into work and allows us all to be taste testers for him. . It's something i've always wanted to do myself, but never got around to it.


Alittle bit OT, but since your go by Black and Tan on the forums i thought i'd share a decent beer i just discovered at Trader Joe's of all places....

Stuff is called Mississippi Mud. It's a pre-mixed Black and Tan and it comes in a Jug looking bottle. I saw it for sale the other day and grabbed 2 bottles to give it a try.

I'm a pretty big fan of black and tans so i was reluctant, but to my suprise this stuff ain't bad. By no means the caliber of a true black and tan, but for the price and the ease of not having to make one myself i'm happy.

[Black & Tan TJ]

Yeah, I'm a fan of the Black & Tan's and it just so happens my Jeep too is Black & Tan, I thought the name was fitting, lucky for me I guess. And yes I've had the Mississippi Mud, not bad. Believe it or not Budwiser makes a Black and Tan Porter that I had at Sea World of all places, pretty good too but I haven't seen it anywahere else, too bad.

Hey Jeepgal,
I make about 4 styles now, the experimenting phase was over a while ago, now it's strickly for consumption. I'll make a Hefewizien, very popular (Calif. sytyle wheat beer) usually served with a slice of lemon and somewhat cloudly. Mine's typically fairly clear cause I'll use Irish Moss in the brewing process as a clarifier. A Kolsch style (a German ale also a light colored beer), Calif. Pale ale or Sierra Nevada Pale ale and a seasonal Oatmeal Stout. This one is very strong and takes at least 12 week of conditioning before it's ready and around 9+ % of the good stuff but smooth. It's all about the flavor for me, the other stuff is already there. I brew 20 gallons at a time which translate to about 10 cases. Batches cost from $50 to $100 depending on the style of course and when you do the math it's cents per glass for premium beer, another bonus.

Cheers, B&T TJ

[jmbrowning]

The Missus and I made our last brew back before Y2K. Our nickname for our back closet operation was Apocalypse Brewery. It was a Strawberry Melomel made of fresh strawberries, clover honey, and champagne yeast. Start specific gravity was around 1.23 and finish gravity was around 0.98.

It tasted good enough to drink by the jellyjar-full, but it would really scramble the noodle. I need to rustle up the dusty carboys in the garage and brew up another batch of melomel. I just don't have enough patience waiting for the finish gravity to stabilize. I brewed up a 3 gallon batch of hand grenades when I bottled prematurely.

I'll see if I can rustle up the recipe for the melomel. Say have you tried kegging your brew instead of bottling? I've seen the soda pop cylinders for low money on eBay.

[sarah]

Ok, now we know who we need to hang out with for the holidays! Haha!
Actually, a BLACK & TAN is my ultimate favorite beer-drink-thing, and I haven't had a good one since I moved to California!

[Black & Tan TJ]

Say have you tried kegging your brew instead of bottling? I've seen the soda pop cylinders for low money on eBay.

Yes I use the kegs in fact in all the years I've been brewing I've only bottled once, kinda of pain. Another bonus with the kegs they don't explode and you can release presure as needed. I have about 15 kegs (wish I could keep them full) for my 20 gallon system. It would probably take 250 bottles for one batch, with the kegs it's 4 per batch. I think I'd have lost interest by now if I had to bottle.
Thanks Jim, your Melomel sounds good. I have some carboys (6.5 & 5 gallon) I'm about to get rid of. I haven't used them in a long time since the purchase of the conical fermenter and they are taking up too much space. If someone wants them they're yours. I'm brewing today, I'll try to post some pictures of the process and my garage brewery. Kinda rough by it produces a great brew.

B&T TJ

[JeepGal]

sound very cool!

I probably wouldnt have the patience either.

Tam

[cbremer]

Ok, now we know who we need to hang out with for the holidays! Haha!
Actually, a BLACK & TAN is my ultimate favorite beer-drink-thing, and I haven't had a good one since I moved to California!

come on over! i'm the black & tan making expert do you like it made with harps or bass?

i also make a mean kamikaze

[sarah]

sound very cool!
I probably wouldnt have the patience either.

What? You're the most patient person I know, aside from nailer

do you like it made with harps or bass?

I prefer bass. I guess I forgot that I can probably make one at home, and not have the bar do it for me. Next trip = black n' tans!

[rick]

I have one of those "Mr. Beer" brewing kits... Not exactly the purists setup, but it does make beer. I have discovered that if you ferment some of the varieties long enough, they actually turn out pretty decent. You don't have a lot of freedom in terms of what malt you use (it comes in a can), but you can use whatever hop you desire so many variations and the possibility of royally screwing it up are still there. If I'm going to wait that long for a beer, it better have some kick...

[HIGLET]

When I lived in the Northeast I used to make one hell of a good chocalate porter (with real chocalate, sugar raises the alc content) and a good honey pilsner.

I bottled everything after the fermentation period, it was a pain, but no pain no gain. No bottles ever exploded. A couple of my friends used the soda keg thingys from restaurants, and then got a tank of nitrogen (Guiness is only supposed to ever have nitrogen used instead of CO2) to pump it. I never had a restaurant connection to get those so I bottled.

I quit when I moved out here, it's too hot for the way I did it and I don't want to pay to refrigerate fermenting beer. Oh yeah and because I gained 30 pounds from all the drinking. Well the drinking and eating. You see it turns out I'm allergic to beer, I break out in a pizza or bag of chips.

MMMMMMMMMMMMM BEER.

[Black & Tan TJ]

Oh yeah and because I gained 30 pounds from all the drinking. Well the drinking and eating. You see it turns out I'm allergic to beer, I break out in a pizza or bag of chips.

MMMMMMMMMMMMM BEER.

This has got to be one of the funnist things I've ever heard, break out in pizza or a bag of chips. Very original, keep em' comming.

All went well today, looks like fermentation is under way. I took some pictures that I'll post later. It's a fun hobby that most everyone enjoys.

Cheers, B&T TJ

Your killing me!!

[Black & Tan TJ]

This is basically what it looks like:
The Crushed Grains


Striking the Grains, yes I support child labor, my own.


The Mash


Sparging or rinsing the Grains

Sparging, closer veiw


Into thr Brew Kettle. via buckets (nothing fancy here)


Boiled for 45min.


Gravity fed through a Counterflow Chiller into the Fermenter


Yeast starter. The Yeast is the most important part.


In about 3 week this will be ready for consumption, B&T TJ

[HIGLET]

Holy Shit you are a lot slicker than I ever was.