Home Brew Question...

[Guma]

A buddy of mine drinks a lot of micro brewery beers. At bowling the other night he mentioned trying to home brew some beer. I thought this would make a great Christmas present for him, so I told his wife to get him off the idea so I could get him a kit.

I have ZERO experience and I am pretty sure he falls into the same boat.

Where do I look and what should I get him to get him started?

Also, he has a home made kegerator that his brother built for him for his birthday. Is it possible, once he has made the home brew, to have it put into a keg for the kegerator?

[Aust1227]

A buddy of mine drinks a lot of micro brewery beers. At bowling the other night he mentioned trying to home brew some beer. I thought this would make a great Christmas present for him, so I told his wife to get him off the idea so I could get him a kit.

I have ZERO experience and I am pretty sure he falls into the same boat.

Where do I look and what should I get him to get him started?

Also, he has a home made kegerator that his brother built for him for his birthday. Is it possible, once he has made the home brew, to have it put into a keg for the kegerator?

1) Get your ass (and your wifey's much finer ass) in a car and head over here.

2) We can brew some beer together!

3) go to www.homebrewtalk.com and log in and spend a few minutes in the newby forum.

Brewing is a lot of fun. You can replicate just about anything you have ever tried. local stores will sell Mr. Beer kits, which is the very beginning stage, you just add water. Or you can go all out and make your beer from the four ingredients water, yeast, malted grains, hops.. I started somewhere in the middle and graduated quickly to all grain.

And yes, you can get your own beer. But typically you will want to get new fittings for the kegerator and keg into Cornelius kegs rather than the standard Sankely kegs. Easier to clean, smaller, and better fittings.

[Doctor_XXX]

Aust is right on target.

I've got the hose connections for most commercial kegs AND my homebrew 5-gallon-specials. Hook any combination of them up to a CO2 tank, and you are GOOD TO GO!!! :D

One suggestion...while you probably wont be sure that he'll take to the hobby 100%, be a little careful "saving" a few bucks up front, by purchasing cheaper equipment. For an example, you don't need to drop $5000 on a gold plated boiling pot, but DO try to get the biggest one you can afford, even if it is a few bucks more than the much smaller version. If the hobby takes off, he'll appreciate the bigger pot for the Double IPAs made with 8 kinds of FRESH hops! If the hobby dies out, he can always use the pot for pasta...or cooking up meth. It is a tough line to balance on, but don't go "too cheap" up front. Even if you only do a handful of batches, one or two steps up in quality/size/capacity is MUCH better than starting over from scratch, tossing the original equipment into the trash. (If that makes sense.)

YMMV. As with most things in MY life, if I choose to do it, I almost always "do it right", and take it to the extreme. There are cheaper/easier ways to "make beer", but I'd suggest you/he do some research, and jump into it with a partial grain/extract batch or two. You'll love it! :cool:

[Joe Mama]

In fact this is the exact thread that pointed me in the direction of homebrewing.
DocXXX - you and your posts regarding HB are what actually peaked my interest. :)
Xmas is around the corner and I know what Im gettin!!!!
Thanks again! :)
-Me

[Doctor_XXX]

Outstanding! Keep us informed as you get a batch or two under your belt. I'm tearing through the fruits of our last labors (4 batches in one afternoon!) right now. Can't wait for the next brew session! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! :cool:

[bobjenkins79]

Man, I can't wait to get my own place so I can start brewing again. I've got a copper immersion chiller that I've never even used!! :gasp:

[Aust1227]

Man, I can't wait to get my own place so I can start brewing again. I've got a copper immersion chiller that I've never even used!! :gasp:


You will use it for five or six brews and then realize you need a reverse counter flow chiller.. You will never look back after that.

[Joe Mama]

Outstanding! Keep us informed as you get a batch or two under your belt. I'm tearing through the fruits of our last labors (4 batches in one afternoon!) right now. Can't wait for the next brew session! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! :cool:

Hells yeah! Ive only been into the hobby a little over a month and thus far I have done just about everything cept gone all grain. Im still working on convincing the SWMBO that a kegerator is a good idea :)

I have my first batch (EBA kit) and a recipe that I pulled from HBT in the primary now. Next to it is a 5 gallon batch of Apfelwein and another 3 gallon carboy of a mead experiment. (So that means I have an EMPTY primary!!!)

I started with the basic kit (plus a carboy), used my brewpot once then went straight for a turkey fryer which I insulated for my full boils. Also picked up a SS immersion wort chiller, another primary, another carboy, several more airlocks (always seem to pick up one or two more every visit to the LHBS)

I think that once I crack my first beer it will be too late for me. Im addicted... (And I rarely drink!)
-Me

[Doctor_XXX]

Nice!

Now is a PERFECT time to get to work on the Russian Imperial Stouts for drinking NEXT December. Just as an outsider's thoughts... ;)

I may throw a batch or two together over this coming weekend. Watch this space for details, IF I can pull it off!!! :cool:

[Aust1227]

Wifey > SWMBO... In fact, SWMBO < Anything... But maybe that is just me being bitter about HBT and getting banned.

Anyway.. Good stuff.. Go all grain! It is worth it.. Then trade in the turkey friers for all electric. You will thank me later.

I have a batch going right now. Just an everyday ESB, same recipe I have done before. I brewed a big American IPA on Sunday. And I will probably brew a Mild this weekend. Lots of beer to drink!

[bobjenkins79]

[QUOTE=Aust1227;71032]Wifey > SWMBO... In fact, SWMBO < Anything... But maybe that is just me being bitter about HBT and getting banned.
QUOTE]
Huh? :confused: I used to go to HBT all the time, but haven't for about 6 months. How did you get banned? (If I may ask)