homebrew packs a wallop

Yakima 728
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i remember when Real Ale first started getting around Austin and they would provide kegs for various parties etc. back then i had no idea what "real ale" was but i DO remember getting a different kind of wasted much faster than i was used to.

me thinks it has something to do with not pasturizing it. pasturization turns a living product into a dead one.
 
Can you take hydrometer reading after bottle conditioning or will the carbonation screw it up?
 
gclay said:
Can you take hydrometer reading after bottle conditioning or will the carbonation screw it up?
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You can take an SG reading. You want to decarb the sample- shaking the hydrometer sample tube with your hand over it and letting it sit works great- then drop the hydrometer into it when it's warmed up to 60 degrees and decarbed. Spin the hydrometer gently to knock off any co2 bubbles and it'll be fine!
 
I'm right there with you. I had one bottle of my IIPA last night and it felt equivalent to at least 4 Bud Lights. But then again its ~7.5% so all you need is one or two and you are set.
 
Yeah, went to my cousin's annual Memorial Day pool party and brought several homebrews. We usually drink massive quantities of commercial stuff and it doesn't really affect me because we're swimming, playing pool volleyball, etc., burning it off. Well the weather was kind of cloudy and cool. No one went in the pool. You shall not quaff large volumes of homebrew in a short amount of time. That little man came up from behind me and hit me with a hammer. I slept for almost 12 hours! (I haven't slept more than 7 in years...). Moderation is the key. Now I'm being referred to as "grandpa." We'll see what happens 4th of July.
 
I've found that home brewed beer is like moonshine. A purer form of Ethyl alcohol. That's why I have to agree with the old timer's describing it as being "higher than a Georgia pine"!
Not to mention,being a higher ABV than the usual BMC swill by nearly double on average. You feel more high than drunk. Even my pale ales are between 4.8% & 5.3%. Doesn't sound like much,till you get half way through one,& you're already getting a pretty good buzz on.
Which reminds me...Gotta check the camera for that one in another hour. We're gunna paint the town,we're goin drinkin oh boy,oh boy,& we won't fool around. Bring along your home brew,leave my BMC's behind! If you've got the home brews honey,I got the time!!lolz:tank::drunk::cross:
 
I haven't really had this happen. I drink my home brew like any store bought. What effects me more than anything is my mood. If i'm beat from working all day or just in a relaxing setting 1 or 2 beers of ~5 percent alcohol will hit me harder than being in a upbeat or party atmosphere.
 
it must be the hops. i brewed today and only drank water while brewing, and i have that "high" feeling. could it be from breathing in the hops? i was sniffing the bags of hops before putting them in the pot.
ive had this feeling on other brew days, especially when i used to brew indoors.
 
I had this same experience when I had a BBQ with a bunch of guys. This is the same group of guys that I go to the cabin with and we will kill 2 kegs of BMC between the 6 of us in 3 days no problem. We killed 2 cornies of a cream ale I made, it was 5.2% because I killed my efficiency somehow so it wasn't that much higher than BMC. Everyone said it was the fastest and most drunk they have been.
 
TheBrewinator said:
I had this same experience when I had a BBQ with a bunch of guys. This is the same group of guys that I go to the cabin with and we will kill 2 kegs of BMC between the 6 of us in 3 days no problem. We killed 2 cornies of a cream ale I made, it was 5.2% because I killed my efficiency somehow so it wasn't that much higher than BMC. Everyone said it was the fastest and most drunk they have been.
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Dude 2 cornies between six people is 16-17 beers per person. You better be F*C*E*D up after that! Or was that over a couple days?
 
kpr121 said:
Dude 2 cornies between six people is 16-17 beers per person. You better be F*C*E*D up after that! Or was that over a couple days?
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dude, ive had 16-17 miller lites in a day before. there's no way i could have that many homebrews without being F*C*ED up.
 
We had more than 6 guys and if guess by time I had filled them and pulled some off to save like I always do there was probably 8 gallons. Either way we all can do a 12 pack of BMC over an entire day without getting that hammered (which is what id guess each of us drank in homebrew).
 
TheBrewinator said:
We had more than 6 guys and if guess by time I had filled them and pulled some off to save like I always do there was probably 8 gallons. Either way we all can do a 12 pack of BMC over an entire day without getting that hammered (which is what id guess each of us drank in homebrew).
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Yeah I guess it doesnt sound that unreasonable now that I think about it. I've put down the better part of a 30 rack at a tailgate or two.

For some reason I was thinking over a few hours span, not an all day event like a BBQ.

:mug: Whens the next get together?!

BTW I have 2 kegs of Blonde Ale (5.7% ABV), a keg of IPA (6.5%), and a keg of Dunkel (6.2%) set to be demolished at my brothers grad party tomorrow. I'll report back my findings of the homebrew theory, hopefully with some pictures lol.
 
If you are bottle conditiong, remember to add the sugar to the OG calculations. It will ferment out completely and add a little more than 0.1%, that and general measurement uncertainty can make a total of ~.3-.4% difference.
 
1ratdog said:
it must be the hops. i brewed today and only drank water while brewing, and i have that "high" feeling. could it be from breathing in the hops? i was sniffing the bags of hops before putting them in the pot.
ive had this feeling on other brew days, especially when i used to brew indoors.
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Natural gas- it gives you ideas!
 
any1 else get accused of putting something in their brew. friends cant beleive the punch it packs?
 
Why are the intoxication effects of champagne and wine different from beer? Could this be what we're all talking about?
 
Maybe it is because of the half gallon of trub in a 5 gallon batch at the bottom of your buckets! Filter everything out and then measure the volume and gravity, and I'm guessing you'll get a higher abv in your calculations.
 
LVBen said:
Maybe it is because of the half gallon of trub in a 5 gallon batch at the bottom of your buckets! Filter everything out and then measure the volume and gravity, and I'm guessing you'll get a higher abv in your calculations.
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im confused. i use a theif and take a sample and use my hydrometer to check the grav. not sure how my trub effects that??
 
Endorphins. Smelling hops will make you happy from the simple fact that you like the smell and the associated activities. Maybe its like catnip for people, they are related too.

For the rest I think maybe higher levels of higher alcohols and other yeast by products than comparable commercial products. Acetelaldehyde ( horrid speller ) goes right to your head, and stays there. I know I'm guilty of drinking brew early on the occasion.

I was sampling my new Heffe last night and for 4% it definetly represented well.
 
I started up a similar thread awhile ago and have let this one run it's course before I interject what I believe the answer to be...IMO home brew not only gives a stronger "buzz" it gives gives you a cleaner one with very little side effects, like hangovers, other than being dehydrated.

So what is the biggest difference from commercial brews vs. home brews?

1) Hops! Most BMC or mega breweries do not use fresh hops they use hop oil extract. IMO the extract does not contain the same levels of Lupilin and other "hop euphoria" causing particles. Terms like "hop head" and "hopped up" were coined by law enforcement because the people that were intoxicated from beer (at that time it was not filtered or extract) were harder to handle and visibly further intoxicated beyond what a standard booze or wine would do.

2) Yeast! We have unfiltered beer, well 99% of us anyway. The yeast is loaded full of B vitamins. If you did not know this when drinking a few home brews you actually get a super dose of these B vitamins. B vitamins have 2 known benefits. 1st they are a natural hangover preventive and 2nd they are in the "happy" vitamin family. That is correct, B vitamins combat depression and help make you happy!

3) Filtration! People have come to want crystal clear beer. So the large breweries filter out extra hop particles and yeast. This not only makes their beer crystal clear it turns it from a living culture into a chemical. They strip out all the stuff you really want in your beer but it would make the beer cloudy.

You add all these things up and get the end result of homebrew>commercial as far as "buzz" is concerned. I really do not believe that it is one more than the other but a culmination of all the above that makes home brew this way.

This still does not take into account that some people believe this extra euphoria to be totally placebo and a physiological condition that is self induced because you made the brew your self so you want it to be better. I do not believe this to be true but I included it for the sake of those that would want it in the answer.
 
#1 i disagree with. i drink plenty of microbrews that use pellets, same as me. and my 6% packs a harder punch than them. not just me, friends all agree.

#2 and #3 maybe. i dont know.
 
and americas oldest brewery (yuengling from pottsville, pa. is 20 minutes from my house) uses pellets in their lager. which is this areas most popular beer.
 
B3 (Niacin) is the anti-depressant. AA was actually "prescribing" it to people way back in the day to help them fight their alcohol addiction.

People who suffer from depression should get off the bigpharma drugs and take a ****load of B3. Works wonders.
 
1ratdog said:
and americas oldest brewery (yuengling from pottsville, pa. is 20 minutes from my house) uses pellets in their lager. which is this areas most popular beer.
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Sam Adams uses pellets too. So does Harpoon. I've seen them using it on both brewery tours. I'd say most of them do...

It really is the exact same thing as whole hops, it's just compacted to save space (and money shipping).
 
They also say that the AA% is more even in pellet hops than whole leaf. But the whole leaf Cascade I'm using in my IPA smells & tastes great to me.
 
I get whole leaf hops if I am using the entire package in a 1 batch (or two if they are in the same day), and if I am using them immediately.

Other wise I always use pellets since they are not only compressed so save room, they also store insanely better (less surface area to get oxidize).

Wow this thread got off topic :)
 
To the "My X brewery uses pellet/whole hops." posters, Is the beer filtered? Filtering out the hop particles will reduce the 1st reason I posted...I am not talking about visible particulates I am talking down into microns here...My guess is most commercial breweries filter the beer...
 
1ratdog said:
im confused. i use a theif and take a sample and use my hydrometer to check the grav. not sure how my trub effects that??
Click to expand...

Because if we measure the gravity of 5 gallons and then after fermentation there is 4.5 gallons of liquid and half a gallon of trub, we are measuring only 4.5 gallons of liquid, which means that there is less sugar remaining than if there was 5 gallons of liquid remaining with the same gravity.
 
Maybe the alcohols are "hotter" - making it harder for your body to get rid of them. Making the effects last longer?

Maybe you actually drink more of them? Like bombers or something? I use bombers, or I keg. So for me, I know I'm drinking much more quantity in a less amount of time than if I just bought some 12 oz bottles.
 
LVBen said:
Because if we measure the gravity of 5 gallons and then after fermentation there is 4.5 gallons of liquid and half a gallon of trub, we are measuring only 4.5 gallons of liquid, which means that there is less sugar remaining than if there was 5 gallons of liquid remaining with the same gravity.
Click to expand...

Trub does not effect gravity readings. Neither does volume. Specific gravity is independent of amount. It is a measure of the density of the liquid, which has nothing to do with the amount of the liquid or solids suspended in the liquid. Only dissolved solids will effect specific gravity.
 
teresalgl said:
Trub does not effect gravity readings. Neither does volume. Specific gravity is independent of amount. It is a measure of the density of the liquid, which has nothing to do with the amount of the liquid or solids suspended in the liquid. Only dissolved solids will effect specific gravity.
Click to expand...

Density is dependant on volume :eek:

Other than that I agree...its not like the trub concentrates the wort or anything
 

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