HappyDrunk
Well-Known Member
I just got back from Easter dinner with the family today, and had a funny conversation with my Grandpa about brewing. He's been brewing for over 50 years now. I thought he would have all sorts of great tips for me and what not, but I was blown away at his techniques, or lack thereof.
First of all, he uses nothing but tap water, and doesn't really give a rat's *** what type of yeast he uses. He even told me how his dad would use the bread yeast my great grandma would use for bread. Then he uses only honey to up the alcohol content and to carbonate. Then came the thing that really freaked me out .. he ferments in his smokehouse (used to dry out deer sausage, etc.) which is about 90 degrees, lol! Also, due to the high temperature, he only gives it 7 days in the primary and 7 in bottles to carb.
The craziest part is that his beers still turn out pretty freakin decent. I did bring him one of my 8% Brown Ales though, and he was amazed by it. I just thought it was funny that after 50 years of brewing (and him being ONE HUNDRED PERCENT GERMAN!) he never took the time to refine his technique.
He also told me about how they used to make beer without any kind of seal on the fermentation vessel. They just put a cloth on top of it. Also, they made 30+ gal batches, and never bothered carbing it, lol! They just drank it straight from the barrel!
Bottom line, I hope I didn't waste your time with this post, but I found his stories hilarious after reading on these forums for months about all the attention to detail and being careful about each and every thing only to find out the way he did things to still come out with decent beer!
Anyway, Happy Easter everyone, and hopefully after reading this you'll have no reason to worry about any minor mistakes you make!
First of all, he uses nothing but tap water, and doesn't really give a rat's *** what type of yeast he uses. He even told me how his dad would use the bread yeast my great grandma would use for bread. Then he uses only honey to up the alcohol content and to carbonate. Then came the thing that really freaked me out .. he ferments in his smokehouse (used to dry out deer sausage, etc.) which is about 90 degrees, lol! Also, due to the high temperature, he only gives it 7 days in the primary and 7 in bottles to carb.
The craziest part is that his beers still turn out pretty freakin decent. I did bring him one of my 8% Brown Ales though, and he was amazed by it. I just thought it was funny that after 50 years of brewing (and him being ONE HUNDRED PERCENT GERMAN!) he never took the time to refine his technique.
He also told me about how they used to make beer without any kind of seal on the fermentation vessel. They just put a cloth on top of it. Also, they made 30+ gal batches, and never bothered carbing it, lol! They just drank it straight from the barrel!
Bottom line, I hope I didn't waste your time with this post, but I found his stories hilarious after reading on these forums for months about all the attention to detail and being careful about each and every thing only to find out the way he did things to still come out with decent beer!
Anyway, Happy Easter everyone, and hopefully after reading this you'll have no reason to worry about any minor mistakes you make!