Who brews their own beer/wine?
I want to do this sometime but just haven't persued it yet.
But for those who do I think I found something great, perhaps it was already well known.
What I found was a beer from Germany. Grolsch. The beer comes in heavy dark bottles with a unique top. I would assume they can be reused over and over. These bottles I would think would be ideal for bottling your own beverage.
I had a bottle the other night and the beer is good but kind of expensive. Even so I may purchase some from time to time and store the empty bottles for my eventual brewing.
But for those who do I think I found something great, perhaps it was already well known.
What I found was a beer from Germany. Grolsch. The beer comes in heavy dark bottles with a unique top. I would assume they can be reused over and over. These bottles I would think would be ideal for bottling your own beverage.
I had a bottle the other night and the beer is good but kind of expensive. Even so I may purchase some from time to time and store the empty bottles for my eventual brewing.
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I haven't brewed for a while, but it's easy to learn. There are several brewers (and consumers) on this forum, you will get some good advice. Main thing is to clean your bottles properly. Some clean them in a dish washer. I don't see why you can't re-use those bottles, I've seen similar ones at the brew store. You can find hundreds of recipes, even one that is close to Grolsh. If you really get into it, you won't be able to drink store bought beer again!
Good luck, but it's really hard to totally screw it up.0 -
MA and I used to brew quite a bit of homemade wine, it was good and fun to do!!!
We just don't have the time to do it anymore!!!0 -
Those bottles are perfect for home brews. 0 -
It seems like a good idea to reuse the Grolsch bottles. I have brewed lots of beer over 35 years.
Early on, I bought a capping machine. I just save, or buy, regular beer bottles that use an opener, and cap them myself. The caps are real cheap, a penny or two apiece. This makes a very good seal.
I am not sure if the Grolsch bottle would make as good a seal as a metal cap.
You can buy a capper for about twenty bucks.
If you do get into brewing you can get lots of friendly advice on this forum.
The best place I have ever found for supplies is, fortunately, twenty miles from my house. They do lots of online orders.
http://www.ashevillebrewers.com/
Once you pay a hundred bucks or so for the equipment that you need, a batch of beer costs only about $3.50 per six pack, for the best beer you ever had.
My favorite is ESB from ashevillebrewers, an English bitter, which is an amber ale. Damn that beer is so good!
Plus, you can give your beer a little extra punch, if you want, and brew a 5.5 to 6 percent alcohol beer, that will kick ass on top of being delicious.
ps I am not certain, but I think Grolsch is a lager type beer. You can make a lager at home, but it is quite a hassle, because you have to brew it in a refrigerator at cold temps.
Most home brewers, like me, brew ales instead, which are brewed at room temp.
So, for a beginner, you should pick out an ale that you like, such as Newcastle Brown Ale, etc. Guinness Stout is also an ale.
Find one you like, and you will be able to make a batch that is similar to it, only your home brew, I assure you, will be better! Why?
Because home brew is fresher, and doesn't have preservative chemicals in it.0 -
I used to brew. It is pretty easy.
I've had really good homebrew out of 'flippies.' I've also encountered people who claimed they couldn't get a good re-seal with flippies. But I never tried them myself. Capper: $6; caps: real cheap.0 -
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
It seems like a good idea to reuse the Grolsch bottles. I have brewed lots of beer over 35 years.
Early on, I bought a capping machine. I just save, or buy, regular beer bottles that use an opener, and cap them myself. The caps are real cheap, a penny or two apiece. This makes a very good seal.
I am not sure if the Grolsch bottle would make as good a seal as a metal cap.
You can buy a capper for about twenty bucks.
If you do get into brewing you can get lots of friendly advice on this forum.
The best place I have ever found for supplies is, fortunately, twenty miles from my house. They do lots of online orders.
http://www.ashevillebrewing.com/
Once you pay a hundred bucks or so for the equipment that you need, a batch of beer costs only about $3.50 per six pack, for the best beer you ever had.
My favorite is ESB from ashevillebrewing, an English bitter, which is an amber ale. Damn that beer is so good!
Plus, you can give your beer a little extra punch, if you want, and brew a 5.5 to 6 percent alcohol beer, that will kick ass on top of being delicious.
ps I am not certain, but I think Grolsch is a lager type beer. You can make a lager at home, but it is quite a hassle, because you have to brew it in a refrigerator at cold temps.
Most home brewers, like me, brew ales instead, which are brewed at room temp.
So, for a beginner, you should pick out an ale that you like, such as Newcastle Brown Ale, etc. Guinness Stout is also an ale.
Find one you like, and you will be able to make a batch that is similar to it, only your home brew, I assure you, will be better! Why?
Because home brew is fresher, and doesn't have preservative chemicals in it.
All good info except: don't expect to reproduce the flavor of Guinness, ever. It tastes the way it does due to a unique blend of micro-organisms that infect the beer. Same goes for some of the weird Belgian ales. In general though yes your homebrew will be better than what you can buy.0 -
I used to do alot of wine. My wife convincened me to stop after that batch of Onion wine. 0 -
Grolsch = Style of bottle.
You can buy 16oz Grolsch bottles for around $25.00 twelve.
That is the hardest and most expensive part of getting started. Getting together what you need to do it right.
That is why I recommend starting with a complete kit for the first time brewer. You get everything you need plus an easy to follow instruction booklet that will guide you through the steps. Once you following the instructions a couple of times. You can then easily brew just about anything you want.
If I brew any wine this Fall it will have to be from a Concentrate kit. For all of our berries and grapes just dried out on the vine before they ever got ripe enough to work with. Then the peaches and apples may be good sling shot ammo for they were to small and to hard to do anything with.0 -
Les: if you do make wine from a kit, I urge you to try a Vintner's Reserve kit. Ashevillebrewers sell them, they are available at many other places on the internet.
I have made dozens of five gallon batches of wine from kits, as well as dozens of batches from grapes. The best wine I ever made is from a Vintner's Reserve kit, such as their Chardonnay.
Only one change I make, this makes a 6 gallon batch. I make a 5 gallon batch, so I get a stronger bodied wine with a little higher percent alcohol. In fact, I add a pound and a half of sugar in the 5 gallon batch, to make about a 13 per cent wine.
For $61 you won't believe the quality of wine you get. I have impressed some pretty sophisticated wine drinkers with my Vintner's Reserve wines. With the wine I used to make from other kits, mediocre was the best I could hope for.
The Pinot Grigio is another favorite of mine, I see that Ashevillebrewers is out of stock, not surprising, the word is out on that one.
The way I make the Pinot Grigio, in a 5 gallon batch with a couple pounds of sugar, for a 13 per cent alcohol wine, it is more like a Chardonnay, but without the oak. Delicious.
spurgemaster: I have made a half dozen batches of stout, and it is better than Guinness, and I love Guinness.0 -
My Dad does. Also, that's the oil tank in the background... 0 -
quote:Originally posted by cartod
I used to do alot of wine. My wife convincened me to stop after that batch of Onion wine.
My kind of man, however I don't intend to stop. My dill pickle wine was actually pretty good0
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