HomeBrew/Wine Anyone?

[Lost in mn]

Anyone into Home brewing of wine or beer? I have been doing the Homebrew thing for about 25 years now. I got away from 6 gallon batches a few years ago in lieu all grain brewing and some industrial type primaries and fermenters.
When we do a batch now it's anywhere from 10-23 gallons depending on what it is. I specialize in all grain dark beers and berry wines.
In addition to home brew I also grow my own berries/fruit for wine and Hops for beer.

The berry wines are very sweet and when cooked down they are an awesome addition to sauces and for bbq sauces and glazes.

 

[Slowngreen]

Pics or it didnt happen

 

[Lost in mn]

Irish Winter Wheat Stout Ale!

Berry patch pics coming soon Harvest in 2 weeks!!!!

I have been using P.E.T bottles exclusively now for several years they are much easier to clean, seal and move around.

 

[Cody]

I've been homebrewing for a couple years now. Started out very innocent with a turkey frier and a extract kit. It quickly turned into all grain,3keggles,plate chiller and tons of other stuff. Built my own fermentation chamber and even brewed a lager. I started out kegging and here recently my kegerator took a dump on me. I HATE BOTTLING!!

 

[Cody]

Oh, I also made 5 gal. of Cabernet Sauvinon.
I almost forgot! We also made 3 gal. of mead that would catch your throat on fire. lol. The most high octane stuff I've ever had.

 

[Cody]

 

[Lost in mn]

Nice set up! Mead is awesome stuff. Did you make a dry mead or sweet mead? How long did you age it? I have some Dry Mead I have been aging for about 60 months now. I am anxious to try it this fall. I am going to be getting my brewing set up back up and running this fall. I have had it all apart since we had the fire here. Bottling sucks I agree but we don't drink it fast enough for kegging. I end up giving most of it away.

Have you experimented with any specialty beers or fruit beers? It's actually quite amazing what you can make beer out of.

 

[w_r_ranch]

I've done wine, although I have done any for a few years now... busy with other things...

 

[ErnieCopp]

I am not much of a beer drinker, but a friend brought some of his home brew down, and i would be happy to drink it if he brings more of it. Very good stuff compared to the dark Mexican beer i keep on hand.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Negra Modelo??? I like it!!!!

 

[ErnieCopp]

Yes, and i like Bohemia, too. During my hunting years we would spend a few weeks in the Navajoa/Los Mochis area bird hunting each winter, and we would drink beer instead of water. It just cost 25 cents a bottle and there was no reputable bottled water back then. Ah, those were good days.

Ernie

 

[Mr_Yan]

This is the thing I tried to learn last summer (each summer I try to learn something new). I'm where you guys were years ago. 5 gallon extract kits and bottles.

English Bitters
English Pale Ale (2 bottles left)
Red Ale (3 weeks in bottles and not yet sampled)

 

[Cody]

Sorry for the late response, I've been in Kansas for the last 6 days. It's been a while, but I think we used 10lbs. of honey and lots of different fruites to make a 3 gallon batch. Aged it for roughly 6 months. I still have some too. Almost 2yrs. old now. I'll dig up a pic. This weekend my in laws had 25 gal. of homebrew in 5gal. kegs. Man we drank a lot of beer. All CRAFT BREW! I bet I had atleast 10 different kinds. As light as blue moon clone

 

[Cody]

to as dark as a brown. Hefe's, ipa's etc. etc. After seeing his electric setup I may have to change to that too. Water heater element to heat everything up. Worked like a champ.

 

[Cody]

 

[Mr_Yan]

I've read that going all grain can make the boil day almost twice as long as using an extract. Do you guys find this to be true? If so I'll be stuck with extracts for a few more years - man two kids under 36 months old takes a lot of time.

 

[Cody]

Pretty much the case. Atleast 6hrs. Depends on how fast everything comes to boil.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Well it was bound to happen I screwed up a batch. It is drinkable but pretty bad - I steeped the specialty grains too hot and leached the tannins out so the red ale is rather brown. This one is also excessively carbonated I should have tested the fermentation state with the hydrometer and not just give it two weeks in the secondary. Oh well, I'll still drink it.

 

[Cody]

It's difficult, but I would wait a few weeks. It could change quit a bit.

I popped open some mead that hasn't been touched in a year. Man it is a LOT better now. I was impressed. Looks like I'll be making some more.

 

[Mr_Yan]

It's difficult, but I would wait a few weeks. It could change quit a bit.

Thanks Cody. I waited slightly over 3 weeks to crack the first one. Now I'm nearing 5 weeks since bottle day. There's the expected variation bottle to bottle. They are in the basement and I don't have a thermometer down there but I think it is up to 65 to 70 at this point.