Brewing in Chicago

Hey all I'm brand new to the brewing scene and was wondering if you guys had some easy brew recipies. I started my first batch of Amber Lager on sunday. I had a few problems with the process and was wondering what good directions are out there for some first timers. If you know anyone else in the chicago area doing this drop me a line!

There are lots of Chicago area guys on the board - welcome!

Have you checked out howtobrew.com yet? The first edition is available online for free and has just about everything you need to know about getting started... and then some.

As far as recipes, there is a nice database here full of all kinds of extract recipes. I started with a couple of kits. They're nice because everything is pre-measured and you can just concentrate on the process.

Northern Brewer and Midwest have some great kits available.

Welcome! Yeah, there are several of us here. Whereabouts are you located?

The 'How To Brew' site that rdwj referenced above is an excellent place to start. As far as hardcover books, I started out with two: The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian and, my personal favorite for beginners, Homebrewing for Dummies by Marty Nachel (another Chicagoan). All three of these are a 'must read', IMHO!

There's a LHBS in Chicago that has a website with a forum. It isn't as active as this one, but I've found some local info on it. If you went to AleFest this weekend at Arlington Park, he had a homebrew booth in the middle next to the 'Get Bent' stand. http://www.undergrounddigital.com/

Welcome to the hobby!

Thanks alot guys. I wish the first kit I got had directions like the how to brew book. I'm on the northside of chicago right by skokie. I just went to the Chicago brew and grow to get some little things (the dog ate my air lock and I needed to get a new one and a carboy handle). I'm actually looking for a good steam beer kit. I've been addicted to Achor Steam beer and would like to try and make it. Anyone know of any good kits for that?

Instead of the carboy handle (or in addition to), get yourself some milk crates. They really make moving those things easy, not to mention safer

KanBrew

I'va had lots of success with Williams Brewing kits - including their steam beer. It's the "California Lager Beer" kit. Anchor has the rights to "Steam Beer" so look for "California Lager" or "Common" if you look elsewhere

thanks rdwj, I have about 20 milk crates already so I'll just use one of them, it sounds safer after I looked at that handle. I can't wait to try my first homebrew. My friend and I had such a good time this first time around as soon as we get this batch out we're starting another one. Now that we have a better idea for temps. I think things will turn out better the second time around.

Brew & Grow is probably the closest shop to you up there. Williams, Austin Homebrew Supply and Midwest seem to get high marks here on HBT. I've always just purchased individual ingredients and either tried to formulate my own recipe or used an established one. This might give you some ideas!

Steam beers are great and relatively easy to do, too. I did an all grain brew about this time last year and am ready to brew the same recipe again. I used White Labs WLP810 San Francisco Lager yeast on mine and I highly recommend spending the extra money for it.

thanks for the link Rhoobarb I'm going to use one of those as my next brew. One question, the instructions on brewing stop at putting it into the fermenter. How long do you usually keep this time in the fermenter? Also the length of time for carboy and bottling? Is it just a standard 7-10 days or do you guys perfer longer/shorter time for a steam. The one I'm looking at is from your link (Anchor Steam-Style Amber).

KanBrew said:

thanks for the link Rhoobarb I'm going to use one of those as my next brew. One question, the instructions on brewing stop at putting it into the fermenter. How long do you usually keep this time in the fermenter? Also the length of time for carboy and bottling? Is it just a standard 7-10 days or do you guys perfer longer/shorter time for a steam. The one I'm looking at is from your link (Anchor Steam-Style Amber).

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Typically, I use the 1-2-3 method. One week in the primary, two weeks in the secondary and 3 weeks in the bottles (at room temp). If your beer is bubbling more than 3 or 4 bubbles a minute in the primary, leave it for a few more days. That most often happens if you're using honey or it's a high gravity beer - so it shouldn't be an issue for you with a steam beer.

We already know you'll never make 3 weeks in the bottles for your first beer. It's just too much to ask and you'll feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. Try to give it a week and give one a shot. If it's no good - let it sit. Even if it is good - let SOME sit for the whole three weeks. It gets better with time and most likely, your last bottle will be the best one.

Thanks alot for the help guys. I really appreciate it. Yeah and there is no way I could wait the three weeks for all those beers. I'll have to hide some from myself so I won't drink them until three weeks are up.

Hey guys long time. Sorry I haven't been on recently. Quick question for you guys. When your measuring the gravity of the beer my second measurement is more then my primary. How can I figure out the alcohal content if this happens? Also I tried some of it already and jesus is it good. I'm hooked for like now!

The 2nd reading will always be lower than the first. My guess is that you didn't adjust for temp. While I'm sure that there are methods of determining the abv of a finished product, it's not something you can do with a hydrometer.

KanBrew said:

Hey guys long time. Sorry I haven't been on recently. Quick question for you guys. When your measuring the gravity of the beer my second measurement is more then my primary. How can I figure out the alcohal content if this happens? Also I tried some of it already and jesus is it good. I'm hooked for like now!

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What was the temp when you took the original?

Here's an article on determining ABV.