Hello,
I live in an area that has a great deal of breweries, probably more than I've seen anywhere else in the world. Anyway I was just thinking about beginning to brew my own beer and wondered if anyone out there in the Nexus already does this.
So if SWIM brews their own beer, <---(Shpongle never says SWIM), then please have at it with some tips, or ideas, or even tested recipes that I might enjoy.

And to anyone else, when you brew your own beer and bottle it and what not I believe you end up investing somewhere around 5 cents a bottle, which to my friends across the globe, is the price of absolutely nothing!

I hope this thread takes off :arrow:

I've just finished brewing a 20 pint batch of bitter. I have no tips, because I've only just started really. The only thing I would say is make sure that you sterilize and thoroughly rinse your brewing gear.

If there are lots of breweries in the area, it may pay to give them a visit and see if there's a local brewer's association or even a national one.

Just out of interest...what kind of beer do you want to brew? Lager? Bitter/Ale? Pale ale? Stout?

I have successfully brewed some beer. So far, very beginner, so I use kits provided by the local brew shop. Have done a couple of amber ales and getting ready to do a lager; we keep the heat low, and lager yeast deals with cooler temperatures better than others. Agree with sanitation, if you use bleach be sure to rinse everything well in boiled water (it'll make the beer taste bad). Buying an autosiphon made brewing such a better experience for me. Also, save a six pack in a corner for 3-6 months, just to get an appreciation for how maturing changes the flavor. Have fun!

i want to brew a toasted pecan honey ale, but i've been too lazy

Swim has brewed a pilsner and pale ale. Key is to read as much as you can, keep your gear clean, and don't just use a can of stuff and some sugar chuck in some hops and malt with the tin and you will be amazed the kinda beer you can get from simple ingredients. Oh and brew according to your climate or season, if its really hot forget about the beer that has to lager at 16c just make something else.

Ive never brewed beer, but i have wanted to make some Sloe Gin for some time. Infact this is a nice reminder.

I'm a long-time beer brewerer and beer brewing is one of the most rewarding processes. It is well recommended as beer is one of the healthiest things on earth. Actually beer brewing could help tackle world hunger and malnutrition. Beer contains:

#(usually) ~95% water - Water is vital for life.
#(usually) ~5% alcohol - Alcohol is possibly the oldest and best drugs on the planet. And legal too!!
#minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates - Essential for maintaining a healthy and balanced diet.

It is better to start from beer kits just to get an idea about the brewing, then move to getting malted grain and hops (should not be difficult if you live around breweries) and do the whole process on your own.

And yes, beer brewing IS eco-friendly!

ahhhh brewin'....

one of my long time passions.... a couple words of advice CLEAN ALL EQUIPMENT AFTER USE, if you let it sit its so fucking hard to clean everything. make sure all bottles/carboys are clean!!!! oh and invest in a propane burner that you can use outdoors, boiling a pot of wort for a couple of hours in your house will make your walls sweat and drip, fuckin' gross!!!!!

...do it, its such a rewarding project!!!

and visit your local brew store and just tell them you need a recipe(they usually have a ton available) and a little help gathering the ingredients, believe me if you find a friendly employee they will have more advice than you can remember and love to "talk shop".... good luck!