Fermenting my first batch using K-mart ingredients...

[marubozo]

Aaaand, i'm drinking it. It wasn't fully fermented, while i was sealing the keg it was pressurizing itself. :|

I have a relief valve though, so it's all good to finish in the keg.

It really doesn't taste half bad IMO. Yeah, it's far from good, but it's definitely drinkable and almost enjoyable, still gotta let it fully carbonate.

I'm going to use the same LME and yeast again. I'll add some more ingredients next time (like ginger i'm thinking).

Why go through all that trouble just to get something not even close to beer and more or less disgusting tasting just to get probably less than 10% alcohol? Just spend the $7 or whatever to buy a fifth of Popov and call it a night.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Here's some light reading on aging beer:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/aging-beer-facts-myths-discussion-84005/

There are a lot of suggestions about how to get beer on the "fast track" in that thread. None of them include drinking it after 6 days.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do some more reading.

I can appreciate your desire to do things your own way. However, in some cases, there's a fine line between original and foolish.

 

[Goatey]

That's pretty bizarre. Most beer companies have brews for 20-30 dollars and that'll make a 5 gallon batch.

What you made sounds pretty terrible.

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

Why go through all that trouble just to get something not even close to beer and more or less disgusting tasting just to get probably less than 10% alcohol? Just spend the $7 or whatever to buy a fifth of Popov and call it a night.

I have two half gallons of that in the freezer, lol.

Here's some light reading on aging beer:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/aging-beer-facts-myths-discussion-84005/

There are a lot of suggestions about how to get beer on the "fast track" in that thread. None of them include drinking it after 6 days.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do some more reading.

I can appreciate your desire to do things your own way. However, in some cases, there's a fine line between original and foolish.

Yeah, i know i shouldn't be drinking it right now, it's not carbonated and i'm sure it's actually not finished. But there's definitely quite a bit of alcohol in it, i'm on my 3rd or 4th cup and feeling pretty nice.

But doing it more properly next time is definite. I'm happy with the results of this...but pretty much tastes like a 40 of malt liquor with an aftertaste similar to coffee.

I'm reading a bit, i think i will probably follow the first recipe for the ale in the "howtobrew" website.

 

[user 19629]

I for one applaud your efforts
but that doesn't mean what
everyone else said isn't true
ya might look around for some
Mr Beer kits

 

[tulsashag]

Not quite a cheap as what you made but will turn out much better for your next brew and doesn't require any more equipment that what you already have...


Graff

Will only cost about $20 or so (apple juice the most expensive part). The rest you can order from austinhomebrew.com when you order the iodofor...

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

Not quite a cheap as what you made but will turn out much better for your next brew and doesn't require any more equipment that what you already have...


Graff

Will only cost about $20 or so (apple juice the most expensive part). The rest you can order from austinhomebrew.com when you order the iodofor...

Too many new recipes to try, lol.

Regular ol' store bought apple juice...i don't know what i'm doing at all with fermenting, but i'd think the preservatives wouldn't agree too much with this?

 

[tulsashag]

When I made it I used "Simply apple" brand, it's kinda expensive though ($3 for 64oz). Check the label, most will say %100 apple juice that needs to be consumed within 7-10 days "normally" doesn't contain any preservatives (like Mott's) and usually cost about $4/gallon. If you have a Sam's Club you can probably get a better deal also...

 

[Hemsworth]

...am I the only one here that kinda wants to try this bastardized brew?

 

[COLObrewer]

...am I the only one here that kinda wants to try this bastardized brew?

Probably, actually for myself, I probably tried something like this in the beginning, it wasn't worthy. Doesn't everyone try this? Store bought molasses, grocery store malt, corn sugar, brown sugar, crunched up corn stalks, .. . .... . oh wait . . . that last one was just me maybe.
Keep on brewing my friends.

 

[tulsashag]

Here ya go, will make a bit easier for ya (just don't try to make all 10 gallons at once)....

2 LB Amber DME $7.98
2 LB Light DME $7.98
1 lb torrified wheat (you only need 2 oz) $1.50
1 oz Cascade Hops $2.99
2 packs Nottingham Dry Yeast $3.18
5 Sams Apple Juice (2/96) $19.90
2 2/3 gallons water = free i hope
One time cost for Large re-usable grain bag (for steeping) $4.99
$7.99 for shipping

Grand total for 10 gallons = $56.51

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

And the verdict of someone that doesn't just love any kind of alcohol in general...

"Eww, that **** is nasty, tastes like apple cider" (while it still wasn't carbonated at all).

lol.

I can't really get it to carbonate, my pressure regulator will only allow about 7psi in the keg. My understanding is i need about 30. Granted i should get more and more bubbles in the next few days. It's got alot more than it had yesterday in the bubble dept.

Next time, i'll prime the keg...or get a better pressure regulator, it's a non adjustable one that came with the kegerator. Like i said, this "brew" was for learning, not for taste.

Edit: It kind of has an unusual smell and taste, like a hickory smoke...

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

Here ya go, will make a bit easier for ya (just don't try to make all 10 gallons at once)....

2 LB Amber DME $7.98
2 LB Light DME $7.98
1 lb torrified wheat (you only need 2 oz) $1.50
1 oz Cascade Hops $2.99
2 packs Nottingham Dry Yeast $3.18
5 Sams Apple Juice (2/96) $19.90
2 2/3 gallons water = free i hope
One time cost for Large re-usable grain bag (for steeping) $4.99
$7.99 for shipping

Grand total for 10 gallons = $56.51

Not bad at all for what sounds like a decent brew, especially considering bud light (which IMO kinda sucks), is $80 for 15 gallons.

I think i'm most intrigued by doing this for my next batch.

 

[cimirie]

I know I'm late to the party, but I want to throw in my two cents. This site is a fantastic resource and I would be lost without the knowledge and expertise of the members.

With that knowledge and expertise comes with a certain level of... elitism. Most here are concerned with brewing a quality beer to style and using good homebrew equipment to do so. To most, anything less than that is not worth doing.

I say bravo, however. My first brew ever was in college and I made a mead using honey and yeast from a grocery store, and lavender picked from an empty field - all fermented in a Lowe's bucket using a jerry-rigged airlock made from looping a length of tubing around itself that was hot glue gunned to the top of the bucket. I had a fantastic time and the whole process I thought was the coolest thing ever! I didn't care what it tasted like, I just wanted to make my own booze.

This experience started my affair with brewing. Make your swill (b/c it probably will be), love every last drop, work off your hangover, and do it again. Eventually, you'll want bigger and better.

To everybody who's taking shots at his methods or ingredients... relax. He's not entering a contest and he's experiementing a bit. Let him have some fun.

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

I know I'm late to the party, but I want to throw in my two cents. This site is a fantastic resource and I would be lost without the knowledge and expertise of the members.

With that knowledge and expertise comes with a certain level of... elitism. Most here are concerned with brewing a quality beer to style and using good homebrew equipment to do so. To most, anything less than that is not worth doing.

I say bravo, however. My first brew ever was in college and I made a mead using honey and yeast from a grocery store, and lavender picked from an empty field - all fermented in a Lowe's bucket using a jerry-rigged airlock made from looping a length of tubing around itself that was hot glue gunned to the top of the bucket. I had a fantastic time and the whole process I thought was the coolest thing ever! I didn't care what it tasted like, I just wanted to make my own booze.

This experience started my affair with brewing. Make your swill (b/c it probably will be), love every last drop, work off your hangover, and do it again. Eventually, you'll want bigger and better.

To everybody who's taking shots at his methods or ingredients... relax. He's not entering a contest and he's experiementing a bit. Let him have some fun.

You see where i'm coming from exactly.

The guy from Lowe's i talked to actually suggested i airlock with your method, but i was worried of the water just being pushed out from the air after i did it and pushed down on the lid. So i built from what he told me and discovered i could just run the tube in to a bucket of lightly bleached water to keep it air tight. The site i read told me to just set the lid loosely on top, ha, i know better now after talking to him and building on what he told me.

 

[cimirie]

Good on you! Experiment away. I can't stress enough, however, that when you're done getting a taste, listening to the experience here is a life-saver.

I understand the desire for doing things your own way, but once you're trying to make a quality product, that desire needs to be trumped by doing things the right way. You can still be creative. But for example, trying to make a beer without hops doesn't make sense if you don't have a great grasp of what and how hops actually add to a beer - what you're trying to make up for not having.

There are so many directions you can take this craft, so many combinations, so many methods... It really does allow you to make what YOU like - as long as you know how to acheive that. And to think it all started in a bucket from Lowe's...

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

Good on you! Experiment away. I can't stress enough, however, that when you're done getting a taste, listening to the experience here is a life-saver.

I understand the desire for doing things your own way, but once you're trying to make a quality product, that desire needs to be trumped by doing things the right way. You can still be creative. But for example, trying to make a beer without hops doesn't make sense if you don't have a great grasp of what and how hops actually add to a beer - what you're trying to make up for not having.

There are so many directions you can take this craft, so many combinations, so many methods... It really does allow you to make what YOU like - as long as you know how to acheive that. And to think it all started in a bucket from Lowe's...

Haha, yeah!

I think i might actually just add some hops to my next batch and make the exact same thing and see what hops can truly do to beer.

This hobby is going to be the end of my liver, lol, it's so ****in' neat. :rockin:

 

[cimirie]

I looked it up for you, there is a spot in Terre Haute called Herbs and Heirlooms. They have brew supplies there and you should be able to find all the hops you need. For a 4 gallon batch, I would say about an ounce of a milder hop at the beginning of the boil should do (Fuggles, Mt. Hood, Willamette, etc.) if you're not a big hop person. This should balance out the sweetness your current brew contains.

Good luck!

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

I have no idea how i've never seen this place, THANKS! I'm a delivery driver and have lived in this town for 24 years too! I Google mapped it, I have deliveries to the child day care two houses down from it, lol.

And oddly...my "brew" doesn't have a sweet taste? It's got a really bitter taste, but it was pulled before fully fermented. Reminds me of the aftertaste of Guiness.

 

[cimirie]

I'm surprised your brew doesn't have a sweet taste... Could be the k-mart malt has far more fermentable sugars than standard brewing malt. Or it could be that the baker's yeast you used gives off weird off-flavors. Or it could just be that Terre Haut is a strange and mystical place where most rules don't apply In any case, using "standard" supplies will help you make your brew repeatable.

Having said all that, enjoy toying with your creations. Check out H & H when you have decided you want to jump in with both feet and continue to use this great forum for advice.

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

I'm surprised your brew doesn't have a sweet taste... Could be the k-mart malt has far more fermentable sugars than standard brewing malt. Or it could be that the baker's yeast you used gives off weird off-flavors. Or it could just be that Terre Haut is a strange and mystical place where most rules don't apply In any case, using "standard" supplies will help you make your brew repeatable.

Having said all that, enjoy toying with your creations. Check out H & H when you have decided you want to jump in with both feet and continue to use this great forum for advice.

Either way, thanks and thanks to everyone. I'll be going to this shop soon and talk to them about my next brew and will definitely use some of the other brews posted.

 

[NorCalHB]

I know I'm late to the party, but I want to throw in my two cents. This site is a fantastic resource and I would be lost without the knowledge and expertise of the members.

With that knowledge and expertise comes with a certain level of... elitism. Most here are concerned with brewing a quality beer to style and using good homebrew equipment to do so. To most, anything less than that is not worth doing.

I say bravo, however. My first brew ever was in college and I made a mead using honey and yeast from a grocery store, and lavender picked from an empty field - all fermented in a Lowe's bucket using a jerry-rigged airlock made from looping a length of tubing around itself that was hot glue gunned to the top of the bucket. I had a fantastic time and the whole process I thought was the coolest thing ever! I didn't care what it tasted like, I just wanted to make my own booze.

This experience started my affair with brewing. Make your swill (b/c it probably will be), love every last drop, work off your hangover, and do it again. Eventually, you'll want bigger and better.

To everybody who's taking shots at his methods or ingredients... relax. He's not entering a contest and he's experiementing a bit. Let him have some fun.

I agree one hundred percent. Just because this guy is not making quality beer, does not mean he is not having just as much fun as someone making award wining beer. Keep brewing my friend, even if your stuff does suck.