First BIAB Brew Coming Up Next Weekend!

[wessay]

I have home brewed on and off for the past 10 or years so, but I have had a rather long dry spell of a few years up until now. I have been wanting to get back in to it and join the local home brew club, but just never got around to it.

Last weekend my wife and I went to a local craft beer crawl and the home brew club had a whole tent set up with several of the members beers ready to be sampled. Now I know you can make some great home brew, I have done a fair job and I have friends that do a great job, but I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the beers I was tasting.

My wife and I talked about it for a few days which culminated with me joining the local club today as well as ordering some equipment to do some BIAB brewing. Needless to say I am really stoked about getting back in to it! I have done only extract brews in the past and while they always came out fine, I wanted to move up the brewing ladder so I could have a little more control over the finished product. My equipment should all be arriving in the next few days, and hopefully with any luck we will be brewing a batch up next weekend.

We are going to start out with a grain kit so we have a recipe that has a projected OG & FG, that way we will know what kind of efficiency we are getting, etc.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I really like BIAB, have fun and welcome back. Glad your spouse is supportive.

 

[wessay]

I really like BIAB, have fun and welcome back. Glad your spouse is supportive.

She has come a long way from her "I only drink Miller High Life" roots when we first met!

 

[Morrey]

She has come a long way from her "I only drink Miller High Life" roots when we first met!

LOL....take her back to her roots with a Cream Ale which my wife loves in the summer.

Glad you noticed the home brew scene has really made a splash as of late. I was off and on since the late 80's, but BIAB has made me brew darn near weekly now! The quality of beers we can make BIAB is superior to any you can purchase. Keep on keeping on!!

 

[BassElement]

Try BIAB home brewing with a spouse who doesn't drink, full stop. Challenging, but at least she has an expensive hobby so my home brew investments look cheap in comparison. Bless her, she supports me nonetheless! Happy wife, happy life!

 

[Chesterbelloc]

I've given the idea of contacting a local brew club. I probably should -- I would improve no doubt. Just over the last 20 years I haven't ever joined one.

When I first started brewing, I always brewed in a bag. It just made sense. It was like old school extract brewing -- using snow to cool down wort. But then moved on to building mash tuns and big kettles and kegs. I think that was a mistake -- I brewed less often and forgot how to bottle properly.

Brewing in a bag really is more appropriate/approachable for some of us.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

She has come a long way from her "I only drink Miller High Life" roots when we first met!

Cracked me up...My lovely wife is a Bud Light gal. First craft beer she ever liked was a cream ale from Pagosa Brewing in Pagosa Springs Co., so I emailed Tony Simmons, the owner and brewer, and he shared the recipe. Still one of my regular brews and most enjoyed during summer camping/ softball/ backyard gatherings! I HAVE sloooowly creeped up the IBUs over a the years...Last week I handed her a rye pale with about 30 IBU and she thought it was a pretty good!

Welcome back to the fold!

LOL....take her back to her roots with a Cream Ale which my wife loves in the summer.

Glad you noticed the home brew scene has really made a splash as of late. I was off and on since the late 80's, but BIAB has made me brew darn near weekly now! The quality of beers we can make BIAB is superior to any you can purchase. Keep on keeping on!!

 

[Vedexent]

Try BIAB home brewing with a spouse who doesn't drink, full stop. Challenging, but at least she has an expensive hobby so my home brew investments look cheap in comparison. Bless her, she supports me nonetheless! Happy wife, happy life!

This is my situation exactly! My wife has no sense of smell at all (anosmia), so anything with any appreciable ethanol in it tastes to her what shooting straight vodka would be like for most of us.

But she's pretty fanatical about her hobbies, so she doesn't begrudge me mine

----

And OP - best of luck with your first BIAB! Just put my first all-grain BIAB in the fermenter on Sunday, and had a blast doing it

 

[wessay]

I've given the idea of contacting a local brew club. I probably should -- I would improve no doubt. Just over the last 20 years I haven't ever joined one.

Joining a brew club is pretty fun, I met some nice people and signed up for a group brewing competition where the winning team gets a full production batch made at a local brewery. One of the guys in the club is the brewer there and can get it done, so its pretty neat.

Cracked me up...My lovely wife is a Bud Light gal. First craft beer she ever liked was a cream ale from Pagosa Brewing in Pagosa Springs Co., so I emailed Tony Simmons, the owner and brewer, and he shared the recipe. Still one of my regular brews and most enjoyed during summer camping/ softball/ backyard gatherings! I HAVE sloooowly creeped up the IBUs over a the years...Last week I handed her a rye pale with about 30 IBU and she thought it was a pretty good!

Welcome back to the fold!

I don't remember what the first craft beer that really grabbed my wife was, but I want to say it might have been a Belgian sour? She can definitely drink anything now, regardless of the IBU level.

Hell she will even drink smoked beers, and you couldn't get me to drink one.