/diy/ - Do It Yourself

any website you would recommend for a starter kit?

>>339003
Not OP, but http://www.midwestsupplies.com is a good place to start. I think they have a starter kit for everything.

I just finished two 5 gallon batches of mead, my first homebrewing attempt. I bought carboys on an online classified, and yeast, as well as a few supplies (corks, bottle+carboy brushes) from my local homebrew store.
I bottled one(lemonade flavoured) after 5 weeks, and the other(raspberry-glace fruit) after 8.
Considering I've never tried it before, it went pretty well! The mead doesn't taste as good as the beer or wine I would buy from the liquor store, but its certainly drinkable, and makes a nice sangria.
If I did it again I would a) rack once, and b)let it age a bit longer. I was a bit impatient since it was my first time. Looking forward to trying making wine next! Anybody recommend a good variety?

I've made two 3 gallon batches of wine. One was raisin date wine, and the other was blueberry wine. The raisin date was my first batch ever, and I just wanted to try something different. It didn't turn out too wonderful, but I wound up with a very dry white wine with a very high ABV. Slightly yeasty.

The blueberry wine I liked much better, but I tried to arrest the fermentation with sodium benzoate to murder the yeast and failed to add a sufficient amount to do the job. One of my gallon jugs exploded and made a fantastic mess. What survived was a very sweet wine with a great reddish-purple color. It also clarified beautifully all by itself after I killed off the yeast.

I do my primary fermentation in a 5-gallon flexible plastic fermenter. I like it because I can squeeze out all the air if my batch doesn't fill the container, then I transfer to a bunch of gallon jugs I picked up for free from the local recycling center.

Seriously, if you want gallon jugs just turn up to one and ask. Glass has almost no value to the recycler and they'll be more than happy to give you any they have on hand. Restaurants serve table wine by the gallon and in high-quality jugs. The one of mine that exploded was one I paid $5.50 for at the local homebrew shop. The freebies took the pressure and I was able to save them in time.

>>339026
This is my 5th year brewing, had my first glass for this year's wine. I did a 72 gallon batch this year, merlot and Chardonnay. The Chardonnay came out surprisingly light (as in color). It's fairly fruity but it's still young wine (2 months ish). Next year I might buy an oak barrel and experiment with 5 gallons. Btw, this wine is a perfect gift when you go over someone's house. I don't have to deal with finding something at the store, just bottle some wine.

I racked some Queen Anne's Lace mead a couple days ago. It's the 5-gallon carboy in foil in this image. It's bound for bulk storage before bottling it. It is 15.23%ABV if I did the calculations and measurements correctly. Some notes I made,
---
Odor: Sweet, strong alcohol; no floral or carrot smell now
Looks: Great dark reddish amber color, no indication of infection, but there was a "semi-suspicious thin-white film on top of the brew" (decided to taste test because of this), fairly clear, but could use a fining agent to get rid of some finer suspended material (will try clay, if I use any fining agent.) There was a very tiny amount of CO2 build up on the bottom of the test glass.
Taste: Somewhat sweet, burns the back of the throat and stomach a bit, okay aftertaste; no floral or carrot flavors detected yet.
Outlook: Good. Aging and degassing should help remove some of the bite and bring out more subtle flavors, if they survived. Since there is a lot of head space with oxygen in it, I will age this in bulk for about 3 months then bottle it with solid natural cork where it can age longer.
---
I normally don't taste test a young brew, but there was a suspicious film on it. Everything seems fine, it just tastes and feels "young". Hopefully, as the stronger stuff breaks down during aging the florals and carrot flavors will be noticeable. It seems bound for being a great mead.

The other two bottles are Pagan Queen's mead (2010) and Dandelion (2009) wine that have been in long term aging. I don't hold much for those two. They were awful when racked last time. I hope the aging will help, but I'm still leery of the dandelion wine, (too much green in it due to laziness when picking and separating the blossoms.) The 1st batch was really good though. The Pagan Queen's mead is an experiment though.

>>339029
>5th year brewing

Nice. I'm closing in on my 5th year this January.

>72 gallon batch

Wow, is that all one container or more than one?

>>339026
>raisin date wine, and the other was blueberry wine.

Nice. I need to do a blueberry wine again.

>The freebies took the pressure and I was able to save them in time.

You are referring to the 1-gallon glass jugs? Are you sealing them off for carbonation purposes or was it just a freak accident?

>>339020
>Considering I've never tried it before, it went pretty well!

Great to hear! Congratulations! Now you'll never stop!

>The mead doesn't taste as good as the beer or wine I would buy from the liquor store, but its certainly drinkable, and makes a nice sangria.

Keep trying. The slightest thing can change it from one batch to the next. Even the ambient temperature of the room can do that. It makes things interesting and when there's a solid winner it makes it all the more special.

>a) rack once, and b)let it age a bit longer.

I normally rack as many times as I need to, until there's no more sediment falling out to the bottom. I may wait a month between rackings to let it do that. Although, racking too much without some argon or CO2 in the container can put too much oxygen into the brew. Aging with mead is extremely important. Always age it at least a year no matter what. Always save out one bottle and let it age a long time if you are so impatient that you need to drink all the rest in a short amount of time.

>wine
>Anybody recommend a good variety?

A real wine or a country wine? A real wine is one made with grapes and a country wine is made with everything else. How about a half and half? Cranberry and grape?

>>339003
I also second >>339005 midwestsupplies. I started out with one of their wine kits. Get one with all equipment and no ingredients.

Mead master race, reporting in !
my first batch was that nasty orange raisin stuff, but afterwards I caught the bug and now I regularly go to the brew stores in my area. my mist recent, and most successful brew was a 5 gallon batch of peach-ginger mead and it is DELICIOUS. still fairly young and strong, the flavor or the honey shines thru right after you swallow the peachy mouthfull. the Abv is roughly 17-18% and the wine is very sweet, and only slightly acidic. it is a great sipping drink, and is great with a meal.
also, can I get some votes :
BlackBerry mead
pomegranate mead
or Rodomel, Rose mead, for the next batch ?

>>339086
>my first batch was that nasty orange raisin stuff,

The Ancient Orange Cinnamon and Clove mead from Joe's Mead?

>Rose mead

Now that sounds cool.

>>339089 yup that's the stuff.
any suggestions for other ingredients to the rose mead? I just picked all of the petals off of my bush after I pruned it , so I'm itching to get started and be creative

>>339086
I've never used rose petals, but rosehip mead is fucking amazing. Just be prepared to let it age for a good 4 years if you're using a heat method. It's well worth the wait.

i got a 5gal batch of Irish Stout that is just about done ferm'n. need to take a hydro reading to make sure, then rack to 2nd. thinking i might split the batch into 2 and add some amaretto to one, see how that works out.

no pic, too lazy to get the camera out

>>339086

That sound awesome. GIMME SOME

I just finished distilling my Kilju for 4 Gallons of 40%, flavourless spirits (Methanol and Fusil free!)

Moving back onto making mead after the good things I've heard about it (My first batch was maybe a 7/10, nothing special)

>>339140
>rosehip mead

I've used rose hips before, but they never really seemed to impart any flavors or scents. Fresh petals of flowers in white wines/meads seem to do the best. do you know if there's a specific variety of rose that has rose hips that are stronger in flavor or scent?

>>339267 I will google it of course, but should I check an herb store for rose hips or will I need to plant another bush in the spring

I've got a gallon each of cyser and strawberry cyser, aged about 7 months now. The plain cyser is alright, quite dry.. The strawberry, wasn't supposed to be a cyser, just wasn't thinking and decided to fill it up with left over apple juice rather than water and got a tidiculously high OG. Tastes pretty damn good though, albeit a bit sweet, like the strawberries brought out the apple flavor or something. Also the two used different yeasts, though I don't recall off hand which was which. I think one was Red Star Montrachet, the Other Red Star Pasteur Champagne or some such.
Also have a few liters left of a 5 gallon batch of Graff Cider, which I bottle carbed, it's about 5 months I guess.
I really need to get some more shit brewing, and pick up several more 5 or 6 gallons carboys..

Also, thinking about throwing together some chocolate mandarin wine, but can't decide between a 1 gallon test batch or a 5 gallon batch. Supposed to be really good, but needs a minimum of 2 years to not taste like shit lol.

>>339086
Sounds delicious, been contemplating doing a ginger mead myself. Probably going to do a large batch of traditional though and do a couple of varieties in the secondary. Ginger being one, and hibiscus another I'd like to try.

I got my first batch of mead on its way. Its just 5 liters (around 1.5 gallons), but I am just trying this out.
I put 4 limes in there for I have a strange addiction to those fruit.
So excited to see how it turns out!

>>339423
>chocolate mandarin wine

Chocolate increases in flavor as a brew ages. Keep that in mind. It is the same with cloves.

>>339062
The wine is in different carboys, just looked up oak barrels at a local store and wow they're expensive.

I'll probably start brewing something other than wine, I especially want try to make the president's summer ale. Apparently it's amazing, according to the president. Can you believe a petition was started to get the recipe released? Has anyone made a batch here?

>>339062
Real wine all the way, merlot and Chardonnay are my favorite.

Brewing an Irish Chocolate Stout on wednesday

>>339062
Freak accident. I sealed them shut, thinking the yeast had died off, but it somehow decided to live after a day or two of no activity. I was out of town and informed by my girlfriend that a whole gallon had detonated on her while she was in the kitchen. Not a good moment.

Classic Hef and English Brown at the ready!

~One year brewin' / 5 kits / 25 All-Grain

>>339423 I'm thinking of doing a cocoa mead after the holidays pass. I think it will be interesting... chocolate alcohol... just btw, cyser only refers to a mead in which Apples are the source of flavor , it is a specific type of melomel. your drink is more akin to a strawberry melomel in proper naming I would guess.

does anybody here have an idea as to how I would go about producing a cream-liquer ?

>>339810
Use nitrogen to "carbonate" it for one of the creamy feels. Use emulsified oatmeal to get another creamy feel. Another is using lactose.

>>339690
Nice

Tart cherry melomel and blackberry melomel got racked for the first time last night. Gonna pull off a beer bottle of each for a tasting party this weekend. Even though they are young they are tasting great. I attribute it to the nutrient additions schedule.

I've got one gallon of cider soaking 1 oz of med. toast french oak chips and another without for comparison. Never used oak before but it smelled fantastic when boiling to sanitize.

Small jars of mulling spice and ginger soaking in vodka are waiting to be added to straight meads too.

Anyone in here "carbonate" their brews? With CO2, nitrogen, or just priming?

>>341079
I always force carbonate my beer, started out kegging. Just did priming for the first time as well.

Haven't messed with nitrogen yet though.

>>339005
Ive never done anything before, but would like to try brewing vodka or rum. Would this site be a good place to start?
Or do i have the wrong idea about brewing/

>>341297
Run and vodka require distillation which is illegal at least it is in the states. wine, beer, and mead don't require distillation

>>341297
As >>341301 states, home distilling is illegal in most places without a license. Beer, wine, mead, etc are all fermented and not distilled which is legal to do in most places. midwestsupplies.com doesn't have distilling equipment the last time I was on their site. Instead, they have home brewing equipment.

For distilling try a site like,

home-distilling.com

4 years now. Currently going:
- Flanders Red (9 months atm)
- Pumpkin & Spice wee heavy
- Sour Citra Wit w/ pears
- Sour She-Devil clone (adding 10# of cherries in about a week)
- Apple mead/Cyser (pretty meh at the moment)

>>341301
There is one state with an express law that states that anyone over the age of 21 can distill without a license. That would be Missouri. I know state law doesn't beat federal but its still nice.

Section 311.055 of the Missouri Revised Statues (August 28, 2009) reads:

"No person at least twenty-one years of age shall be required to obtain a license to manufacture intoxicating liquor, as defined in section 311.020, for personal or family use. The aggregate amount of intoxicating liquor manufactured per household shall not exceed two hundred gallons per calendar year if there are two or more persons over the age of twenty-one years in such household, or one hundred gallons per calendar year if there is only one person over the age of twenty-one years in such household. (see References 4) "

Anyone with a good stove-top pot distillation setup? Looking to convert a stainless 9 gallon brew pot to the boiler, but would like some specifics as for sealing the lid (non flour/water, a permanent "pop on be done" type. Thinking about using a gel/liquid gasket making product they use for cars alot.) and how to attach the copper tubing to the lid. Was thinking drill a hole in the lid to stuff a brewers cork into, drill a hole in the brewers cork, push copper tubing inside. Need to break it down into pieces for storage. Input and advice would be nice. Want to build a decent first rig and not explode.

>>342048
don't use gasket maker dipshit, unless you want your kids to have flippers. Flour/water really is the best, usually with binder clips to hold the lid on. Second place though maybe is MUSIC GRADE CORK. I put that in caps because I don't want you to fuck around and go get some cork gasket shit from the auto parts store and use that. That shit is full of glue and urethane that is bad for you. Music grade cork is okay.

PTFE is supposedly OK too, but I wouldn't mess with that either. No plastics or artificial shit is the best rule IMO.

>>342078
Thanks. Didn't think it would matter if it didn't come in contact with any of the mash or anything like that. But ok, water/flour is cheap and easy, just wanted a permanent seal is all.

Any help on the copper tubing part? I don't have any experience working with plumbing stuff, and I don't have the stuff to solder the copper pipes together.

Is there a way to just use a 10' length of 3/8 (10mm) copper pipe? I've read that you can just make a coil somewhere near the middle/end, immerse in it a bucket of cold water and have a small length of the pipe at the end put through a sealed hole at the bottom of the bucket to let the alcohol drip into the collecting jar. Does there need to be any connectors or breaks, compression couplings or etc, or can it just be a continuous length of copper pipe bent to shape?

I just completed an ancient history project where me and my partner made 'ancient beer' using malted barley, water, yeast and 'ancient adjuncts'.
I'm going to hydrometer it tomorrow.
Pic related. That's 40 pints. The cumin one smells lush.

so, first time homebrewer here I've made an apple cider and freeze distilled it into applejack... is that technically illegal

>>342109
HOLY SHIT A BUCKET OF MONEY!

>>343673
not sure what country you are but it's usually legal and perfectly safe

>You will never have enough money to open a small craft brewery
>You will never have the talent, skill and knowledge required to come up with a unique beer recipe
>You will never develop a beer that gets a consistent 100 score on beer advocate and ratebeer

>>343673
>>343687
That is correctly called, "Fractional Freezing". It is outright illegal in several countries. While in others you only need a license. In the USA, it depends on how much you concentrate it as to what laws are used for it. They don't distinguish between fractional freezing or distilling, they just call the product a "concentrate" and that catches all methods in the laws,

http://www.ttb.gov/rulings/94-3.htm

You can reduce the water content a little and still be legal, but don't try to make a spirit/liquor out of it using fractional freezing and still expect it to be legal at all in the USA.

>>343698
Stop that /b/ shit. go be a failure somewhere else. This is a Homebrewmen thread.

I live in Brazil and have access to various kind of tropical fruit just by going to the farmer's market or to my farm.
My lastest project is brewing cashew wine with wild yeast

>>343739
>cashew wine
>from cashew fruit

What does cashew fruit even taste like?

>>343717
>http://www.ttb.gov/rulings/94-3.htm
^^this

Subpart R of my cerebellum just ran out my ear canal.

Hey, whatever goes on inside your own walls, right? You can make rocket fuel if you want, just be discreet.

>>343770
Cashew apples are not popular, in part because of highly astringent taste. This has been traced to the waxy layer on the skin that causes tongue and throat irritation after eating the cashew apple. In cultures that consume cashew apple, this astringent property of the cashew apple is typically removed by steaming the fruit for five minutes before washing it in cold water; alternatively boiling the fruit in salt water for five minutes or soaking it in gelatin solution reduces the concentration to palatable and acceptable levels

-wikipedia

>>343836
And elderberry is poisonous until after you either cook or ferment it.

Neither tells me how elderberries or cashew fruit tastes like. Though, I do know that elderberries make you pucker up pretty bad if you try to taste them raw and even after cooking them, but in food recipes and brews they are awesome.

I'd assume cashew apples would need to be processed properly then added to a recipe. so, how do they taste?

>>343770
>>343836
el salvadorfag here. we don't boil or steam cashew apples or any of that faggotry! we eat right out of the tree some are more bitter than others and they do make your tongue/throat feel weird but no irritation.oh and they taste a little bitter and sweet with that weird feel kinda numbs your throat/mouth. inothatfeel

I built this motherfucker this week! It shall dispense all my beer from now on.

>>343877
Oh wow, that is pretty nice.

Anyone around here built a reflux still? Looking to build a bokabob and wanna see if there's anyone I can bounce some ideas off of.

Looking to make neutral spirit, so not too interested in a pot still atm.

>>343770
>>343836
it is only very astringent when not mature.
you can eat it in natura if it's mature enough
and when you make juice it's not astringent at all.
i'm waiting till the fruits mature to begin it

>>339086
Do you have the infograph for your original batch of mead? I've seen it floating around and I want to try to make a batch, any tips for a new guy?

>>344063

This one? I tried makin a batch a couple months back. Been about 2 months since i last tried it (at about 1 month - 1.5 months after starting the batch).
It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't that nice either.
Cinnamon comes out very strong, and you can taste that its pretty strong. At a guess i'd say about 16-20%.
If mister mead up above could drop in a recipe for the peach recipe i'd love to try it.

First time brewing, from left to right:

Apple juice + sugar + bakers yeast
Water + crystallized sugar + bakers yeast
Apple juice + sugar + wine yeast

The picture was from a few weeks ago, have now freeze concentrated/distilled all of that to 2L.

I used a salad strainer spinny thing to separate the alcohol from the ice, worked a treat.

>>344443
That's the one! Thank you so much.

>>344622
How was the drinkability of it all?

Hey guys, so I followed that shitty recipe for hard apple cider that suggests two napkins secured over the top of the 5 gallon jug. I was smart enough to clean the jug like a mofo, so I'm not worried about bacteria. However, I don't have much faith after further investigation about the napkins keeping air out. Can anyone tell me , do I even have a chance?

I have made a decent mead (JAOM) and a few pretty good ciders so far. I haven't tried any beers because I am not particularly fond of most beer I have tried (i do think I like darker beers though) I have a grape juice concentrate that I haven't tried yet. I only started brewing about 4 months ago, so I don't know much. I just moved within walking distance of the local brewing store. The only thing that people have disliked about my brews was the "bready" aftertaste (I still have only used bread yeast)

I did a gallon of dune themed spiced apfelwine that I really really liked. I used edworts apfelwine recipe (except with bread yeast) and added 6 1/2 cinnamon sticks, 1/8 teaspoon of allspice, 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg, and 3 whole cloves.

Any tips would be appreciated and if anyone has any yeast recommendations for ciders and meads.

Never brewed before, but I'm looking to get into it after Christmas, and once my bank account recovers from its Christmas rapeage.

I've always been curious as to the general size of a batch. Some people are doing 5 gallon jugs of mead, and others are doing 72 gallon drums of wine. How do you go through that much liquid?

I don't even drink that much, so going through even 5 gallons of beer or wine would take me ages, and some of you guys have got 4 or 5 batches on the go at any given time.

How long does it last, and do you sell it, or give it away, or drink it all yourself and amongst friends over like 10 years?

These great threads make me wish for some more normal message board features.

Russian Imperial Chocolate Stout. Been fermenting for >24 hours and already has a nice looking krausen.

>Golden Promise (20lbs)
>Choco Malt (1.25lbs)
>Pale Choco (1lbs)
>Coffee Malt (8oz)
>Phoenix Hops (4oz, 2oz @ 60min and 2 @30min)

Anyone else use these phoenix hops? I fucking love them- they have a chocolaty molasses flavor to them. I brewed a porter using them and it turned out awesome

>>339475
I made a batch... I was not a fan of it. But that may be my personal tastes.

Whatever you do, dont watch the video that the "brewers" (read: Chefs) put out from the white house. They laggered an ale and also told everyone to fill the carboy all the way to the top of the neck.

>>339545
Interesting! Recipe?

>>339690
Very traditional- i like it. Awesome to see people moving on to all grain so quickly, its a hell of a lot cheaper (and more tweek-able)

>>341079
Force carbonate with CO2 like >>341234
I am very impatient and bottles take too long for me.

>>343877
Fancy. But lose the Red Bull logo, get some beer stickers on that thing

>>344795
I must warn you... it quickly turns into a passion and then into an obsession.

However, I know a lot of people who only brew small 3 gallon batches because they, like you, don't drink a whole lot- so you can do what ever size you are comfortable with. When I do 5gal it will last me about a month and a half. I drink a lot of if but i give a lot away to.

Selling is illegal (or at least in my area) but I sometimes (strongly) encourage donations from my friends.

>>344795
My suggestion is to start with some wine or beer kits. Then, all you need is some carboys and a few other IMD's (Implements of Mass Destruction). If you like what you taste, move baby steps into more complicated stuff like these guys have described. Kits will allow you to make some batches of quality-controlled brew or wine that will encourage you to go further.

>>344762
Yeah, get a pin pricked balloon on it ASAP and ditch the napkins.

>>344749
After freezing it was actually alright, a bit sweet as I added far too much sugar, but you could certainly taste the apple juice.

does anybody have any pics of finished product they would like to share?

>>341301
>>341313

In Texas you have to pay for a $200 "commercial" license, but you don't have to sell whatever you make if you don't want to.

>>344789

Typically Ale yeast is recommended, although right now I'm brewing a test batch with champagne yeast (it should come out with a higher ABV)

>>344789

First piece of advice, DO NOT USE BREAD YEAST. I mean, it's fucking bread yeast not brewers yeast. You don't have to go full liquid brewing yeast if you don't want to but i recommend looking in to dry brewing yeasts like Saf-04 and Nottingham.

>>345054

Using champagne yeast isn't common in things other than champagne. Reason being, it has a tendency to destroy other flavors in the wort/pre-fermented liquid. It can also over carbonate things such as beer and cider if bottled, (champagne is very bubbly).

>>345060
Don't start that shit again. Bread yeast is fine. Learn how to use it properly.

>>345065

We'll see how it comes out, I'll post results in the future.

>>345092

Can you explain how? Seriously, I would like to know how bread yeast is fine as opposed to yeast actually meant for brewing.

Do you even into yeast?

http://www.amazon.com/Yeast-Practical-Fermentation-Brewing-Elements/dp/0937381969

>>345092

>>345146

>no reply

>>345146
I can speak for Fleischmann's bread yeast. you need to treat it like Lalvin's EC-1118 champagne yeast. It will create more CO2 that EC-1118 and you need to give it lots of headspace the first couple of days while using a blow off tube. It will create lots of foam. A blow off tube is a precaution and you can switch to a 3-piece airlock a few days later. Keep temperatures around 72F and always activate the yeast prior to pitching it.

If you are experiencing a stuck fermentation with another yeast, you can use Fleischmann's to kick start it. Though, that will change the character of your brew depending on what it is, but that can save it.

It is best to use recipes that are specifically built around specific yeasts. It is best to use the yeast that is called for instead of making a substitution. This is really only for consistency in the recipe.

Regardless of yeast type, most people use yeasts incorrectly and never know it. This is why sticking to a recipe is so important. If you are merely looking to get drunk then it does not matter what non-wild yeast you use.

>>339475
I've really wanted to get wine barrels, but they are not worth it for my small scale stuff. I think sticking to oak spirals, chunks, and chips will be fine. Though the cool factor for barrels is pretty awesome.

>>339581
That sucks. I've been lucky not to have anything, made of glass, break on me. Good thing is was just 1 gallon. I can't imagine having one of my 15-gallon demijohns exploding. My place would stink of alcohol forever.

>>344789

Check out Wyeast Sweet Mead. Leaves 2-3% residual sugar and flocs pretty well.

I just drank my first batch of mead. It turned out fairly well all things considered. I'm wondering what I should put in the next batch (first batch was just honey)

Haven't done any home brew yet, but I have done various alcohol infusions with candies and fruits. Gonna try dissolving some of these bad boys in some vodka here pretty soon.

But I was curious about sanitizing bottles. I usually keep my bottles as clean as I can, but I was wondering if I need to get some good bottle sanitizing stuff or if I shouldn't worry about it. Usually my alcohol only stays in a bottle for a few days and then it is gone, with the exception of fruit infusions that usually sit for a few weeks to a month. Is sanitizing bottles mostly meant for alcohol that is intended to stay in the bottle for a very long time, or should I use it even if the bottle will only be in use for a few days?

>>345481
Oh I forgot my picture. I wanted to use Root Beer Barrels to dissolve in vodka. I really like doing it with the jolly ranchers so I figured that would be good too.

>>345481
>But I was curious about sanitizing bottles.

For what you are doing, you don't need to do anything special.

>>345483
Alright, that is all I needed to know about that. Thanks!

>>345476

>first batch was just honey

that's what mead is, bro.

Pretty stoked about a Imperial Whiskey Oak Porter I recently brewed.

Local distiller sold me a whiskey barrel.

Smooth, flavorful, not over powering, just delicious. 8% beer though. Doesn't even taste like it.

I call it Depth Charge Imperial Whiskey Porter.

>>345522
>Local distiller sold me a whiskey barrel.

Lucky!

Hey, so question for everyone.

I've had an IPA in the primary fermenter for almost twice as long as recommended, what can I expect?

>>345750
>>345750
airlock in place & temperature stable the whole time? probably fine

Prime & bottle

>>345696
That's my chair...
It will be on the Vancouver craigslist tomorrow. Any chance I can get a price suggestion?

>>346030
Nice chair. Did you post plans for it? Though, it looks rather simple to extrapolate from the image.

Considering what it is made from I would estimate anywhere from $75 to $120, but that really depends on craftsmanship and comfort. without sitting in it and seeing it in person, I can't give a very accurate price range. But, if it is good, then the price range above would be worth it. Keep in mind that around here, a used wine barrel costs about $50-$75, unless you are lucky in finding one.

>>346039
Thanks dude. No, haven't posted plans. I sort of made it up as I went from a picture of a similar one.

Yeah the barrel cost about $50. I'm gonna list it a little higher than you suggested and hope I can find some rich people that are all into wine and shit. It's very comfortable but is only held together with screws so it feels a little rickety. I'm going to describe it as "rustic".

>>346055
>I'm gonna list it a little higher than you suggested

That's good. You can always come down in price, if it doesn't sell, but you can never go up in price if you've already sold it.

>but is only held together with screws so it feels a little rickety.

It sounds like it needs some corner braces. Little blocks of wood that are screwed and glued into place would work.

>>346058
Yeah, that's what I was thinking price-wise. Aim high, leave some haggling room.

Braces - That would work, but it's very difficult to properly fit them, as all of the pieces are curved in two directions. I'm usually good with joinery on flat and angled pieces, but all these curves threw me off. Some little metal brackets would help as well, but I want it to look as clean as possible. I may try squeezing PL glue into the cracks as long as it's not visible.

>>346030
Chairs like that sell for 300-500 on craigslist here.

Well, that's what they list for I have no idea what they actually sell for. I live near Napa though, with a bunch of rich fucks. Wine barrels sell for like 20-30 bucks.

>>346066
Good to know, thanks. There are some rich fucks in Vancouver as well. Also a few wineries in neighboring cities.

>>346069
what'd you use for the attachment points? just glue? countersunk short screws?

>>346074
Countersunk screws hidden by plugs cut from the same materials.

>>346076
any tips on the rest of it? I've got a wine barrel I might as well try it with.

>>346080
No tips really. It's pretty straightforward. Be really careful using power tools to cut it, I did it mostly on a mitre saw but it's really difficult to do without setting up a special fence or something. If you use screws it's worth it to take the time to plug them. I had about 50 screws in it, and it took extra time to do the plug hole, pilot, screws, cut the plugs, plug the holes, but it's worth it in the end. looks so much better than screw heads.

>>346082
how'd you cut all the plugs?

>>346085
With a tool called a plug cutter in a drill press. There are different styles, some look like this.

>>346086
cool, thanks for the help

Has anyone experimented with fermenting like a banana mash making like a wine out of it?... I would assume that with all the starches and sugars in bananas that they would quite viable

>>344795


yup, you keep a few liters back for yourself, but you always take it to a party,a gift and the like. I had about 8 gallons sitting around that i needed the bottle empty to brew some more. So i took 8 gallons to a friend's wedding - they drank 7.5 gallons.

>>345481
Star-san

bumpin this bread

>>347378
My first wines were banana wines. They turned out very nice.

>>348087
Do you have a recipe?

>>348321
Here's one of the first old recipes, This was made for use in 2.5 gallon water jugs. Adjust proportions as needed.

>Error: Our system thinks your post is spam. Please reformat and try again.

It seems something in the way the text is formatted is triggering this, so here's a screenshot of the text instead.

>>348350
Thank you!
The more I read this thread, the more I feel like making a batch.

BUMP

Any good berry recipes beside blackberry?

My wine died after adding new liquid yeast culture ? or did it ? It run on its own natural grape yeast just fine and i only added a malaga yeast after it slowed down and still smelled like grape juice, not wine. Plus its cold (15 celsius) in here - maybe thats why its stopped? Should i leave it be for now or put it into cold storage ( 8-10 degree cellar)?

>>349157
Check out Jack Keller's website and check out the recipe section. there's a fair amount of various berry recipes that are pretty good. Many have several recipes, like for dry or sweet for instance. The site is fairly amateur but the info on it is priceless.

winemaking.jackkeller.net

>>349184
You need to take a hydrometer reading to see what the specific gravity is. It could be that it is finished. Wine tends to smell like grape juice. Aged wine smells quite different though. It really needs to be around 22C/72F for most yeasts. 15C/59F will trigger dormancy in most top-fermenting yeasts. A bottom-fermenting yeast can take colder temps though.

If you find that is still needs to ferment, simply raise the temps up to normal room temps and it should start back up.

>>345060
I looked it up. The brand of bread yeast sold in my supermarket is of the exact strain that brewing yeast is made from. I'm pretty sure it's a national brand, too. Please stop.

I know I could google, but would you fine gents happen to point me in the right direction to go about learning how to brew mead?

>>349767

http://www.gotmead.com

Nice website with history, recipes and a forum!

>>349274
lol, they may be the same species, but they are most certainly not the same strain

Has anyone had a go at homebrewing some Rum?
I'd be very interested and keen to try it out.

Just bought myself a beer kit for an early Christmas present, pretty excited to get it going

>>349885
Rum is distilled not homebrewed, fyi.

Come on brewfellows! Let's not let this thread die.

What about labels? Do you make your own? Do you buy them?
I'm thinking of printing some on my HP officejet and spray them with some kind of .....something.

I've got 5gals of stout that is about ready to rack into secondary. Last night i picked up some med toast american oak chips and a 1/2gal of whiskey. I have 2oz of chips aging the whiskey right now, and in a week or so, depending on when the flavor of the whiskey gets to where I want it, I'll strain out the chips and add them to the secondary with the stout.

>>350829
My father makes his own labels actually, just standard label paper you'd buy at officemax or where ever and a laser printer. He has some warm soapy solution he uses to wash old labels off of recycled bottles.

>>350859
I have an inkjet and I'm searching for ways to insulate(?) the paper so the ink does not bleed when moister touches it. I'm looking for something spray-able.

>>350880
Get a $30 laminator instead. Laminate the labels and glue them on. They will be 100% waterproof and look more vibrant.

>>350882
Putting it between two plastic sheets?
Makes the label much too thick, sturdy and expensive. (I'm not planning on re-using labels).

>>350883
I Think I'll just design my labels in Grey-tones and copy them onto yellowish paper in a copy-shop.
I only need about 12 for this batch of blackberry mead.

>>350883
Each to their own I guess. I get mine pretty cheap and it averages 5 cents a sheet, from which I can make 10 labels so each label is about 0.005 cents.

>>350887
Where I live, that sh*t costs a bit more.
I'm a (beginner) small batch brewer, so the copy-shop has to do :)
(8 labels on 1 A4 x2 = 60 eurocents incl. paper).

Here's a finished scotch ale my first beer I did mead and hard cider before this and have done some more batches since but this so was by far the best one.

>>350890
https://www.laminator.com/letter-size-laminating-pouches-4.html?___store=default&gclid=CKOCjLyOl
rQCFQyk4Aod4R4AVQ

>$13.99 for 100 sheets
100 sheets * 8 labels = 800 labels
$13.99 / 800 = 0.017USD/0.01 Euro for each label.

I'm sure shipping could raise it more, but usually local store prices are about the same minus shipping costs.

What I do is position the labels inside the large pouch, run it through the machine, then cut them to fit.

Just FYI.

here is a decently priced place to get custom vinyl stickers made. the nice thing about using these for labels is that you can wash the bottles reuse the bottles without needing to apply new labels.

https://stickerguy.com

>>349767
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ueyNQfnfE

Lost most my brew stuff with my ex 3 years ago, got back into the obsession. currently aging a Bochet Mead, Wolf's Moon Mead in secondary, recently bottled a nice caramel hard cider. Was a second attempt with cider, first batch had uneven carb(my bad for not mixing properly) but this batch is much nicer first time using nottingham and def worth it.

>>339806
>I'm thinking of doing a cocoa mead after the holidays pass. I think it will be interesting... chocolate alcohol

If it weren't for the fact nobody replied to you, I'd have stayed silent.

Good sir, you are about to make a grave mistake, if my experience with chocolate champagne is any indication. That was the worst tasting swill I've ever had the misfortune of experiencing. Imagine, if you will, an infant's soiled diaper. Now throw in some moldy chocolate, you know what I mean. Milk chocolate that has turned white. Mix them together as a liquid. Whatever you imagine that to be, the taste was probably very similar.

>>351288

don't be such a downer. my friend makes chocolate mint flavored ale, and everyone loves it.

just don't drink too much, or you will get sick. but that's true of all alcohol bevereges.

So my dad's boss has been sending me beers for a while now and told me he'd teach me everything he knows about brewing. Once the christmas season is over I'm going to begin my first brew.

My hope is to eventually brew a Russian Imperial Stout that meets both my budget and my flavor needs because every RIS I've found is fucking expensive and I'm going broke drinking old Rasputin.

I wish I'd never learned to drink good beer. Now I can't drink the cheap stuff because it just leaves my tongue unsatisfied.

>>351300

Well, I hope I'm wrong then. As mentioned, I'm only pulling from my own personal experience. It's scared me away from any form of chocolate alcohol, and I doubt I'll ever try it again.

>>351288
Sounds like it was a bad batch. I've had lots of different chocolate alcohols people have brewed and all have been pretty good.

First time brewing hard cider. I spiced it with cinnamon. Well the hard cider ended up coming out a lot stronger and I wanted to know if it would be okay if put a cinnamon stick in it for extra flavor, I plan on giving it away as gifts and wanted a real good flavor to it.

The roomie and I did our first batch about 2 weeks ago (both of us are new to this shit). He chose the recipe so I can't really give you a lot of details.... Other than it was all grain and supposedly a Fat Tire clone. It's actually coming along fairly nice. We moved it to secondary fermentation yesterday and sampled it. The grain taste is fairly pronounced, but the bitterness/aromatic qualities of the hops are also present. Will be interesting to see what happens when it gets bottled/carbonated.
We have 2 carboys and I'm choosing the recipe for the 2nd batch. Want to do an all grain IPA... Actually I'd love to do like a 120 min but dry hopping is an issue because there's not always someone at the house... Love me some bitter/hoppy beer though... Checking out recipes at this site right now http://www.ratebeer.com/ShowHomebrewRecipes.asp

Ahh... should at least post a pic... Kind of missed our target of 5 gal, but pretty satisfied with the first run of things...

I'm going to start my first batch of mead before the end of the year.
Just need to get a few carboys, flasks, baskets, tubing, waterslots, corks, hydrometer and patience.
But I will make my own mead!

BUMP!
Found this great tool I'm gonna get myself for Christmas.
It scales from 0,1 gram up to 300 grams. Great for nutrient feeding etc.