Home brewing thread anyone?

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Minister of Fire
Jan 19, 2019
5,851
SE North Carolina
Recently I have started brewing again after a maybe 11 year break. I got pretty good at partial mash extract brewing. At the peak we were buying malt extra in 5 gallon buckets, brewing a 10 gallon batch every two weeks or so. We were making beer cheaper than we could buy milk. I have never had a bad batch (wine kits, mead and hard cider from scratch). Bottling was to much work so I switched to soda kegs.

Now I’m back at my taste have changed. I find the current IPA craze completely over the top both Alcohol content and bitterness I think are just used to cover up the fact they are selling subpar beer. The current hard seltzer craze peaked my interest and I can say as an experienced brewer who could just make up a recipe in my head and execute it and all the substitutions after returning home from my local homebrew store that wasn’t very well stocked, has proven a challenge. Stuck fermentations seems to be the norm. It’s not as easy as add sugar boil cool add yeast. Wait keg.

So there the background. What’s you favorite homebrew? Have any hard seltzer tips you want to share? Any questions you answered?

Evan
 
I started to brew a few years ago. I mainly use LME and some additions, sometimes called kit and kilo brew. I don't brew that often, but mainly IPA's. My local homebrew supply store has a very limited inventory since the pandemic started.
 
I've been brewing on and off for the past decade. It started with apple ciders. We have so many good apples that I couldn't stand them going to waste. I then learned how to brew beer and usually do 2-3 five gallon batches a year. Last brew was a dry hopped, double IPA. It is pretty high on the IBUs, but very floral and tasty. Our summer brew will be an Irish red this year. I also do some wine from kits. Getting ready to brew a Montepulciano soon for the first time. But first I need to bottle last fall's apple ciders.
 
I had do some think as to what my favorite home brew was. It was an amber rye wheat lager. It was glorious. Malty, great body but very crisp and then had this rye note. I need to dig out the recipe for that one.

Next up this week is a dunkelweizen with a Hefeweizen yeast. Can of wheat LME, pound of dark DME and a pound of chocolate malt. 2 oz low AA Germanish hops. It will be darker than a traditional dunkel.

Evan
 
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Stopped drinking this year for a while and we've gone through kegs of carbonated water. Same corny (soda) kegs that I used for beer but just straight water. Yummy. Add some gin, and you're off!

Might try that kombucha stuff.
 
We can go through a keg of soda water a week when it’s hot out. I just upgraded to a 20# CO2 bottle and nitrogen to pour coffee.
 

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