Sawyer Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Ok I have had a little time on my hands and I came up with new (for me) hobbies. I have started brewing my own beer and making my own cheese. Both require more patience than I have as I have to wait for them to be done. Beer takes about a month and cheese takes 3-12 months. I did take a gravity reading of the beer last night and it was pretty nice. Its a wheat beer and I am happy with it so far. It tastes better than most wheat beers I have had so I figure I am ahead with my first beer. I will post an update when the beer is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Also try roasting your own coffee (http://www.sweetmarias.com) - I've been doing that and it stinks up the house, but the coffee is way better than what I could buy at a store and half the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 I have been looking into that as well. The wife likes me to keep my mess.. I mean hobbies to a min. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IC Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 I've been building a robot in my shed since 1987. I've got one foot done so far but it doesn't really work. Don't think I'd have the patience to wait a month on beer though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 Don't think I'd have the patience to wait a month on beer though. No the waiting sucks but as this is the first batch (1 batch = 50-60 beers) once I have that down I am set. Its really great price wise, once you have the bottles and equiptment a kit for beer runs about $20 - $25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilky9 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Hey Sawyer, Nice to know I'm not the only one here that makes his own beer. Are you using kits, or all-grain? I've recently moved to all-grain, with mixed results. Also, if you have a keg system, you can force carbonate your beer and knock a couple of weeks off of the wait time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 Chris I am doing extract from kits but I have gotten Promash and it is just too tempting to make my own recipie. I would like to try all-grain but it looks pretty intense. I like the space over head for the extract brews. Good to know there is another brewer. Think there is a market for renderings and custom designed building specific homebrews? How about it Jeff - CGA Brew? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilky9 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Assuming "Outside of Sacto, CA" means Sacramento, I found a Brew-On-Premise shop that will let you use all of their equipment to make an all-grain. It's pretty expensive at close to $150, but you get about 132 bottles of beer, and you'll get to experience/learn all-grain without a big investment in equipment. It's how I did it the first few times (my guy is cheap in comparison at $50), and it's nice to have someone else clean up after you! http://www.brewitup.com/personal_brewery.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 Yeah I have look into their stuff seemed a little steep. What did a keg run you? I saw a refurbished one for $40 and that seemed like a good deal I imagine it was just the keg not the additional gas adding equiptment. Just took another hydrometer reading and its getting close. Tasting good though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilky9 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 My wife got me the keg setup for christmas of '05 from Northern Brewer. I think it ran about $250 or so. It came with a new 5 gal. keg, at tap, handle, empty CO2 tank, hoses, connections, etc. I've since added an additional tap and bought a used keg from a local guy for $40. We bought a used fridge for $30 at a garage sale. It is fun to have this setup, especially at parties. Cleaning 2 kegs and the lines is still much faster than cleaning all of those bottles! I'm sure you could do it cheaper than this if you could find a used CO2 tank and keg. I was going to give you a link, but their site is either down, or I'm blocked from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 You have any good brew recipes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Alexander Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I have started brewing my own beer and making my own cheese. Beer and Cheese = Milwaukee & Wisconsin...Didn't think anything out in California was "backwards" compatible, LOL Sorry no insider secrets....but if you send me some samples....be more than happy to evaluate based on 42 years of Beer and Cheese scarfin' expereince. Sounds like an interesting hobby WDA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted January 22, 2007 Author Share Posted January 22, 2007 Didn't think anything out in California was "backwards" compatible, WDA I am a NM transplant and proud to be called backwards. Ok not really proud but 'I's likes the simple things'. This is a lot of fun and as far as hobbies go extract brewing is pretty easy and cheap to start. Unlike fly fishing which is hard to learn and expensive. And drinking is something I can do with the kids while they just haven't been too good at casting flies yet. I am on to my second batch of beer its a dark porter. Its my own recipe so I am a bit less sure how this will come out but based on the one sample I have tried I think it will be the best beer on earth. Maybe in the history of mankind. It may stop all wars. Tonight I will rack and bottle the wheat beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Just curious, whats your favourite beer? I mean that you can buy. I just finished reading a fantastic book about the history of beer and pubs in the UK and I cant recommend it highly enough. Its called 'the longest crawl'. My favourite lagers: Leffe or Trois Pistole favourite bitter (english warm beer): Adnams Broadside Favourite stout: Guiness Original (bottled) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted January 22, 2007 Author Share Posted January 22, 2007 Favorite beer would be Guinness. But thats more the experiance I had of drinking it in Ireland. When I tried it it blew me away it was so different and so perfect. Now I have been getting into Stones super hoppy beers. I like arrogant bastard quite a bit. I also really like wheat beers which are the other end of the flavor spectrum. Again I haven't had anything that came close to the wheat beers from Germany but I like the wheat taste. Pyramid Brewery is in Sacto and I like to go there for a bit and a good variety of samples. Usually I buy Sierra Nevada not my favorite but an all around good beer at a pretty good deal and one of those beers that everyone I know will like. Not everyone likes the Bastard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mskin Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 whats the book? the "complete joy of home brewing"? i don't know, i've made a portar and IPA from recipes in that book before.... they were fantastic. My carboys are all currently occupied with wine in my basement.... what a waist that is turning out to be. i bought 5 gallons of grape juice from the farmers market on september two years in a row.... it always winds up tasting ransid. I should just dump it and free up the carboys for more beer. cheese sounds like fun/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Also try roasting your own coffee (www.sweetmarias.com) - I've been doing that and it stinks up the house, but the coffee is way better than what I could buy at a store and half the price. ...i used to live across the street from Sweet Marias when they were located in Columbus. their shop was tiny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilky9 Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 whats the book? the "complete joy of home brewing"? i don't know, i've made a portar and IPA from recipes in that book before.... they were fantastic. My carboys are all currently occupied with wine in my basement.... what a waist that is turning out to be. i bought 5 gallons of grape juice from the farmers market on september two years in a row.... it always winds up tasting ransid. I should just dump it and free up the carboys for more beer. cheese sounds like fun/ My dad makes wine at home and it always tastes great! You have to buy the kits to do it though. He made something like 8 cases for my sisters wedding. Not a bottle left! My favorite recipies (which I'm looking for) are a clone of Boulevard Brewing's Unfiltered Wheat, and a clone of Boulder Brewery's Never Summer Ale. Goose Island IPA is probably my favorite beer, and by far the best IPA I've had. Unfortunately, like Boulevard Brewing, they don't distribute west of Kansas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 My dad makes wine at home and it always tastes great! You have to buy the kits to do it though. He made something like 8 cases for my sisters wedding. Not a bottle left! My favorite recipies (which I'm looking for) are a clone of Boulevard Brewing's Unfiltered Wheat, and a clone of Boulder Brewery's Never Summer Ale. Goose Island IPA is probably my favorite beer, and by far the best IPA I've had. Unfortunately, like Boulevard Brewing, they don't distribute west of Kansas. My current two favorites are... Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, and Rogue 100 Meter IPA. ...both have the ability to knock you on your ___. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 My current two favorites are... Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, and Rogue 100 Meter IPA. ...both have the ability to knock you on your ___. Duval is a good bet for knocking you on your _____. And it tastes great too. I think its belgian but im not sure. But im adamant you cant beat a Leffe. What brewery does the beers you mentioned, they sound like theyre from the same one(?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfa2 Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 My favorite recipies (which I'm looking for) are a clone of Boulevard Brewing's Unfiltered Wheat, and a clone of Boulder Brewery's Never Summer Ale. Man, I love me some Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat. Of course it's easy to come by here in Missouri. Some restaurants have it on tap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 Just opened the first bottle. Foamy head so yummy. Good night folks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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