What's with those home brew shops?

[Husher]

Honestly I getting kinda sick of brewing at home. I always seem to spritz some beer or sanitizer on the floor and then the wife hates me since there nothing stickier than beer.

Anyways, I checked out a home brew shop that does the brew for you, you just need to bottle. Thing is, after a 2 week ferment, they COLD FILTER the beer as they bottle, effectively killing all the yeast. The minimum order is 50 Liters and it won't keep without refrigeration. Why on earth would you kill the yeast after 2 weeks? I'd need a second fridge just for the bottles.

So my question is: Do all home brew shops do this or just the one near me?

Cheers

 

[Nugent]

All of the U-Brew places do this, as far as I know.

They filter it so that the beer is clear, like commercial beer. They do it after two weeks because they want to get the beer to the customers as quickly as possible and clear up room for new customers. The average joe isn't going to wait for six weeks or longer to wait for their beer to have longer conditioning and slightly cloudy beer.

I used to go to the U-Brew places, but found the beer mediocre at best. More importantly, this hobby as much about nerding out about the brewing process as it is about having delicious beer.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Honestly I getting kinda sick of brewing at home. I always seem to spritz some beer or sanitizer on the floor and then the wife hates me since there nothing stickier than beer.

Dump the wife. Keep the hobby.

Or just learn how to clean up after yourself.

 

[Husher]

Dump the wife. Keep the hobby.

Or just learn how to clean up after yourself.

I'm working on it! I even use drop cloths now!

 

[tnbrewer371]

brew in the garage.....

 

[Husher]

brew in the garage.....

My garage isn't that clean. I don't need the smell of diesel fumes in my brew.

 

[dstranger99]

Just Mop up after your done, it's very easy to do. If your leaving a sticky floor & mess behind you it's no wonder she'd be peeved.........

 

[divrguy]

My garage isn't that clean. I don't need the smell of diesel fumes in my brew.

I have a diesel and brew in the garage but I don't ever brew while running my truck? I Don't get how fumes end up in your beer? Lol

 

[Husher]

OK, so back on topic. I found a home brew shop that will bottle with yeast intact, however they recommend keeping the beer at 10 degrees or it'll go bad. This sound familiar? If I'm buying 100 beers, will it really go bad if it has all the yeast?

thanks

 

[MalFet]

Anyways, I checked out a home brew shop that does the brew for you, you just need to bottle. Thing is, after a 2 week ferment, they COLD FILTER the beer as they bottle, effectively killing all the yeast. The minimum order is 50 Liters and it won't keep without refrigeration. Why on earth would you kill the yeast after 2 weeks? I'd need a second fridge just for the bottles.

I don't understand. Why would you need to store the yeast-less beer in the fridge any more than yeast-full beer?

OK, so back on topic. I found a home brew shop that will bottle with yeast intact, however they recommend keeping the beer at 10 degrees or it'll go bad. This sound familiar? If I'm buying 100 beers, will it really go bad if it has all the yeast?

And now you're being told that you need to store cold if it does have yeast?

Am I missing something here?

 

[feinbera]

CYA time.... all it takes is for a couple schmucks who can't tell the difference between cellar temp and full-sun-in-the-back-of-the-car-for-a-week temp to ruin these shops' day.

 

[Husher]

I don't understand. Why would you need to store the yeast-less beer in the fridge any more than yeast-full beer?

And now you're being told that you need to store cold if it does have yeast?

Am I missing something here?

I'm assuming that the yeast is what keeps the beer fresh and aging. if the yeast is sterilized at 2 weeks, the beer will go bad more quickly (beer shop says 4 weeks) without refrigeration. The stuff in my basement now has been there for 4 months at 18 degrees and it's fine. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming not if the shop is telling me it WILL go bad without refrigeration.

 

[Husher]

CYA time.... all it takes is for a couple schmucks who can't tell the difference between cellar temp and full-sun-in-the-back-of-the-car-for-a-week temp to ruin these shops' day.

So what are you telling me? They're exaggerating so I won't be disappointed if I leave it on the basement floor and it doesn't spoil?

 

[MalFet]

I'm assuming that the yeast is what keeps the beer fresh and aging. if the yeast is sterilized at 2 weeks, the beer will go bad more quickly (beer shop says 4 weeks) without refrigeration. The stuff in my basement now has been there for 4 months at 18 degrees and it's fine. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming not if the shop is telling me it WILL go bad without refrigeration.

Beer ages. Some beer is meant to be drunk young, and some beer is meant to age. I've never noticed any appreciable difference between how filtered and unfiltered beers age. I've paid good money for aged, filtered barleywines.

If you're sloppy with your handling, you can start to see some oxidation after four weeks I suppose. But, I don't see much reason to believe that the presence or absence of yeast will impact this significantly. Bottle conditioning beer (in contrast to force carbing it) can scrub some oxygen out, perhaps.

There are a lot of good threads on this board about how aging works. It seems like you're getting some strange information, so it might be worth a read.

 

[TrubDog]

Go buy a case of PBR and call it good. They have brewed it, filtered it, bottled it and shipped it to to you neighborhood store. You don't have to do a thing and it's probably cheaper than messing with it.

All kidding aside, I prefer to brew it, ferment it, keg it and drink it myself. Where's the fun if you can't call it your own?

 

[Krazykripple]

All kidding aside, I prefer to brew it, ferment it, keg it and drink it myself. Where's the fun if you can't call it your own?

QFT. i can always go to the store and buy beer, but it is so much more fun doing the whole process myself and tweaking recipes until they're just the way i want

 

[stratslinger]

I'll also speak to that sentiment - if you're going to homebrew, then homebrew (and clean up after yourself, for crying out loud!). If you're just going to go to a shop and pay way too much for them to brew for you, save yourself a bunch of time and money and just buy a bunch of different good craft brews and call it a day.

 

[el_horno]

Agreed with trub and krazy. I actually live in an area with at least 10 craft breweries in close distance and/or brew pubs I am very lucky! Suffice to say I don't home brew for a lack of good beer in my area, rather because I enjoy the process and chance to be a little creative. Nothing like finally cracking a brew open after waiting two months to see smell and taste the fruits of your labor and patience.

 

[mtk6006]

Wait you let someone else brew you beer? For the love of god! Dont you live there too? Hell everyone makes a mess in kitchen its protocal. Thats why clorox wipes are there. Just clean up after yourself. Compromise or something.....

 

[Fordzilla]

This concept is very strange to me. Bottling is my absolute least favorite part of brewing, just below clean-up. Just buy some BMC if you're not gonna brew your own.

 

[bighorn_brew]

Brew outside,,,,I've gone outside and can't stand brewing inside anymore, I hate stressing about every little drop of wort spilled, and the potential for a big mess is too risky, and yes I am married....with kids, so, the safety of the kids is first and foremost....

 

[Fennis]

I have to agree with others here. This is in no disrespect, but having another place do basically all the work for you isn't home brewing. You might as well go to the store and buy beer if you are done with the hobby. Otherwise, if the wife is getting on your case about being messy, then either work harder at being less of a mess when brewing, or figure out a way to brew outdoors. Brewing does require some work, and its not a clean hobby. I ultimately spill a little bit here and there when brewing in my shed, but its on concrete and all it takes is a little water and a brush and the sticky mess is gone. I guess I don't know what to tell you. Having a home brew shop do the work isn't your brew, you are paying someone to make the beer for you and to bottle it--no difference than any commercial beer you can buy now except that you probably get to select the recipe--but that is no different than selecting Molsen this time and Labatt the next. I am not trying to be rude, but if you want craft beer then either seek out a local brewery or talk with the wife about wanting to continue the hobby and be a little better about cleaning up your mess when you are done.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

If the problem is making a mess in your own home, find a friend to homebrew with. Leave the mess at their house and take the beer back to yours.

 

[LandoLincoln]

This concept is very strange to me. Bottling is my absolute least favorite part of brewing, just below clean-up. Just buy some BMC if you're not gonna brew your own.

Hear, hear. If you're going to have someone else brew and/or ferment your beer, then just save yourself some time and money and buy stuff off of the shelf and turn in your homebrewer card.

 

[squeekybobo]

Brew outside,,,,I've gone outside and can't stand brewing inside anymore, I hate stressing about every little drop of wort spilled, and the potential for a big mess is too risky, and yes I am married....with kids, so, the safety of the kids is first and foremost....

+1 I was kicked outside because the wife doesn't like the smell. She's insane, it smells like heaven. I love brewing in the garage. Easier to clean up the mess, and I can turn up the tunes while the kids are asleep, since brewing at night makes the wife happy that I'm available on the weekend days. It can go late, but I get to brew uninterrupted.

 

[benzy4010]

Brew on patio or driveway

 

[Rowdy]

I work at a lhbs with a brew on premises. You make an appointment to reserve a 30 gallon steam jacket kettle. You come in with your own recipe or one of ours. (Ours are guaranteed) you then make your 15 gallons of beer under the supervision of an experienced brewer on staff. The fermentation side is handled by staff. Then 2 to 3 weeks later you come to bottle your beer you can have it filtered and carbed or can choose to bottle condition. You make the beer we take care of the mess. Can see the places mentioned earlier being pretty lame they make your beer for you and you just come and bottle?

 

[nutty_gnome]

Haters gonna hate. But brew on premises places are a great way to get started in homebrewing. Sure its more expensive, but you have none of the up front equipment costs, aggravation from the spouse, or storage issues. I wonder if the OP isn't a bit confused about how his chosen BOP works and perhaps more questions are in order. If I were the OP and things were too 'hot' at home to brew, I'd give BOP a shot and see how it goes.

 

[MalFet]

Haters gonna hate. But brew on premises places are a great way to get started in homebrewing. Sure its more expensive, but you have none of the up front equipment costs, aggravation from the spouse, or storage issues. I wonder if the OP isn't a bit confused about how his chosen BOP works and perhaps more questions are in order. If I were the OP and things were too 'hot' at home to brew, I'd give BOP a shot and see how it goes.

I don't think anyone's "hating" BOP. People are hating TBOPFYASITYAHETII (they brew on premises for you and sell it to you as homebrew even though it isn't).

 

[nutty_gnome]

Does that model even exist? I think there are some major misunderstandings. That isn't a BOP, thats a production nano-brewery who sells to select customers.