misanthrope
Active Member
Greetings and salutations
I've been lurking here for a few weeks and figured it was time I introduced myself.
Here is my homebrew history. Pardon if it runs a bit long.
I have been brewing, off and on, for about twenty years. I would guess that I have brewed somewhere between 300 and 500 five gallon batches of homebrew.
I was introduced to brewing by a long time friend, and, at the time, room mate. Back then we brewed kits from cans. My room mate, being much wiser in the field of brewing than I, advised me to never use table or corn sugar. So instead, we just used two kits per batch. You want an American Light? No problem. Buy two kits of American Light. Irish Stout? You guessed it, two kits or Irish Stout.
We'd bring it to a boil in our largest pot with as much water as we dared. Then, straight from a ten minute boil to the fermenting bucket. Top it off to five gallons with refrigerated bottled water then feel the side of the bucket. If it felt like a yeast would be all warm and suggly, it was time to pitch. Oh....and don't trust that yeast from the kit. We'd buy a fresh packet of dried yeast for our beer.
Those were some damned fine beers.
After two years of that, I graduated to the LHBS kits. I'm sure you know them. A small cardboard box containing a bag of LME, some hops, maybe some specialty grains and a muslin bag. Oh, and some new fangled designer yeast that came in a vial. For six bucks.
I enjoyed these kits for years. Then it dawned on me: All of these kits contain the same ingredients: Malt extract, specialty grains, hops, and (very expensive) yeast. Could I buy them in bulk? Why yes. Yes I could.
I now buy 50-55 pound boxes of extra light DME, hops by the pound, and five pound portions of light crystal, medium crystal, biscuit, and chocolate malt. I make starters and propagate a single vial of WLP001 into ten to twenty batches of beer.
I bring these ingredients together with no regard to style. I make Pale Ale. Rich, amber color, sweet aroma, bitter finish with just a hint of grainyness. All for under fifty cents a glass. Centennial today, Amarillo tomorrow. Next week: Liberty.
I am currently drinking a beer that was one week in the primary, one week secondary, and THREE DAYS in the keg. It's a bit raw, but delicious. The heffe needs a bit more time.
I could actually go on and on, but I've had too much homebrew (if there is such a thing).
b.
I've been lurking here for a few weeks and figured it was time I introduced myself.
Here is my homebrew history. Pardon if it runs a bit long.
I have been brewing, off and on, for about twenty years. I would guess that I have brewed somewhere between 300 and 500 five gallon batches of homebrew.
I was introduced to brewing by a long time friend, and, at the time, room mate. Back then we brewed kits from cans. My room mate, being much wiser in the field of brewing than I, advised me to never use table or corn sugar. So instead, we just used two kits per batch. You want an American Light? No problem. Buy two kits of American Light. Irish Stout? You guessed it, two kits or Irish Stout.
We'd bring it to a boil in our largest pot with as much water as we dared. Then, straight from a ten minute boil to the fermenting bucket. Top it off to five gallons with refrigerated bottled water then feel the side of the bucket. If it felt like a yeast would be all warm and suggly, it was time to pitch. Oh....and don't trust that yeast from the kit. We'd buy a fresh packet of dried yeast for our beer.
Those were some damned fine beers.
After two years of that, I graduated to the LHBS kits. I'm sure you know them. A small cardboard box containing a bag of LME, some hops, maybe some specialty grains and a muslin bag. Oh, and some new fangled designer yeast that came in a vial. For six bucks.
I enjoyed these kits for years. Then it dawned on me: All of these kits contain the same ingredients: Malt extract, specialty grains, hops, and (very expensive) yeast. Could I buy them in bulk? Why yes. Yes I could.
I now buy 50-55 pound boxes of extra light DME, hops by the pound, and five pound portions of light crystal, medium crystal, biscuit, and chocolate malt. I make starters and propagate a single vial of WLP001 into ten to twenty batches of beer.
I bring these ingredients together with no regard to style. I make Pale Ale. Rich, amber color, sweet aroma, bitter finish with just a hint of grainyness. All for under fifty cents a glass. Centennial today, Amarillo tomorrow. Next week: Liberty.
I am currently drinking a beer that was one week in the primary, one week secondary, and THREE DAYS in the keg. It's a bit raw, but delicious. The heffe needs a bit more time.
I could actually go on and on, but I've had too much homebrew (if there is such a thing).
b.
