Anyone brew their own beer or make wine?

[burmjohn]

Just curious, Anyone brew their own beer or make wine?

I'm thinking about asking for a good beer brewing kit for xmas. 

[NYDeer]

My brother and another friend are home brewers, and I made wine for a few years.. If you like a certain brew, most home brew supply shops can set you up with ingredients to make something similar..

[burmjohn]

I've done wine, many moons ago.  But the beer thing has me intrigued...  Plus, it seems rather inexpensive.

[biggamefish]

Brew my own beer here and there. I have akegerator and keg. Best beer there is.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

no beer or wine but i have my first run of Hard Cider mellowing right now...already been reacked and have 1 month of the second sitting under my belt...did a littl sampling after the rack. 11.5% ABV

[burmjohn]

Do you have a tester to check the level? Thats neat!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

bought a device at the brewing store...take a reading at start.....when you think it is done ..... and then a few day later. if the fermenting is complete the specific gravity of the cider doesn't change anymore. original reading - final reading x 131 = ABV content. came up a little higher than I expected but still tastes great. 5 gallons of cider...5 pounds of white cane sugar, 5 pounds of dark brown sugar, one package of champagne yeast. Pretty easy really...no cooking like with beer.

[Geno C]

i brew my own beer, ill send you some websites to look into. you can get a nice brew kit for 100 bux or spend as much as 8k lol and even way more...

[burmjohn]

Nice, I book marked a bunch... I was looking at this -> http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/deluxe-beer-starter-kit.html

What kind of setup do you have?  Also what temp does the actual room your brewing in have to be? Wondering if I can do it in my heated garage, I keep it at about 50.

[Daveboone]

I home brewed for a number of years. I love the process and the different beers you can brew. I got out of it due to time limitations. It is a bit time consuming- 2-3 evenings a batch. (the initial boil, washing bottles, siphoning and bottling, then capping). If you have a freind to do it with, then it is much more fun. (or simply...have more spare time than me). It is a great hobby though.

[burmjohn]

It takes 2-3 evenings to get a batch going?

BTW all this talk of beer, I stopped on the way home and picked up some micro brews

[Geno C]

It takes 2-3 evenings to get a batch going?

BTW all this talk of beer, I stopped on the way home and picked up some micro brews

sorry john, i havnt gotten a chance to get those companies for you. BTW i did the same thing on sunday. i picked up 2 different ales from a long island brewery called blue point. love there beer

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I guess I am lucky. I live just minutes from a store called Beers of the World. they have everything you need for brewing and wine making and a great selection of .....you guessed it....beers from around the world...

[Chef]

blue point is great you should try the beer rastafarye that they make it is fantastic. also for any of you that really like good local beers the brewery in peekskill is great they have about 8 beers that they make in house and a very extensive list of other micro brews. not to mention that the food is fantastic i had friend pork cutlet with spatzel and braised cabadge and it was amazing the best ive ever had and im a chef

[Culvercreek hunt club]

blue point is great you should try the beer rastafarye that they make it is fantastic. also for any of you that really like good local beers the brewery in peekskill is great they have about 8 beers that they make in house and a very extensive list of other micro brews. not to mention that the food is fantastic i had friend pork cutlet with spatzel and braised cabadge and it was amazing the best ive ever had and im a chef

Ummmmmm....chef?...and we haven't seen you posting in the game recipe section?...come on...cough some up?...lol

[Geno C]

there are a ton of micro breweries in NY. In my area alone i have east hampton, blue point, john harvards and brooklyn, which BTW make all awesome beer!!

[burmjohn]

Ok made my decision... Asking the wife for this kit:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-kit.html

And a few other extra's to get me going in the sport   I'm psyched!

[NYDeer]

Met one of the owners of Great South Bay Brewery the other day.. They're in Bayshore so I'm gonna try to stop by..

[burmjohn]

Sweet...

[burmjohn]

I picked up some hoptical illusions yesterday from blue point at a local store... WOW! It was really really good...

I ordered my first two kits in anticipation of getting my brew kit from the wifey for xmas...  Any tips?!?!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Act surprised...lol

[ANTLERS]

I found a great new micro beer located in Green port called Green port Harbor.They brew a pumkin spice beer in the fall called Leaf pile,As well as several others.They sell their beer via kegs at beverage places through out the island,I go in with my glass growler,They fill it from the tap for $14.

[burmjohn]

Act surprised...lol

I guess its a good thing I have all my stuff being delivered to work

[Geno C]

hoptical is very good! very hoppy...

i was going to tell you about midwest, i get supplies from them. they are great to order from

[Geno C]

John you should also buy a wart brewer and a wart chiller.

remember sanitation is key for brewing beer!

wart chillers are great for bringing the temp of the wart down faster, at a certain temp the brew becomes susceptible to spoilage.

and also watch out when brewing your wart on the stove, its messy if spilt and the wife will kill you... down the line buy something you can brew with outside and not on her stove lol

i havent done a batch in a few months, been kind of busy. dieing to get another batch going! also, if you are bottling your beer, start saving pop top bottles so you dont have to buy them!