Home Brewing Beer

[Whitty]

I got into the hobby of home brewing beer over the last year and would like to keep it going after relocating this year. I'm heading off toward the end of this summer for my first training base and wondered if anyone has ever had experience with someone in their squadron brewing beer. I'm hoping to make it into something that I can do with my class and maintain as a weekend hobby/stress reliever.

[Guest Lockjaw25]

whitmorr,

We had a guy in my UPT class who managed to keep his brewing going through T-6s. A bunch of us went over one Saturday to his house on base to watch the process and assist (while, of course, drinking more beer). Weeks later, there was more than enough to go around. Everyone thought it was great, and he brought brews to several parties.

[LockheedFix]

I brew my own beer. I've done about 4 batches in the past year and a half. I would have made more, but I was deployed for 4 months (bottled a batch right before I left and it was delicious when I got back!) and I have a 2-year-old and one on they way. They tend to take away from by beer brewing time (as well as time for my 69 other hobbies.) You should have plenty of time on the weekends to keep it going.

[abmwaldo]

There are some great brew suppliers here in Anchorage if you're PCSing up this way. Several guys in our squadron brew their own beer with everything from the $100 kits (not recommended) to some pretty extensive setups which include 3-4 styles of beer and multi tap kegerators made from refurbished refrigerators.

If you're interested I can give you the names but shipping would probably make it too expensive plus you really need to walk around the shops/talk to the owners to have it be worthwhile.

[Whitty]

There are some great brew suppliers here in Anchorage if you're PCSing up this way. Several guys in our squadron brew their own beer with everything from the $100 kits (not recommended) to some pretty extensive setups which include 3-4 styles of beer and multi tap kegerators made from refurbished refrigerators.

If you're interested I can give you the names but shipping would probably make it too expensive plus you really need to walk around the shops/talk to the owners to have it be worthwhile.

Nice! If I'm lucky enough to ever get stationed at Elmo I will be a happy guy. I'll be at Tyndall and have found from doing a little research that there aren't any local brew suppliers so I'm probably going to be ordering from a major online supplier out of Austin, TX.

I think it'd be pretty shit-hot to roll something like this in to the party.

[drewpey]

It's surprisingly common. I didn't really know how many brewers there were around until I started talking around the squadron about it.

Austin Homebrew is good for the flatrate shipping. That's probably who you are talking about though.

[schokie]

I've recently gotten into this myself. My first couple batches were good, but nothing to brag about. My third one was amazing however. I just brewed a Hoegaarden clone this past weekend that I'm looking forward to sampling.

Dupe was the guy that got me started on this. He's been doing this since college, to include an overseas PCS. If you're going to Tyndall he'll be just down the road from you. I'd PM him for local info.

I believe a couple people mentioned more info regarding home brewing in the Favorite Beers thread.

Edited May 28, 2010 by schokie

[Whitty]

I've recently gotten into this myself. My first couple batches were good, but nothing to brag about. My third one was amazing however. I just brewed a Hoegaarden clone this past weekend that I'm looking forward to sampling.

Dupe was the guy that got me started on this. He's been doing this since college, to include an overseas PCS. If you're going to Tyndall he'll be just down the road from you. I'd PM him for local info.

I believe a couple people mentioned more info regarding home brewing in the Favorite Beers thread.

Nice. I've got a caramel IPA batch in bottle right now that I can't wait to try.

I wasn't totally joking about rolling around a keezer like that. I'm really anxious to step up to kegging. Putting together a kegerator or keezer like that is a project I'd like to take on. Ideally a keezer so that it could be on wheels like that. Why roll to the bar when you can roll the bar to you?

[Texaco]

I got into the hobby of home brewing beer over the last year and would like to keep it going after relocating this year. I'm heading off toward the end of this summer for my first training base and wondered if anyone has ever had experience with someone in their squadron brewing beer. I'm hoping to make it into something that I can do with my class and maintain as a weekend hobby/stress reliever.

Whitmore!!! I just partied with your bro last weekend. We did a class brew through Kelly's Brewery in Albuquerque and it turned out great! We called it "Shadoweizen" which was their house weizen with some darker wheat added to it. The six in my Shadow class each paid around $25 and got 12, 22oz bottles a piece. I highly recommend for the new guys to gain some experience through a local brewery, before you ruin your first few home batches, if you have that option.

Go Beavs!

-Cucci

Edited May 28, 2010 by Cucci

[Dupe]

I've been brewing for a couple years now. Its alot like golf in that $100 or $200 will get you started in the hobby, you can spend an infinante amount on equipment from there, and it takes up a Saturday or Sunday morning. I prefer to buy from Midwest Supplies because they were the only company who shipped APO while I was in Europe.

I now have a system set up where the bros in the squadron bring me empty bottles and I bring in a batch every month or so. I ask for, but don't press for, donations to cover the costs. It seems like it revolves ok.

[Whitty]

Nice. Right now I've done about half a dozen batches with just a simple extract setup on my kitchen stove. They have all been delicious, but I'd like to transition into doing AG brews. I'm getting married in July and made sure my fiancee registered us for a 40 quart stainless steel kettle.

What did you brew up for the start of the summer season, Dupe?

[Dupe]

I've got an Amber and a Farmhouse that both turned out well, and a Wit that I need to start. I tend to brew more Fall through Spring, then stay out of the kitchen for the summer...its just too nice and there are plenty of great, cheap summer beers out there.

Here's my lessons for brewing in the military:

I've found its not possible to do any brewing activity on the weekdays other than bottling or transfering to a secondary. It all works great if you're happy with a 7 day primary and a 14 or 21 day secondary. Bottom line is that if your beer needs some baby-sitting during the week, it will just have to wait. You're too busy as an officer to deal with it. I've also had my planned 7 day secondary time stretch into three weeks due to TDYs or a "no-notice" inspection. It always turned out fine. Good luck! Feel free to PM me with any questions you have...

[F16Rooster]

I really love the beer from my Mr. Beer kit.

No but seriously, brewing beer as an unofficial select-invite squadron "function" often was the start of a great night. And the best part is that if you brew it, it usually tastes good to you. Even our complete screwups (like the apple beer that came out like a hard cider) usually turned out ok. When we were still bottling I forgot to add priming sugar once...that one didn't turn out so well.

As far as supplies, I prefer the local shops if they're available. I've found that the guys that own those shops are usually pretty knowledgeable and a lot of them have even been brew-masters at smaller breweries before they started a shop.

Cheers.

[Day Man]

Bumping this to see if there's any more interest out there. Me and a couple guys in the sq brew, and usually trade the finished product. Got a Belgian wit in secondary right now, should be drinkable in 2 weeks.

[theSituation]

I'm a brewer as well. It's a great hobby. I was able to brew a few times during nav school. It was great for our grad parties and stuff. Like people have said you can spend tons of money on it or you can go the cheap route. I've stuck with the cheap route and have been pretty successful. My brown ale won an award in a competition in California earlier this year, so I'm proof that you don't need to spend tons of money to make good beer.

Also, I recommend finding a local home brew club and joining. It's a great way to meet locals and learn a lot about brewing and beer. Plus those are great guys and gals to call up when you've forgotten to buy priming sugar or something and the local store is closed.

A good shop to order stuff from is Maryland homebrew. I worked for them throughout out college and they're very nice and knowledgable people. They give a 10% military discount too!

[GovernmentMan]

That's awesome. I did some homebrewing when I was in Colorado. I used a pair of the Mr. Beer setups, and overall it cost about the same to make a batch as it would cost to buy the same amount of premium beer from the Class 6. It was lots of fun, and after 10 batches, I've only had one of them go bad along the way.

[Snuggie]

I'm also a homebrewer. Just brewed a batch on Monday of an all grain winter beer. I plan on bottling it in 750mL bottles and handing them out around Christmas. I was surprised once I started talking to people about homebrewing how many in the Air Force do it.

I buy all my supplies from Northern Brewer and the local homebrew shop.

[TheKing]

On about my fifth batch. Probably the greatest not-really-that-hard hobby in the world, with great results. Did the math once, comes out to about $2 per six pack after the initial investment, and it's always delicious if you make it yourself. I'm taking it to the next level, kegging into 5L mini (heiniken style) kegs, with a CO2 charged mini dispenser to go with it. Great redeployment present.

Does anyone know of any good brew shops in/around Charleston?

[shadymoose]

Does anyone know of any good brew shops in/around Charleston?

There's not too much around here. Taps Brews is a microbrew store off Dorchester and Ladson Rd (near Walmart) that started carrying a few kits and ingredients for extract batches. Since moving to CHS I've mostly just ordered everything from Brewmaster's Warehouse. It's in Georgia, shipping is cheap, and it gets here fast.

Careful- once you start kegging, you drink a LOT more beer. I've got two 5 gal kegs on tap and have to force myself to not pull a pint every time I walk by

[spudsmac]

Some of you are probably going to laugh at this setup, but woot.com has a Mr. Brew starter kit for $25 today. I went on and ordered it since I've been thinking about getting into brewing. Even if the beer isn't great, it will be a cheap way to get my feet wet before I go all out with the expensive stuff.

[Link for once the deal is gone]

https://www.woot.com/....aspx?id=20862#

edit: fixed link

Edited December 27, 2011 by spudsmac

[Striper_WSO]

Don't waste your money on this kit. It is virtually worthless. It doesn't have many of the things that even a newbie will need to brew beer. No thermometer, hydrometer, etc. There are decent kits for $100-$150 that include a 5 gallon glass carboy, thermometer, hydrometer, stoppers, hoses, funnels, etc. It just won't be fun making beer with this kit, plus you'll only have 2 gallons with the container that is provided. Try something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Equipment-Gallon-Glass-Carboy/dp/B002BU7CVM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1324994958&sr=8-4

[Tone deaf]

Don't waste your money on this kit. It is virtually worthless. It doesn't have many of the things that even a newbie will need to brew beer. No thermometer, hydrometer, etc. There are decent kits for $100-$150 that include a 5 gallon glass carboy, thermometer, hydrometer, stoppers, hoses, funnels, etc. It just won't be fun making beer with this kit, plus you'll only have 2 gallons with the container that is provided. Try something like this:

https://www.amazon.co...24994958&sr=8-4

Or this:

https://makebeer.net/item.asp?idProduct=1&idCategory=1&idSubCategory=0

10% off till the end of the year, enter coupon BARGAIN10 at checkout.

[Guest Grind]

The parents gave me this book for the holidays, just passing it on to anyone interested who already doesn't own it. The website is https://www.howtobrew.com/

The book I got is the 3rd edition; the first edition is free to read on the website above.

Does anyone grow their own hops? I'm thinking of trying it out once the winter passes.

[Day Man]

bump...

got a Citra IPA on tap in the kegerator with a coconut oatmeal porter in secondary for back up.

[Smokin]

Coconut oatmeal porter? Did you run out of things to make your beer with, opened the pantry, and grabbed the first things you found?

I just got a new lager freezer on Black Friday so I can turn my old lager fridge into a kegerator. Next up, a Dopplebock.

Anyone tried 2.5 gal kegs like this? I think I could fit four in my future kegerator...