home brewing

[freudgirl]

Any other home brewers out there?
I'm looking for a good christmas ale recipe to give away as cheap gifts this year.

[sky]

I am a homebrewer for quite a few years now. I have 55 gallons kegged in the basement hoping that will get me through the winter. Its all altbier, however. I don't know of a good christmas ale recipe.
prost

[KevinW]

I brew when I can get around to it. But I don't have a Christmas ale recipe either. There are lots of recipes on the web; Google is your friend.

[mikeBOS]

I've made hundreds of bottles of wine. But it's been a couple years since I've done that. Not enough room in my small apartment to store all the bottles...

[Mirwen]

DH and I have been seeking ways to reduce the alcohol budget. We looked into a keg, but it's more expensive then bottles when all is accounted for. Does home brewing save money? If so, how much and what rate would you have to drink to make it worth it (financially)?

[sky]

Homebrewing can save money if:
1. You consider beer as a food product or an essential part of your diet

2. You avoid gear tripping and just buy the minimum stuff you need

3. You avoid drinking too much for your health and budget
Using the all grain method is far cheaper than extract, and the quality is better.
http://cruisenews.net/brewing/infusion/page1.php

[KevinW]

Some of this is covered in the wiki:

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/wiki/ ... er_brewing
Light American lager < home brew < microbrew or imported beer
So if you're satisfied with Budweiser et al., just buy that at a big box store. If you want something better it's cheaper to brew your own.

[Did]

Just read this old thread. Read the wiki entry. Sparging is not malting. This paragraph is confused.

"Homebrewers have the option of either malting their own raw grains through a process called sparging, or purchasing industrially malted grain extract. "

I think they mean home brewers can make their own wort using malted grain or can buy extract. I suspect there are other errors in the entry as well.

[DSKla]

When I started homebrewing around 2008, I ran the actual numbers on brewing versus buying a craft beer of the same style. It came out that it's cheaper to just buy the lighter, less expensive styles like wheats, pale ales, ambers, and porters, and cheaper to brew your own high gravity or fancy styles, like imperial stouts and most Belgian styles. I was hsing the malt extract method, the beers were very good, and it was costing me about $1 per 12 oz bottle for basic styles. But back then, you could still get a $6 sixer of Firestone Walker, Deschutes, etc.

Now, a sixer of craft beer runs $10-13 for even the basic styles, and I don't think the cost of homebrewing has gone up that much, so I think the affordability balance is tipping strongly in favor of homebrewing. A really nice 750mL used to be about $10-12 and now I see them for $20-30.

I agree that kegging is too expensive unless you can get a free or deeply discounted keg. Same goes for the gear you need to brew all-grain. If you don't already own it, or can't get it on the cheap, you are setting yourself back hundreds and will need to become an alcoholic to make up the difference any time soon. Given how many people take up the hobby and abandon it soon after, you should be able to find used gear on a decent sized craigslist if you're willing to be patient.

Even better would be to find a friend or neighbor who has the gear, go halfsies on the ingredients, help brew and clean, and take half the yield. When you own, you need to brew consistently or else the gear just takes up space and reminds you how lazy and wasteful you are.

[vexed87]

I've been thinking about trying home brewed beer too, irritatingly my brother had all the gear and threw it out when he got bored