757 Home Brewers

We are looking to find some local home brewers. We would love to start sharing beers, ideas, tips, tricks and other fun stuff. Let's start making this happen.

Under Toes

Where would "local" be?

We are located in Virginia Beach. We are looking in the area. VB, norfolk, Chesapeake.... We are just looking all of 757.

More specifics? (Time/locations/etc/)

Specifics would be cool

We are looking to get a group of like minded home brewers. No dates or times are set, we were thinking once a month get together share some ideas, beer, and tips.

I would be interested in this, as I am new to the brewing world and would love the ideas and help getting "cooking".

Same as New_2_Brew I'm new to home brewing (just bottled my first batch) and am interested in seeing what type of social crowd there is in the Virginia Beach/Chesapeake/Norfolk area there is for Home Brewers. I've spent the last week going a mile a minute through books/online resources for info, but would love a chance to get together with some vets to talk shop and learn more.

New to brewing myself, have done a couple extract kits and hopefully doing one tomorrow. I'm over in Newport News though seems like everybody is on the southside

I've done the Mr. Beer stuff a few times (not sure that counts), but my wife hooked me up with a really nice kit for Christmas this year from Home Brew USA out in Norfolk -- I'll be bottling my first 5 gal batch out of that system this weekend (Home Brew USA's Hurricane Hop IPA). Probably gonna go ahead and start a new batch this weekend too. I picked up ingredients for their new Strissel Saison earlier this week.

If anyone is interested in getting together at some point maybe we look at somewhere out in Norfolk so nobody has to go too far. Plenty of options out there between Downtown, Ghent, & Colley to grab food/drinks.

First brew today a White House honey ale. Turned out looking like it might be in the 7.5 range a little over the norm.

I'm interested in getting together, but I'm not currently in the 757. I'll be in the 907 (Arctic Alaska) until late may/early June, at which point I should be heading back to the Beach. I brewed for a little over a year before moving up here in October, and have about 20 batches under my belt (mostly all grain). Left all my all-grain equipment with family in VA Beach so I can pick back up when I get home. Also left a couple batches of Belgian strong there to age while I'm gone. They'll have close to a year and a half in bottles by the time I get back to them. Anyways, I'll be monitoring this thread until I get back to see if things get off the ground. It's illegal to brew where I'm at, so reading this forum is the only thing homebrew that I have to hold on to.

One thing I can recommend to all of you is to go check out Wine and Cake Hobbies on tidewater drive in Norfolk. They have just as much if not more than homebrew usa, and in my opinion, better attitudes. They also periodically show up on Groupon, which can really help on brewing costs. Talk to Chris if you go, she knows her stuff and values her customers.

Hope yall can get something together cause there's really a lack of good, organized brewclubs in the 757. I hope to be able to be a part of the club, even from 6,000 miles away. I'll be back but until then, enjoy brewing and have one for me.

Here's a few pics of my setup.

t

So confused, Im making a white house honey ale. it when into the carboy last sunday at about 70 degrees. yeast went in, and no movement till the next morning kept the bottle and surrounding water to about 65 degrees, we got bubbling for about two days I replaced the blow off bottle and it totally stopped moving at all. Now the beer is completely stagnant, still remaining about 63 degrees. I was thinking about putting it in for secondary fermentation in a fermenting bucket. So i guess i'm asking should i worry yet? should i transfer the beer off the yeast cake. FYI only leaving in crboy for about another few days prior to bottling.

Let it be for 2 weeks at least, most will tell you 3 weeks.

so then the fact its not churning anymore isnt an issue?

But some good things come out of the 757 zip code....One thing in particular is my man Tajh Boyd. I'm a big Clemson Tiger fan. Glad he came to Clemson. Great ambassador for Clemson University. Has a nice 757 tat on one of his arms. Good luck to him in the NFL. Nice win in the Orange Bowl. Sorry, now you guys can continue.

New_2_Brew - Just ran into a similar issue with a Bourbon Barrel Porter I did over the weekend. Pitched the yeast and had my blowoff tube bubbling like crazy for 24-36 hours, then nothing for the last 24 hours. Talked to a few of the guys at HomebrewUSA and they all said the same thing - beer is fine, just leave it alone for 2-3 weeks. Its my 4th batch, and after tasting my first two this weekend, I must be doing things right, so I'm just going to keep on keepin on until something tastes bad, haha (crosses fingers / knock on wood).

Quick shout out to the757! Brewing again!!! Dude, where are you? lol.

Hey 757 brewers, any more plans/talks of starting these get-togethers? I hope yall will have this off the ground by summer cause I'm looking forward to meeting up with some fellow brewers when I get back in town. I'm upgrading equipment from a distance (ordering parts) and planning brews for the summer/fall. I'd love to hear what everyone is brewing and building for their beer. Hope to share some beers with yall soon.

Sent from 35 miles north of the Arctic circle.

I'm pretty sure I've been a victim of a fusel alcohol infestation lol my beer causes instant headaches.


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New_2_Brew said:

I'm pretty sure I've been a victim of a fusel alcohol infestation lol my beer causes instant headaches.


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Especially after 24 of them

I'm also Va Beach-what's up with the group meet?

Lets pick a date/place and make it happen. I have a M-F 9-5, so weeknights/weekends work best for me and I live in central VB next to 264, which puts me a hop, skip, and jump from anywhere in the Norfolk/Chesapeake/VB area. There's quite a few great beer places to choose from out here -- what's everyone interested in?

11th Street Taphouse (VB Oceanfront)
Tapped Gastropub (off Laskin)
Yardhouse (VB Towne Center)
The Public House (off Colley)
The Bier Garden (High St. in Portsmouth)

Or if none of those places work, we could always hit one of the microbreweries in the area. Young Veterans and Beach Brewery are literally 50 yards away from each other, so we could hit both of those the same night.

Annnddddd....GO!

On another note, I'm pretty psyched -- just picked up a chest freezer off Craigslist and a 2-tap Keezer conversion kit off of KegConnection. If everything goes well, I should be drinking my first kegged homebrew in 2-3 weeks. Based on what i've got fermenting, it will probably be a 5-gallon batch of Dead Ringer IPA from Northern Brewer.

I'm still interested in meeting up, unfortunately I still have 2 more months up here in arctic Alaska. If there isn't a date set before June, I propose June 6th at ynot pizza on Volvo Parkway in chesapeake. I know it's not a micro or a tap house, but the owner is a huge beer geek and stocks some really good beer. Also, if the group is big enough, they have a separate area or a front patio. Hopefully yall can get together before then, but if not at least it's a date to shoot for.

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There are two active homebrew clubs in Hampton Roads.
Seven Cities Brewers is on the Southside.
Colonial Ale Smiths and Keggers (CASK) is on the Peninsula.

Meyre86 said:

Lets pick a date/place and make it happen....
.....
Yardhouse (VB Towne Center)
The Bier Garden (High St. in Portsmouth)
.....

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Let's narrow the field to the Yardhouse -or the Bier Garden. Nights -and more preferably weekends work best for me.

Also- If you are in need of a wiring diagram for a temperature controller for your keezer- I did a write up here (http://loudmouthbrewer.wordpress.co...troller-wiring-diagram-with-indicator-lights/). I could bring the controller to the meet-up if you wanted to get your hands on it.

loudmouthbrewer said:

Let's narrow the field to the Yardhouse -or the Bier Garden. Nights -and more preferably weekends work best for me.

Also- If you are in need of a wiring diagram for a temperature controller for your keezer- I did a write up here (http://loudmouthbrewer.wordpress.co...troller-wiring-diagram-with-indicator-lights/). I could bring the controller to the meet-up if you wanted to get your hands on it.

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Well well... Look who decided to join the conversation.

The great white north

I like Yardhouse. I might be able to do this Friday, I'm a fan of early (4-5).

If that's too quick to do it, let's all meet in mid-April-Friday or Saturday around 5:00....Anyone?

Then we can still hold June 6th for JMCQUESTEN

New brewer here, first batch in fermenter now 2.5gallons (honey bear paw brown ale). Glad this thread is relatively active. I'm down in Chesapeake but drive all around sampling beers. Last weekend the wife and I went down to weeping radish in NC, then out to two veterans brewing and beach brewing co in VA.

Out a new batch in yesterday a bees knees honey wheat, smelled amazing can't wait to drink it.


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Been brewing for a very long time, go to a few events here and there but really don't have time for a "normal" gig, just can't keep plans from getting messed up either with work or work (that second one being my second "work"). lol...
Well, I knew there were a lot of home brewers in the area but didn't know a bunch on this site as well... that's good to know.
Now if we can only find someplace around the area to get bulk stuff for a better price.
Built my brew stand a couple of years ago and love using it. Have a few upgrades to do when I get the time.
What about a get together to brew some stuff, either going in on something or a few batches going at once???
I have a pretty large chest freezer I added a temp control to for fermentation. A smaller chest freezer that I built into a kegerator (holds four kegs, only three taps right now), a grain mill built into a couple buckets, a 50' immersion chiller... well, lets just say I have a 5 x 8 shed with nothing but brew equip and seems like half of it is still taking up space in my garage. so plenty of DIY stuff around thanks to this site.

Im game, would be intrested in a beer exchange thing too. It's just the wife and I and I got 17gallons of beer fermenting/bottle conditioning or sitting in my keezer. These are my first beers i have ever made last 10 gallons being biab style. I'm about to buy a second chest freezer for my ferm chamber, and am also in the market for buying bulk grains at a cheaper price.

Nice, wish I had 17 gallons going. Right now I have zero.
Well, I did do a few batches with a buddy that just started. We did one batch on my stand and the second one in his driveway with my single burner and my Polarware kettle for him to get the feel of doing it without my brew stand.

Ok guys, we're approaching the date in June that I suggested and I haven't heard anything of a meet before then. Originally I threw June 6th out there, but with my move back to VA being so close to that date, I'm going to suggest the following Friday June 13th, still at ynot pizza in chesapeake on Volvo pkwy. Let me know if anyone else will be able to make it.


Rekoob: That's quite the setup you have there, do you mind me asking what that control panel is controlling? I see that you're running propane so I know it's not heating elements. You running gas solenoid valves? If so, I'd definitely be interested in checking out how you have it setup. My rig is completely manual but I considered trying to change that a bit. I think a group brew day might be in order in the near future.

Date sounds good this far out. I'm thinking when I rack my ipa which might be this weekend I'll be doing the cream ale extract. Might split into secondaries and try 2.5g strawberry, 2.5g something else. Heard the honey really ferments out and is barely noticeable.

If you do the strawberries be careful, it's really hard to get the strawberry flavor to stick. If you really want the flavor, you should probably try adding strawberry flavor extract. I used real strawberries in a blonde ale and it didn't come out good at all. All the sweetness fermented out and all that was left was tart, which was not good. Even strawberry lambics use flavoring because it's a hard fruit to brew with. Good luck with it.

Is anyone still looking to set something up? Just found this section on the forums. Been brewing just under a year and having a blast.

Let's do it

Any thoughts? Has nobody gotten together at all?

Haven't been to a meet up yet, but would love to try organize one in the near future. Maybe sometime in October as fall starts to set in so we can break out the seasonal samplers? My buddy and I will be bottling a Vanilla Cream Stout tomorrow and I've got a half a case of Bourbon Oak Porter that's been aging since February itching to be opened.


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