Does anyone do their own beer/winemaking here?

[quietman1920]

Originally posted by Sir Kenyth: What I need to know. Can you use common twist cap beer bottles?

Only if you like glass in your beer. Remember: you'll need to crimp the un-used caps over the lip of the neck...and those screw-on lips crumble. Do yourself a favor: Use 12 oz long-necks (Bud) or Heinekens or Molson’s.

If gently cleaned and sterilized, can you reuse caps?

Sorry but no. You'd get rust...but new un-crimped caps are not overly expensive.

Where are some good places to obtain barley malt extracts, hops, and yeasts for good prices? Many microbrew places sell by the pound and charge $4 or more per pound! The lowest is about $3. Quick figuring shows this to be about the same price as buying the beer! I've found one supplier in Texas that seems very reasonable as long as you buy 12 or more pounds at once, but I'd like to have some more sources. Anyway, I'd like to get some ideas/comments from anyone willing to give their input.

OK, here's the ENRON math:

$60 initial capital outlay (One huge cook pot, one seal able food-grade bucket with airlock, one floating thermometer, One siphon tube, one beer cap crimper, plus malt makings, yeast, and 'extras') Figure $5-$10 for per batch costs and assume that you get 5 gallons (2.2 cases) per batch. Sounds like its $5 for a case of beer, right?

OK...now lets pay you as an employee at even McDonald wages...and you see that the real price of your beer is more than the most expensive beer on the market. So, if this is a hobby, its not so bad. But it would be rare for you to get rich brewing beer.

PS- If you ever get bored with a lager batch, drop an uncut pepper into the bottle before you seal it. Wait 2-3 weeks before sampling it and you will have spicy beer!

[Sir Kenyth]

Oh, I'm in it for the fun for sure! I plan on trying wine too. Let's not forget, the time you put in something like this can't really count as cost because you're paying yourself ! As long as you enjoy the work, you can't go wrong. Think of it as another form of cooking. I must admit though, I wouldn't want to mash my own malted grain, or malt my own grain for that matter! Doing that makes a whole days work out of it! Extract is good enough for me I think. Too bad about twist bottles not working. I guess I'll just have to start drinking Molson Canadian! It's one of my favorites anyway !

[Sir Kenyth]

Quietman, how on earth can you brew lager without a large fridge dedicated to the purpose? You have to ferment the stuff at about 45-55 degrees. Maybe an attached garage in the winter would be at the right temp?

[Sir Kenyth]

Found it! Apparently, you should brew Lager in the wintertime in an attached garage with a regulated heating method of some sort to keep the temp between 45-55.