/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>13286913
so long as you don't use one of those

>>13286913
I used to until I stopped drinking. Get yourself a book by Charlie Papazian to start with, and your first few batches just do really simple ordinary real ales or stouts until you've got the process right then you can start being crazy.
I was doing honey ale with cinnamon, and was looking into mead.
Learning to know all the different hops varieties and how they can influence the flavour and aroma is really interesting too.

>>13286943
i like you, we could be fwens.

>>13286913

sure
I brewed beer for 10 years and was making all grain beer with equipment I made
it's fun
friends liked my beer
have to accept the fact it probably won't get you hot young pussy

>>13286973
>have to accept the fact it probably won't get you hot young pussy

oh.

>>13287170
yeah, girls mostly don't like beer but some of them do

>>13286913
I've never met anyone who made good beer at home who wasn't an overweight alcoholic in denial (I'm talking like, minimum 2-3 beers before the sun even goes down every single day including weekdays)

I've had a lot of homebrews made by casuals and without exception it was worse than any commercial beer

>>13286913
I do enjoy a good homebrew.
Fun to do with a friend, smoke a few joints, have a few drinks. The hardest part is stocking up on bottles

this is a very reddit thread

>>13287288
everyone here uses reddit. grow up.

>>13287350
no wed don't, but liking beer isn't "reddit"

>>13287350
i dont, then again im not in middle school

>Americans have moved from “muh microbreweries!” to “muh nanobreweries!”
Lmao

>>13287378
denmark anon here, america micro beer is infinitely better than anything ive had in the EU

I've been using a brew kit like this and have made 4 different types of beers in them. Problem is my beers always seem to have this fruity taste to it due to the yeast. Its not disgusting but it doesn't taste as crisp and as good as it could be. What could I be doing wrong? Longer ferment time maybe?

Uh lads...for years I was passionate about making my own beer.
I had the equipment, I had the time and I had the passion...everything is now lost due to massive depression and other problems.

I started with a base kit with plastic fermenter and tools with per hopped canned barley malt extracts to mix with water and add yeast, then with the time I started customising the beers a little by adding Belgian style aromas such as coriander and anise for the Christmas ales, then I moved to the next level malts+extracts and there I stopped.

My latest equipment included an inox pot with a built in bazooka filter connected to a tap, I also had a plate heat exchanger with silicon food grade tubes for quickly cooling down the hot beer must straight out the pot...

Those were the days.

>>13287423
Coopers ale by any chance? Ale yeasts usually produce some fruity flavors, but I thought Coopers tasted weird.

Try switching the kit yeast for a different one. You can play around quite a bit with LME kits -- mix them, add DME, change the yeast, use hop pellets or other flavorings.

Also, lager the fuck out of those things. If you have a fridge that you can put your fermenter in, put it in there for as long as you can tolerate (obviously let it get back to an appropriate temperature before bottling). You can lager after you've bottled/carbed too. Just put 'em in the fridge and wait.

>>13286913
I was considering buying the Beer Geek Breakfast one the other day but after looking at the instructions i decided i can't be bothered.

>>13286921
There's nothing wrong with using kits, fag. You want to save time/money do kit brews. There's nothing worse than an elitist homebrewer. Literally tell me one thing wrong with kit brewing. You can't. Just sani, boil, add water to temp, pitch yeast, and wait a week, bottle or keg.

>>13286913
If you can get your hands on a coopers lager kit, definitely do that. I kegged that stuff and it was very good. Got a used corny keg for $25 and a danby kegerator. It all paid for itself after two brews. Very drinkable lager, no off tastes, straight up 5% lager. Fucking $1/L and I really don't like a lot of macro beer.

>>13287423
>fruity taste
Try to ferment at a cooler temp if you can. Esters are less common if you ferment at the lower end of the temperature scale for your yeast.

Also try a more neutral variety of yeast. Maybe US-05 or another Chico strain.

>>13288374
Bottling is miserable with a tube.

>>13286913
A year from now, all that shit you bought to make beer with will be sitting in the basement collecting dust. Gauranteed

>>13288374
>Literally tell me one thing wrong with kit brewing.
Okay.
Imagine wanting to learn to make a sword. But instead of learning where to get the best priced ingots, highest quality wood for furnishing, finely crafted leather for the grip, etc. and making all of the valuable social connections that come with it, you buy a "sword making kit" from some random faceless entity, with everything you technically need to make a sword already in it, but of the most lackluster quality possible. You now still have absolutely no direct connections to any manufacturers of blacksmithing materials, and to boot, you lost out on an opportunity to save money because you added a middle man where no middle man was necessary, and they naturally have their own profit margins to push.
Now imagine that but with a beer making kit. That's why it's a stupid idea.

>>13286913
Yeah, it's fun, I do it but I mostly stick to brewing classic styles; I don't go crazy, I'll brew a good dunkle or pale ale or something.

>>13289275
>swordmaking analogies

>>13289342
>red herring

>>13289348
If you're making such high quality swords, why are you buying ingots instead of making your own steel from scratch?

>>13289362
Thank you for increasing the validity of my original point. The further back you go into the primordial skill tree, the better your craft will become and the more money you will save. You just need to have the time to do it.
I was asked to provide one thing wrong with kit brewing, and I believe I've done that clearly. If you don't have time to do things right, by all means, buy a "beer making kit". I will happily group you with the people who buy fast food because they "don't have the time to cook", and yes, I will group you also with the hypothetical people who are buying hypothetical "sword making kits" because they are too lazy to be an actual entrepreneur in their field and learn how to get the best deals on the best materials, and understand better what each material's source is derived from and what purpose those nuances serve in the final product.
It's the same with work. You can work for someone, as a negotiator, as their employee and play the safe game. Fixed wages, no risk and the same reward therefore. Or you can force their hand and tell them you'll be on contract, and that the level of success you derive from the negotiation directly impacts the amount of money you get. Higher risk, higher reward. Be aggressive.
Otherwise, have fun with beer from your beer making kits. I'm sure it will feel really fulfilling to know that your beer is so special and unique along with everyone else using a beer making kit. Cheers.

>>13289275
Yes but you're making beer, not a sword. You don't drink a sword you fucking retard. Some people brew beer to save a ton of money, some brew for the craft of it. There is NOTHING wrong with doing kits if you just want to save money. They often taste far better than most macro beers that people settle on, at a fraction of the cost. Go all grain if you want to, but it's nowhere near as easy, so you're gonna spend more time on it and likely have a lot of trial and error before you nail it down. You also need more gear for all grain. All grain brewing is a whole hobby on its own.

>>13289388
It just seems like a competent bladesmith would be crafting his own steel, etc. but here you are buying all sorts of pre-made materials. Is it just easier and faster that way?

>>13289388
>t. pretentious homebrewer #18,284,822

>>13286913
No

>>13289388
>the more money you will save
I guess your time is absolutely worthless then, eh? Lmao

>>13289397
You obviously lack reading comprehension. I'll say it again.
You can buy the pre-made materials individually, searching for the highest quality materials and making the appropriate social connections so that you can get better deals in the future and learn your way around the industries of the respective materials, being able to tell who offers the best products for the most respectable price.
Or you can buy it all in a kit, at low quality, and not make direct connections with the manufacturers of those materials in any way whatsoever.
I'm not saying go out and become a farmer just so you can get the grain to brew your alcohol. I see where you're going but the analogy still stands with swordmaking, no craftsman is out there mining the ore to smelt the ingots. That is a waste of time for no improvement in quality, because you now have to learn a whole new skill. That's not the point. The point is to know where to get high quality ingredients and network within the industry's resources.
Maybe this idea is lost on people who can't do without instant gratification and the modern conveniences that are slowly spoiling away the once-inherent discipline of the human race. Whatever, I don't care. As I said, have fun with beer from your beer making kits. I'm sure it will feel really fulfilling to know that your beer is more expensive to produce while somehow also being made with lower quality ingredients.
>>13289401
>

>>13289443
How does this apply to some retard that wants to brew a beer in his basement? Do we need to form working relationships with various guild members around town to do that?

>>13289473
No, just buy the best ingredients you can afford. It will still be cheaper in the long run than some pre-made kit. Again, why reinvent the wheel? Why add a middle man where there never was one before?
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make now.

>>13289481
Usually kits are fairly priced vs buying individual pieces


>make direct connections with the manufacturers of those materials
Why tho? Who fucking cares?

>>13289496
>Who fucking cares?
With that attitude, you probably should just be buying kits.

>>13289503
No, we gotta be swordsmiths and form lifelong relationships with guild members so we can source fine leathergoods and wood. Only then can we understand how to brew beer in our basement.

>>13289513
>Literally tell me one thing wrong with kit brewing
You are relying on a middle man where no middle man is necessary. I'm not sure what sort of strange world you live in where a company can make a profit off of nothing, but no beer making kit is going to give you quality materials for less, or even the same price, that you can find yourself. It's a company. They capitalize on the fact that you don't have the TIME or the DISCIPLINE to look for these things yourself and start from the bottom up. And that's what you won't admit, but I already know that's why you're defending them.
You're always better off doing it yourself.
So have fun with letting someone else do it for you and take more of your money than is necessary.

>>13286913
Yes, it's fun. Just don't burn yourself.

>>13289528
If they gather up everything I need and put it all into a nice box for me, the can have an extra $2. I don't really care about spending a little extra money for convenience because I'm not a poorfag.

>>13289513
Based.

>>13289528
You don't need to walk into your local HBS to buy a 5 gallon bucket, 10+ pounds of grains, a mash tun and $100 worth of more equipment. If anything this is a terrible idea for someone who just wants to try it. It makes more sense for someone to buy a $30-40 kit just to try it unless they're super adventurous. Grain kits are fine if you buy them on sale.

>U RACK DISCIPRINE
Are you seething this hard because you own a homebrew store? Or are you just a low-level clerk running one of their registers with a mental complex?

>>13289542
Thank you. That's all I wanted you to say.
You're sacrificing more of your money out of laziness and that was my original point. My point wasn't that it's never worth it to spend more money for something, my point was that it's best to do it yourself. Obviously you care more about convenience than quality, so good luck with that anon.
Good luck with that indeed. But don't think that you're embarking on the real journey of home brewing when using a kit. You're not.

>>13289528
Everyone starts somewhere. Brewing is a complicated process with at least 5000 years of history. Buddy just wants to ease into, no need to be a huge fucking elitest faggot over it.
And since it apparently matters to you, I all grain brew and create my own recipes.

>>13289552
Actually there are some very quality homebrew kits out there. Imagine having quality and convenience all in one. It's amazing!!

>>13289552
>But don't think that you're embarking on the real journey of home brewing when using a kit. You're not.
This is one of the most pompous things I've ever read on 4chan. Congratulations, you made it.

Just do it
My tip: use kveik yeast
My first beer was a witbier and boi it was good

>>13286913
definitely as an alcoholic i can say that making own booze is cheaper
I personally just get either apple cider or honey and water and let it ferment for a week or so

>>13289572
I suspect it's a troll since every homebrewer I know is very laid back about it and would encourage someone wanting to try it to certainly buy an extract kit.

>>13288304
>after looking at the instructions i decided i can't be bothered.
same
i've wanted to brew beer for a long time but it just looks like a lot of effort

>>13286913

No. Don't bother. Eventually you'll get tired of the beer and desire only to drink Japanese whiskey without anything extra. Beermaking is a dying industry for incels and beercucks.

Drinking beer is both intoxicating and unhealthy but at least with Japanese whiskey you are getting the distilled glory of Japan.

>>13290134

agree
kits are fine
brewing is fun
and you can make some good beer

>>13290535
Base level kits are cancer if made regularly, they make fair beer (but you ha e 23 litres of boring beer every time) but don’t expect to brew a decent product out of a pre hopped extract that comes with a garbage generic yeast (protip: buy a specific yeast that meets the flavour profile of whatever you’re making).
You only use them to practice but as soon as you developed a base level comprehension just jump to the E+G level (extracts + grains).
All Grain is the final method but it’s not for everyone and it requires a shit ton of pots and equipment.

>>13287423
as another anon said, cooler temps result in less ester production generally, furthermore the yeast you're using could be lower attenuation meaning you're getting more residual sugar at the end of fermentation. High attenuation yeasts result in a crisp dry beer with minimal residual sugar. However, ester profile also varies between yeast strains.

I'd recommend picking up a peco boiler (plastic bucket with a heat element attached) and a mashing bag and switch to Brew in a Bag if you're finding that you don't like the taste of extract kits. Gives you much greater control over what you're brewing.

>>13290553
I do all grain and it's definitely a pain in the ass. It takes way longer and has more cleanup. I'm also a mediocre brewer. But I wouldn't go back to extract because I prefer the AG product.

>>13286913
Yes, try All grain but some of the kits today are really good

>>13286913
Kits are trash. Beer is hard(er) IME than Cider, Bumwine, or Toilet-Shine. Find a good short book on the process that you can reference instead of relying on youtube. The latter is full of bullshit and kit cunts.
>muh nothing wrong with a kit
Yeah there's nothing wrong with buying cheap beer instead either, but if you're going to brew you might as well fucking learn something instead of pretending and aping the process of learning something like a useless hipster faggot.

>>13291327
I knew you'd be back at some point