Me and my room mate are thinking about purchasing a home brewing kit. We are both in college and have an extra room that would be perfect for it.

Any one out there ever try it/have any advice as to what to avoid, good starter kits, good websites, good books regarding the matter, etc. ?

Any input is appreciated.

There's not really much to it. You need a big pot for boiling, and start saving some decent bottles to use (a good kit should include a capper). Forget if they recommend brown or green bottles. You also want to think about the transfer and cooling before putting the lid on and setting aside to ferment, as you want to do that in a pretty sterile environment. Note: wash and sterilize your bottles well (the last few weeks probably ferment in the bottles in the fridge)!

The main thing to watch for is pay attention to the fermenting requirements. Some beers need to be fermented at a fairly specific temperature, which would probably be challenging for you. You want something that will do it's thing at room temperature.

I tried some once from a kit and it was the worst tasting shit ever. I don't know if something went awry in the process or it really tasted that bad. Ended up throwing the whole batch away and never got it out again.

Wildcats and my stepdad both have the Mr. Beer system. Wildcats first batch tasted good but some of the bottles didn't turn out right so there wasn't a lot. I am sure his 2nd will be better now that he knows what to do.

My stepdad is on his 4th batch. The first tasted good but needed more carbonation and the others have all been very good.

^^^^sanitization is the key. Be sure to follow the instructions for making an approriate sanitizing solution and be diligent about using it on your bottles.

I used the Mr. Beer kit and found it to be a good, low cost easy method. I was able to vary and customize some of the recipes and had a lot of fun. A good friend of mine bought into the more expensive, detailed methods...which was a lot more work...and he had a lot of fun too.

You can use any bottle that's made for CARBONATED beverages....doesn't matter what the color is...and can even be plastic 2 litre bottles( but I think that's hokey). If you are going to use old beer or pop bottles, you will need a capper...they are not expensive. You can use 20 oz. pop bttles with a twist off cap, but make sure they are tightly sealed while fermenting. Whatever bottle you use, you must clean with soap and water and then SANATIZE with a bleach soltuion. it;s not hard...but it is key.

I prefer home growing

I believe Bigdogg does it, or at least he used to. HE mostly is in the political boards though I think. I am assuming its the same person I knew before.

ALways some pretty good stuff.........used to test it it out until his wife wouldnt allow me to hang around anymore. Think she thought i was a bad influence or something.

^^^^you probably are too conservative for his/her liking.

HitsRus;730412 wrote:^^^^you probably are too conservative for his/her liking.

Politically maybe...i dont follow his political thoughts much....but we always got along pretty well.

and that is assuming this is the same bigdogg that I know

haha...in actuality, my 'brewing bud' was on the opposite side of the political aisle from me....we got along pretty well talking baseball and drinking our beers. We just stayed away from politics.

It has been 35 years but my grandpa would make home brew. I should have gotten his secrets but never did. I don’t think he had anything written down he just did it.
Few things I remember him saying:
Best and fresh grains, yeast and sugar never cut corners.
Keep everything clean
He made his home brew in a large glazed stoneware crock (it was huge I would say it was 3 feet tall and 2 foot wide) I wish I had it now worth a lot of money.
Never metal he said …. Temperature changes to much ..
Thinking back he would stretch a cloth over the top of the crock very tight and if I’m not mistaken a block of yeast would rest on top of the cloth for a period of time.

All I know is every year from the time I was 9 year old he and I would have a sampling at bottling time, as time went on that sampling got bigger and the beer got better.

He would also make Dago Red wine….

Me and my brother are looking to get into this soon.

I think you'll enjoy this torrent, it's got a bunch of home brew books and some software that looks pretty useful as well. If you like them buy them though.

I have a Mr. Beer unit and it definitely has its upside. It's fairly cheep compared to more extensive units and it makes it very simple to produce beer. It does have its limitations by not being able to get very creative and only make 2 gallons at a time, but if its just something you want to play around with and not get overly serious I recommend it. If you find out you're not that interested in it after awhile you're not really out much.

Fab4Runner;730365 wrote:Wildcats and my stepdad both have the Mr. Beer system. Wildcats first batch tasted good but some of the bottles didn't turn out right so there wasn't a lot. I am sure his 2nd will be better now that he knows what to do.

My stepdad is on his 4th batch. The first tasted good but needed more carbonation and the others have all been very good.

I've done the Mr Beer kit too. I actually have 3 barrels and another 2 kits I haven't done. I've only made a Blue Berry Wheat and it turned out pretty damn good. Living in a Condo I don't have the room to store 60 some bottles, so I chose to go the 20 some bottle route. If you use the Mr Beer Kit get one of the Premium Kits and age it longer than required. Mine was supposed to be 2 weeks in the barrel, but I keep it 4 weeks in the barrel. I also stored (lagered) it and extra 2-4 weeks. Here was my label a friend of mine designed.




A guy I work with got a hold of a large bag of grain for free. 4 of us are going together to brew a couple of huge batches.

Sanitation is the key. A friend of mine, that brews and hosts tastings said, Brewing is 70% Janitorial and 30% Brewing.

Thanks guys, appreciate the input.

So far I think this it the kit we are leaning towards...

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/everything-a-carboy-complete-brewing-package-equipment-kit-2.html

Oh, and sick label Curly.

Curly J;730658 wrote:I've done the Mr Beer kit too. I actually have 3 barrels and another 2 kits I haven't done. I've only made a Blue Berry Wheat and it turned out pretty damn good. Living in a Condo I don't have the room to store 60 some bottles, so I chose to go the 20 some bottle route. If you use the Mr Beer Kit get one of the Premium Kits and age it longer than required. Mine was supposed to be 2 weeks in the barrel, but I keep it 4 weeks in the barrel. I also stored (lagered) it and extra 2-4 weeks. Here was my label a friend of mine designed.



A guy I work with got a hold of a large bag of grain for free. 4 of us are going together to brew a couple of huge batches.

Sanitation is the key. A friend of mine, that brews and hosts tastings said, Brewing is 70% Janitorial and 30% Brewing.

Yeah my stepdad ended up getting a second barrel and it doing 2 batches at a time. He ages them at least 2 weeks longer than recommended and other than that first run they've all been very good. Even it was tasty but it was just too flat.

Barry Badrinath;730782 wrote:Thanks guys, appreciate the input.

So far I think this it the kit we are leaning towards...

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/everything-a-carboy-complete-brewing-package-equipment-kit-2.html

I haven't done it, but when I thought about it and did some research, a kit similar to this (maybe the exact one) was highly rated on home brewing sites.

be sure the yeast is fresh, add more sugar when bottling.

Barry Badrinath;730783 wrote:Oh, and sick label Curly.

I'd like to take credit for it, but a friend of mine designed it when I told him the name of the beer was BBW, a play on Blue Berry Wheat. I loved the Government Warning he came up with too.

He was the one who also inspired the "Brewery Name". He was talking about some girl and said "Could you imagine doing her ??? That would be F'ning a bus !!!"

gerb131;730378 wrote:I prefer home growing

Quite a few websites out there.

http://www.ratebeer.com/Story.asp?StoryID=534

Barry Badrinath;730782 wrote:Thanks guys, appreciate the input.

So far I think this it the kit we are leaning towards...

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/everything-a-carboy-complete-brewing-package-equipment-kit-2.html

That is the exact kit I got last year and I'm very happy with it; comes with everything you need. I've had mixed results with my beers although most people like them but I'm a bit more critical. I've got the book "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Homebrewing-Third-Harperresource-Book/dp/0060531053 and it's got lots of good info.

Here are a couple of good sites:
http://www.howtobrew.com/
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/