Any homebrewers in Alabama ?

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Huntsville Alabama here. If it were legal, I'd probably have a Janet's Brown Ale that I brewed and friends that love me for it. :) I'd also have a Belgian Dubble and seriously be thinking about brewing up a batch of Arrogant Bastard clone since the first one I would have brewed would have been so awesome. I can only imagine how satisfying it must be to enjoy AG brewing.....if only it were legal. :)
 
Huntsville Alabama here. If it were legal, I'd probably have a Janet's Brown Ale that I brewed and friends that love me for it. :) I'd also have a Belgian Dubble and seriously be thinking about brewing up a batch of Arrogant Bastard clone since the first one I would have brewed would have been so awesome. I can only imagine how satisfying it must be to enjoy AG brewing.....if only it were legal. :)

AG brewing is awesome....or so I hear. :mug:
 
In the B'ham area and looking for other enthusists. Is there a club out there? The ones I found all seem to be defunct. Would love to meet up with others and shoot the breez etc.

Also, does anyone know of a source for used 5 gallon sankeys or corny kegs in the B'ham area?

Oh, and if it were legal, I'd probably be on my second batch ever (still a newb doing partial mash kits)--pumpkin ale--and have Midwest's Autumn Amber bottled.
 
In the B'ham area and looking for other enthusists. Is there a club out there? The ones I found all seem to be defunct. Would love to meet up with others and shoot the breez etc.

Also, does anyone know of a source for used 5 gallon sankeys or corny kegs in the B'ham area?

Oh, and if it were legal, I'd probably be on my second batch ever (still a newb doing partial mash kits)--pumpkin ale--and have Midwest's Autumn Amber bottled.

The MW Autumn Amber was a big hit with my people. Love that beer. All I can say is Craigslist is your buddy. I put a "Wanted" listing out for kegs and got two replies within a few hours. They kegs weren't listed, so you have to go out of the way a little to find them. As far as clubs go, there are a few scattered around the state, but with the laws being the way they are, no one likes to advertise. From what I've found, they're pretty tight knit groups and you have to know someone who knows someone to really get in.
 
The autumn amber did not disappoint. After reading some horror stories on here about first batches gone wrong, everything on mine seemed to turn out fine. But the bottles are a bit over-carbed (I'll measure my final volume next time before dumping the entire bag of priming sugar in) :drunk:

Oh yea, thanks for the CL tip. Already have a good lead.
 
The autumn amber did not disappoint. After reading some horror stories on here about first batches gone wrong, everything on mine seemed to turn out fine. But the bottles are a bit over-carbed (I'll measure my final volume next time before dumping the entire bag of priming sugar in) :drunk:

Oh yea, thanks for the CL tip. Already have a good lead.

3/4c (by weight) in 1c water has been the perfect priming measurement for me.

Good luck with the kegs. I'm still wrestling with mine. The gas side works great, but I'm not getting anything out of the liquid. Bought new posts and disconnects and still no love.
 
Dumb question, but what do you mean 3/4 cup by weight? Or does the c stand for some other unit of measurement? Hope you get that keg running. Maybe a bad seal somewhere else? Obstruction in the beer dip tube?
 
Dumb question, but what do you mean 3/4 cup by weight? Or does the c stand for some other unit of measurement? Hope you get that keg running. Maybe a bad seal somewhere else? Obstruction in the beer dip tube?

Take a paper plate and put it on a scale. Add your dextrose until you hit 3/4 cup. A measuring cup is by volume and won't give you an accurate amount because different ingredients weight different amounts.

I'm gonna win the fight with those kegs if it kills me. I've replaced the posts, o-rings, and traded out lids. The dip tubes look clear, but there's an issue I haven't found yet (obviously). If they hold pressure, then something's gotta give. I have a pecan brown that's been in the fermenter for almost 5 weeks that I'm dying to drink. I don't have enough space or bottles right now to store them.
 
I've got a three day weekend coming up. If brewing was legal in AL, I'd be planning on making a 6 gallon batch of Skeeter Pee, even though summer is over.

Of course, with it not being legal, there was no point in ordering the tannin, yeast nutrient and energizer from NB, so I didn't....

:mug:
 
I hear ya. If it weren't illegal, I'd be brewing an old ale this weekend for a family Christmas party. But alas, I'll probably just make 5gal of a sweet barley tea.
 
Hi all,

I'm surprised to see a section on HBT for a state with antiquated brewing laws.

If brewing were legal in Alabama, I would consider bottle conditioning Midwest's Ferocious IPA and Brooklyn Brew Shop's Cranberry Wheat. I might also consider putting Brooklyn Brew Shop's New Year Beer in some bottles. Next up, maybe even this weekend if laws suddenly change, I would attempt a Pliny the Elder clone.

I would probably even look for someone that I can trade some brews with so that I could get opinions/advice since I've just recently started thinking about what it would be like to live in a state where homebrew were legal.

Instead I guess I'll just enjoy a growler of Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA and pretend I made it.

Please note: Any comments made in other threads on this forum are strictly hypothetical.
 
I'm surprised to see a section on HBT for a state with antiquated brewing laws.

Let's do something to change that! Look up info on HB9 in the 2013 legislative session. Call your state representative and voice your support for the bill, and ask why AL has to be the last state (along with MS) to lift its ban on homebrewing. :rockin:

http://www.alahomebrewing.org/news/hb9readytogo
 
They've heard from me. I wasn't going to start thinking about brewing until the law passed, but I got a little frustrated after the last session. Hopefully it will pass this time around. The fact that we just managed to re-elect Roy Moore scares me a little though.
 
If I could afford it I would pick up and move out of this state post haste. My family and job are rooted here, so alas I must stay in the assbackwards state. Every election I have a massive headache for a solid week from facepalming so much. Roy Moore?? Really? Are you f'n kidding me? I have so many choice words for that bigoted bible beater but I'm pretty sure I'd get the banhammer for saying them here.

If shipping beer were legal, I'd be happy to do a beer swap. It's too much of a logistical biatch to do otherwise though.
 
If I could afford it I would pick up and move out of this state post haste. My family and job are rooted here, so alas I must stay in the assbackwards state. Every election I have a massive headache for a solid week from facepalming so much. Roy Moore?? Really? Are you f'n kidding me? I have so many choice words for that bigoted bible beater but I'm pretty sure I'd get the banhammer for saying them here.

If shipping beer were legal, I'd be happy to do a beer swap. It's too much of a logistical biatch to do otherwise though.

Do forget the voters of this state voted a dead man into office. I guess having that R next his name was more important than actually being, you know, alive. :confused:
 
Great points. With the re-election of Roy Moore and Alabama's new #1 ranking in most post-election racist Tweets and Facebook posts I would say there is some room for improvement in this state. I actually had the opportunity to get out of this place a few months ago but housing values, timing, family and the new, higher cost of living elsewhere made it not the best choice for us. Someday though...
 
Whattawort said:
If shipping beer were legal, I'd be happy to do a beer swap. It's too much of a logistical biatch to do otherwise though.

If you're ever driving through the Pelham / Birmingham area let me know and I can meet you for a swap. Although I don't think I'm going to be giving my most recent attempt to anyone. So far this stuff is horrendous.
 
If you're ever driving through the Pelham / Birmingham area let me know and I can meet you for a swap. Although I don't think I'm going to be giving my most recent attempt to anyone. So far this stuff is horrendous.

Had a batch not come out too well once. Made a friggin awesome marinade for pork and chicken. If it were legal, I might have just finished brewing an Irish Red with a new brewhouse efficiency of 73% (finally got the equipment dialed in). I also might have a batch of a beautiful, ruby red holiday warmer aging in bottles. I also might have a few bombers of a pecan porter hanging around. Only have 1 bottle of my cream ale left. That beer went pretty quickly. Seems my BMC friends really liked it.

My bro lives in Chelsea, but I don't get a chance to get down there very often. If I do, I'll let you know and we can arrange for a swap. My buddy brews, but it seems all he does are blonde ales and IPAs. Those get old after a while. I don't think he has the balls to experiment much. It'd be cool to try someone else's beer and get an unbiased opinion of mine.
 
I'd be down to swap in the Bham/Pel area, though I'm still an extract newb only three batches in. But Ive gotten good feedback on my latest stuff.
 
Don't worry...I'm a noob too. I've got sic or seven bombers of my first brew, a pale ale, left. I had a string of three 12 oz bottles that tasted a little sour, but the last two I had seemed alright. For a first beer I guess it was okay.

I've done three all grain Brooklyn Brew Shop recipes, but only one is bottled and should be ready in two weeks. I sampled one yesterday and I think it is going to come out pretty good. The others will be done in five our six weeks. I'm only getting eight to ten bottles out of each of these, but I might be able to part with one of each of I don't drink em to fast

I've got a little over a case of Midwest's Ferocious IPA in bottles, but if something doesn't change soon, I wouldn't force my worst enemy to drink it. It's pretty awful.

I'm planning to do a Pliny the Elder clone next weekend. Hopefully it will be successful.

What styles have you brewed?
 
Hi all,

I'm surprised to see a section on HBT for a state with antiquated brewing laws.

If brewing were legal in Alabama, I would consider bottle conditioning Midwest's Ferocious IPA and Brooklyn Brew Shop's Cranberry Wheat.

It's also illegal to drive over the speed limit, send white children to black schools (how embarassing..), work for free (still considered slavery), and a whole host of other laws that are so wrong here that they aren't even worth observing. When a state has become this pitiful, I doublt there are any laws that are worth keeping (you all know what i mean.)
 
Don't worry...I'm a noob too. I've got sic or seven bombers of my first brew, a pale ale, left. I had a string of three 12 oz bottles that tasted a little sour, but the last two I had seemed alright. For a first beer I guess it was okay.

I've done three all grain Brooklyn Brew Shop recipes, but only one is bottled and should be ready in two weeks. I sampled one yesterday and I think it is going to come out pretty good. The others will be done in five our six weeks. I'm only getting eight to ten bottles out of each of these, but I might be able to part with one of each of I don't drink em to fast

I've got a little over a case of Midwest's Ferocious IPA in bottles, but if something doesn't change soon, I wouldn't force my worst enemy to drink it. It's pretty awful.

I'm planning to do a Pliny the Elder clone next weekend. Hopefully it will be successful.

What styles have you brewed?

Pretty much everything but sours. I never acquired a taste for them, and they look putrid while they're fermenting. Do a search for pellicles on here but only do it if you have a strong stomach.
Have to say that going AG was the best move I ever made for beer making. I've only had 1 batch that's disappointed me, but even that was still drinkable. I got my crush and mash/sparge volumes all wrong. Of course, that move took a slight investment in new equipment and considerably more time on brew days. After you get the hang of the brewing process, I highly recommend you move in that direction.
I tried my winter warmer the other day, and it's friggin fantastic already and it's only been in bottles for a week. Also have an Irish Red I did this past weekend for my wife's Christmas party. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a fresh keg of beer!

For what it's worth, I've found that the no-chill method really works for me. I don't really care if my beer is super clear, so chill haze doesn't bother me. Going that route saved me about $100 by not having to buy a wort chiller.

Ok, enough of my prattling on. I can talk about homebrewing all day.
 
I definitely see myself going all-grain a little bit further down the road...maybe six months or so. My first step down that road is ordering my first burner and 11 gallon kettle this week. I want to go ahead and start doing full boils so that my hops are as efficient as they can be.

I've seen mention of the no-chill method before, but haven't read about it until you mentioned it. Sounds like a great idea, especially with the time reduction for chilling. SWMBO will be happier if I can gradually purchase equipment. I don't like to waste water, so if I do eventually get a wort chiller I will also use a pump and ice chest to recirculate cooled water.

Can these cubes be purchased locally? As a kid, I remember my dad having some kind of plastic, collapsable cube like container that we used for drinking water on our sailboat. Is this what they are talking about when they say a cube?
 
Don't worry...I'm a noob too. I've got sic or seven bombers of my first brew, a pale ale, left. I had a string of three 12 oz bottles that tasted a little sour, but the last two I had seemed alright. For a first beer I guess it was okay.

I've done three all grain Brooklyn Brew Shop recipes, but only one is bottled and should be ready in two weeks. I sampled one yesterday and I think it is going to come out pretty good. The others will be done in five our six weeks. I'm only getting eight to ten bottles out of each of these, but I might be able to part with one of each of I don't drink em to fast

I've got a little over a case of Midwest's Ferocious IPA in bottles, but if something doesn't change soon, I wouldn't force my worst enemy to drink it. It's pretty awful.

I'm planning to do a Pliny the Elder clone next weekend. Hopefully it will be successful.

What styles have you brewed?

First was Midwest's Autumn Amber. That came out tasting great, but I over-carbed in the bottles, so they have to sit a few minutes after pouring. Second was MW's pumpkin ale. This came out really great. Pumpkin spices weren't too over the top even though I added more than the recipe called for. Also added more pumpkin and steeped with grains instead of boil, so less trub. Third batch, which I just kegged (first time ever) was MW's "happy holiday." Tasted great when racking; can't wait to have some bubbles in it. I'm moving to partial mash next.

Where do folks in bham area refill their co2? I went to Vulcan beverage. It cost ~$22 for a #5 tank. This seems a little pricey to me, but it was my first time filling a tank.
 
I found one one of the cube's on MW at some point. However, I just take my kettle off the burner and put it on the cold concrete and wait. You can do your entire clean up while it cools and then some. I know the plastic fermenters can handle 140F since that's what my water heater is set on and I only use hot water when I wash my equipment. Once my thermometer is showing 140, I transfer my wort into the fermenter and put that in my swamp cooler over night. I'll pitch the next morning. I've done this with dozens of batches without incident. It's also great for lazy people like me.

A refill of CO2 up here is around $22. But you can also lease a tank and exchange it for a new one for a little less. I wanted to own one out right, so I'll deal with the refill price. Remember, you get about 10-12 batches on a single tank depending on your carb rates. My buddy got to almost 20 batches on his last refill. Not sure how he managed that, but it still worked out that way. Also, check out some welding shops. Some have better refill prices.
 
My husband and I recently started brewing and we're in the Tuscaloosa area (Northport). I'd love to let him out of the house to meet with other home brewers! I have my knitting club, he needs his thing.
 
My husband and I recently started brewing and we're in the Tuscaloosa area (Northport). I'd love to let him out of the house to meet with other home brewers! I have my knitting club, he needs his thing.

I haven't been to T-town since I graduated (02). How sad is that?? Not sure if the Tuscaloosa/Northport area has a club or collection of brewers, but I know a LOT of people do brew there. I got into brewing when I was down there thanks to good ole Mr. Beer. I'm sure someone here knows of a few people you guys could hang with. If nothing else, B'ham isn't far and they have several clubs (shhhh....it's secret!). If you guys ever find your way up in the Huntsville area let me know and if nothing else we can meet and talk about brewing over a few pints.
 
Still have a shot on this year's session. It's not on the calendar the last I heard. Democrats in the legislature are reading every line of every bill and severely impacting the time it takes to get through a schedule. Everything's up in the air last I heard.
 
I read that it made it through the initial committee, but not sure if it'll ever be put up for a vote in the House. The Bill's sponsor is a republican. And like you said, Dems are holding everything up now in protest over the education law that was passed.
 
It's gonna happen and I think this year. I am just getting back into homebrewing after many years and still getting equipment together. Not in any real hurry because just don't want to be looking over my shoulder. Not sure what the sheriff's reaction would be and so not taking too many chances finding out.
What wrong wid da beer we got?
 
It's gonna happen and I think this year. I am just getting back into homebrewing after many years and still getting equipment together. Not in any real hurry because just don't want to be looking over my shoulder. Not sure what the sheriff's reaction would be and so not taking too many chances finding out.

Oh man, I love that. Just couldn't believe it. Very sad, you guys need to pick up some pitch forks for christ's sake. This is America and this is your representative.



And more. You've got to hear this.

 
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Near Montgomery here.

Haven't really been brewing lately. The LHBS closed down (the one near Russell, the older of the two). Supposedly it was only temporary but as it's been months now I think maybe my idea of temporary and theirs is a bit different. There is a second one open in Fairview and the guy who owns it seems like a nice guy but my motivation has been lacking since.
 
HB9 is on the SOC (Special Order Calendar) for April 2nd. It's third on the list, so baring any nasty political fights on the first two bills, we should see a vote in the Alabama House on April 2nd.
 
That's great unless it ends up dying in the Senate like it did last year.

That was part of the reason why they introduced identical bills in both houses this year. Last year's bill passed the house, and then had to work its way through committee in the Senate. Both bills are our of committee this year. Once one of them passes either house, the passing bill will be substituted in the opposite house.

Plus, last year the Senate got bogged down on budget issues. They've already passed the budget this year in the Senate, so that's one less obstacle.

I'm cautiously optimistic. I went to Montgomery and spoke to the House Committee that voted on HB9 and had a chance to talk to the bill sponsors from both houses. They are both good guys.
 
I understand that and while I don't disagree with the premise, the cynic in me suspects they sit on them so they don't have the assumed negative backlash from pushing it through. After all, we're just a bunch of drunks in the propaganda some groups push...
 
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