Brewing Beer!

Any home brewers about?

I've been home brewing for several years now, and I find it just as much fun as growing... maybe even a little more, despite the fact that I rarely drink.

How about a tricks and tips threads? Share some favorite recipes?

Here's one I pulled out of my archives.. I call this one 'The Unfortunate Ale', as it's a pretty tame beer that most 'average palate' drinkers can enjoy. It's a partial mash recipe.

5 gallon batch:

Grain Bill:
.5 lbs 2 Row
.25 lbs Wheat
.5 lbs Carapils
.25 lbs Victory
.5 lbs Crystal 20

Yeast: Safale -05 (or similar)

Hops: 2 oz Centennial

Malt: 7lbs light liquid extract.

1 tsp Irish Moss/ 1 tsp brewer's salts.


Bring water with brew salts up to 160F. Add grain bag. Let rest to 152F. Hold for 30 minutes. Sparge. Add extracts and bring to a soft boil. Add .66 oz Centennial Pellets. After 25 minutes, add .33oz. 20 mins after that, add .5oz and irish moss. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Remove hops. Cool to 80F, transfer to carboy, aerate your brew and pitch the yeast.

Starting gravity should be about 1.052
Finish at 1.012 or less.

6 day primary fermentation followed by a 14 day secondary should yield a finishing gravity of 1.012 or 1.01

and now for a tip!

How to easily strain/remove pellet hops from your wort:

get your strainer and swirl your wort so that it creates a vortex. this will make all of the hop bits go to the center of the vortex. Simply lift your strainer up through the vortex to remove the hops. Swirl and repeat. Swirl and repeat. After a few times of this, 95% of your hops will be strained out.

Thats an awesome tip. It has been a few years since I have brewed anything, but cleaned my garage last week and found 3 of my glass carboys and some other things for it...Think I might have to just give everything a clean and get back at it. I had a pale ale that I used to brew that I named old man auggie after my dog. I'll see if i have that recipe saved somewhere and post that

I brew my own too. its fun and kills time. its a lot less trouble and I feel cheaper just to open a coors lite, but kinda like smoking your own, you get the "I done it myself" feeling.

My goto easy to find shelf beer is Sierra Nevada, followed by Stone Brewery.

I don't really save money either.. but I get exactly what I want! I spend on average 75 bucks per batch.

And tell me if the scent of throwing hops into your kettle isn't the best fucking smell on earth!

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How about another tip?

Storing ready to go kegs:

After you've emptied your keg, it's always a good idea to clean it as soon as practical. Save some trouble and clean it AND sanitize it all at the same time so it's ready for your next batch.

Fill your keg 1/2 way up with iodophor solution (or some other no-rinse solution) and seal it up. Let it sit for 15 mins. Flip it over for another 15. Hook up a picnic tap and your CO2 and push out the solution. Do NOT open it and dump it out. You will not open it again until you are putting beer in it. Pressurize your keg.. (I like to put in 15psi) and store it. Once you do open it, there will be a little more of the solution left behind than you are probably used to, but if you use iodophor, you will not taste it. Again, DO NOT DUMP IT OUT! Leave it just where it is. Remember, CO2 is heavier than air, and is free of bacteria and oxygen, our worst enemies. You want that CO2 in your keg as you fill it. Doing this assures you precious beer BARELY touches oxygen until it's poured into your cup, minimizing the chance of contamination and oxidation. Oxygen will contact the brew in the vessel you are draining. If you wanna get really anal, slowly fill it with CO2 as it drains.

Next time you are ready to keg, just pop the relief valve and if it hisses you know it held pressure and your keg is ready for beer.

Gives you one less thing to worry about come bottling day, and will also verify that your keg is still able to hold pressure over time.


.. On a related tip, I also purge my secondary with CO2 after I sanitize and before I rack to keep the brew from contacting open air. It also allows you to let the hose splash around without worry


--- some of this might seem overkill, and yeah.. it likely is. But then, I've never had a batch get contaminated or a brew with even a HINT of oxidation, so I'm sticking with it!