bigbikerrick Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 Today I received my "Mr. Beer" home micro brewery that my son gave me for X-mas. I love interesting beers and am looking forward to brewing some home brewed beer. Have any of you tried this,or are familiar with this product? Any "tips and or tricks" you would like to share?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g.forrest Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 never bottle to early,[should be no gas rising]depending on temp, after 8-10 days.add only recomended amount of suger to bottle,fill and cap quickly,say 6 750 ml bottles at a time, hygeine is very important.ie clean bottles well,just prior to bottling, boiling water is good enough,as long as bottles are clean,no residue left from previous, allways rinse bottle of residue after emptying before storing for next refill. waiting is the hardest part. till you build supply..enjoy.. Today I received my "Mr. Beer" home micro brewery that my son gave me for X-mas. I love interesting beers and am looking forward to brewing some home brewed beer. Have any of you tried this,or are familiar with this product? Any "tips and or tricks" you would like to share?? 70209[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbikerrick Posted December 10, 2005 Author Share Posted December 10, 2005 never bottle to early,[should be no gas rising]depending on temp, after 8-10 days.add only recomended amount of suger to bottle,fill and cap quickly,say 6 750 ml bottles at a time, hygeine is very important.ie clean bottles well,just prior to bottling, boiling water is good enough,as long as bottles are clean,no residue left from previous, allways rinse bottle of residue after emptying before storing for next refill. waiting is the hardest part. till you build supply..enjoy.. 70212[/snapback] Thanks for the tips, Forrest. Sounds like you have made a few batches using this system...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.gilmore Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 Thanks for the tips, Forrest. Sounds like you have made a few batches using this system...... 70214[/snapback] He lives on it,If anyone know's its Gszzarrrrrrrr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX REDNECK (R.I.P.) Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 :. waiting is the hardest part. till you build supply..enjoy.. No need to wait, available now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX REDNECK (R.I.P.) Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 He lives on it,If anyone know's its Gszzarrrrrrrr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeBenGuzzi Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 I've heard that the Home brew doesn't taste very good. I haven't tried it but then I wouldn't know as I don't drink beer but a few freinds of mine did it and they like medium to heavy beers and couldn't drink it... not that it was too light or to strong they just didn't like it think as maybe some things are better left to the pros with all the time it takes and the cost of the home brew you could be drunk 3 times over b4 you get it out of the box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzzista Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 [OK, then, with the Rosso Corsa I recommend Moretti "La Rossa", with the Nero Corsa the" Negra Modelo"( from Mexico). as for those with the bad -ass Scura , nothing short of Guinness will do. Of course this only applies to to US in general so if you are from Europe, Scandinavia, UK,Down Under, then, I am sure many more choices are available...oh, and yes, home brews can be outstanding if properly executed...Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Barrett Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 I've heard that the Home brew doesn't taste very good. ............ maybe some things are better left to the pros with all the time it takes and the cost of the home brew you could be drunk 3 times over b4 you get it out of the box 70227[/snapback] My efforts fell into this camp. It would be an acquired taste I tired lagers, stouts and even cider. Some were better than others. It might be the hardness of the water in my area. But there are breweries locally so that's not a good excuse. I had mixed results with pressure barrels. You can spend a small fortune on all the paraphernalia. I would start of with the simple kits and then add more. Like tinkering with your Guzzi its a mostly harmless hobby if you can avoid alcoholism and not brew ethanol. You can get satisfaction from it and acceptable results, or you can leave it to profesionals or a bit of both. It's something I no doubt will revisit but I'll have to start from scratch. The brewing buckets made handy containers when cleaning out my fish tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrt Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 I've heard that the Home brew doesn't taste very good. I haven't tried it but then I wouldn't know as I don't drink beer but a few freinds of mine did it and they like medium to heavy beers and couldn't drink it... not that it was too light or to strong they just didn't like it think as maybe some things are better left to the pros with all the time it takes and the cost of the home brew you could be drunk 3 times over b4 you get it out of the box 70227[/snapback] I beg to differ. I brewed my own beer for about 10 years. Lately I've been too busy and I've cut down my beer consumption so I haven't made any in about 2 years. Homebrew is easy to make, and with a very small amount of attention to detail, it will kick the ass off any store-bought brew. Work near a sink. For all practical purposes, potable water is sterile. For sterilizing- I use a big rubbermaid tube. Fill it with 1% bleach and soak the bottles and caps in that until you are ready to use them. Just before you fill the bottles with the wort, rinse them out real good. They can sit upright on a counter- they won't get contaminated. Rinse the bottlecaps similarly- I put them on a piece of paper towel, and put a newspaper (which is also sterile as long as you haven't opened it up) over them to keep dust off. Also, you've inoculated the medium (the wort) with crapload of yeast. Not much can compete with the advantage they have. Also- hops are acidic, and bacteria don't grow well in acidic media. Hops were used as an antiseptic for millennia. A compress of hops can prevent infection (like peat does). You can drop 90% of the spores and various other crap in the air out very easily. Fill a misting bottle with 50:50 water:alcohol (I use ethanol or rubbing). Walk around the room misting. Dust and spores and all that crap adheres to the tiny mist droplets which fall out of the air. 5 minutes later you have a very clean room. Darker beers- porters and stouts- are easiest to make. Lighter beers take more finesse. Try with a nice heavy ale the first time. Oh- one other thing- if you add finishing hops, do that much later than you want to. Wait until it's almost too late. If you add finishing hops while the wort is still hot, you drive off the finish and only add bitter. If you add finishing hops when the wort is warm, but not cool, then you get the finish and not the bitter. That's what you want. Warm to the touch. Enjoy! It's a great hobby! J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchbob Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 This all sounds like good advice, but, actually, I'm with Martin on this: it must be something to do wtih English beer kits. If I make any, I make sure to give it to friends with strong stomachs. I have noticed that when motorcycling friends make it from kits, they are EVER SO keen for you to take as much as you want away to try. My friends here in France are puzzled by the whole business of home brewing, and although cider is made every autumn, the apples are entrusted to someone who has all the gear, who's done it for years and learned from his grandfather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrt Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 This all sounds like good advice, but, actually, I'm with Martin on this: it must be something to do wtih English beer kits. If I make any, I make sure to give it to friends with strong stomachs. I have noticed that when motorcycling friends make it from kits, they are EVER SO keen for you to take as much as you want away to try. My friends here in France are puzzled by the whole business of home brewing, and although cider is made every autumn, the apples are entrusted to someone who has all the gear, who's done it for years and learned from his grandfather. 70237[/snapback] Oh, well, that's the other thing- don't use a kit. Start from grains. It's much better. Like anything, I suppose, it does take some practice. I have a notebook (a diary?) that I've kept for years with recipes, tasting notes, etc. What can I say...I'm a scientist. Actually- the reason I started homebrewing in the first place was because I have a degree in microbiology. I figured I should get something out of it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeBenGuzzi Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 Oh, well, that's the other thing- don't use a kit. Start from grains. It's much better. Like anything, I suppose, it does take some practice. I have a notebook (a diary?) that I've kept for years with recipes, tasting notes, etc. What can I say...I'm a scientist. Actually- the reason I started homebrewing in the first place was because I have a degree in microbiology. I figured I should get something out of it.... 70246[/snapback] SEEEEEE no wonder youre brew turns out good. Youre a Cheater! us less learnded types have to try and muggle through it. Like anything most give up b4 they get good at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve G. Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 Today I received my "Mr. Beer" home micro brewery that my son gave me for X-mas. I love interesting beers and am looking forward to brewing some home brewed beer. Have any of you tried this,or are familiar with this product? Any "tips and or tricks" you would like to share?? 70209[/snapback] Welcome to the home brewing world bigbikerrick. You will enjoy this enormously. I've been a home brewer since 1980, starting out with kits, now I mostly do brewing from raw grains and whole hops, when I can find them. I have given up on cleaning/sterilizing 60 odd bottles as well, and now have a full c02 dispensing system with tap, with just 1 5 gallon container, all in a mini fridge. I'm sure our microbiologist will correct me on a thing or two, but this layman brewer has done well by advise given to my over the yearsby other laymen brewers and proffesional brewers alike. So I speak in laymans words. Home brewing can be as simple or complex as you like. Doing it simple will not decrease the quality of the beer, but being lazy or really cheap will. By lazy I mean you must be meticulously clean, sterilising parts, [and later beer bottle and caps]. A dishwasher will not do. By cheap I mean you really should use a proper steriliser from a home brewing shop. And of course, the better the raw materials, including the yeast [precultured 'live' yeast is best] will dramatically improve your beer. Substituting the white sugar in the kit [probably corn sugar as it is cheap and easy to ferment] for dry malt extract will eliminate the "tinny metallic" taste that all processed white sugars will give the beer. This kit will probably have the malt/sugar/hops in separate containers which you will mix together. In these kits, it should be pointed out that almost all of them use a dried and packaged "ale" yeast, verus a dried and packaged "lager" yeast. The main reason for this is that the ideal temperature for ale yeast to ferment the sugars in the mixture [wort] is between 65-75 deg F, about the temperature of the average house. Lager yeast prefers 45-55 deg F. As well, the ale yeast is [compared to ale or wine yeast] quite vigorous and quick in converting sugar into alcohol. Also, ale yeast is top fermenting, meaning it does all it's bubbling and activity at the top, where the home brewer can see the action, vs lager yeast being bottom fermenting, slow, lazy, difficult to check it's progress. With this in mind, these kits will always make better ales and stouts [stouts are made with ale yeast] than lagers, so large a degree the yeast is to the flavour of the beer. Also, beers with a heavier taste tend to offest the "off flavours" of the dreaded white sugars, and any of the non stainless steel or glass containers or equipment may give off. If you are happy with this, then great. If you are a lager/lite beer guy, you can still use ale yeast, but avoiding use of white sugars will really make a huge difference in taste. Any other questions, I'd be more than happy to tell you anything to make a better beer, even your own custom beer just for your palate. Ciao, Steve G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbikerrick Posted December 11, 2005 Author Share Posted December 11, 2005 I've heard that the Home brew doesn't taste very good. I haven't tried it but then I wouldn't know as I don't drink beer but a few freinds of mine did it and they like medium to heavy beers and couldn't drink it... not that it was too light or to strong they just didn't like it think as maybe some things are better left to the pros with all the time it takes and the cost of the home brew you could be drunk 3 times over b4 you get it out of the box 70227[/snapback] Well, I made the first batch today, Its sort of a fun project me and my son are doing, I feel like a kid with a chemistry set.... HeHe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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