You can certainly do it that way if you like. Multiple buckets, of course.
Homebrewing Thread
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You can certainly do it that way if you like. Multiple buckets, of course.
brewer12345
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Don't carbonate the beer highly and you are done. Easy to vary in the keg (force carb to a lower level) or bottles (use less priming sugar).
Typical American lagers are carbonated to around 2.5 to 2.75 volumes of CO2.
Typical English bitters are more like 1.5 to 2.0 volumes.
So either adjust the mount of priming sugar proportionately, or if you force carbonate, adjust the pressure/temperature appropriately.
Typical English bitters are more like 1.5 to 2.0 volumes.
So either adjust the mount of priming sugar proportionately, or if you force carbonate, adjust the pressure/temperature appropriately.
Ronstar
Moderator Emeritus
Just had a great brew day. The beer on the left is a porter that I'm going to add Jack Daniel's soaked vanilla beans to. The beer on the right is "O'DW's Irish Red". It will be kegged and ready to drink just in time for St. Patty's day.
copyright1997reloaded
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Just stumbled upon this inactive thread. There are also hand pumped cask ales (English heritage). Here's a link to wikipedia: Cask ale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Here's a link to a discussion on building your own: HomeBrewTalk.com - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Community.
copyright1997reloaded
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Another Homebrew critter
Since I'm here waking the thread from the dead, last year I started doing home brew. (I had actually tried it a couple times in the late 80's/early 90's, but gave it up due to lack of time.)
I started doing extract but quickly graduated to all-grain after my first two batches. My reasons for doing so were:
1) I like baking from scratch, so the thought of using extract/kits wasn't appealing.
2) I'm cheap (that's how you become FIREd), and I could get my "per batch" cost much lower than with extract.
3) I liked the fact that I could better control color, body, other factors (really an offshoot of #1)
Since last July (2011), I've done 32 batches, mostly 5 gallons. In terms of style, I love me those IPA's (both English style and US varieties), but try to alternate IPA/non-IPA in my brew schedule. I use a modified BIAB method where I do my mash using a bag. Depending upon my mood, I will do the mash on my stove or in a igloo style water bucket. I do the boil outside using propane due to the volumes involved.
One of the biggest things to improve the quality of beer is fermentation temperature control. I have an old refrigerator that I use as a fermentation chamber. In the summer, it provides cooling, in the winter heat. I rigged up an aquarium style digital temperature controller ($22) that controls both cooling (where it drives the refrigerator compressor) and heating (where I use a 60 watt light bulb in a paint can I built) and it allows me to dial in a fairly accurate fermentation temperature.
For water, I use a local source of (free) spring water. I have a well, but this tastes better and results in better tasting beer. (The source was used long ago for soda water and other beverage production.)
I have a freezer that I bought (home depot, $159 delivered) that I use as a "Keezer". Along with that, I've managed to scarf up kegs whenever I find them cheaply, I have 10 of them now. So, I mostly keg but I also will bottle from the keg when I want to give beer to others, save some, or just make room in the keezer for the next batch (it holds 4 kegs TIGHTLY but I usually keep one keg for home made soda).
I've also accumulated a bunch of fermentation buckets and carboys. I have a few fermentation buckets and four glass carboys, so plenty of room there. In general, I do not secondary but rather use a sanitized stainless steel keg as a conditioning vehicle after I rack from the primary. I'm kind of lazy as to racking from primary, I usually let it go at least two weeks before I take a gravity reading. [Comment: I think the beer is better by having a good pipeline...it makes you lazy in terms of racking from primary, and the beer comes out better.] Since I condition in keg, I also use that as the vehicle for cold crashing...since doing so (and using Irish Moss/Whirfloc) my beers have been nice and clear.
As I mentioned above, I'm cheap.
I've gotten involved with group buys for grains and hops, and I'm currently sitting with over 400# (easily) of grain and 30# (easily) of hops. I store the base grains in food grade buckets (w/gamma seal lids) or seal the specialty grains in pre-measured amounts using a vacuum sealer. I store the hops in vacuum sealed bags in a freezer. I also re-use yeast by "washing" it. So, you can imagine what my basement looks like with grain buckets, my freezer with hops, and my refrigerator with washed yeast. But, the net result is my cost for 5 gallons of a great IPA is in the $15 neighborhood.
Eventually I would like to build an electric (home) brewery. I already have three 20 gallon stainless steel pots (through another group buy), and a few other parts....but need at some point to dedicate some real time to building the control panel.
Since I'm here waking the thread from the dead, last year I started doing home brew. (I had actually tried it a couple times in the late 80's/early 90's, but gave it up due to lack of time.)
I started doing extract but quickly graduated to all-grain after my first two batches. My reasons for doing so were:
1) I like baking from scratch, so the thought of using extract/kits wasn't appealing.
2) I'm cheap (that's how you become FIREd), and I could get my "per batch" cost much lower than with extract.
3) I liked the fact that I could better control color, body, other factors (really an offshoot of #1)
Since last July (2011), I've done 32 batches, mostly 5 gallons. In terms of style, I love me those IPA's (both English style and US varieties), but try to alternate IPA/non-IPA in my brew schedule. I use a modified BIAB method where I do my mash using a bag. Depending upon my mood, I will do the mash on my stove or in a igloo style water bucket. I do the boil outside using propane due to the volumes involved.
One of the biggest things to improve the quality of beer is fermentation temperature control. I have an old refrigerator that I use as a fermentation chamber. In the summer, it provides cooling, in the winter heat. I rigged up an aquarium style digital temperature controller ($22) that controls both cooling (where it drives the refrigerator compressor) and heating (where I use a 60 watt light bulb in a paint can I built) and it allows me to dial in a fairly accurate fermentation temperature.
For water, I use a local source of (free) spring water. I have a well, but this tastes better and results in better tasting beer. (The source was used long ago for soda water and other beverage production.)
I have a freezer that I bought (home depot, $159 delivered) that I use as a "Keezer". Along with that, I've managed to scarf up kegs whenever I find them cheaply, I have 10 of them now. So, I mostly keg but I also will bottle from the keg when I want to give beer to others, save some, or just make room in the keezer for the next batch (it holds 4 kegs TIGHTLY but I usually keep one keg for home made soda).
I've also accumulated a bunch of fermentation buckets and carboys. I have a few fermentation buckets and four glass carboys, so plenty of room there. In general, I do not secondary but rather use a sanitized stainless steel keg as a conditioning vehicle after I rack from the primary. I'm kind of lazy as to racking from primary, I usually let it go at least two weeks before I take a gravity reading. [Comment: I think the beer is better by having a good pipeline...it makes you lazy in terms of racking from primary, and the beer comes out better.] Since I condition in keg, I also use that as the vehicle for cold crashing...since doing so (and using Irish Moss/Whirfloc) my beers have been nice and clear.
As I mentioned above, I'm cheap.
I've gotten involved with group buys for grains and hops, and I'm currently sitting with over 400# (easily) of grain and 30# (easily) of hops. I store the base grains in food grade buckets (w/gamma seal lids) or seal the specialty grains in pre-measured amounts using a vacuum sealer. I store the hops in vacuum sealed bags in a freezer. I also re-use yeast by "washing" it. So, you can imagine what my basement looks like with grain buckets, my freezer with hops, and my refrigerator with washed yeast. But, the net result is my cost for 5 gallons of a great IPA is in the $15 neighborhood.Eventually I would like to build an electric (home) brewery. I already have three 20 gallon stainless steel pots (through another group buy), and a few other parts....but need at some point to dedicate some real time to building the control panel.
